Free Republic

Our big spending national government—whether Republican, Democrat or whatever—ran up a national debt approaching ten trillion dollars during the 220 and some odd years prior to Obama taking office. During Obama’s 8 year term, our big spending government nearly doubled that debt. No one’s fault (cough, cough), but we and our posterity are now staring at an unbelievable, unmanageable, unsustainable, unpayable mountain of twenty trillion dollars in accumulated debt with no let up in sight! In fact they want to continue the wholesale printing and spending of money we don’t have and they’re planning on raising the debt ceiling to...

Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget would reduce tax credits for the poor — effectively taking money out of their pockets — while decreasing taxes overall, according to a nonpartisan report released Friday. Low and middle income people would lose tax credits worth about $49.4 million over two years, the new Legislative Fiscal Bureau report said. Those affected most by Walker’s proposal would include low-income families who qualify for the earned income tax credit program, and low-income homeowners who receive tax rebates under the homestead tax credit. Walker repeatedly promised during his campaign for governor not to raise taxes. Democratic lawmakers...

In the ongoing battle between the fiscal conservatives and the liberal Democrats, there appears little chance of any meaningful movement toward fiscal sanity without the so-called ultimate weapon of a shutdown being employed. The conservative element of the Republicans in the House and Senate claim that only massive spending cuts can save the country from going off a financial cliff into bankruptcy. The Democrats counter that spending really isn't the problem -- the country can afford the spending and more; it is that the rich are not paying enough in taxes. That same argument is used in various state capitals...

Given all the spillovers involved, the big policy question for the world for the next few years is whether the U.S. can get its fiscal house in order. A look at the last 50 years of the U.S. government’s taxing and spending (see chart) suggests it can. But it will take time. Check taxes first. These are labelled “revenues” on the chart and in the U.S. budget historical tables on which they’re based. That’s because taxes aren’t the only form of government income. There are other compulsory fees, as well. But receipts are mainly taxes. (You can download what seems...

Proving once again that he's de termined to restore fiscal sanity to New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie has stuck to his guns and reaffirmed his initial decision to kill the Hudson River tunnel project. Yes, that will hurt commuters, who've long sought relief from congested rail and road traffic. But so would a sharp increase in New Jersey's gas tax and other levies that would probably rise sky-high to pay for this bloated project. With little to show for it besides a support span, the state has already spent $600 million. And the projected final cost, initially budgeted at $8.7...

KTVA reports: Governor Sarah Palin announced that she is proposing a bill that will allow the state to accept only 55-percent of federal recovery funds. Palin gave several examples that underlined her reasoning for wanting to reject the funds. In total, if the bill were passed, $515-million of the almost $1-billion would be rejected by the state. Please keep in mind the language in the "stimulus" bill that allows the state legislature to go around the governor in accepting "stimulus" funds.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 09-55 Governor Palin Continues Earmark Reform March 13, 2009, Juneau, Alaska – With completion of the federal omnibus appropriations bill for 2009, Governor Palin today recognized her administration's ongoing commitment to earmark reform, backed up by a continuing drastic decrease in the Palin Administration’s federal requests. "When I took office in 2006, I committed to every Alaskan and to Washington, D.C., that this administration would seek fewer earmarks and meet more of Alaska's challenges with fewer federal funds, so needed earmark reform could be realized," said Governor Palin. "I am proud of the fact that we...

So the Democrat leaders in the California Legislature, Fabian Nunez and Don Perata, want the governor to put pressure on Assembly Republicans to support their version of an infrastructure bond package. "He is the leader of the Republicans," Núñez said of Schwarzenegger. "One would think the governor has the responsibility of getting the Republicans on board to support whatever views he negotiates with the Legislature." As usual, the speaker fails to grasp the fundamentals of representative democracy. California Civics Lesson Number 1: The two-thirds vote in each house for state-wide bond measures is there for a reason. This is long-term...