The saying, "It's the thought that counts," is a lame excuse when it comes to bad gifts and an even worse way to justify public policy. Lawmakers and bureaucrats continuously impose new regulations that often sound good. Yet policymakers too often fail to consider obvious economic ripple-effects, many of which hit hard-working Americans like tsunamis. There is no better example than occupational licensing standards, such as the District of Columbia's new requirement that all childcare workers obtain a four-year degree.

The tax reform plan released on Thursday by House Ways and Means Committee chairman Kevin Brady and with the blessing of Speaker Paul Ryan, is a thing of economic beauty. It cuts tax rates across the board, eliminates the death tax and the alternative minimum tax, makes the U.S. Corporate tax system competitive and does all this without raising the deficit. Well done.

Ok, I’m going to just go out and say the dreaded R word. America may be skidding into another recession and the latest abysmal jobs report is the latest sign of troubled waters ahead.

Two things happened this past week that make the most powerful case ever for school vouchers.

What is it with this obsession that liberals have with rewriting the history of the 1980s? Answer: not one bit of what really happened fits the left wing narrative about how things work in the real world.

A poll released by The Des Moines Register on the eve of the Iowa caucuses found that Donald Trump’s support of eminent domain bothered 60% of Republican caucus-goers. It is quite likely the focus on the issue is why the real estate mogul’s failed to win.

While the recent Republican debates have sparked lively discussions of tax and spending problems, many candidates have also highlighted the economic drag of regulation. This is important: Regulations have an annual cost of more than $1 trillion and have a significant impact on investment, innovation and economic growth. Rather than shackling the economy with new ones, Washington should conduct a comprehensive review of the regulatory burden with an eye towards eliminating redundant and obsolete mandates.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been making headlines fairly regularly over the past year, most of them unflattering. From its pursuit of conservative political groups, to missing emails about the agency’s actions and a massive data breach that exposed the information of more than 330,000 taxpayers, the IRS has been struggling to bolster its public image.

For decades government officials have been touting the fallacy that International Monetary Fund payments cost American taxpayers nothing. Even former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin claimed that "the IMF has not cost the taxpayer a dime."This is misleading. Since the IMF operates under a veil of secrecy, these hidden taxpayer subsidies are not subject to annual appropriations, and they are nowhere to be found in the federal budget.

On Dec. 13 a federal judge in Virginia declared the individual mandate in President Barack Obama's health care law to be unconstitutional. That mandate--section 1501 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act--requires all U.S. citizens, beginning on Jan. 1, 2014, to either purchase health insurance or pay a fine to the IRS.