Immigrant and Native Consumption of Means‐Tested Welfare and Entitlement Benefits in 2016: Evidence from the Survey of Income and Program Participation
Immigrant consumption of welfare benefits has been a contentious policy issue for decades. A new brief from Cato scholar Alex Nowrasteh examines immigrant welfare consumption, and finds that immigrants consume 21 percent less welfare and entitlement benefits than native‐born Americans on a per capita basis. “The per capita cost of providing welfare to immigrants,” says Nowrasteh, “is substantially less than the per capita cost of providing welfare to native‐born Americans.”
Trump’s Iran Escalation Leads to War Powers Debate
Spurred by the ill‐advised killing of Iranian General Qassim Suleimani, the House of Representatives has approved a measure to restrict President Trump’s authority to strike Iran without congressional approval. The resolution now goes to the Senate, where a vote is likely in the next few days. “No one fallible human being should be entrusted with the war powers now vested in the presidency,” asserts Cato scholar Gene Healy. “Now, more than ever, Congress needs to do everything in its power to reclaim its authority over war and peace.”
- “Trump the Decider,” by Gene Healy
- “Trump Stokes Endless War: His Attack on an Iranian Military Leader Will Come Back to Haunt Him and Us,” by Christopher A. Preble and John Glaser
- “Did Donald Trump Just Start a War with Iran?,” by Ted Galen Carpenter
- “Repeal, Don’t Replace, Trump’s War Powers,” by Gene Healy and John Glaser
The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same: The Failure of Regime‐Change Operations
The United States has, at various times in its history, used military force to promote regime change around the world in pursuit of its interests. In recent years, however, there has been a growing scholarly consensus that these foreign regime‐change operations are often ineffective and produce deleterious side effects. In a new study, Benjamin Denison examines the academic literature to illustrate that the continued confidence in regime change is misguided.
Global Freedom Falls Slightly According to New Human Freedom Index
The United States ranks 15th in the fifth annual Human Freedom Index (HFI), the most comprehensive measure of freedom ever created for a large number of countries around the globe. Overall, the report finds global freedom has fallen slightly since 2008, with a larger number of countries seeing a decline in their level of freedom than an improvement. “The weakest point for the United States continues to be the Rule of Law, which has seen a slight deterioration in recent years — a worrisome development given the fundamental role that the Rule of Law plays in upholding liberty,” says co‐author Ian Vasquez.
- “Human Freedom Index,” by Ian Vásquez and Tanja Porčnik