Free Republic

Democrats control both houses of the California State Legislature with 2/3 majorities, allowing them to pass any bills they wish, with no possibility of obstruction from the powerless GOP. As Democrats will when they feel empowered, they recently passed a major hike in gasoline taxes that will take over $5 billion a year more from the pockets of motorists. With the GOP powerless, what could possibly go wrong? ===== [snip] Caught by surprise, the California Dems reacted stupidly. ====== [snip] But trying to quash a recall election following a tax increase, and dragging three kids into court looks really bad...

The train wreck that is the state of Illinois has generated a lot of questions lately, including “Will its government ever pass a budget?”, “Will it ever pay its overdue bills?”, and “Is it possible for a state to go bankrupt?” Looks like we’re about to get some answers to these questions, along with one more: “What happens to the financial markets when people finally realize that Illinois is far from the only impending bankruptcy?” Today’s Wall Street Journal has an anecdote-filled article illustrating what certainly looks like a case of terminal financial mismanagement (How Bad Is the Crisis in...

The city of Chicago is facing bankruptcy due to Democrat Party leadership that has simply destroyed the great American city. But this isn’t stopping the Democrat leadership in Chicago from paying for and placing a statue in front of Trump Tower in Chicago. The statue reads “Real Fake”. It was reported earlier this week that Chicago is on the verge of bankruptcy. Two years ago Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Chicago’s debt to junk status, now politicians in Chicago are arguing that maybe bankruptcy is not such a bad thing. Chicago currently faces $25 billion in pension promises that it cannot...

<p>Actor-producer Ricky Gervais says President Donald Trump convinced his supporters to see “Hollywood liberal elite” as their enemy.</p> <p>In an extensive interview with Vulture, The Officer creator says the liberal celebrities who want politicians to raise tax rates “are the ones willing to pay more.”</p>

The Illinois official responsible for paying the state's bills is warning that new court orders mean her office must pay out more each month than Illinois receives in revenue. Comptroller Susana Mendoza must prioritize what gets paid as Illinois nears its third year without a state budget. A mix of state law, court orders and pressure from credit rating agencies requires some items be paid first. Those include debt and pension payments, state worker paychecks and some school funding. Mendoza says a recent court order regarding money owed for Medicaid bills means mandated payments will eat up 100 percent of...

HOUSTON - The teachers at Spring Forest Middle School asked KHOU 11's Verify team whether Beltway 8 has been paid off and if the tolls will ever go away in the foreseeable future. "Why do we still pay for toll roads?" wondered 7th grade teacher Rebecca Mustachio. "To be honest, I thought we would be done paying for toll roads." We are not even close to paying the bill for those roads, according to Roxana Sibrian of the Harris County Toll Road Authority. In a statement emailed to KHOU, the authority says it will be paying off construction debt until...

An overwhelming number of people spoke in support of a citywide income tax in Seattle on Wednesday at City Hall. People in support of taxing the richest residents cited everything from “simple justice,” to the untapped pool of money that could be used to deal with pressing problems like homelessness and drug abuse. The proposed tax would be 1.5 percent on adjusted gross income over $250,000 per year. Councilmember Lisa Herbold says there are still many undecided details, chiefly how that income level would be calculated. The legal basis for such a selective tax is shaky and whatever the...

The administration of Gov. Dannel Malloy, a Democrat who has been in office since 2011, projects a budget deficit of more than $5 billion over the next two years, thanks to generous pension benefits and the burden of servicing its big debt, plus falling tax revenue due to the exodus of large employers and residents reaching retirement age. Its budget woes, as well as concerns that they will be repeated year after year, helped lead General Electric in 2015 to consider moving its headquarters out of the state. Last year, it did exactly that. The state’s population is falling: Its...

The mayor of Seattle has altered the rules of his proposed soda tax — which would fund education for minorities–to include diet drinks because affluent white people tend to consume them more. Mayor Ed Murray of the staunchly liberal Seattle city originally proposed the soda tax during his state of the city address in February. Under his initial plan, distributors of sugary drinks would have to pay 2 cents per ounce. It would cover sodas such as Coke and Pepsi, energy drinks like Red Bull, fruit drinks, sweetened teas and bottled coffees such as those sold by Starbucks. The Mayor claimed the tax would bring $16 million in...

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday that cigarette prices in the city would go up $2.50 to $13 which, de Blasio bragged, would be "the highest price in the country." . . . Council Member Fernando Cabrera, who introduced the bill to create the licensing requirement for e-cigarette retailers, described the proposal as "a major step to limit the use of e-cigarettes, which are dangerous nicotine delivery systems that can lead to nicotine and potentially drug addiction."

All House Democrats except one joined 12 Republicans to defeat a bill that would have slightly lowered Michigan’s income tax rate. A review of their campaign record shows that most of the GOP members ran on a record of lower taxes and a smaller state government. In 2007, Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Democrats in the Michigan Legislature — with the help of a few Republicans — pushed through an 11.5 percent income tax hike in the early hours of the morning on a deadline. At the time, the state was running a projected budget deficit and the tax hike was...

Government finance is now the greatest source of controversy in Connecticut, owing to billion-dollar deficits and an epic debt load that ensures high taxes for many years to come. In national politics, Connecticut is deep blue: Its entire congressional delegation is Democratic, and it hasn’t voted for a Republican presidential candidate in 28 years. But the GOP has recently notched strong gains in the state legislature. Though it’s far from clear which party will prevail, the fight for control of state government will depend on who can better respond to broad public recognition that Connecticut needs a new fiscal model....

Two months into the city’s sweetened-beverage tax, supermarkets and distributors are reporting a 30 percent to 50 percent drop in beverage sales and are planning for layoffs. One of the city's largest distributors says it will cut 20 percent of its workforce in March, and an owner of six ShopRite stores in Philadelphia says he expects to shed 300 workers this spring. “People are seeing sales decline larger than anything they’ve seen up to this point in the city,” said Alex Baloga, vice president of external relations at the Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association. In response, the city questioned the legitimacy...

After nearly three decades in L.A. County, Nestlé will soon move its headquarters from California to Virginia. This food services giant with an estimated $235 billion in assets worldwide will by the end of 2018 remove 1,200 jobs from a state that relies heavily on income taxes to fund its massive public sector. Nestlé's exodus follows other big employers, including Toyota, Campbell's Soup, Dunn-Edwards Paints, and eBay – which took with them tens of thousands of jobs – and mirrors the flight of mom-and-pop operations, entrepreneurs, families, and individuals who have ditched the once Golden State for places where the...

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) just released its latest Rich States, Poor States study showing how states measure up in economic performance based on three variables, and then ranking them in a forecast based on 15 variables. Its conclusion is the same this year as in the past:Generally speaking, states that spend less — especially on income transfer programs, and states that tax less — particularly on productive activities such as working or investing — experience higher growth rates than states that tax and spend more. A United Van Lines report confirms ALEC’s conclusions: Retirees, who make up about a quarter of...

Back in the summer of 2012 the City of Los Angeles realized that they had a serious budget problem on their hands and the culprit, as in so many other cities, was the city’s extremely generous pension plan for municipal workers. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, backed by the city council, jumped into the fray and passed what was then described as sweeping pension reform and patted themselves on the back for a job well done. (LA Times, 2012) Despite a raucous protest and threats of a lawsuit from city labor unions, the Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to roll...

California’s health care exchange is requesting that it be allowed a waiver from ObamaCare regulations in order to allow illegal immigrants to buy insurance on the exchange – which would make California the first state to extend ObamaCare to illegal immigrants. ADVERTISEMENT In a Sept. 30 letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, Covered California’s Executive Director Peter Lee said that the Affordable Care Act has been “tremendously successful” in the state and has cut the rate of uninsured in half. “While millions of Californians have benefitted from coverage purchased through the Covered California marketplace, certain individuals are...

Motorists in the Île-de-France will be hit by a tax rise in order to finance the region's public transport, the government has confirmed. France’s finance bill, presented on Wednesday, authorizes the region to increase the regional fuel tax (TICPE) to up to 1.65 cents per liter on diesel, and 1.77 cents per liter on gas. This will make fuel taxes in Île-de-France the highest in the country. […] “We have no choice,” said a spokesperson for Valérie Pécresse, president of the region. “We have to do it; the accounts of the regional transport authority cannot be unbalanced.” …

Hillary Clinton wants to increase the estate tax to 65 percent on the wealthiest Americans, according to her latest tax plan. The Clinton campaign estimates that the increase would raise an addition $75 billion in revenue over the next decade. The current rate maxes out at 40 percent. But Hillary Clinton and her husband Bill have created a number of tax shelters in recent years to dramatically limit their payment of the very same tax. As Bloomberg reported back in 2014: “To reduce the tax pinch, the Clintons are using financial planning strategies befitting the top 1 percent of U.S....

WASHINGTON (AP) — Most Americans are willing to pay a little more each month to fight global warming — but only a tiny bit, according to a new poll. Still, environmental policy experts hail that as a hopeful sign. Seventy-one percent want the federal government to do something about global warming, including 6 percent who think the government should act even though they are not sure that climate change is happening,..