The president's 2003 tax proposals include accelerating the so-called "marriage penalty" relief for middle- and upper-class married couples, rather than phasing in the change over a decade. Yet, for the largest source of cash assistance to low-income working families—the earned income tax credit...

Here's one message from the new "bipartisan" Medicare bill being debated in Congress: low-income elderly people are having a hard time paying for their prescription drugs, so we need...another tax cut for rich people! Today's tax cut for rich people—health savings accounts (HSA)—has been all but...

In a satirical piece for Public Radio International's Marketplace, Len Burman announces his presidential candidacy built upon one issue: abolishing all taxes. The piece is a humorous attempt to highlight the problems raised by unrestrained deficit spending.

Tax cut advocates favor lower taxes and smaller government, but so far they've gotten lower taxes and bigger government. In this Marketplace commentary, Len Burman argues that the resulting deficits will translate into much higher taxes in the future, especially on those with high...

The President was in North Carolina and Pennsylvania today. He's been stumping like a candidate to win support for his changes to Social Security and cuts in the budget. In Detroit, Mr. Bush said it's time to eliminate the programs that don't deliver on their promises. Commentator and tax expert...

Social Security's original mission was to protect society's most vulnerable from poverty. Figuring out who needs protection and how much, however, is not so simple. There are many sources of redistribution in Social Security, from rich to poor, from shorter lived to longer lived, and across...

In this commentary, Len Burman argues that if Congress can't reform the tax system, the next best thing would be to just leave it alone. Constant tinkering just adds to complexity.

In this commentary for public radio's Marketplace program, Len Burman, director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, explains why automatically adjusting the minimum wage for inflation benefits more than just low-wage workers.

Looking only at standard macroeconomic statistics, you would think the economy was in very good shape. Gross domestic product has grown at a 4.4 percent annual rate in the last six months, well above the historical average. But these statistics are like looking through a rearview mirror. Jason...

Institute fellow Rudy Penner questions the costs and after-effects of heavy economic stimulus. There is a path out of our misery, he says, but it is surrounded by big and little mines, some of which have been planted by public policy.