Policy Reports & Briefs
July 18, 2025
The Hidden Medicaid Expansion
As Congress has worked through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act as part of the budget reconciliation process, one of the key policy debates dividing Members has been reforming the out-of-control Medicaid program. This is a federal welfare program that has grown by 140 percent since the passage of Obamacare in 2010,1 which expanded the program to able-bodied, work-capable adults instead of its pre-Obamacare restriction to a primarily sick and indigent population.
January 28, 2025
Sustainable Budgeting: A Pro-Growth Blueprint for Fiscal Responsibility in the States
Government spending is a critical factor in the economic health of American states and people. As economist Milton Friedman once said, “Cutting government spending and government intrusion in the economy will almost surely involve immediate gain for the many, short-term pain for the few, and long-term gain for all.”
This report explores the concept of sustainable budgeting, its implementation across various states, and the challenges and opportunities that arise when applying this framework. Drawing on insights from the Sustainable Budget Project by Americans for Tax Reform, we can examine states in which consistent data evaluation has revealed the best and worst practices in budgeting. We can also highlight the importance of applying this approach at the federal and local government levels to realize the benefits of fiscal discipline.
December 20, 2024
Operation Brushfire: An LLM For Major Regulatory Reform
A Policy Brief Prepared for The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)
The brilliance of the American Constitution lies in its carefully crafted balance of powers, designed to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful. Legislative authority was intentionally reserved for Congress, made up of elected representatives accountable to the people, while the executive branch was tasked solely with enforcing laws and the Juciary with interpreting them. However, the rise of the bureaucracy has effectively created a fourth branch of government—one never envisioned by the Founders.
This unelected body, originally intended to serve a purely administrative role within the executive branch, now wields significant legislative and regulatory power, undermining the Founders’ vision of safeguarding liberty by ensuring that lawmaking remains exclusively in the hands of representatives chosen by the people.
December, 2024
Blockchain and Digital Assets: America Risks Missing the Open Internet Revolution
Blockchains and the digital assets they rely on ultimately fulfill the original promise of the internet — namely, a radical decentralization giving power and autonomy back to the people. Blockchains’ peer-to-peer architecture offers the final word to secure our fundamental rights of free speech and free association in the digital internet, no matter how powerful the forces arrayed in opposition.
December 10, 2023
The Case Against Board Diversity Mandates
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed and is in the process of developing a number of major changes to corporate governance in the U.S., which will fundamentally alter public companies’ ability to operate according to the best interests of shareholders and other stakeholders.
This policy brief addresses proposals to mandate gender diversity on corporate boards, and presents evidence from decades of research on women on boards and corporate governance.1 In contrast to the frequently cited “business case” for women on boards, the research evidence clearly indicates that quotas and other mandatory guidance for board gender diversity are a net negative to firms, shareholders, and other stakeholders – including the very women whom the initiatives are supposedly intended to help.
November 3, 2023
Colloquium Synopsis : What to do about Big Tech
One of the most pressing and divisive issues across the conservative movement concerns Big Tech. Of primary concern is the censorship of conservative speech and the existence or creation of oligopolies. The Club for Growth Foundation convened thirty-five of the brightest minds in technology, academia, policy, and industry, for a colloquium to build consensus for tackling points of contention related to Big Tech. The three-day colloquia, “What to Do About Big Tech?” consisted of meaningful discussions among leaders from different backgrounds with divergent views.
October 31, 2023
Reaganomics for the 21st Century
America faces remarkably similar challenges to those that confronted President Reagan. The combination of reckless government spending6and money printing have fueled the worst inflation in 40 years and forced the Federal Reserve to substantially raise interest rates. American tax rates remain elevated when compared with OECD averages, putting the U.S. at a significant disadvantage for attracting capital investment. Finally, regulatory costs have steadily climbed since the Reagan years.10 The Biden administration has embarked on a dangerous campaign to supercharge this regulatory expansion – the cost of which will be borne by hardworking American taxpayers through reduced economic growth.Policymakers who wish to boost middle-class incomes would be wise to emulate President Reagan.
December 13, 2022
Where Jobs Go to Die: The Department of Labor’s Proposed Rule on Independent Contractors
Independent contractors are essential to our economy. They are used constantly by businesses for a wide variety of functions, from accounting, to translation, to writing, to consulting, to selling products. And they are used every day by regular people: independent contractors fix our appliances, walk our dogs, take care of our kids, and drive us home. Independent contractor work has grown rapidly over the last twenty years, due largely to changes in technology that have made it easier for willing workers to connect with willing buyers. It has grown especially fast for women, who prize the flexibility of independent work, and it offers more economic opportunities for lower-income and minority Americans. The growth of independent contracting has been a good thing for workers, businesses, consumers, and the economy as a whole.
September 21, 2022
The White House Report on Crypto’s “Climate Impact” is a Joke
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (“OSTP”), along with twenty federal agencies/entities, revealed that they understand neither energy, science, nor digital assets in the recently issued interagency report on the Climate and Energy Implications of Crypto-Assets in the United States (“OSTP Report” or “Report”). This article will address and correct the Report’s major misconceptions and false narratives, as well as show how the Report is a politically-motivated attack on the free market, freedom, innovation, and American ingenuity.
August 4, 2022
The Case Against A U.S. Central Bank Digital Currency
New digital assets like Bitcoin allow people to make peer-to-peer transactions. The innovation created by Bitcoin is that it is an immutable ledger of transactions. It is immutable in the sense that updates to the ledger require the consensus of the nodes on the Bitcoin network. It cannot be changed by any single party and therefore does not require the trust of any particular intermediary.
May 11, 2022
How President Biden’s Agenda Slows Economic Growth
President Biden’s agenda includes raising taxes; substantially increasing government spending, including entitlement payments; imposing burdensome regulations on businesses and ordinary Americans; increasing the cost of labor through regulation and expansion of union power while real wages are declining; and forfeiting America’s energy independence.
September 21, 2021
Economic Consequences of President Biden’s Fiscal Policy
President Biden has proposed to increase the burden of federal spending substantially over the next 10 years, diverting nearly $5.5 trillion from the private sector to the government according to independent experts. Most, but not all, of this new spending would be financed with higher tax rates on work, saving, investment, and entrepreneurship.