Stephen Moore

Medicaid’s poor design shows Congress’ poor planning

You'd be hard-pressed to find a more poorly designed program in the federal budget than Medicaid — the federal health insurance program for the poor. The costs are shared between the states and the feds, which means that the more money a state wastes under Medicaid, the bigger the check that Washington writes to the state. No wonder the program costs keep spiraling out of control. Published April 2, 2017

Liberalism is false compassion

Last week on CNN I debated a liberal commentator who complained that the problem with the Trump budget blueprint is that it lacks "compassion" for the poor, children and the disabled. This woman went on to ask me how I could defend a budget that would cut Meals on Wheels, after-school programs, and special-ed funding, because without the federal dollars, these vital services would go away. Published March 28, 2017

Donald Trump fiscal policy makes conservatives cheer

What hypocrites liberals and the media are. For weeks on end they've been beating up President Trump for not taking the initiative on the $10 trillion debt build-up under Barack Obama or the runaway entitlement programs that could bankrupt our nation. Published March 19, 2017

Energy security requires not going ‘green’

If you listen to the media narrative on climate change and "clean energy," you'd think that the rest of the world has moved smartly and seamlessly toward 21st-century green energy, while the U.S. is the high-polluting laggard that just won't get with the program to save the planet. Published March 12, 2017

Saying yes to 4 percent growth

Imagine if John F. Kennedy's advisors had told him in 1961, we will never put a man on the moon. Or what if Ronald Reagan's advisors had assured the Gipper: the Cold War is unwinnable; we should sue for peace. Actually many naysayers told JFK and Mr. Reagan exactly these things, but fortunately these presidents were visionaries. They asked: "Why not?" Published March 5, 2017

States pleading poverty, demanding new taxes

Stop me if you've heard this story before. Governors and state legislators are pleading poverty again and they are demanding tax hikes of every imaginable kind. More than half the states are facing big deficits this year and they are mostly blue states like California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois and New York and Oregon. (See chart.) These are the highest tax states with some of the deepest pools of red ink. There's got to be a message here. Published February 26, 2017

Federal regulation is stifling business

At the first meeting of the Trump Leadership Council -- an advisory group consisting of top CEOs from major companies -- President Donald Trump asked these business leaders what was their biggest problem. I expected the answer to be America's anti-growth tax system. Published February 19, 2017

Carbon tax will not help environment and make Americans poorer

I have nothing but respect for former Secretaries of State Jim Baker and George Schultz, but come on gentlemen: you've been snookered. Published February 12, 2017

Stock market rise under Donald Trump could lead to bull market

The stock market has risen about 9 percent since the election of Donald Trump with near a $2 trillion increase in wealth. Is this the start of a big bull market rally? Published February 5, 2017

Finding a better way to promote prosperity

Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire seethed the edict puts "ideology over women and health." She favors a policy that requires Americans to fund activities that they find morally offensive. So much for "pro-choice." If Planned Parenthood wants to fund organization that fund abortions abroad, their donors should put up the money, not unwilling taxpayers. Published January 29, 2017

Donald Trump’s $10 trillion stimulus plan

All of Washington seems to be in cardiac arrest over the news reports late last week that President Donald Trump is planning a budget with $10 trillion of budget cuts over the next decade. Published January 22, 2017

The case for a border adjustable tax system

If America's competitors were intentionally trying to design a tax system to destroy the American economy, they probably couldn't come up with a dumber tax system than the way the United States currently taxes our own businesses. Published January 8, 2017

Big Green biggest loser of 2016

The day after the presidential elections the executive director of the Sierra Club glumly called the Donald Trump victory "deeply disturbing for the nation and the planet." Well, yes, if you're a climate change alarmist who hates fossil fuels, you're in for a bad four and maybe eight years. Published January 1, 2017

Economy needs a boost

Since the election, the stock market has soared, consumer confidence has climbed to its highest level in 20 years, and several companies have committed to multi-billion dollar new investments in the United States. To say that America has a new spring it its step -- at least for now -- would be an understatement. It feels like the last joyous scene in "It's a Wonderful Life" when George Bailey stumbles home on Christmas Eve to a house full of friends and family. Published December 25, 2016

The right way to spend on infrastructure

Back in early 2015 oil and gas company Conoco-Phillips requested a permit from the Obama administration to launch an oil drilling project in Alaska. The energy project, called the Greater Moose's Tooth Development, is located within the National Petroleum Reserve and would create thousands of jobs in an economically depressed area of the state. The project has the full approval of the local community, and poses little threat to the environment in a sparsely populated region. Published December 18, 2016

This Christmas we need the gift of humility

On election night at around 6 p.m. a Hillary Clinton political operative went on TV and smugly opined that she believed they had a 95 percent chance of winning. Wow, 95 percent. In statistics we call that a very high level of certainty. But of course five hours later the woman was in tears and the 1 in 20 long shot named Donald Trump came in. Published December 11, 2016

The blue state depression

People are leaving the Hillary-supporting states in droves Published December 4, 2016

Welcome to the party of Donald Trump

I stirred up some controversy last week when I told a conference of several dozen House Republicans that the GOP is now officially a Trump working class party. For better or worse, I said at the gathering inside the Capital Dome, the baton has now officially been passed from the Reagan era to the new Trump era. The members didn't quite faint over my apostasy, but the shock was palpable. Published November 27, 2016

How Donald Trump will double growth and jobs

When Donald Trump said last week that he will double the American growth rate, his skeptics scoffed. The left doesn't think 4 percent growth is possible because they never came close to that target under President Obama. Published November 15, 2016

Hillary Clinton’s worst ideas on the economy

The latest spin out of Washington is that stock market declines over the last 10 days are due to Donald Trump's surge in the polls. Well it is true that Wall Street tends to hate change — even when it's positive. And if Donald Trump is anything, it is a change agent that will rattle the cages in Washington, and perhaps on Wall Street. Published November 6, 2016