Free Republic

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican leaders in the U.S. Congress are moving forward with a plan to vote before the 2018 midterm elections on a bill to make permanent the temporary individual tax cuts in their recent tax overhaul. It is not yet clear, however, if the plan would pick up support from Democrats, whose votes would be needed to pass legislation in the Senate. The Republican tax law, approved in December without Democratic support, permanently cut the top corporate rate to 21 percent from 35 percent and created a permanent deduction for pass-through businesses. It created lower rates and new...

Claude Frederic Bastiat (1801-50) — a French classical liberal theorist, political economist and member of the French National Assembly — wrote an influential essay titled “That Which Is Seen and That Which Is Not Seen.” He argued that when making laws or economic decisions, it is imperative that we examine not only what is seen but also what is unseen. In other words, examine the whole picture. Americans who support tariffs on foreign goods could benefit immensely from Bastiat’s admonition. A concrete example was the Bush administration’s 8% to 30% tariffs in 2002 on several types of imported steel. They...

Sarah Palin's Reality Show Debuts Will "Sarah Palin's Alaska" on TLC help or hurt a possible White House run? Greenroom: Getting Real With Sarah Palin George Will, Paul Krugman, Ruth Marcus and Robert Kagan

Tuesday's slash-and-burn special election was a spin doctor's delight. State lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked voters to pass one of the most convoluted ballot packages in California history, an amalgam of controversial policies for the right and the left to pick over. Fiscal conservatives and businesses said voters demonstrated they hate taxes. Social service advocates and labor unions said voters rejected spending cuts. Even recreational marijuana supporters had a take. The Marijuana Policy Project said voters showed they want novel revenue solutions, like legalizing and taxing pot. "These measures will end up being a $25 million Rorschach test," said...

This Flying FReeper (Catchy - should have used that as a sign-up name!), and other pilots here, need your help! While congressional and grassroot wars have been raging around Illegal immigration, border security, and conduct of the War On Terror, another quieter, but important, battle is being waged which pits supporters of General Aviation (GA) against the airlines. In a nutshell, the airlines want to take over the FAA function and funding. They want to do this by creating an Airline Transport Association-sponsored program named "Smart Skies". The resulting "panel of experts", comprised of airline executives, would result in...

Many people have written many books, treatises and articles for the purpose of defining the role jihad is supposed to play in the lives of the Muslims. Most writers have tried, in their own ways, to come up with the [true] meaning of the Arabic word [Jihad,] others took circuitous routes to emphasize on what they believed was the purpose for which Allah has purportedly made the launching of jihad by Muslims an integral part of their lives. Until recently, my mind had remained in a state of dichotomy; it being the result of the inadequate attention, I admit, I...

Losing Trust: Part 1 in a Three-Part SeriesThe New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund is nearly broke. How did such a great idea become a major crisis?by Angelina SciollaThe number of people who die in car crashes on New Jersey’s roadways has fallen steadily over the last five years, not by much, but incrementally and respectably to less than one death per every 100-million vehicle miles traveled. Over 750,000 road trips are made each day in New Jersey. Last year, there were 649 vehicle-related fatalities on the state’s roads and highways. Statistics like this don’t happen by accident. They’re the result...

STATE REPRESENTATIVE SCOTT SUDER’S FLEECING OF WISCONSIN 2003 Did you know that YOU are paying for the following? 8 cents per hour to prison inmates who (get this) Don't Work! ($533,600 of your tax money each year goes to prisoners who sit on their hands doing absolutely nothing.) 28 cents per hour to prison inmates to attend FREE Classes. (That's right$1,650,000 of taxpayer dollars, every budget, pays prisoners to attend free educational classes including literacy training, AODA treatment and other rehab programs.) Nearly $3 Million per budget goes to maintain the offices of Secretary of State and State Treasurer. (These...