In Case You Missed It: Single-Bid Contracts, Corporate Tax Cut Helps Wages, Minimum Wage Increases Backfire

MacIver News Service | August 9, 2019

Catch up on the important news of the week for the fiscal conservative, in case you missed it! #wiright #wipolitics Click To Tweet

The days are numbered until summer’s end, but the news cycle never slows down in the fiscal world. So you don’t miss a thing on state politics or MacIver’s lawsuit against Gov. Evers, keep up with all things MacIver on Twitter.

This week, single-bid contracts boom under DOT Secretary-Designee Craig Thompson; the Heritage Foundation shows how the lower corporate tax rate is helping everyone; and the $15 minimum wage proves fruitless once again, this time in New York City. Here are some important articles for the fiscal conservative, in case you missed it!

Single-Bid Contracts Flourish Under Thompson

Two years ago the Legislative Audit Bureau identified single-bid contracts as a major source of fiscal waste. There appears to be no halting this wasteful spending under Gov. Evers.  In the eight months that DOT Secretary-Designee Craig Thompson has been running the DOT, he has awarded $320 million dollars in single-bid contracts. Thompson has awarded $12 million less than former Secretary Dave Ross did in 2 years. On top of this wasteful spending, Thompson is still eyeing a  raised gas tax, taxpayers beware.

How Cutting the Corporate Tax Rate Is Helping Everyone

The Heritage Foundation writes that the corporate tax cuts within Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has made America highly competitive once again in the global market. The left argue that this legislation was intended to make the rich richer, but it is the employee who is harmed with a high corporate tax rates and the employee who benefits when it is lowered. Wage growth is at a 10-year high and everyone is benefiting from this policy.

A Two-Step Plan for Price Transparency in Health Care

President Trump has taken strides to make health care costs more transparent by forcing hospitals to post their “chargemaster” rates and his new rule would require hospitals to reveal the rates negotiated with insurance companies. However, he could do even more to help. AEI writes, “…two steps are necessary: a required pricing list established by the federal government of strictly standardized services, and universal reference-based payments by insurance plans for services on the required pricing list.”

New York City Businesses Struggle After Minimum Wage Increase

New York City business owners are struggling under the weight of the city’s new $15 minimum wage. Six months after the policy was enacted, owners, particularly of restaurants, say they’ve been forced to cut staff, eliminate shifts, and raise prices. The pain won’t stop here. The city’s minimum wage currently stands at $13 an hour and is slated to jump to $15 by the end of the year. Anyone who read MacIver’s report on a minimum wage increase could have seen this coming. 

The Great American Oil and Natural Gas Boom

The US oil and natural gas pipeline build-out continues despite many misleading reports across the media. U.S. crude oil and gas production has boomed since 2008. There has been an increased demand in U.S. oil and gas, which has led to more pipelines being built to keep up with the increased demand. Some even expect that gas prices will not clear $3 per gallon until 2026 at the earliest.