Free Republic

Taxes on Consumption are always least burdensome, because they are least felt, and are borne too by those who are both willing and able to pay them; that of all taxes on consumption, those on foriegn commerce are most compatible with the genius of policy of the states. James Madison, Address to the States, April 25th, 1783

In Philadelphia, a 1.5-cents-per-ounce tax on beverages goes into effect January 1, 2017. The regressive, highly unpopular tax will add 18 cents to the cost of a can of soda, $1.08 for a six-pack or $1.02 for a two-liter bottle. The new “soda tax” will be added on top of the already excessive 8% sales tax that applies to beverages in Pennsylvania.Yes, the tax is unpopular – 58% of residents oppose the measure. Yes, the tax will disproportionately harm poor residents – economic studies show that low-income Americans spend a larger portion of their income on consumer goods like soda. No, the...

Piper McGowin June 24th, 2016 This article was written by Piper McGowan and originally published at The Daily Sheeple. Editor’s Comment: The fact that armed IRS agents, along with those of other departments and agencies, now outnumber the ranks of Marines would be absurd if it weren’t so dangerous. The founding fathers complained of the abuses under King George III, writing in the Declaration of Independence: “He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.” Despite hard-fought attempts to keep these forces at bay, it seems...

Madison— Faced with delays and inflation over the past five years, four major state highway projects — including a Madison artery — have accumulated overruns in excess of $700 million. While some of these increases come from faulty cost estimates or unavoidable inflation, the new figures underline the obvious: Delays can be costly for Wisconsin taxpayers. When projects are paused because of financial challenges in the state's road fund, the price of materials, labor and real estate can rise. The numbers compiled by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel underline the urgency of a divisive issue for Wisconsin's Republican leaders: finding a...

During the 12 months ending June 30, the number of people leaving California for another state exceeded by 61,100 the number who moved here from elsewhere in the U.S., according to state Finance Department statistics. The so-called "net outward migration" was the largest since 2011, when 63,300 more people fled California than entered. "The main factors are housing costs in many parts of the state, including coastal regions of California such as the Bay Area," said Dan Hamilton, director of economics with the Economic Forecasting Center at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. "California has seen negative outward migration to...

Republican candidate Donald Trump focused this weekend on his economic platform: Cut taxes and regulations across the board while also saving Social Security, Medicare, and other government safety-net programs. Trump’s platform is nearly invincible in the general election if he stresses it enough, polling shows. Trump’s plan will also have a transformational effect on how people view his party. But he still needs to make the accounting work to ensure that his Third Way platform is feasible.

In what is just the latest in a series of government overreach actions, the Obama administration, without any input from elected lawmakers or the authority of legislation, is moving to revise an old rule making it easier for students to have their student loans forgiven, leaving taxpayers on the hook to foot the bill. Naturally, the Democrats favorite constituency group, the trial lawyers, would get in on the action.On Monday, The Department of Education released a proposed amendment that vastly expands the conditions under which students can apply to have their student loans discharged if they feel that they have...

Chicago homeowners should brace themselves for sticker shock when they open their mailbox at the end of the month: property tax bills on average 13 percent higher than last year. The big increase is mostly being driven by the record tax increase Mayor Rahm Emanuel engineered last fall to fix city pension funds for police officers and firefighters. Cook County Clerk David Orr released tax rate figures Monday, revealing the practical effects of City Hall's painful decision. The owner of a single-family home with the current average sale price of about $225,000 can expect to see a property tax bill...

The “Take This Job and Shove It” singer has been ordered to pay the IRS more than $980,000 after pleading guilty to tax evasion and failing to pay $466,000 in back taxes, interest and penalties, prosecutors said. Coe, 76, was also sentenced Monday in Cincinnati federal court to three years’ probation. Federal prosecutors said the singer played more than 100 concerts a year between 2008 and 2013, but asked to be paid in cash to avoid paying Uncle Sam.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a big win for the Obama administration, a federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld the government's "net neutrality" rules that require internet providers to treat all web traffic equally.The 2-1 ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is a victory for consumer groups and content companies such as Netflix that want to prevent online content from being blocked or channeled into fast and slow lanes.

The linchpin of California's climate change agenda, a program known as cap and trade, has become mired in legal, financial and political troubles that threaten to derail the state's plans to curb greenhouse gas emissions. The program has been a symbol of the state's leadership in the fight against global warming and a key source of funding, most notably for the high-speed rail project connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles. But the legality of cap and trade is being challenged in court by a business group, and questions are growing about whether state law allows it to operate past 2020....

Disney CEO Bob Iger thinks companies -- including his -- are simply paying too much in tax to Uncle Sam. Iger told CNNMoney on Thursday that high corporate tax rates in the U.S. are "anti-competitive," and described the country's tax system as "ridiculously complex." "It doesn't mean that a company shouldn't pay taxes, but I think the structure is off ... the tax base should be lowered, and the loopholes should be closed," Iger said, without elaborating on potential reforms.

The following is the testimony of one David Campos, a former member of Share Wheel who witnessed first hand, discrimination, theft, fraud and other problems in SHARE My name is David Campos, I am a former member of SHARE. I was in Share from 2010 to 2012. I became homeless after I was laid off from work and my job got outsourced to China. I was able to get a part time job to help myself but it wasn't enough. I joined Share in 2010. I liked the place, it was laid back, everyone kept to themselves there were just...

In Bridge Magazine, former state House Fiscal Agency director Mitch Bean writes: In addition to property tax cuts, changes to the sales tax base have reduced constitutional revenue sharing payments to cities, villages and townships (CVT) by $27.3 million in FY 2014 and by $181.2 million cumulatively since Proposal A in 1994. He is not the only one judging that the state’s local government revenue system is “broken.” You might think this is a terrible situation that local governments find themselves in. But Bean’s numbers don’t really tell the whole story about constitutional local government revenue sharing nor property tax...

Among the many disturbing signs of our times are conservatives and libertarians of high intelligence and high principles who are advocating government programs that relieve people of the necessity of working to provide their own livelihoods. Generations ago, both religious people and socialists were agreed on the proposition that "he who does not work, neither shall he eat." Both would come to the aid of those unable to work. But the idea that people who simply choose not to work should be supported by money taken from those who are working was rejected across the ideological spectrum. How we got...

Too many social problems are conceived of in terms of what "we" can do for "them." After decades of massive expansions of the welfare state, the answer seems to range from "not very much" to "making matters worse." Undaunted, people in a number of countries are coming up with new proposals that are variations on the theme of government-provided income — which amounts to relieving people from personal responsibility. Yet even some conservatives and libertarians are coming up with proposals for more "efficient" versions of the welfare state — namely direct cash grants for life to virtually all adults, instead...

Millennials, who first arrived in 1980, are the largest generational group in American history. As such, they tend to have a deep-seated, some would say exaggerated, sense of their own importance. Now that the last of the millennials, those born in the late 1990s, have reached voting age, the millennial generation is exerting ever greater influence on presidential politics. The campaign of Bernie Sanders, one of the most radical leftists ever to run for the presidency, is almost their exclusive preserve. Sanders's platform is well targeted to the idealism of most millennials. It offers free universal health care ("Medicare for...

Daily Caller News Foundation VA Proposes To Remove Ban On Transgender Surgery For Vets Jonah Bennett National Security/Foreign Policy Reporter The Department of Veterans Affairs has proposed to a rule to remove the ban on transgender sex change surgery for veterans, which has existed since the 1990s. According to the proposed regulation, gender reassignment surgery wasn’t previously considered medically necessary for gender dysphoria, a condition transgender individuals claims makes them feel as though they were born in the wrong body and assigned the wrong gender.

The L.A. County Board of Supervisors is planning to put a proposal on the November ballot that would impose a .5% tax for those with personal incomes exceeding $1 million annually. The revenue generated from the tax—estimated to be $250 to $300 million annually—would go toward funding the county’s 47-point program to wipe out homeless in L.A. county.

Congress is looking into the funding for several Obamacare programs for which no money has been directly appropriated. Earlier this month, a federal judge ruled that the administration is unlawfully paying insurers who are required to reduce costs for poorer customers on Obamacare’s exchanges. But there are other Obamacare programs that the administration is running for which Congress has refused to fund. ... Subpoenas ignored or willfully unfulfilled, stonewalling witnesses, and lies, lies, lies. Sound familiar? "The most transparent administration in history" has a game plan when dealing with Congress and they play it out to the letter. They even...