Free Republic

Washington may be a tax reform wasteland, but out in the states the action is hot and heavy. Nine states—including such fast-growing places as Florida, Tennessee and Texas—currently have no income tax, and the race is on to see which will be the tenth, and perhaps the 11th and 12th. Oklahoma and Kansas have lowered their income-tax rates in the last two years with an aim toward eliminating the tax altogether. North Carolina's newly elected Republican Governor Pat McCrory has prioritized tax reform this year and wants to reduce the income tax. Ditto for another newcomer, Mike Pence of Indiana,...

The Common Core Standards are an educational reform movement initiated by the National Governors Assocation and intended to standardize the educational curricula of the states around a "coomon core" of knowledge required to function in modern society. Put that way, the initiative sounds fine, but as if often the case with educaitonal reforms, Common Core proponents have relied on bafflement and obfuscation to shut down inquiry by the paying public into the very political process of putting the initiative into action -- a process monetarily supported by private education corporations. Common Core tests (those used in Oklahoma were developed by...

Arizona Sens. John McCain (R) and Jon Kyl (R) said Tuesday they have no idea where Gov. Jan Brewer (R-Ariz.) is. “No, everybody keeps asking me that,” Kyl told The Hill. “I didn’t know she was missing.” McCain answered similarly. “Since I wasn’t home last weekend I didn’t know about this,” McCain told The Hill. “Jon [Kyl] just told me that there was some issue that she’s not around.” On Tuesday, the Associated Press reported that Brewer was taking a week-long out-of-state work trip that’s shrouded in mystery. Her office has refused to disclose her location or the nature of...

Obamacare has more chinks in its armor than a turtle without a shell. As a result, state governors and legislators can inflict great damage. The following amazing chink was discussed by a Goldwater Institute attorney during a Tennessee-based webinar on Monday . It's only 10 lines long in the 950-page version of the law: "No individual, company, business, nonprofit entity, or health insurance issuer offering group or individual health insurance coverage shall be required to participate in any Federal health insurance program created under this Act (or any amendments made by this Act), or in any Federal health insurance program...

As for Christie, Malloy said, “I didn’t start the fight with Christie. He made a rather snarky comment about me not having read the manual (for being a governor). But the reality is you couldn’t have two states going in opposite directions to the same extent that we are.” Malloy made his remarks in an appearance on Colin McEnroe’s radio talk show on WNPR Monday afternoon. Malloy blasted “the games” that Christie is playing with the funding of pensions, saying he’s “kicking the can down the road.” Malloy is a Democrate is Christie is a Republican. The comments came after...

I had a history teacher who used to say that you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to—but you should be prepared to face the consequences. He was usually talking about homework assignments, but there was always an implied message of the responsibility of rebellion: Defy the powers that be if you must, but always be aware of the results that will follow. In the wake of all of the nationwide protests over Obamacare, my teacher’s words remain prudent advice. A number of GOP governors have publicly stated that they will ignore the recent Supreme Court Decision or...

We are going to end Obamacare at the state level by using the KISS principle – Keep It Simple, Stupid, so let’s get it started! Using simplicity and common sense, we Americans can take this into our own hands and do what we need to do to prove that Obamacare is irrelevant and unnecessary at the state level. All we need is a simple solution, which this article provides, and one state that will pursue this by doing a little homework. Let me start by telling you what this is NOT… this solution is not reliant on the politicians who...

Contrary to the oft-repeated media narrative that the Republican Party is not inclusive, there are actually more female Republican governors than female Democratic governors, and considerably more minority Republican governors than minority Democratic governors.

Every single one of [the 17 states that elected a tea party-supported governor in 2010] has seen its unemployment rate decline since January 2011. Three of them have had unemployment drop by more than 2% (Michigan, Florida, and Nevada). The average drop in the unemployment rate in these states was 1.35%. For a comparison, in January 2011 the U.S. national unemployment rate stood at 9.1%. It is currently 8.2%, meaning that the national unemployment rate has declined by just 0.9% since then. Based on these percentages, it can be said that the job market in states with new Republican governors...

A growing number of Republican state leaders are revolting against the major Medicaid expansion called for under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, threatening to undermine one of the law's most fundamental goals: insuring millions of poor Americans. The Supreme Court opened the door Thursday, June 28, when it announced that although the rest of the law is constitutional, the federal government cannot punish states that refuse to adopt the measure's more generous eligibility rules for Medicaid. The Republican governors of four states -- Florida, Iowa, Louisiana and South Carolina -- have declared that they want to opt out of...

Saying that other countries are doubling down on education while the states are cutting teachers, President Obama on Monday implored the nation's governors to spend their budgets on education and job training. "Too many states are making cuts that I think are too big," the president told the National Governors Association, which was spending the last day of its annual meeting at the White House. "Budgets are by choice, so today I'm calling on all of you: invest more in education, invest more in our children," he said. Obama said students should be required to stay in school longer --...

"You've chosen to give me another four years as your governor," he told supporters from a stage at his Baton Rouge campaign headquarters less than an hour after polls closed. "We've got a lot more work to do over these next four years."

The guest list for Rick Perry's August 6 day of prayer won't include many U.S. governors. Only two governors, both Republican, plan to join Perry at the event at Houston's Reliant Stadium, which Perry has labeled as a non-denominational, apolitical, Christian prayer meeting. Perry invited all of his fellow U.S. governors to the event. Just two - Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback and Lousiana Gov. Bobby Jindal - have accepted the invitation. Mark P. Jones, a government professor at Rice University, said he is not surprised by the lukewarm response. "For a Democrat there is nothing to be gained by attending,...

Governors reflect partisan divide in debt debateby Charles Babington The Associated Press 13 hrs ago SALT LAKE CITY — Governors nationwide are nervously watching the debt-ceiling debate in Washington, fearing that a partisan impasse could rattle financial markets and slow the economic recoveries they desperately want for their states. Yet many of them are sticking to the same partisan loyalties and talking points that are making it so difficult for President Barack Obama and Republican lawmakers to find a way to avoid a borrowing cutoff, which could force the government to default on some of its bills. In fact, some...

While some governors go out of their way to acknowledge the sanctity of military funerals, Oregon’s new governor says he won’t attend them in his state if it’s inconvenient to him. Gov. John Kitzhaber is making a departure from his predecessor, Ted Kulongoski, a former Marine who was so determined to attend military funerals he would cancel out-of-town travel to attend them. In fact, Kulongoski attended more than 100 military funerals during his eight years in office.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was there. So was Al Sharpton and AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka. Not on the invitation list? Any active governor from any border state. Which is odd since the meeting held yesterday at the White House was titled: President’s Meeting with Stakeholders on Fixing the Broken Immigration System. Are the active governors of our nation’s border states not “stakeholders” in our “broken immigration system”? Not for this White House. From day one, the Obama administration has sought to undermine state law enforcement cooperation and authority over illegal immigration. Within months of taking office, the Department of...

This short segment in a Washington Post story on President Obama’s interviews with local television stations is revealing: In some cases, Obama had a message he wanted to send directly to the people in particular states..... Notice the theme there? Here are three Republican governors of three states who face serious budget problems, and Obama — despite a lack of familiarity with the states’ financial circumstances, admitting that he hasn’t “followed exactly what’s happening with the Wisconsin budget” — weighs in on all three, all with the same theme: No, those spending cuts aren’t necessary.

(Reuters) - Support for California Governor Jerry Brown's plan to shut a $27 billion budget gap has eroded since he introduced it in January, a new poll by the Public Policy Institute of California showed on Wednesday. Democrat Brown wants to close the budget hole with a mix of spending cuts and tax hikes, and he wants voters to get the chance to approve the package in a special election. So far Republicans have opposed the special election and tax hikes.

There are a few very interesting points below headlines today claiming California residents strongly support extending the state’s once temporary tax increases via special election. Survey finds Californians back tax extensions Californians would overwhelmingly back extending temporary tax increases to help balance the state’s budget if asked to in a special election, according to survey results released on Wednesday. The survey found that, by a 58 percent to 39 percent margin, voters said they would vote in favor of a ballot measure asking them to extend temporary tax increases. If that’s truly the case, then why did voters flatly reject...

As predicted in Revolt! (Dick’s and Eileen’s new book) – States Lead the Way Toward Reform It is not only the Arab world that is in turmoil! Reform Governors like Scott Walker (Wisconsin), John Kasich (Ohio), Mitch Daniels (Indiana), Tom Corbett (Pennsylvania), Butch Otter (Idaho), and Rick Scott (Florida) are leading a movement for fundamental change in America. In Revolt!, Morris and McGann’s new book, they describe how newly elected Republican Governors – impelled by their budget crises and empowered with GOP Legislatures – will accomplish sweeping changes in our politics. Read how: * Republican Governors will destroy the political...