This week, the House passed H.R. 4411, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act by a margin of 317 to 93. It bans on-line gambling and criminalizes the acceptance of payments for wagers won through such means.

H.R. 2990, the Credit Rating Agency Duopoly Relief Act also passed 255 to 166. This bill will increase competitiveness among credit rating agencies.

Laffer was Right

The New York Times expressed surprise this week that supply-side economic policies have once again proven their value. Begrudgingly, the Times was forced to admit that tax cuts stimulate economic growth which leads to an increase in tax receipts to the government. It wrote, “An unexpectedly steep rise in tax revenues from corporations and the wealthy is driving down the projected budget deficit this year, even though spending has climbed sharply because of the war in Iraq and the cost of hurricane relief.”

In fact, on Tuesday, White House officials announced that the tax receipts will be about $206 billion above last year’s levels. Furthermore, the deficit will be about $100 billion less than what they projected six months ago.

When Republican leaders in Congress and the administration pushed to cut the rates for all income taxpayers, capital gains taxpayers, and dividend taxpayers, critics foretold economic ruin. Like Chicken Little, they insisted the sky was falling. Actually, the only thing that fell was the tax burden on hard working Americans. As that occurred, a rising tide of economic growth started lifting all boats. Average people had more discretionary income to spend as they judged best, leading to a greater demand for goods and services, which meant the need for companies to ramp up production. Similarly, investors large and small expressed optimism in the future by helping to create and expand business ventures of all kinds. Nearly everyone has benefited, either through the expansion of employment opportunities, greater consumer choices, higher profits, or increased dividends. And, the tax cuts are paying down the deficit. Undeniably, economist Arthur Laffer was right.

Marriage Victories

Over the last two years, judges have set a trend of overturning the underpinnings of Western civilization and the expressed will of the people in various states by redefining marriage through court rulings. As of this week, the tide appears to be turning. In Georgia, where 76 percent of voters endorsed a constitutional amendment defending traditional marriage in 2004, the Georgia Supreme Court upheld that same constitutional amendment. On the same day, the New York Court of Appeals deferred to state lawmakers to define marriage. And the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts – which set off a firestorm nationwide by legalizing “gay marriage” in 2004 – has ruled against blocking a proposed constitutional amendment that would overturn that very ruling.

For proponents of traditional marriage and opponents of judicial activism alike, this is good news. It means that the will of the people as expressed through elected representatives or direct democracy will decide the issue, not renegade judges.

Quote of the Week

“No one should have any lingering doubts about what’s going on in the Middle East. It’s war, and it now runs from Gaza into Israel, through Lebanon and thence to Iraq via Syria. There are different instruments, ranging from Hamas in Gaza to Hezbollah in Syria and Lebanon and on to the multifaceted ‘insurgency’ in Iraq. But there is a common prime mover, and that is the Iranian mullahcracy, the revolutionary Islamic fascist state that declared war on us 27 years ago and has yet to be held accountable.” – Michael Ledeen, National Review Online, July 13, 2006.