Free Republic

With this being budget week, the federal government’s taxing and spending decisions are under the microscope — as they should be in a healthy democracy. But what about government’s hidden tax: regulation? With no equivalent of a federal budget day, regulatory decisions and their implications get precious little scrutiny and we are all worse for it. Thankfully, regulatory transparency got a considerable boost Thursday when the Red Tape Reduction Act (C-21) received Royal Assent and became law. Minister Tony Clement, who has championed the bill, can be proud that Canada is now the first country in the world to require that for...

President Obama said Monday he supports the recommendations of a military commission that would reduce the size of traditional military retirement pay by about 20 percent and offer a new defined-contribution benefit for troops who leave before 20 years of service. In a letter to congressional leaders, Mr. Obama said the proposals are “an important step forward in protecting the long-term viability of the all-volunteer force, improving quality-of-life for service members and their families, and ensuring the fiscal sustainability of the military compensation and retirement systems.” Mr. Obama said he has directed his advisers to refine some recommendations, and that...

The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain on one side and the United States of America and its allies on the other. 17.83 Trillion dollars. What a great Patriotic number to make the limit of our Total National Debt that we will agree to pay back, with interest. When we know, with certainty, our limit of Total Debt, we can then chose either the 10 or 15 % Reduction in TOTAL Federal spending on a year to year basis to get our National Debt back to the pre-TARP National Debt...

U.S.-based multinational corporations added 1.5 million workers to their payrolls in Asia and the Pacific region during the 2000s, and 477,500 workers in Latin America, while cutting payrolls at home by 864,000, the Commerce Department reported. The faster growth abroad was concentrated in emerging markets, such as China, Brazil, India and Eastern Europe, according to economists Kevin Barefoot and Raymond Mataloni, of the U.S. Commerce Department. "Judging by the destination of sales by affiliates in those countries," the economists wrote in a recent survey, "the goal of the U.S. multinational corporations' expanded production was to primarily sell to local customers...

"We didn’t need a rating agency to tell us that we need a balanced, long-term approach to deficit reduction. That was true last week. That was true last year. That was true the day I took office." --Barack Obama, Aug. 8, 2011. Barack Obama took office Jan. 20, 2009. That was 972 days ago this morning, almost to the hour when he finally offered his newest full-blown deficit reduction plan. (Snip) If it's Monday, the campaigning president must be issuing a new plan for something (before another $35,800 per ticket fundraiser in New York City). Last week it was his...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Even as President Barack Obama prepares his opening bid on long-term deficit reduction, the White House wants to keep the focus on jobs and is determined to avoid getting sucked into another budget fight with lawmakers. Administration officials see the task of attending to deficits as necessary but not necessarily urgent, compared with the need to revive the economy and increase employment. The White House also sees this as the time to draw sharp contrasts with congressional Republicans, whose public approval ratings are lower than Obama's. As a result, when Obama announces at least $2 trillion in...

Late last week, it looked like Tom Coburn might rejoin the Gang of Six in the Senate, which restarted their efforts to find a compromise on the budget as the debt-ceiling limit debate rages. Today, however, Coburn will become a Gang of One by releasing his own plan to reduce the deficit by twice the amount of the Paul Ryan plan. Unlike Ryan, Coburn plans on increasing federal revenues, but through reform of the tax code: Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said Sunday the federal government can save $1 trillion though tax reform, a proposal that will put him at odds...

He also renewed his call for Congress to eliminate some tax breaks for the well-off as part of any agreement. Republicans want deep spending cuts without any tax increases while Obama and Democrats call for what they term a "balanced" approach. That means one that also includes new revenue in the form of higher taxes for some, though Democrats steer clear of using phrases like "tax increases" or "higher taxes." "Now, it would be nice if we could keep every tax break, but we can't afford them," Obama said. "Because if we choose to keep those tax breaks for millionaires...

h, boy! Do I have a story to tell you!! But first...two disclaimers: I totally have Krystal's permission to share this story with you. This post will likely anger you. Either you will be enraged by my point of view (sorry 'bout that!) or you will join me in my own outrage. Nobody leaves this place without singing the blues! :-) If we've been together for a while, you already know all about my journey through the desert of infertility. You know what? No one really takes you very seriously when you look back on that struggle while, at the...

I guess we really shouldn't be surprised. After all, this is what Obama and his team of globalists wanted, wasn't it? It's pretty much what he promised his hate-America base. If anyone was listening, they would have heard it. US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has told the BBC that the world "cannot depend as much on the US as it did in the past". He said that other major economies would have to grow more for the global economy to prosper. He also played down any differences in policy between the US and Europe regarding deficit reduction. Mr Geithner was...

Down on debt: White House panel looks at deficit reductionApril 27, 2010 Today President Obama convenes a bipartisan commission to address the growing federal deficit. Leading the 18-member panel are Alan K. Simpson, a former Republican Senator from Wyoming, and Erskine Bowles, a Democrat and former White House chief of staff. The president has said that everything will be on the negotiating table when considering changes to federal spending and taxes. What are the possible ways to balance the budget?

REGINA — The provincial government is axing 82 agencies, boards and commissions, saying some had already completed their work and others hadn't met in years. And while some of the boards had still been operating and incurring costs, their work had become redundant, said Deputy Premier Ken Krawetz. The discontinuations will result in savings of about $500,000, said Krawetz. "It's a half a million dollars of committees that we no longer need because their functions have either been completed or their tasks are now a responsibility of someone else," he said. The announcement Wednesday isn't necessarily a symbolic gesture of...

BRUSSELS, Belgium, June 11, 2009 – With NATO defense ministers having agreed to reduce the alliance’s military presence in Kosovo from 14,000 to 10,000 troops by the year’s end, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today urged that the reduction take place as an organized process. On the first day of an alliance defense ministers conference here, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer announced the force reduction today, noting that Army Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, NATO’s supreme allied commander for Europe, has proposed moving toward a deterrent presence in Kosovo that will require fewer troops in the country. Gates said...

Russia and America pledge to slash nuclear stockpiles Tom Baldwin and Philip Webster Russia and America have pledged to slash their nuclear stockpiles in a groundbreaking agreement in London on the eve of the G20 summit. President Obama and President Medvedev issued a statement that promised a “fresh start” in relations that could include a legally binding arms reduction treaty by the end of the year. White House officials indicated that the number of nuclear warheads was likely to be reduced to no more than 1,500 each. It was the first time that the two leaders had met. Mr Obama...

BAGHDAD, March 8, 2009 – Two Army brigades leaving Iraq in the next six months won’t be replaced, Multinational Force Iraq officials announced today. Associated enabling forces -- such as logistics, engineers and intelligence soldiers -- will leave along with the brigades, and an Air Force F-16 squadron that recently returned to its home station also will not be replaced, officials said. The drawdown will reduce the total number of U.S. brigade combat teams in Iraq from 14 to 12. A British combat brigade also will return home without replacement. Officials said the increased level of security and stability that...

NAIROBI, Kenya – The new U.S. government abruptly reversed years of Bush administration policy Monday by calling for a legally binding international treaty to reduce mercury pollution, which a senior American diplomat called the most important chemical problem in the world today. Some 6,000 tons of mercury enter the environment each year, about a third generated by power stations and coal fires. Much settles into the oceans where it enters the food chain and is concentrated in predatory fish like tuna. Children and fetuses are particularly vulnerable to poisoning by the toxic metal, which can cause birth defects, brain damage...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- In an idea that is more symbolism over substance, a leading Democratic Party activist says he's going to talk to Obama about adding language to the Democratic Party platform calling for the "reduction" of abortions. Yet the proposal wouldn't call for any actual bills or efforts to limit abortions. The proposed language includes no mention of the kinds of initiatives Obama has opposed -- limiting taxpayer funding of abortions, allowing parental involvement, or banning late-term abortions.

Romney to Downsize Post-Super Tuesday? ABC News' Matt Stuart Reports: Mitt Romney suggested Saturday that he might reduce his staff after Super Tuesday, saying he has "a much larger staff" than may be required "as you go on to these subsequent primaries." (...) http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/02/romney-to-downs.html

WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2008 – Plans to withdraw four Army brigade combat teams and two Marine battalions by July are “on track” as the military seeks to draw down the number of troops in Iraq as quickly as ground conditions allow, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said today. Appearing today on CNN’s “Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer,” Army Gen. David H. Petraeus said the scheduled withdrawal will reduce the number of troops at the height of the surge by one quarter, or roughly 42,500. Further reductions after July will be based on the state of Iraq’s security, he added....

WASHINGTON, Nov. 15, 2007 – Surge-supplied U.S. and Iraqi security forces have contributed to a marked decrease of insurgent-committed violence in eastern Baghdad, a senior U.S. military officer said here today. “We have been effective, and we have seen violence significantly reduced as Iraqi security forces have taken a larger role in all aspects of operations,” Army Col. Jeffrey Bannister, commander of 2nd Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team, told Pentagon reporters from Camp Liberty in Baghdad during a satellite-carried news conference. In addition, Bannister said, he has observed increasing harmony among Sunni and Shiite residents in his sector. During...