Free Republic

The U.S.'s crackdown on global tax evaders is prompting some Americans in Asia to rethink their citizenship, attorneys there say, in part amid an increasing burden of paperwork required by U.S. tax law. "When I became an immigration lawyer 30 years ago, people really were excited about going to America. Now, more than half of my clients are people thinking of other alternatives rather than people seeking to immigrate to America," said Eugene Chow, the principal of Chow King & Associates in Hong Kong. "My mentor, who is in his early 80s, said to me, 'You became an immigration lawyer...

For supporters of the repeal of North Carolina’s estate tax, the passage serves as a big neon "come on home" message to ultra-wealthy individuals who have kept a primary residence in another state to avoid the tax. "A tax that affects somewhere between a dozen and 100 families each year in a state with 9 million-plus people is fundamentally unfair," said Dallas Woodhouse, the director of the N.C. chapter of the conservative advocacy group Americans For Prosperity. For opponents, the repeal – retroactive to Jan. 1 – serves as a prime example of conservative legislators favoring the wealthy few over...

The American Legislative Exchange Council released today a letter signed by nearly 300 state legislators from 39 states that expresses dismay over Senator Durbin’s letter inquiring into businesses and organizations’ participation in the American Legislative Exchange Council. The letter follows a statement released Friday by the American Legislative Exchange Council expressing concern over Senator Durbin’s inquiries. The letter, sent to all members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights, can be accessed here.

A Brazilian-born researcher who runs minority health programs at a public university in Alabama has convinced the U.S. government to give her $1.5 million to help women quit smoking in her native country. A noble cause indeed, but likely not on the high list of the American taxpayers funding the project. Nevertheless, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the nation’s medical research agency, has given the Brazilian researcher, Isabel Scarinci, a five-year, $1.5 million grant to fund her international tobacco-control project. The goal is to better understand “women and their tobacco-related issues” in the South American country, especially in Scarinci’s...

MIAMI GARDENS – Library closures, treating the mentally ill and the state of the fire-rescue service took center stage Tuesday when Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez hosted a town hall meeting at the North Dade Regional Library to discuss his proposed $6.3 billion budget for the new fiscal year. “What are your priorities and what do we cut?” asked Marilyn Lieberman, a self-styled community activist. . . Linnea Pearson, a Florida International University professor and former teacher of Travon Martin’s brother Jahvaris Fulton, said one of the reasons Trayvon got into trouble was because he was suspended. “As an educator, one...

President Obama: rolling up his sleeves for America's middle class Yet again it is the British press doing the job the American mainstream media chooses not to. The Telegraph has a story (prominently headlined on the highly influential Drudge Report) about the US president’s dog Bo, being specially airlifted to the exclusive Massachusetts resort of Martha’s Vineyard to join the First Family for their summer vacation. As The Telegraph’s Nick Allen reports: Rooms have to be found for dozens of Secret Service agents, someone has to carry a selection of presidential basketballs, and of course the family dog needs his...

In the just-released Spring 2013 issue of Harvard Health Policy Review, I have an article titled “ObamaCare: The Plot Thickens.” The article examines the IRS rule that purportedly implements ObamaCare’s tax credits, but actually violates that statute by taxing, borrowing, and spending hundreds of billions of dollars contrary to Congress’ explicit instructions. The article is a less-technical version of my Health Matrix article (coauthored with Jonathan Adler, “Taxation Without Representation: The Illegal IRS Rule to Expand Tax Credits Under the PPACA.”) Here’s an excerpt: In broad daylight, the Internal Revenue Service is attempting to tax, borrow, and spend [roughly] $800 billion—contrary to...

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner’s endurance in the face of mounting sexual harassment accusations may be driven by his need to get out of an even bigger problem: a federal criminal investigation that has received little attention from the national media. The San Diego Creeper is the subject of an FBI probe of what looks like a quid-pro-quo arrangement with a local developer. In June local media obtained a voicemail Tom Story of Sunroad Centrum Partners left for various city council members regarding a $100,000 “gift” he made to two public projects Filner favored. At the time, Sunroad was looking...

This is how Democrats say thanks– Today Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid went on KNPR in Las Vegas to discuss current affairs. One question he faced was about union uproar over Obamacare. Harry Reid said it’s time for them to give up their Cadillac plans and “put some skin in the game.” “Let’s understand where we are with the unions. One of the things we’ve learned with all of the hearings we held, dozens and dozens of them, is that if you have insurance you have to be able to have some skin in the game as we say in...

Like many northeastern cities, Harrisburg has a severe parking problem — unless you are one of about 3,200 state employees whose parking costs are picked up by state taxpayers. The little-known benefit was picked up by the Harrisburg Patriot-News in an article concerning the capital city’s manifest financial woes and its attempt to get out of state receivership. The Department of General Services rents 3,200 parking spaces at garages near the Capitol Building for some state employees. There are also 885 parking spots on two levels under the East Wing of the Capitol that are free to 253 state lawmakers,...

United for Missouri released a video this morning that the St. Louis Beacon descrbes as "the first time that the groups seeking an override of the governor’s veto have directly attacked Nixon." Carl Bearden writes at United for Missouri: The Governor’s track record of claiming to know what is going on in his administration is pretty dismal. His willingness to take responsibility, having the buck stop at his desk, is non-existent. His ability to be trusted… The Governor’s track record of knowing what is going on in his administration is pretty dismal. His willingness to take responsibility – having the buck...

Employer retiree health care coverage, which has been deteriorating for years amid high health care costs and waning employer interest, is headed for bigger changes thanks to the Affordable Care Act, a new study shows. More than 40 percent of employers have eliminated their traditional group health coverage for retirees over the age of 65 in favor of giving these former employees a defined amount of money for them to buy their coverage on the individual Medicare plan market, according to a new survey of more than 540 companies by employee benefits consulting firm Aon Hewitt (AON). For most of...

Almost every day, two Army helicopters land at the Bell County Jail to pick up the man known as the “inmate of high value." Maj. Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist who's accused of gunning down dozens of fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, is that inmate. The Army helicopters carry Hasan about 20 miles into Fort Hood so he can work on his legal defense. Since there is no jail at the Army post, Bell County Sheriff Eddy Lange houses Hasan at the Bell County Jail under a special Army contract in a special room the Army equipped to accommodate Hasan’s...

As a former resident of Ohio and a current resident of Virginia, I was stunned to see the growth in insurance premiums under Obamacare. In Ohio the cost of a basic “bronze” plan for a 25 year old will virtually triple to $1,956 a year. A 25 year old will in Virginia will see a 252% increase for the cheapest (or bronze) plan. BRONZEPlans In other words, it is the Unaffordable Healthcare Act. At least for some. How bad is Obamacare? SO BAD that the Administration unilaterally delayed until 2015 the enforcement of a requirement for businesses to provide workers...

--"For the safety of the people is the supreme law" -Cicero Research indicates Crime equal to cost of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq plus American military aid to Pakistan from 2001 to 2011 NEW YORK (MainStreet)—This admonition is as true today as it was two thousand years ago. Yet, some in America believe safety can be accomplished on the cheap. They do so because they neglect to consider the true cost of crime. The public safety, as well as the public treasury and private fortune may suffer because of their plans. But as recent research indicates, it...

there's no reason to believe the Honolulu's rail project will do anything to improve traffic congestion. In fact, it's likely to divert resources from more-affordable solutions. "The one thing about these projects [is that] they are very inviting politically," says former Hawaii Gov. Ben Cayetano. Along with Cliff Slater of Honolulutraffic.com and University of Hawaii's Roth, Cayetano has filed a federal lawsuit against the rail project that's held up construction. They claim the city misled the public about the total cost of the project and didn't deliver fully on a required review of alternative solutions to a rail line. Panos...

The big revelation in the GAO’s Obama Stimulus “Green Jobs” audit is that much of the 500 million dollars set aside for Green Jobs was really handed over to allied liberal non-profits and labor unions.

Is the Republican Party “truly” the party of limited government, less spending, less taxes and less regulation? That’s what Dalton Mayor David Pennington, who plans to challenge incumbent Gov. Nathan Deal in the 2014 GOP primary, says he intends to find out. Pennington found a receptive audience for his message of low taxes and limited government on Thursday in Chatsworth when he spoke to about two dozen people during a meeting of the Murray County Tea Party Patriots. Pennington said Republicans have controlled the governor’s office and the General Assembly for a decade now but have done little to cut...

One big question raised by IRS political targeting is whether Obama officials or their bureaucratic allies unleashed the power of the administrative state for partisan ends. Now evidence is emerging that officials at another agency, the Federal Election Commission, used their enforcement power as an anti-conservative sword. The House Ways and Means Committee this week released emails showing that, in 2008 and 2009, the FEC's general counsel staff sought tax information about conservative political groups from Lois Lerner of the IRS. Ms. Lerner is the IRS official who took the Fifth before Congress rather than tell her side of the...

Stephen Ross, the billionaire owner of the Miami Dolphins, is recruiting tax-and-spend puppet candidates to challenge fiscally conservative Florida Republican state legislators in the 2014 Republican primaries. The New York real estate investor’s actions are the latest in his campaign of personal destruction against fiscal conservatives who voted against massive taxpayer subsidies for Ross’ Sun Life Stadium. Ross, a real estate investor from Michigan who now lives in New York, owns 95 percent of the Miami Dolphins and Sun Life Stadium. Ross sought funding this year from Florida state and local taxpayers to cover much of the expenses for $350...

Health Reform: The American people don't want it, even Democrats think it's a train wreck, and now members of the agency charged with enforcing it have said it's hazardous to our health, financial and otherwise. While testifying Thursday on Capitol Hill, Daniel Werfel, acting chief of the Internal Revenue Service, the agency charged with enforcing ObamaCare's mandates, told a House committee he would rather keep his current health insurance plan than make the switch to one offered by the Affordable Care Act. Perhaps he admitted what most Americans believe because he is only the "acting" director about to be replaced....

Jefferson County commissioners on Wednesday were informed the sales tax in the county will be going up 0.25 percent on Sept. 1. The state Legislature voted to increase the state sales tax to 5.75 percent. Coupled with the county's 1.5 percent sales tax, purchases made in Jefferson County will have a 7.25 percent sales tax. County Commissioner Tom Gentile expressed some displeasure with the announcement. Gentile said the state's budget surplus has grown to $1.5 billion, the state has taken money away from local governments and then is raising the state sales tax. The Ohio Department of Taxation is mailing...

Connecticut has so many advantages that it might be hard to understand how it became one of America’s worst-performing state economies. As we know, Connecticut is located along an important commercial corridor between New York and Boston. It’s well-served by railroads and highways. Major airports are accessible. Connecticut has many charming towns, historic sights, stylish shops and nice beaches. CNN determined that of America’s 25 towns with the highest median family incomes, four are in Connecticut – New Canaan (#1), Darien (#2), Westport (#5) and Greenwich (#14). .... ... When investors and entrepreneurs consider important decisions like where to establish...

After a tradition of some 40 years of subsidizing local taxes, Gov. John Kasich and Republicans in the Ohio House and Senate applied the brakes. Local governments and schools heading for the ballot in November to ask voters to support new or replacement levies will have to tell them that the price tags attached will be higher than they were previously told. The taxpayer will pay the entire tab for any new taxes approved.snipUnder the rollback program, the state pays the first 10 percent of the tax bill for all property owners plus 2.5 percent for owner-occupied homes. The state...

An old adage cautions, “if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.” Such is the case with the now famous, “California Comeback.” Faced with a large budget deficit, California passed tax increases on the wealthy, balanced the budget, generated a massive surplus and seemingly solved the state’s fiscal woes. The problem? In the surplus claim, California only counts revenues that will go into the $96.3 billion budget this fiscal year. This is an increase of $9.3 billion from just two years ago. However, the state’s unfunded pension liability debt is not calculated into the budget. There are...

When the G8 summit met in Belfast earlier in the summer, one overriding ambition drove the grand panjandrums of international order: the imperative of squeezing more money out of people and corporations. Sure, these international Fagins—that’s the famed “receiver of stolen goods” in Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist—didn't quite frame the issue that way. Instead, these officials, high-living if not entirely high-minded, spoke in more mundane terms of going after “tax havens” or the need to target “aggressive tax planning.” But the real theme of the meeting was best summed up by the lyrics of Joel Gray’s famous song in Cabaret:...

House Ways & Means Cmte. Chair Dave Camp (R-MI) hears about the status of the Affordable Care Act from government agencies charged with implementing the health law. HHS' Insurance Oversight Dir. Gary Cohen and IRS acting chief Daniel Werfel testify. HHS & IRS Testify on Status of Affordable Care Act Hearing began at 10 am.

President Obama has proposed a "grand bargain" with Republicans: They get a tax cut for corporations, he gets more money to spend on worthless government stimulus. That's no bargain — that's surrender. In the latest attempt by Democrats to disguise GOP capitulation as centrist "compromise," Obama said he'll sign off on a cut in the corporate tax rate from 35% to 28% — with an even lower rate of 25% for manufacturers — if Republicans will agree to spend more on Obama's "investments" and OK a tax hike on U.S. companies doing business overseas. Republicans, beaten up daily by the...

This past May, dozens of school districts across Michigan spent taxpayer dollars to go before voters to request more money. A significant majority of those elections proved fruitful for the districts as voters passed millage, bond and sinking fund requests. But nine districts were unsuccessful, spending thousands of dollars on the losing effort. Here are the districts that lost their funding requests on May 7, followed by the approximate amount spent and what they were requesting from voters: Bessemer Area School District: $3,448.12 (not including attorney fees) for a $6.76 million bond. Lakeshore Public Schools (Berrien): $15,758.90 for $16.87 million...

President Obama has been rolling up his sleeves campaigning across the country delivering a surreal stump speech message supposedly aimed at the middle class: big government works, Obamacare is manna from heaven, the wave of recent scandals are “phony” figments of the imagination, and all economic problems are the fault of the Republicans. Conveniently, he leaves out the bankruptcy of Detroit, a city run by his own party for more than half a century. His message is so stale and unconvincing, that even The New York Times and Washington Post have noticed. Both papers, usually loyal to Obama, remarked that...

The Republican Party is divided—and the small-government conservatives, who want to reduce government’s size but preserve its institutions, are losing. Jon Favreau on the ruinous ideology that’s ascendant.Nine months after a decisive loss in the 2012 elections, the battle for the soul of the Republican Party—or whatever’s left of it—has begun. I’m not talking about a battle between moderates and conservatives. The conservatives won that fight a long time ago. Our children may never believe that moderate Republicans once roamed the Earth, advocating policies that would limit carbon pollution and invest in scientific research, reform our schools and build new...

As states consider fundamental tax reform this session, misconceptions about sound tax policy abound. Perhaps one of the most popular misconceptions is the notion that raising tax rates on the rich will not harm the economy. In Tax Myths Debunked, co-authors Dr. Eric Fruits and Dr. Randall Pozdena use extensive evidence to demonstrate that taxing higher-income earners will certainly not generate economic growth and will not close the gaping budgetary gaps that plague many states governments as well as the federal government. Dr. Pozdena, former vice president of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and Dr. Eric...

Hoping to break an impasse, President Barack Obama today will extend a new offer to congressional Republicans in which he would back an overhaul of the corporate tax system in exchange for a guarantee that a resulting one-time windfall be used to underwrite various job creation proposals. Mr. Obama will lay out the plan in a speech he is to deliver in Chattanooga, Tenn., in a bid to win over Republican lawmakers who've opposed White House requests for new spending on roads and bridges and other projects aimed at boosting employment.

Madrid, July 21 (kaosenlared.net) - were "privatized" the Sun in Spain: if you get caught collecting photons of sunlight for your own use you can drop a fine not exceeding 30 million. So if you were thinking that this false crisis caused, the best option was just to have some solar panels that were down 80% at cost and have the opportunity to disconnect from the mains and your bill scam, you can forget. The excess energy can not be stored in batteries because it is forbidden. When there is no sun or wind, you have to engage the network...

**SNIP** Usually, they vote with their feet and leave. But in extreme cases like Detroit, they simply fail to pay them: Nearly half of the owners of Detroit's 305,000 properties failed to pay their tax bills last year, exacerbating a punishing cycle of declining revenues and diminished services for a city in a financial crisis, according to a Detroit News analysis of government records. ... "Why pay taxes?" asked Fred Phillips, who owes more than $2,600 on his home on an east-side block where five owners paid 2011 taxes. "Why should I send them taxes when they aren't supplying services?...

As long as the interest payment - around $475 billion dollars over 12 months - of the federal debt outstanding (around $17 trillion dollars) is made, then a default can be averted; Hence, no need for a shutdown if the current revenues are allocated to make the interest payment(s) first. After that, current revenues would then cover Social Security payments, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP benefits, unemployment benefits, and the rest would cover around half of the $580 billion dollars currently being called for, for military spending. And thus, we would need to borrow absolutely no more than $400 billion - and...

David Pietrusza talked about his book, Calvin Coolidge: A Documentary Biography, in which he recounts the life and career of the 30th president. Born in Vermont and left motherless at just 10 years old, Coolidge attended Amherst College, worked his way up through Massachusetts state politics to serve in the state House of Representatives and Senate, and ultimately was elected governor of his adopted state. In 1920, he was elected as Warren G. Harding’s vice president. Just three years later, with Harding’s sudden death, the man nicknamed “Silent Cal” was sitting in the Oval Office. The event took place at...

Florida drivers who unsuccessfully contest red light camera tickets will have to pay $250 in administration fees, in addition to the cost of the ticket, under a new state law that took effect this month. The state legislature authorized the higher administration fees despite revelations earlier this year that state and local governments surreptitiously reduced yellow light times at intersections with red light cameras in order to induce more red light-running and more ticket revenue. Local governments often view the red light cameras as revenue makers, serving as a form of hidden tax on motorists. However, the enhanced “tax” money...

The agency levies an unconstitutional penalty on people with tax refund claims. The Internal Revenue Service in recent weeks has acknowledged that it targeted applicants for tax-exempt organization status based on their political viewpoint, in violation of basic First Amendment principles. That was, obviously and admittedly, a big mistake. But under a little-noticed provision of the Internal Revenue Code, citizens who claim that the IRS has made a mistake risk paying a large fine if it turns out that they are wrong. That provision, too, betrays a lack of concern for First Amendment values that should trouble all American taxpayers....

Animal activists staged a demonstration outside the county building ahead of the Miami-Dade County Commission budget meeting Tuesday to protest proposed cuts to funding for animal services. Their beef with Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez centers on a straw vote in which just under 500,000 voters approved a yearly $19 million program to spay and neuter dogs and cats.

What's the most important lesson to take away from the bankruptcy of Detroit? It's that when governments promise benefits they are unwilling to pay for, the system can very quickly come to resemble something designed by Bernie Madoff. Like many other cities around the country, Detroit promised police officers, firefighters, teachers and other public employees pension and post-retirement health care benefits, but was unwilling to set aside the money needed to fund those benefits. The city attracted workers with a total compensation package that included current wages and future benefits. Since the future benefits were substantially unfunded, they can be...

Pennsylvania legislators are gearing up to tackle one of the largest financial problems facing states today: unfunded pension liabilities. The traditional defined-benefit model for government pensions enables lawmakers to promise generous pension benefits without saving sufficient funds to pay for them. A lack of funding and the fact that benefits are guaranteed—regardless of investment performance—has led to significantly underfunded pension systems across the country. Both the House and the Senate in Pennsylvania have recently advanced legislation to reform the state’s pension system. Unfortunately, these efforts have been stalled, but Gov. Tom Corbett will likely pursue pension reform again this fall....

Documents obtained from the Health and Human Services Department through a Freedom of Information Act request show that on the day the Affordable Care Act became law, the agency received fast-track authority to hire 1,814 new high-level employees to put Obamacare into practice, at a likely cost of more than $159 million per year. The hiring request was approved by the Obama administration's Office of Personnel Management despite a government-wide hiring freeze. Judicial Watch, a nonprofit that has told MailOnline it files 'hundreds' of such FOIA requests, showed MailOnline the documents on Thursday. They show that HHS designated the hiring...

Over the last two years, a groundswell of movement has happened behind the scenes on Capitol Hill. Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) has been working to convince his colleagues of the need for tax reform. Recently, Max Baucus has begun to spearhead that same initiative on the Senate side. And indeed, with Orrin Hatch signed on, it has looked like this is something that could happen.It’s important to note that we’re only talking about tax reform, not cuts. That’s what has kept this tenuous bipartisan movement together. The approach is largely revenue-neutral and would likely end up distributionally similar to what...

Tax reform is apparently so treacherous for senators these days that they require the utmost protection from the public -- half a century's worth. The leaders of the Senate Finance Committee last month asked senators to submit written proposals detailing tax breaks they'd like to see preserved once the tax code is reformed and explain why. The point was to help inform committee leaders in their efforts to craft a tax reform bill. The request apparently wasn't embraced, and the committee has now promised skittish senators that their proposals will be kept secret for 50 years. A memo sent out...

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Thanks to his recent wins at both The Open Championship and the Scottish Open, Phil Mickelson pocketed more than $2.16 million in just two weeks. The world’s top golfer —who came under fire earlier this year when he complained about his supposed 60 percent tax rate as a California resident — is taking another hit on his recent earnings. According to Forbes, Mickelson has been subjected to the United Kingdom’s 45 percent tax rate for those who make more than £150,000 a year. In addition, the magazine reports, he will be taxed on a portion of...

<p>As T. Rowe Price weighs whether to remain at its Pratt Street headquarters in the heart of Baltimore, the safety of its employees is a key concern, the company's CEO said Wednesday.</p> <p>Employees of the Baltimore-based money manager have been harassed by groups of youths and one of Price's vendors from New York was mugged outside his downtown hotel within the past two months, said CEO James A. C. Kennedy. Price contacted the city several weeks ago about its concerns.</p>

The Washington Times is reporting that computer records showing how often Delaware state officials accessed former GOP Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell's tax records were probably destroyed. The revelations to Sen. Chuck Grassley's office came Tuesday as the Treasury Department's inspector general for tax administration, the government's chief watchdog for the Internal Revenue Service, formally reopened its investigation into the matter by re-interviewing Ms. O'Donnell."It is an active investigation now," Ms. O'Donnell told The Washington Times after meeting with the same Treasury agent who first informed her in January that her tax records were improperly accessed.She declined to be more specific...

With only 69 days until the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges open for enrollment, Obama administration officials face major logistical and structural challenges. This two-part blog series details some of the major issues with ACA implementation. This post, Part I of the series, highlights various logistical problems, while Part II will focus more specifically on fraud and consumer privacy-related concerns. Delayed Enforcement of the Employer Mandate The Obama Administration acknowledged July 3rd the necessity to delay a major component of the ACA, the “employer mandate,” until 2015. The provision requires employers with more than 50 workers to provide their employees...

Tax issues and economic vulnerability make Connecticut’s nuclear power plant one of 12 most at risk of shutdown, according to a new academic study. The report from the Institute for Energy and the Environment at Vermont Law School comes just two months after Connecticut legislators balked at extending a controversial tax on power generators for another two years. Millstone also is one of 38 nuclear facilities the report says is at risk of early retirement not only due to taxes, but also from competition from lower-cost energy sources, shrinking demand, costly repairs and other rising operating costs. Nine major nuclear...