http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/yourtaxdollars/ en-us Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:20:03 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2270517/posts Despite his having been feted in liberal bastions such as Columbia University and the UN -- over the objections of American conservatives -- when it comes time to analogize today's Iranian Presidential Elections, NPR's reporters claim that the "conservative" voting blocs supporting hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are akin to Republican Evangelicals. American Thinker http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2270517/posts#comment Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:20:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2250453/posts Note: The following text is a quote: THE BRIEFING ROOM THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary _____________________________________________________ For Immediate Release May 13, 2009 TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT TO THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES May 12, 2009 Dear Madam Speaker: Last month, I asked the Congress to consider changes to the level of borrowing authority for the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Today, I formally transmit this request in the accompanying supplemental budget request. I urge that the Congress expand the resources available to the IMF through its New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB) and approve... WHITEHOUSE.gov http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2250453/posts#comment Thu, 14 May 2009 01:19:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2215043/posts Taxes: President Obama creates a special commission to look at tax reform, while Congress looks desperately for new revenues to pay for a vast expansion of government. Get ready for the mother of all tax hikes.Former Fed chief Paul Volcker will head Obama's six-member tax commission which will be charged with, as Bloomberg.com put it, "closing loopholes, streamlining the law and generating revenue." The way things look, the government will need the money. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says Obama's proposed budget comes up short on its estimates for spending, revenues and deficits — virtually everything. Over 10 years, the... IBD Editorials http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2215043/posts#comment Thu, 26 Mar 2009 07:58:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2201254/posts Hey,it's free money! Isn't that what they always say - they being state and local officials, and the money being federal grants? We, as in We the People, aren't supposed to notice the strings attached to federal funds, or the unintended consequences that may result from taking them. Maybe every federal grant should come with a warning label: Taking this money could have deleterious effects on your fiscal health. Consider the offer of increased federal funding for states that agree to expand their unemployment benefits. A state can't lose on a deal like that, right? Wrong. Because the states would... The Washington Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2201254/posts#comment Sat, 7 Mar 2009 08:52:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2200195/posts March 5, 2009 Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1236280325302.shtm Secretaries Donovan and Napolitano Announce Hurricane Recovery Funding for Louisiana New Orleans – On day one of U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano’s listening tour throughout New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, the secretaries announced hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to Louisiana to stimulate long-term recovery in the wake of last year’s devastating hurricane season and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. “Today, we turn the page and start a new chapter in the federal partnership... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2200195/posts#comment Thu, 5 Mar 2009 23:40:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2197817/posts The IRS is in the process of working how just how the Federal Government will pay for 65% of an unemployed person's COBRA per Obama's policy. Well - the Federal Government won't be paying for this up front. The previous employer must collect the 35% of the premium from the employee and come up with the 65% for the balance of the premium. Then when the employer has proof that the premiums have been paid in full he can list them on the Quarterly Federal Tax Form (presently 941). Then he can request the Cobra payments to be applied toward... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2197817/posts#comment Tue, 3 Mar 2009 03:07:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2197809/posts NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Obama administration is considering a plan to purchase bad loans and other distressed assets by creating multiple investments funds, according to The Wall Street Journal, quoting people familiar with the matter. The funds would be part of what the administration is calling a private-public financing partnership that would take distressed assets off banks' books. Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2197809/posts#comment Tue, 3 Mar 2009 02:56:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2195296/posts WASHINGTON - Emblazoned on every page of President Obama's budget are the words: "A New Era of Responsibility." That would be a responsibility for you to fork over more taxes. That would be a responsibility for your company to pay even higher taxes. That would be a responsibility for you to foot the bill for one of the largest expansions of government welfare in history. Obama's budget schemes to drain staggering amounts of money from people who worked for it and steer it to people who didn't. This isn't the free market. It's the freeloader market. "It is not just... The New York Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2195296/posts#comment Fri, 27 Feb 2009 11:17:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2194095/posts Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr09-014.cfm www.hud.gov/news/ For Release Wednesday February 25, 2009 HUD ALLOCATES MORE THAN $10 BILLION OF RECOVERY ACT FUNDING ONE WEEK AFTER BILL SIGNING Nearly 75 percent of HUD Recovery funds allocated today WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today allocated nearly 75 percent of its funding, or $10.1 billion, made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The Recovery Act includes $13.61 billion for projects and programs administered by HUD, 75 percent of which was allocated to recipients today - only one week after President... HUD.gov http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2194095/posts#comment Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:00:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2188983/posts Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/02/18/Setting-the-bar-high/ THE BRIEFING ROOM • THE BLOG Wednesday, February 18th, 2009 at 3:28 pm Setting the bar high Just looking at Recovery.gov, it might not be immediately clear what an enormous undertaking it will be to ensure that the transparency and accountability that the President expects will be upheld. It's going to require an unprecedented level of vigilance, a fundamental shift in the way the federal government spends your tax dollars, from the Oval Office down to every department and agency awarding funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. That's why Peter... WHITEHOUSE.gov http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2188983/posts#comment Thu, 19 Feb 2009 11:45:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2183764/posts Dogs do the darndest things.They poop, they hump and they sniff in all the wrong places. And now you can see them do all of the above every time you cross the pedestrian bridge over Interstate 80 in Berkeley, Calif., thanks to the largesse of the taxpayers. Artist Scott Donahue of Emeryville, Calif., was paid $196,000 by Berkeley's public arts program to create two large statues, which feature small, artistic medallions that show dogs doing what dogs do best. "Various things," Donahue said. "Biting each other, chasing each other…. One dog is defecating, two dogs are fornicating." foxnews.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2183764/posts#comment Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:16:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2175885/posts Don't let anyone tell you the American dream has faded. the truth is the U.S. is still minting lots of millionaires. Glenn Goss is one of them. Goss retired four years ago, at 42, from a $90,000 job as a police commander in Delray Beach, Fla. He immediately began drawing a $65,000 annual pension that is guaranteed for life, is indexed to keep up with inflation and comes with full health benefits. Goss promptly took a new job as police chief in nearby Highland Beach. One big lure: the benefits. Given that the average man his age will live to... Forbes http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2175885/posts#comment Sat, 31 Jan 2009 23:18:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2135293/posts The Legislative Analyst's Office will release a new report today analyzing the woeful state of California's finances. It will flesh out last week's estimate that the state faces a $27.8 billion deficit over the next 19 months. But a new report from Beacon Economics predicts things will look even glummer in the future: Labor markets are showing increased signs of stress.There is little sign of a recovery in housing, and foreclosure rates are growing worse by the day.Consumer markets have fallen off a cliff.Corporate profits are taking a serious beating. The report commissioned by California Forward, the nonpartisan government reform... SacBee: Capitol Alert http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2135293/posts#comment Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:43:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2131349/posts The Democratic chairman of the Senate Finance Committee unveiled a health-care reform plan Wednesday that incorporates many of the provisions of President-elect Barack Obama’s plan, but goes one step further -- it would require everyone to eventually buy insurance coverage. Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) proposes that medical insurance cover pre-existing conditions, as Obama’s plan does, and would set up an insurance exchange to help people and businesses find insurance if they need -- but don’t have -- coverage. “Americans are acutely aware of problems in the country’s health care system and they are ready for change,” Baucus said at a... cns news http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2131349/posts#comment Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:03:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1827373/posts Bigfoot, the legendary hairy man-like beast said to roam the wildernesses of North America, is not shy, merely so rare it risks extinction and should be protected as an endangered species. So says Canadian MP Mike Lake who has called for Bigfoot to be protected under Canada's species at risk act, alongside Whooping Cranes, Blue Whales, and Red Mulberry trees. "The debate over their (Bigfoot's) existence is moot in the circumstance of their tenuous hold on merely existing," reads a petition presented by Lake to parliament in March and due to be discussed next week. "Therefore, the petitioners request the... AFP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1827373/posts#comment Wed, 2 May 2007 20:14:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1616606/posts Here's what politicians don't say when they boast about cutting income taxes: Every trim forces more Americans to pay the dreaded alternative minimum tax instead. "It is the great American bait and switch," said Claudia Hill, owner of a Cupertino tax-preparation firm and editor in chief of the Journal of Tax Practice & Procedures. "They say, 'We're going to give you tax breaks' -- and then you find out you don't qualify." This parallel tax system was created two generations ago to take away tax breaks from about 150 wealthy taxpayers who had piled up write-offs to erase their tax... Knight Ridder News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1616606/posts#comment Mon, 17 Apr 2006 19:48:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1609123/posts If there is a consensus in America about college education, it’s that every young person should get one. Census figures show that college graduates enjoy an average income 40 percent higher than that of workers with only high-school diplomas, which is largely why almost 70 percent of every high-school class now goes on to higher education. Conventional wisdom suggests that a high-tech economy will need these better-educated workers, and that rising rates of college enrollment are a reassuring sign that America remains a meritocracy, a land of opportunity. However, these same trends—the widening income gap, the mounting legions of college... Pennsylvania Gazette http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1609123/posts#comment Tue, 4 Apr 2006 20:47:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1608976/posts Texas Prof.: 'We're Breeding Our Brains Out'Talk radio and blogs are taking aim at a University of Texas biology professor because of a published report suggesting he advocates death for most of the human population as a means of saving the Earth. However, Eric Pianka says his remarks about his beliefs were taken out of context, that he was just raising a warning that deadly disease epidemics are a threat if population growth isn't contained. "What we really need to do is start thinking about controlling our population before it's too late," he said Monday. "It's already too late, but... Newsmax.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1608976/posts#comment Tue, 4 Apr 2006 16:41:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1597062/posts The Knox County school system has reprimanded the principal and attendance secretary at Whittle Springs Middle School for violating policy when they allowed a 12-year-old student to leave with an older man claiming to be her uncle. The girl, Ashley Bushue, and the man, Seth Lee Mitchell, 37, left Whittle Springs together on March 3, and police found them March 7 in good health in North Carolina. Mitchell has been charged with especially aggravated kidnapping, according to Darrell DeBusk, spokesman for the Knoxville Police Department. Three days after the alleged kidnapping, Steve Griffin, the chief of security for Knox County... AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1597062/posts#comment Wed, 15 Mar 2006 23:40:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1591400/posts A San Francisco judge has ordered the University of California to pay $33.8 million to tens of thousands of students whose fees were unfairly raised. In an opinion released Monday, Superior Court Judge James Warren called the university's breach of contract "clear and unambiguous." The case involved at least 9,500 graduate students who claimed UC officials broke their promise to freeze fees at the amount students paid when they first enrolled. Plaintiffs also included as many as 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students who enrolled at UC Berkeley and UCLA in the spring and summer terms in 2003 whose fees were... Contra Costa Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1591400/posts#comment Tue, 7 Mar 2006 03:49:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1582722/posts High school senior Aksonexay Ratanasith arrived in the United States from war-torn Laos at age 3. The Richmond boy excelled in elementary school, but in junior high was placed in classes with recent immigrants. He scored well on fluency tests, he said, but remained in English development classes until his sophomore year at Kennedy High School.Now a senior, he takes database applications and leadership class. He still doesn't understand why he wasn't allowed out of the English learner program sooner."ELD was holding me back," Ratanasith said.For the past two years, nearly half of the state's 1.3 million English language learners... Contra Costa Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1582722/posts#comment Tue, 21 Feb 2006 15:42:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1581608/posts IT WOULD BE easy to dismiss the bombastic, error-ridden screed union boss J.J. Jelincic recently penned for this page as a self-parody were its subject, the growing crisis in public employee pensions, not such a serious matter. Yet the mere fact he felt compelled to write it means those who care about the fiscal health of state and local governments are making progress in addressing this critical issue that threatens California's future. First, I want to make one point very clear -- I have never criticized public employees for wanting more pay, generous benefits or a better retirement package. Nor... Contra Costa Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1581608/posts#comment Sun, 19 Feb 2006 15:39:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1580932/posts The Palestinian Authority has agreed to a US request for the return of $50 million that had been earmarked for infrastructure projects in the territories, the State Department said Friday. The US request is part of a review of American assistance programs to the Palestinians ordered after Hamas scored a surprise victory in legislative elections last month, spokesman Sean McCormack said. Beyond that, McCormack said, the United States feared the funds might "potentially make their way into the coffers of a future Palestinian government that might not recognize the right of Israel to exist." That is a tenet of the... AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1580932/posts#comment Sat, 18 Feb 2006 03:06:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1580765/posts The Professors: The 101 most dangerous academics in America by David Horowitz Coming to a Campus Near You: Terrorists, racists, and communists— you know them as The Professors. We all know that left-wing radicals from the 1960s have hung around academia and hired people like themselves. But if you thought they were all harmless, antiquated hippies, you’d be wrong. Today’s radical academics aren’t the exception—they’re legion. And far from being harmless, they spew violent anti-Americanism, preach anti-Semitism, and cheer on the killing of American soldiers and civilians—all the while collecting tax dollars and tuition fees to indoctrinate our children. Remember... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1580765/posts#comment Fri, 17 Feb 2006 22:30:04 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1579726/posts ARTURO GONZALEZ is a formidable attorney. The son of unschooled immigrants, he graduated from the UC Davis, then Harvard Law School. Today, he is a partner at Morrison & Foerster. Last week, he told The Chronicle editorial board, "If (state superintendent of public instruction Jack) O'Connell had been my superintendent," when he was going to high school, "I would not have gotten a diploma." González represents parents and students who are suing the state of California to put off -- once again -- the year when California students must pass an exit exam in order to receive a high-school diploma... San Francisco Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1579726/posts#comment Thu, 16 Feb 2006 15:56:49 GMT