Free Republic

Fiscal Policy: Given the number of new tax ideas making the rounds, you'd think we were in a rip-roaring expansion. But we're not, and new taxes are exactly the wrong thing to be proposing.In addition to kicking up taxes on the so-called wealthy, various members of the current administration seem to have lots of new ideas for separating Americans from their money. Ezekiel Emanuel, brother of Rahm Emanuel, President Obama's top aide, is health care adviser to Obama's budget director, Peter Orszag. He wants a 10% value-added tax (VAT), similar to the European Union's, to "pay" for health care reform....

With budget deficits soaring and President Obama pushing a trillion-dollar-plus expansion of health coverage, some Washington policymakers are taking a fresh look at a money-making idea long considered politically taboo: a national sales tax. Common around the world, including in Europe, such a tax -- called a value-added tax, or VAT -- has not been seriously considered in the United States. But advocates say few other options can generate the kind of money the nation will need to avert fiscal calamity. At a White House conference earlier this year on the government's budget problems, a roomful of tax experts pleaded...

MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. (June 2, 2006) -- Marines fighting the ongoing war on terrorism face enemies that are adaptive, decentralized and elusive. According to Headquarters Marine Corps, the enemy will continue to develop new tactics designed to exploit perceived seams in Marine Corps capabilities, having recognized the overwhelming conventional superiority of U.S. forces. In order to maintain dominance on the battlefield, it is essential to the Corps that the methods of war-fighting change continuously, and Marines continue to adapt to new methods while remaining a flexible, combined-arms force. The Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory in...

NAVAL STATION GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, Jan. 13, 2006 – An extra hearing yesterday in the case of a Canadian teen accused of murdering a U.S. Army medic in Afghanistan dealt with acceptable levels of pre-trial publicity. Presiding Officer Marine Col. Robert S. Chester, an experienced military judge, ruled that public comments made by the prosecution did not damage the defense's case. Muneer Ahmad, civilian defense attorney for Omar Ahmed Khadr, requested Jan. 11 that Chester prevent chief prosecutor Air Force Col. Morris Davis from making inflammatory comments in the media. In particular, Ahmad, a law professor at American University, objected...

SIERRA VISTA — The names of two more Sierra Vistans have been added to the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame. Duane R. Brofer and Gerd S. Grombacher were honored at an event last weekend in Phoenix, which saw the fifth annual induction ceremony. They were joined by Henry F. Hauser, who was inducted in 2003 but was too ill to attend at the time. The Hall of Fame is sponsored by Unified Arizona Veterans, Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services and the Office of the Governor. “It recognizes state veterans who have honorably served their country through military service and who...

There's a new cost to buying a house at some developments in San Diego County – a mandatory contribution by the buyer to charity. One of the nation's largest builders has adopted a program requiring homebuyers here to make a payment that will be given to local housing-assistance organizations chosen by a foundation set up by the builder. Lennar Corp. has been requiring the fee, amounting to 1/20th of 1 percent of the sales price of its new houses, under a program rolled out three years ago in Orange County. The company brought the program to San Diego County in...

MEXICO CITY - President Vicente Fox (news - web sites) acknowledged an increase in his personal security Monday after authorities alleged that a member of his staff channeled information to drug lords. Federal authorities last week detained Nahum Acosta, director of the office coordinating the president's travel, alleging he passed at least part of Fox's plans to an organized drug gang, according to Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha. Information on the president's movements is restricted for security reasons. "I've intensified the vigilance not only inside the prisons and within police institutions but also within the administration because this...

Race-baiting added to GOP repertoire Derrick K. Baker The separate announcements that archconservative Alan Keyes has agreed to migrate to Illinois to enter the race for U.S. Senate as the Republican nominee and that unapologetic racist James Hart will represent the GOP in the November congressional election in Tennessee have the net effect of repelling even more disenfranchised and unregistered minority voters. But maybe that's the goal. The win-at-all-costs, confrontational brand of politics that again is rearing its ugly head - not that it ever was put to bed - illustrates the deep division that still separates the major parties....