Free Republic

Carlos Cruz has a strategy for surviving the worst global recession in 60 years: pay less in taxes and pass the savings along to customers. "I'm declaring half as much as I used to," said Cruz, 29, who runs a painting business in Madrid. "Prices have fallen by 30 percent and customers will choose you for a difference of as little as 50 euros ($67.70)," said Cruz, an Ecuadorian who has lived in Spain since 2001. The production of goods and services that are lawful, though not declared, may grow the most as a proportion of total output since 2000,...

U.S. Rep. Hilda L. Solis, President Obama's choice for Labor secretary, faced new obstacles after lawmakers who were expected to vote on her confirmation Thursday abruptly canceled the hearing amid reports of back taxes owed by her husband. Solis, a Democrat from El Monte, is at least the fourth Obama nominee whose confirmation has been complicated by tax troubles. The Obama administration conceded it had not discovered on its own that California tax liens had been filed against Solis' husband, Sam H. Sayyad. The White House learned about the liens -- a matter of public record -- on Tuesday in...

SAN DIEGO - A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted the head of a worldwide evangelical movement on charges of income tax evasion. Morris Cerullo, president of Morris Cerullo World Evangelism, misstated his income by $550,000 between 1998 and 2000, according to the indictment. Cerullo was charged with three counts of filing false tax returns, each of which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $100,000 penalty. Arrangements were being made for Cerullo's surrender, said Assistant U.S. Attorney George Hardy. Cerullo, an evangelist known for his cable network and worldwide crusades, could not be reached for...

<p>Compared to the $170 million in campaign contributions that President Bush has amassed, the campaign war chest of Sen. John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, is practically empty. Nonetheless, because of loopholes in the federal campaign reform law, Kerry supporters have been able to match the Bush campaign TV ad wars, 30-second spot for 30-second spot, in recent weeks. In 17 battleground states, where Bush is already running ads, media watchers say pro-Kerry/anti-Bush spots have sprouted in numbers that equal if not exceed the Bush ads.</p>

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- A preliminary California Highway Patrol report on the farmers market accident that killed 10 people says error by the elderly driver was the only possible cause, according to the Los Angeles Times. The first extensive investigation into the July 16 crash rules out mechanical failures and says no objects pressed down on the accelerator as 86-year-old George Russell Weller steered his car straight through the market, said the Times, which obtained a copy of the CHP report. CHP investigators said Weller had his "eyes open, hands on the steering wheel at the 10 o'clock and 2...