Cato Events Podcast

The Budget Control Act passed by Congress directs that on January 2, 2013, the Obama administration must cut the defense budget by at least $55 billion and cut the same amount from domestic discretionary spending. Some observers assert that such reductions will damage the economy and increase unemployment. Even many who view excessive government spending as economically counterproductive oppose Pentagon cuts. These concerns are overblown, Cato scholars explain.

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Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt has filed a lawsuit alleging the Obama administration is violating the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and imposing illegal taxes in states such as Oklahoma. As Jonathan H. Adler and Michael F. Cannon detail in their forthcoming Health Matrix article, "Taxation Without Representation: The Illegal IRS Rule to Expand Tax Credits under the PPACA," the PPACA cannot function without state buy-in. The Obama administration's response to state push-back has been to rewrite the statute by imposing, on both employers and individuals, taxes that Congress never authorized. Pruitt is challenging the IRS rule that imposes those illegal taxes. Supporters and opponents agree the PPACA's "entire structure" depends on the IRS's interpretation of the statute, and that this dispute "could be a fatal blow to Obamacare."

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