President Obama and many Democrats are making the case for an expansion of the payroll tax holiday primarily on the grounds of protecting middle-class families from a tax hike. This is intrinsically problematic even if it seems politically expedient.

The one-year Social Security payroll tax holiday set to expire...

Despite a weak economic recovery and persistent, unacceptably high unemployment, Washington is prematurely pivoting from job creation to deficit reduction. Worse yet, many of the budget proposals flooding Washington are nothing but reverse Robin Hood plans to redistribute wealth from working families to the most privileged among us.

Last week,...

The Irish people go to the polls on February 25.

The governing Fianna Fail party -- that created the fallen Celtic Tiger economic model and is now the object of widespread public outrage -- will almost certainly be banished to political wilderness, much like the conservative regime casualties of economic...

Senators left Washington Friday for the Memorial Day recess without agreeing to a deal to renew a 99-week extension of unemployment insurance benefits. As a result, starting June 2, jobless Americans across the country will start exhausting their benefits. By the end of the month, more than 1...

Earlier this week I testified before Congressman Barney Frank's committee on the need to do more -- much more -- to create jobs. The unfortunate but unavoidable fact, I told the Committee, is that the private sector won't create jobs in sufficient numbers anytime soon to put a...

Is bipartisanship worth it if it comes at the price of bad policy?

Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Charles Grassley (R-IA) recently announced bipartisan legislation that they say is intended to "address the current economic conditions." Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) praised the legislation, saying it "demonstrates what can happen when...

In all likelihood the unemployment rate will be higher in October than it is now, yet somehow the White House thinks it's appropriate to begin reducing domestic discretionary spending at that time. Reducing overall spending when tens of millions of Americans remain out of work would be a disaster. It...

When it comes to jobs, it turns out the aughts were for naught. Too bad we can't just party like it's 1999.

This morning the Labor Department issued its final monthly jobs report for the decade just ended. In December 2009, the economy shed 85,000 jobs and the unemployment rate...

The bank bailouts are now expected to cost $200 billion less than initially anticipated. When last week President Obama rightfully proposed using these funds to pay for job creation plans, how do you suppose Republican leaders in Congress reacted?

"So now they want to use that $200 billion as another...

Watching the unfolding debate over the Obama administration's plan to stimulate job growth by investing in infrastructure reminds me of an old joke about two guys in a diner. The first one says, "Ugh, this food really tastes bad." His friend replies, "Yeah it's awful -- but you know what's...