Free Republic

There is one aspect of the final debt deal from DC that took me by surprise. I was convinced the 2% reduction in payroll taxes would be extended through 2012. On July 12th I wrote about this and got it completely wrong. Not only did I think there would be a one year extension of the existing holiday; I forecast that the subsidy would actually be increased.

President Barack Obama awoke today to furious reaction to his last-minute debt deal, with experts slamming the agreement as a cruel means of hitting middle classes with tax hikes 'through the back door'. The President and congressional leaders last night finally announced an agreement on emergency legislation to avert the nation's first-ever financial default. But while the dramatic resolution briefly lifted a cloud that had threatened the still-fragile economic recovery, critics said in the long run the middle classes would bear the brunt of the country's massive debt, with increased taxes set to cover for the White House's reluctance to...

I just love Washington-speak which offers heartfelt phrases such as “baseline spending,” “debt ceiling,” “drop dead dates,” and my ultimate favorites, “the cut,” “to cut,” “a cut,” or just simply “cuts.” Like the phrase “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” a “cut” means different things to different people. Let me explain by first discussing common-speak, which is very easy to understand. When someone takes a cut in pay, it could mean going from $20 per hour to $15 per hour. Or, they’re paid $30,000 per year for a job that used to pay $35,000 per year. To most...

The bill to increase the federal debt limit that has been put before Congress today would increase that limit by up to $2.4 trillion, which would be the largest increase in the debt limit in U.S. history by a margin of half a trillion dollars, according to records published by the Government Accountability Office and the Congressional Research Service. In fact, according to records published by the Congressional Research Service, if the current bill is passed and the debt limit is increased by $2.4 trillion, the two largest debt-limit increases in U.S. history would come in back-to-back years, both during...

Blurring the line between humor and cynicism, Groucho Marx famously declared: "Those are my principles, and if you don't like them ... well, I have others." Indeed, Groucho's quip reflects what many Americans have come to expect from their political leaders. But even when America's leaders try to act according to principle, decades of political spin and "Washington-speak" make doing so difficult. Consider the problem facing House Republicans. With the federal government bumping up against its debt limit, Republicans are demanding that any increase in the limit be paired with equally large spending cuts. As a matter of principle, they...

One of Sarah Palin's most significant energy policies is in danger of being reversed -- and by Republicans, no less. Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell (R) is supporting Republican efforts to lower taxes on oil companies. Palin had raised them in what the New York Times called a "major oil tax increase".

If grocery bills seem higher, you’re not imagining things. Thanks mostly to a sharp increase in fuel prices, the cost of food rose faster in February than in any month since November 1974 — not coincidentally, during a previous energy crisis: Wholesale prices jumped last month by the most in nearly two years due to higher energy costs and the steepest rise in food prices in 36 years. Excluding those volatile categories, inflation was tame. The Labor Department said Wednesday that the Producer Price Index rose a seasonally adjusted 1.6 percent in February — double the 0.8 percent rise in...

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) appeared on the Monday night edition of FOX News' "Hannity." Rep. Ryan goes through several charts that project our debt, shows spending in FY 2010 and what he will propose in the budget for the next fiscal year...

While many states consider boosting their economies with tax cuts, Illinois officials are betting on the opposite tactic: dramatically raising taxes to resolve a budget crisis that threatened to cripple state government. Neighboring states gleefully plotted Wednesday to take advantage of what they consider a major economic blunder and lure business away from Illinois.

SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Quinn struck a deal with the Legislature’s ruling Democrats Thursday to raise the state income tax by 75 percent and boost the tax on cigarettes by $1 a pack — while a push to abolish the death penalty scored a historic legislative victory. The cornerstone of a dramatic day, the revenue agreement reached by Quinn, House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) and Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) would impose a temporary increase in the state tax on workers’ paychecks from 3 percent to 5 ¼-percent. The money from that, the cigarette tax hike and a corresponding increase in...

Gold rose to within $10 of a record high on Friday, closing out an unprecedented tenth annual gain as the combination of a weaker dollar and global economic uncertainty seemed to pave the way higher next year. The entire precious metals complex had a stellar run in 2010, led by palladium's 97 percent rise, in a broad commodities rally that pushed the 19-commodity Reuters-Jefferies CRB index up 15 percent. Spot silver, too, swept higher for an 83 percent gain on the year, as investors sought the white metal as an alternative to gold. It was the best-performing assets in the...

The latest from the Capitol: Earlier in the evening, Senate Republicans and Democrats appeared to be settling on four tax votes: two for each side. The Democratic votes would include one on the House passed bill, and one on Senator Schumer’s (D., N.Y.) bill that would extend current rates for all making up to $1 million a year. But then Republican Leader McConnell phoned Majority Leader Reid to relay that a GOP objection has been raised to bringing up all four bills tomorrow. Without being able to get unanimous consent, Reid will file cloture tonight on just the two Democratic...

It grew by nearly $100 billion on last day of fiscal year, According to Treasury Direct it grew by $1.64 Trillion in the last year. Date Debt Held by the Public Intragovernmental Holdings Total Public Debt Outstanding 09/29/2010 8,963,900,445,439.19 4,502,371,965,926.43 13,466,272,411,365.62 09/30/2010 9,022,808,423,453.08 4,538,814,607,438.71 13,561,623,030,891.79

Large employers in the Twin Cities are bracing for health care cost increases of nearly 9 percent next year, according to a new survey. And many employees soon will learn how much of that increase will come out of their pockets. The new survey from Hewitt Associates, a consulting firm based in suburban Chicago, finds that projected health cost increases next year in the Twin Cities will match the 8.8 percent rate of increase that's being forecast nationally. That's a departure from 2009 and 2010, when the rate of increase in the Twin Cities was below the national average, according...

Have you seen your health insurance rates rise lately? Or did your company just cut benefits? Brace yourself for your “October Surprise”. We heard hundreds of times from Dear Leader how we must have his Government run health system and how it will keep premium rates under control and punish those “wascally insuwance compwanies”. Well friends, it’s time to pull your head out of the ether and begin to live with the government plan that you didn’t want in the first place. Whether it be costs, quality of care, waiting lines, services availability, privacy issues or just the bureaucratic nightmare,...

Armed with several charts and graphs, Democrat Mark Dayton on Monday sought to make a brainy, philosophical and "moral" case for his plan to increase taxes on the wealthiest Minnesotans if he is elected governor in November. "I'm going to use the powers of intellectual persuasion," he said at the beginning of his remarks at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. "Taxes, I believe, are the lubricant for the machinery of our democracy." And so began a roughly 20-minute speech that featured Dayton guiding the audience through several handouts with statistics on tax burdens and harkening back...

Rate Increases Are Blamed on Health-Care Overhaul; White House Questions Logic Health insurers say they plan to raise premiums on some Americans as a direct result of the health overhaul as soon as next month, complicating Democrats' efforts to trumpet their signature achievement before the midterm elections. Aetna Inc., some BlueCross BlueShield plans and other smaller carriers have asked for premium increases of between 1% and 9% to pay for extra benefits required under the law, according to filings with state regulators. These and other insurers say Congress's landmark refashioning of U.S. health coverage, which passed in March after a...

Poll Do you think a state income tax increase will happen within the next year? Yes. There's no other way to dig the state out of its financial hole. No. The politicians will find a way to avoid it. or view results

According to the British Retail Consortium, in-store food costs rose 2.5 per cent in July from a year earlier, up from a 1.7 per cent rise the month before. In the US, the deflation the Department of Agriculture was projecting as recently as July 25 for cereals and bakery products such as wheat will need to be put under review. It is forecasting inflation of 2–3 per cent this year for meat as well as sugar and sweets. For milk, cheese and eggs, which fell in price last year, it predicts 1.5–2.5 per cent increases.

BAGHDAD – Colorful bags emblazoned with cartoon characters such as Winnie the Pooh and Barbie sat in a small, beat-up metal trailer, reflecting the early morning sun; a colorful contrast to the sweat dripping from under the dusty helmets of Soldiers working nearby. Iraqi girls receive bags full of food, water and medical supplies during one of many humanitarian aid deliveries conducted by U.S. and Iraqi Soldiers in the Baghdad area throughout May and June. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Emily Knitter.The Soldiers seemed to be everywhere at once, organizing supplies, arranging lines of concertina wire, and doing everything necessary...