Free Republic

To solve the problem of greedy people making more than others, envious people created a system to take what the greedy had earned. As Rush Limbaugh so rightly pointed out, “No nation has ever taxed itself into prosperity.” So many people have accepted the argument that progressive taxation is just, necessary, and fair, so I know this article will offend many. Hopefully it will also make a few people reconsider their acceptance of policy. Many who are vehemently opposed to socialism, collectivism, and all the other trappings of the centralized corporate state believe that any injustice that might result from...

Storied Minnesota medical-device company Medtronic will move its headquarters to Ireland after shareholders approved a merger Tuesday with Dublin-based health care supplier Covidien. The controversial $43 billion "inversion" deal will allow the new company, to be called Medtronic PLC, to reduce its corporate tax liability as it repatriates cash stored overseas. But the deal has irked longtime Twin Cities shareholders, who will face significant capital gains taxes on their Medtronic holdings. In preliminary vote totals, shareholders representing about 75 percent of Medtronic's outstanding shares approved the deal, general counsel Brad Lerman announced to a special shareholder meeting in Minneapolis. And...

Chris and Ellie Eichman’s electric car gleams — even on this overcast day — in the backyard of the modest home they share with their nine-month old daughter. They did tons of research before deciding to purchase a Nissan Leaf in 2012. It was the first sold in Wisconsin. And it’s just one of the Eichman’s “sustainable” investments: 12 solar panels span the garage roof; their second car is a Prius. If Wisconsin’s governor and legislature give the transportation budget a thumbs up, the Eichmans would pay an annual transportation fee — $50 for the Prius, another $50 for the...

The incoming chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, Sen. John Thune (R-SD) put all options on the table when it comes to replenishing the shrinking Highway Trust Fund, which is widely seen as opening the door to a tax increase. Per an AP report, “Gas and diesel taxes haven’t risen since 1993, resulting in perennial shortfalls in the fund that pays for most road projects”. Several commissions have called for raising the taxes, but Congress has been reluctant. Instead lawmakers have dipped repeatedly into the general treasury to keep the trust fund solvent. The federal gas tax...

Despite tumbling gas prices, North Carolina's tax on gasoline went up starting Thursday. State leaders still said there won't be enough money in the coffers to cover the transportation projects statewide. Fabian Escoto fills up his tank about once a week and word that the gas tax is increasing didn’t rattle him too much. “As long as it's not too much, I don't think it's going to affect a whole lot of people,” Escoto said. North Carolina's tax on a gallon of gas increased by a penny to 37.5 cents – the highest gas tax in the South and one...

hether one observed Christmas or Hanukkah — or any other seasonal festivity — there was a nice little gift included for the drivers of this nation. Gasoline prices, in case anyone hasn't noticed, are down, way down. The average price of a gallon of unleaded in Maryland by Christmas week was in the neighborhood of $2.53, according to AAA, and there were some stations in the Baltimore area selling it for as little as $2.22. lRelated The cheap oil dividend One year ago, average gasoline prices were about $1 per gallon higher, which means a typical fill-up is saving drivers...

California's Hidden Gas Tax Starts today. Here is a complete overview of the Cap and Trade program in California - and where the money is REALLY going.

‘There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries.” The Bard was right, and it is not too much of an exaggeration to say that we have reached just such a point. We have a unique opportunity to end the rancorous debate about climate change, a debate that is poisoning the air — the political air, that is — and inhibiting progress on two fronts: progress on addressing the possibility that we are on the road to...

Minnesota's highway needs can't be met without more tax revenue, Gov. Mark Dayton said Tuesday -- setting him up for a possible clash with the new Republican majority in the House. Dayton is finalizing his 2016-17 budget proposal, which aims to raise what he says is the $6 billion Minnesota's roads need over the next 10 years. The plan calls for a 6.5 percent wholesale surtax on gasoline -- separate from the existing 28.5 cents-per-gallon tax already levied. That means the tax would bring in more money when gas prices increase. "Our transportation systems are getting worse," Dayton said. "Anybody...

By Josh Richman San Jose Mercury News 12/29/14 07:18 PM After months of seeing gas prices sink ever lower, Californians will ring in 2015 by paying more at the pump as a result of the state’s landmark greenhouse-gas emissions law. But how much more we’ll pay, and whether it’s worth it, remains bitterly debated among oil companies, some state lawmakers and environmentalists. Starting Thursday, gasoline and diesel producers will be subject to the state’s cap-and-trade system, forcing them either to supply lower-carbon fuels — which are more expensive to produce — or to buy pollution permits for the greenhouse gases...

Driving in Pennsylvania will get more expensive in 2015 so enjoy the lower gas prices at the pump while we have them. As of Thursday, the state's uncapping of another third of its oil company franchise tax will cause it to rise by 10 cents a gallon and that likely will impact what you pay at the pump. But with gas prices averaging $2.48 a gallon on Sunday according to GasBuddy's daily survey of 241 gas outlets in Harrisburg, even if that full increase is passed along to consumers it would still keep the per-gallon price well below the $3...

This policy brief focuses on the challenge of developing a viable, user-friendly, per-mile charging system to replace fuel taxes for the nation's major highways. In doing so, it outlines 10 reasons why per-mile tolling is a better highway user fee than fuel taxes. Reason 1: Per-mile tolling is a direct, rather than indirect, user fee. Motorists would pay for the amount of service they received; they would pay providers directly for providing that service; and they would know exactly how much they were paying and what they were getting for it. Reason 2: Per-mile tolling is a sustainable long-term funding...

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Gas prices are finally falling, but those savings might not last long.At least 18 states, including Minnesota, are considering taxing drivers based on distance. Gas prices aren’t the only reason for the idea, since newer cars get better gas mileage. Oregon has a pilot project that will start next year to test the idea. They’re having 5,000 volunteers pay 1.5 cents per mile instead of the 30-cents-per-gallon tax.An electronic device attached to their vehicle will report how far they drive in state.

If you decided to skip health insurance this year, consider this: Unless you can prove you have a valid excuse, you will be liable for a penalty during the coming tax season — and the time to start making your case is now. That’s not all. People who bought subsidized insurance through one of the marketplaces may have new tax forms to complete, while paying the penalty itself may demand some serious number-crunching. The Internal Revenue Service is gearing up to answer questions, but it warns that only half of the callers may get through — and those who succeed...

Jonathan Gruber is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) health economist who was one of the architects of the Affordable Care Act (better known as Obamacare) in America, modelled on the UK's NHS. Not once, but twice he has been caught on tape saying that the "stupidity of the American voter" made a certain amount of duplicity necessary to the passage of Obamacare. The first time was during the panel sessions at the 2013 Annual Health Economics Conference, the video of which you can see by clicking on the "Enza Ferreri Blog" link above. (The relevant remarks are at 20:25.)...

Finally. James O'Keefe interviews the gentleman that exposed Gruber and happens upon the true reason for ObamaCare. I've been thinking this for over a year. ObamaCare is nothing more than turning back the the provision of healthcare coverage paid for by employers that was brought about by FDR's wage & price controls implemented in the 1940s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stabilization_Act_of_1942 There you have it. It's just about the money coming out of your pocket.

Slumping oil prices have helped push Alaska’s potential budget deficit this year to $3.5 billion — an increase of $2.1 billion from what lawmakers expected in April. The price of oil, forecast at $105 a barrel in the state’s spring revenue forecast, is now expected to average about $76 a barrel for the fiscal year that ends June 30. The price is forecast to dip even lower, to $66 a barrel, during fiscal 2016 before rebounding. The average price last fiscal year was $107 a barrel, according to the fall revenue forecast released Wednesday. The forecast expects unrestricted general fund...

ObamaCare's individual mandate penalties were supposed to encourage people to buy insurance. But it turns out that the penalties amount to a regressive tax that hits lower-income families the hardest. That's the conclusion of the Minnesota-based Citizen's Council for Health Freedom (CCHF), which found that low-income couples who don't buy an ObamaCare plan will end up paying a far greater share of their income in penalties than those making twice as much. In 2016, the penalty will be either $325 per adult plus $162.50 per child, or 2% of any income above the tax-filing threshold, whichever is greater. So a...

Gasoline prices are at their lowest level in four years. The price at the pump in many states is almost a full dollar cheaper than it was last spring. So some politicians think this is a good time to raise gasoline taxes. Several states are tired of waiting for Congress to fix the federal highway trust fund, so they're considering raising gas taxes themselves to address their crumbling roads. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is trying to sell that state's legislators — especially those in his own Republican party — on raising the state's motor fuel tax to fund long neglected...

Now that calorie counts on restaurant menus are a done deal, it's time to take the next step toward slimming America's flabby waistline.. A national soda tax. I know, I know: This is the kind of nanny-state talk that causes seizures among conservatives and libertarians. It's an intrusion on personal freedom, a trampling of consumer choice, blah-blah-blah. It's also, as we've learned from taxes on cigarettes and alcohol, a highly effective method of influencing behavior that carries high social costs.