Free Republic

Republican lawmakers have it within their sights to enact what could be the most far-reaching reform of state budgeting in modern times. The deal on the table would create a real rainy day fund, setting aside monies during boom years to use when state tax revenues fall. The effect would be to slow the growth of state spending and reduce pressure to raise taxes – a top priority for the GOP. The deal would also give the governor new authority to cut certain spending in midyear if revenues were to dip below a set threshold. For Republicans, this would be...

What word does Barack Obama and his supporters keep chanting? “Change!” Like a drumbeat, Obama’s chant for change runs nonstop in an endless loop. But how does Obama want to change America if he becomes president? Here are six different areas he would like changed. For starters, Obama received a 100 percent rating from NARAL (a pro-abortion group) in 2005, 2006, and 2007. Why do they hold him in such high esteem? Because he supports every pro-abortion bill that comes along. He wants tax dollars for abortions, he voted against notifying parents of minors about abortions, he supports partial-birth abortion,...

Desperate to stem the rise of gang violence in Los Angeles, the City Council agreed Tuesday to draft a ballot measure that would impose a parcel tax to raise $50 million or more annually for intervention and prevention programs. However, council members said it was unlikely the proposal would go onto the ballot until next year, skipping the municipal election in May. Also Tuesday, City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo released his plan for reducing gangs, which includes a call for school uniforms to be required for all Los Angeles Unified School District students, legal action to shut down the headquarters of...

If Hillary Clinton runs for President in 2008, just 25% of Americans say they would definitely vote for her. That's down five points over the past two weeks. It's also the lowest level of support measured for the former First Lady in 2005. (Review Trends). Forty percent (40%) would definitely vote against Senator Clinton. That's little changed from two weeks ago. Rasmussen Reports has conducted a Hillary Meter poll every other week since April. Only once has the number who say they would definitely vote against Clinton been higher than it is now.

Film director and Democratic activist Rob Reiner has collected more than a million signatures to get an initiative on the June ballot that would fund preschool for all California children. Reiner's measure would increase income tax rates for the top 0.6 percent of income earners to guarantee a year of preschool for all 4-year-olds. "We did this thing the right way. We brought business leaders and labor together to help draft the initiative," he said in a telephone interview after the announcement outside a San Francisco preschool. The initiative would raise an estimated $2.4 billion a year by increasing income...

The United States is currently embroiled in a national debate over the Social Security program of the nation. This national debate is being initiated and fueled by President George W. Bush because he aptly thinks that something needs to be changed. President Bush correctly stresses that the Democrat Party has been successful in growing the system into an American version of socialism. Like all prior socialistic programs in the past, it is too top heavy and will soon collapse under its own financial weight. He is traveling all around the nations speaking to anyone that will listen to him that...

A float featuring a caricature of US President George Bush makes its way through the crowd during a carnival parade in Duesseldorf (AFP/DDP/Volker Hartmann)

"John Kerry promises not to raise taxes, but the reality is that he has cast 98 votes for tax increases, including voting ten times to raise gas taxes on the middle class. Kerry points to the largest tax increase in American history as the blueprint for his economic plan, which advisor Bob Rubin says Kerry won't reveal until elected. Kerry's credibility problem is only expanding as more and more Americans see the gap between what Kerry says and what Kerry does." - Steve Schmidt, Bush-Cheney '04 Spokesman John Kerry's Votes For Higher Taxes Kerry Voted 98 Times For Tax...

ARLINGTON, VA -- Today, Bush-Cheney '04 announced the release of the campaign's newest television advertisement, "Taxing Our Economy."  The new advertisement highlights John Kerry's record of voting for higher taxes on the middle class throughout his career in the U.S. Senate. "Taxing Our Economy" will run on national cable and in select local markets. A radio version of the advertisement will also run in select local markets.Script for "Taxing Our Economy" President Bush:I'm George W. Bush and I approve this message.Voice Over: Now Kerry promises ...John Kerry: We won't raise taxes on the middle class.Voice Over: Really??? John Kerry's...

THANKS TO George W. Bush's tax cuts, the federal government faces a long-term fiscal crisis. An intended side effect is to undercut social investment of the sort that has bonded two generations of voters since Franklin Roosevelt to the Democratic Party.

<p>San Francisco's looming budget deficit of $352 million projected for next fiscal year has an unlikely coalition of big business representatives, labor leaders and social service providers talking taxes.</p> <p>In its final meeting Friday before making recommendations to the Board of Supervisors, an advisory group led by Supervisor Fiona Ma didn't come to any conclusions about the hard choices San Francisco must make: whether to tax the rich so the city can keep services for the poor, tax everyone equally or forget the new taxes and force Mayor Gavin Newsom to cut spending.</p>

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Senator John Kerry (news - web sites) (D-Ma) reacts as a campaign staffer misses the catch on a baseball thrown by the candidate while playing catch with staff members on the tarmac at the airport in San Antonio, Texas, March 6, 2004. Kerry is heading to campaign in Mississippi as he continues his quest for the Democratic presidential nomination on the heels of his Super Tuesday election wins. REUTERS

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Congress's main budget adviser has looked years into the future and concluded that the nation cannot afford its overheated present as Republicans continue cutting taxes, enriching spending and rolling ever larger debts a decade over the horizon. "Fiscal autopilot is not an option," warned Douglas Holtz-Eakin, director of the Congressional Budget Office in a no-nonsense estimate of serial budget imbalances to come. Unless the deficit-and-tax-cut-happy Congress begins to put the brakes on now, future Americans will most likely be caught in an impossible crunch of historically higher taxes and plummeting health...

<p>Sacramento -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said for the first time Thursday that Republican lawmakers and California voters would have to approve his still- incomplete "fiscal recovery'' plan or face higher taxes because he is unwilling to cut deeply into social programs.</p>

<p>The Missouri Democratic Party and some of its allies are attempting to whip up public opposition to proposed cuts in health care and education, in hopes of pressuring legislators to raise taxes and fees instead during next week's special budget session.</p>

<p>SACRAMENTO -By a ratio of 2-to-1, Californians believe taxes will have to be raised to deal with the state's ongoing budget crisis, but they are extremely skeptical about whether Gov. Gray Davis or the Legislature will do what's right to resolve the mess.</p>

Statement by RNC Chairman Marc Racicot on the First Day of Fiscal-Year 2003 WASHINGTON - Marc Racicot, Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), today issued the following statement: "For the first time in a quarter century the United States Senate has failed to pass a budget. Every American knows that formulation of a budget brings about financial discipline and stability. The Democrat's inability or unwillingness to engage in a process that Republicans and Democrats alike have used for decades to identify spending priorities, control excessive Washington spending and reduce deficits is demonstrative evidence of a lack of competence and...

The D.C. Chapter of Free Republic invites all FReepers and lurkers in good standing to join us Wednesday morning from 9 a.m. until at least 10 a.m. as we freep the former Vice Perpetraitor Al Gore. Here is the announcement from his host, the Brookings Institution:A Brookings Newsmaker Forum Al Gore to Deliver Economic Policy Speech at Brookings Wednesday, October 02, 2002 10a.m - 11 a.m. Falk Auditorium The Brookings Institution 1775 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington, DC   20036 Washington, D.C.—Former Vice President Al Gore will deliver a speech on economic policy issues at the Brookings Institution five weeks before the...

WASHINGTON, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Al Gore, who launched a broad attack on President George W. Bush's Iraq policy last week, will give a "major" policy speech on the U.S. economy in Washington on Wednesday.Stepping up his political profile as he prepares to make a decision on another run for the presidency, Gore will give the address at Washington's Brookings Institution, spokesman Jano Cabrera said.Gore's Iraq speech in San Francisco last week galvanized Democratic concerns over Bush's plans for a military move against Baghdad and helped slow down what was expected to be quick congressional approval of a resolution on...

THE DONKEY IS OUT OF THE BARN The Democrats Hint At Secret Plan To Raise Taxes After The Election. No Budget Means Senate Democrats Can Spend Without Limits And Dream Of Higher Taxes!________________________________________________________________ DNC CHAIRMAN MCAULIFFE ALLUDED TO THE SECRET TAX HIKE PLAN ON CBS' "FACE THE NATION" HOST JOHN ROBERTS: "[I]f you're so critical of the President and his handling of the economy . . . why is there no great hue and cry among Democrats in Congress to repeal the tax cut?" DNC CHAIRMAN TERRY MCAULIFFE: "[W]hy do the Democrats want to get into the debate when the...