Free Republic

We do not claim that all questions of American Constitutional Law are easily settled; that there is always an easy answer to what the Constitution allows; or to what it requires, or what it forbids. But there are obvious answers on some points. There are clearly defined functions mandated; others, clearly forbidden; as well as an overriding functional purpose. Yet nothing could be clearer than the fact that a Federal tax on wealth is totally contrary to both the letter & spirit of the Constitution of the United States.

Linn County Commissioners Roger Nyquist, John Lindsey and Will Tucker were unanimous Tuesday morning in their opposition to a proposal by Rep. Paul Evans, D-Monmouth, to create a multi-county taxing district supporting construction of a bridge over the Willamette River in Salem. Evans introduced House Bill 2974 on Friday. It would create a Capital Region Special Bridge District and would exact taxes from residents from Polk, Marion, Linn and Yamhill and possibly Benton counties. The proposal is aimed at spreading the cost of bridges regionally since residents of several counties work in Salem. Nyquist was traveling and participated by telephone....

Senator Warren apparently has found her guiding spirit and has announced along with her presidential campaign a campaign of economic terror based on force, not law. Specifically, she has proposed to begin seizing a portion of the assets of some wealthy Americans, a course of action that the federal government has no constitutional power to undertake. The seizure of assets is a fundamentally different thing from the taxation of income, which itself took a constitutional amendment to implement. What Warren is proposing is essentially a federal version of the hated asset-forfeiture programs that have been so much abused by law-enforcement...

Full Title: The battle for Paris: Violence erupts in French capital as police clash with rioters leading to 60 arrests - as Yellow Vest demonstrations rage into FIFTH week They have been protesting since November 17 and, despite a range of concessions by President Emmanuel Macron including scrapping green taxes of diesel and petrol, continue to call for him to step down. 'Macron Resign', a crowd of around 1,500 chanted today in the streets around the 19th Century Opera Garnier, which is normally a huge draw for tourists. Around 8,000 police officers have been deployed ahead of a fifth consecutive...

At least 700 people were arrested in Paris as 5,000 demonstrators faced off against 8,000 police in another violent demonstration by "yellow vest" protesters.Riots broke out all over France despite the supposed cause of the violence being eliminated earlier in the week by the government of President Emmanuel Macron. The government had been claiming that a fuel tax increase was to blame for the protests, but the government rescinded the increase on Wednesday.Donald Trump believes it was Macron's climate change policies: The Paris Agreement isn’t working out so well for Paris. Protests and riots all over France. People do...

MARTINSVILLE-How do you build Interstate 73? How would you expand U.S. 220 in either direction? The Virginia Department of Transportation is open for suggestions, for these or any other road projects in the commonwealth. To do that, the department is holding a series of “hack-a-thon” events throughout the commonwealth, setting up one in each region. For Martinsville and Henry County, the regional meeting will be this Friday and Saturday at CoLab Roanoke, 1327 Grandin Road SW. “Data and technology are changing how we do business,” saidVDOT Chief Deputy Commissioner Rob Cary in a statement. “These hackathons are opportunities for innovators...

The GOP's long-promised change is an offshoot of a tax overhaul last year that cut corporate rates and winnowed down the number of individual tax brackets. On Friday, the Treasury Department and IRS unveiled the new postcard, which will replace the current forms 1040, 1040A and 1040 EZ.

Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today released newly obtained internal IRS documents, including material revealing that Sen. John McCain’s former staff director and chief counsel on the Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee, Henry Kerner, urged top IRS officials, including then-director of exempt organizations Lois Lerner, to “audit so many that it becomes financially ruinous.” Kerner was appointed by President Trump as Special Counsel for the United States Office of Special Counsel.

SACRAMENTO - Even in the wake of previous tax windfalls, Gov. Jerry Brown's announcement on Friday was breathtaking: The state has collected an unexpected $8 billion in tax revenue in recent months, even more additional cash than reported in January. The money is the latest installment in a fiscal winning streak of historic proportions in California. And, as in previous years, the governor's newly revised budget seeks to divvy it up either on short-term spending or long-term savings by putting it into government reserves.

President Trump again brings up a "phase two" of tax cuts. The GOP law passed in December permanently chops taxes for corporations and temporarily reduces the tax rate for most individuals. Trump wants a 'phase two' of tax cuts Trump wants a 'phase two' of tax cuts 18 Hours Ago | 00:44 President Donald Trump said again Monday he wants a "phase two" of tax cuts on top of the law Republicans passed in December. Speaking as the World Series champion Houston Astros visited the White House, Trump asked Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, whether he planned to cut taxes further....

The Trump administrationÂ’s new tariffs on steel and aluminum from abroad could result in more than five jobs lost for every single job gained, according to an analysis from a group that advocates free trade.The job losses will be direct and indirect, as price hikes will hit American companies that buy international steel to make screws, wires, and machines, Laura M. Baughman, president of the Trade Partnership, said Friday during a Heritage Foundation event.The Trade Partnership anticipates a net loss of 146,000 U.S. jobs, Baughman said.On Thursday, President Donald Trump announced steel tariffs of 25 percent and aluminum tariffs of...

Article IV, Section 3 of our Constitution provides that "The Congress shall have the power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States." A Republican-run state might buy up a few square miles of unoccupied land and sell it and the state sovereignty over it to the federal government. The federal government might then sell it off to a state-authorized private party who promises to create a new republic on it with: 1. limits on taxation/governmental fees/fines/licensing, and 2. no foreign military force, and 3. no governmental...

Los Angeles County's homeless population is increasing faster than the supply of new housing, even with the addition of thousands of beds in the last two years and millions of dollars beginning to flow in from two ballot measures targeting the crisis, according to a long-awaited report by the region's homelessness agency. The report showed that officials two years ago far underestimated how much new housing would be needed when they asked city and county voters to approve the tax measures. ... Peter Lynn, executive director of the homeless authority, said Friday that new cost figures had not been calculated,...

Some people have called for a balanced budget amendment to our Constitution as a means of reining in a big-spending Congress. That’s a misguided vision, for the simple reason that in any real economic sense, as opposed to an accounting sense, the federal budget is always balanced. The value of what we produced in 2017—our gross domestic product—totaled about $19 trillion. If the Congress spent $4 trillion of the $19 trillion that we produced, unless you believe in Santa Claus, you know that Congress must force us to spend $4 trillion less privately. Taxing us is one way that Congress...

A new ballot initiative that takes aim at how commercial properties are taxed under California’s Proposition 13 could raise $6 to $10 billion more each year for schools and and other programs and services, according to a new analysis by the Legislative Analyst’s Office. At the heart of the initiative, which is still being reviewed by the state attorney general’s office, is a property tax law enshrined in the state constitution since 1978. Proposition 13 caps taxes for all kinds of properties — residential and commercial — at 1 percent of a property’s purchase price, allowing for increases of no...

While the rest of us were popping champagne to celebrate the arrival of 2018, Seattle greeted the New Year with a 1.75 cent per ounce tax on sweetened beverages. It was needed, former Mayor Ed Murray once said, for a host of noble reasons: to reduce sugar consumption; to raise revenue for important projects like a year of “free” community college for all graduating public high school students; and, to subsidize purchases of healthy foods by low-income families.Before he resigned in disgrace over multiple allegations of personal misconduct, Murray considered the soda tax one of his greatest accomplishments, a “cutting...

California is reeling from its most destructive wildfire season ever, exacerbated Governor Jerry Brown says, by the effects of climate change. Brown says the fires show President Trump is making a mistake by ignoring the facts of global warming. Governor Brown speaks to Bill Whitaker for a report to be broadcast on 60 Minutes, Sunday, Dec. 10, at 7:00 p.m., ET/PT. Brown told Whitaker that President Trump is wrong to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement and misguided for calling it a bad deal for America. "That's a preposterous idea, not even a shred of truth in that...

Imagine the worst possible tax you can think of. What would it look like? If you’re like most people, you thought of some fat, curly-haired king sitting in a palace spending your money on foppish garments and a harem of French harlots. That’s a bad tax. No doubt about it. But at least he’s (presumably) your king, and he’s spending the money in your country. Eventually you will see that money again, no matter how frivolously he spends it. I can think of a worse tax: pretend the above situation’s exactly the same in every respect except now he’s not...

Despite what Hollywood celebrities and Democrat bigwigs claim, California’s in bad economic shape. Not only does California have the highest poverty rate in America—over 1 in 5 Californians live below the poverty line—but it’s home to nearly one quarter of America’s homeless people. There are so many poor people in California that it’s income inequality ratio is now larger than Mexico’s. How could so much poverty exist in a place with nearly unlimited natural wealth, and a rich cultural and business inheritance? California is the home of Hollywood, Apple, and Google after all. Two reasons: first, immigration—especially illegal immigration—has sucked...

This "Wall" would be in the form of a Constitutional amendment limiting Democratic depredations. Getting a proposed amendment to the states for ratification requires the same two-thirds of both the House of Representatives and Senate as does getting a bill past the veto pen of a President. President Trump might have to veto each DACA replacement bill until enough Democrats play ball. President Trump and his family members have a lot more to lose from 90% income and 90% estate taxation than we do. And the Democrats do need to play ball, since the upcoming 2020 census that must count...