Free Republic

December 6, 2009 Charities Rise, Costing U.S. Billions in Tax Breaks By STEPHANIE STROM The number of organizations that can offer their donors a tax break in the name of charity has grown more than 60 percent in the United States, to 1.1 million, in just a decade. Experts say nonprofits are skillfully exploiting the tax code’s broad and elastic definition of what constitutes such a charity, making it difficult for the Internal Revenue Service, which must bless them, to say no. The agency approved 99 percent of the applications for public charity status last year, according to a new...

AS many Americans know, last week Gov. John Baldacci of Maine signed a law that made this state the fifth in the nation to legalize gay marriage. It’s worth pointing out, however, that there were some legal same-sex marriages in Maine already, just as there probably are in all 50 states. These are marriages in which at least one member of the couple has changed genders since the wedding. I’m in such a marriage myself and, quite frankly, my spouse and I forget most of the time that there is anything particularly unique about our family, even if we are...

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), the far left anti-gun group under investigation for voter fraud, could be eligible to receive millions, if not billions of dollars from the economic bailout bill that passed out of the House of Representatives. ACORN was an aggressive supporter of Barack Obama -- who had served as the group's legal counsel and even trained ACORN in "community organizing" -- in the presidential election. The Obama campaign even paid the group $800,000 for "voter turnout," the very activities that came under scrutiny by the FBI. In October 2008, ACORN's Las Vegas office...

A week before Minnesota’s firearm deer season I visited my 86-year-old father. He regaled me with an entertaining stream of tales from his 70 years as a deer hunter in the north woods. He lamented his failing eyesight and then rose from his ancient recliner and went to the closet where he keeps his guns. He took out a battered old case and handed it me. “I want you to have this.” A week before Minnesota’s firearm deer season I visited my 86-year-old father. He regaled me with an entertaining stream of tales from his 70 years as a deer...

Earlier this month, the Virginia State Crime Commission danced back from an opportunity to help reduce crime. It declined — let's hope temporarily — to recommend that the General Assembly close the gun-show loophole. Loophole? Gun-rights advocates never tire of arguing that there's no such thing. There is indeed. Federal and state law require that people buying guns from licensed dealers undergo background checks. It's the front line in the effort to make sure that those whom the state and nation believe shouldn't own guns — convicted felons, the mentally ill, abusive spouses, for example — can't buy them. But...

The Texas Transportation Commission never fails to amaze us. Bottom line - this leopard has not changed its spots. Nothing has changed. The Commission and TxDOT are hell bent to sign deals and give away the farm before the legislature can rein them in. Rain, sleet and snow won't stop the mail; and, moratoriums, legislative intent and a sunset review won't stop TxDOT. Just a week ago TxDOT tried to impress everyone with how responsive they could be as they announced their recommendation that TTC-69 focus on using existing facilities rather than building a new highway. The only thing that...

WASHINGTON - Five years ago this week, a federal election regulator predicted that corporate sponsorship of political conventions would eventually be as common as it is for football bowl games. "I look forward to the day, by 2008, when Americans can turn on their TVs and watch the Nokia Democratic Convention, or the AT&T Republican National Convention," joked Bradley Smith, then a Republican member of the Federal Election Commission. That day has pretty much arrived. The Democratic and Republican conclaves this summer in Denver and St. Paul, Minn., will be financed overwhelmingly by private money from some of the nation's...

need help finding the definition I saw once, maybe in a 'conservative dictionary'. couldn't find it. possibly pj o'rourke?

PROVIDENCE — With the nation’s eyes trained on former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s alleged involvement with a prostitute, Rhode Island lawmakers are considering a bill that would close the loophole in this state’s laws that makes prostitution legal if it occurs indoors. The proposed legislation has become something of a perennial bill in recent years, but has never been passed by the General Assembly. This year’s version came before the House Judiciary Committee again last night, where its sponsor, Joanne M. Giannini, D-Providence, argued that extending the state’s misdemeanor prostitution statute to cover indoor activity would make it easier...

---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Click here to add your name: "The richest tycoons on Wall Street shouldn't pay a lower tax rate than the rest of us. Congress should close the mother of all tax loopholes." Sign the petition How much more do you pay? See how much more you're paying in taxes than you would if you paid the same rate as Wall Street investors! Try our calculator: Dear MoveOn member, If the richest tycoons on Wall Street get their way, you'll face a significant tax hike this year so they can buy another tropical island. Sound fair? Here's...

RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia's governor said Monday he has closed the loophole that allowed a mentally disturbed Virginia Tech student to acquire the guns he used to kill 32 classmates and faculty on April 16 in Blacksburg. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said he issued an executive order requiring immediately that the names of persons found dangerous and ordered to undergo involuntary mental health treatment be entered in a database barring the sale of firearms.

For Immediate Release: February 15, 2007 BELLEVUE, WA – The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms today called on New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his colleagues in the “Mayors Against Illegal Guns” coalition to devote all their resources to closing the government gun loophole. The Washington Post this week revealed that between February 2002 and September 2005, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported 160 missing firearms. That is in addition to the 352 missing guns the FBI reported lost or stolen in a similar audit in 2002. The newspaper reported that at least 18 of...

OAL Post 2007-3 Legislative Update from Olympia 19 January 2007 NEW BILLS INTRODUCED REWRITE OF HB 1011 (ALIEN FIREARM LICENSES) HB 1126 SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING CORRECTED LEGISLATIVE CALENDAR DATES WASHINGTON CEASEFIRE RADIO ADS CALL YOUR SENATOR Two new gun-related bills were filed this week, both in the Senate. SB 5456, by Senator Bob Morton, addresses the temporary possession of firearms by foreign visitors. SB 5465, by Senator Mark Schoesler, clarifies and simplifies the procedures to restore firearms rights for individuals convicted of certain crimes. We have not had time to fully evaluate the language of either of these bills....

North finds reinsurance a source of hard cash September 20, 2006 -- North Korea has filed claims with British and Russian reinsurance companies after four disasters in the North, and seeks millions of dollars in compensation, a source in Seoul said yesterday. His comments were confirmed by government officials. The sources said the claims were filed by Minjok Insurance General Company, and asked for payments related to two rail crashes and two other incidents. Reinsurers help policy-issuing insurance companies spread the risk involved in their policies to other insurance companies around the world. Companies buy "packages" composed of parts of...

There stands Planned Parenthood, right behind Senate Democrat leaders, whispering seductively in their collective ear the promise of lots of votes and lots of cash. That's an interesting looking wallet Planned Parenthood has. Oh, baby skin. Of course. The addiction to power is arguably the most powerful addiction. This is obviously what's behind the Democrats' obstruction to the Child Custody Protection Act, which would stop non-parents from trafficking minor girls for abortions from states with parental notification laws to states without them. CCPA would also rescue girls from incestuous households by eliminating the loophole around state parental notification laws that...

SACRAMENTO – The Schwarzenegger administration yesterday closed a pension loophole that would have allowed some state firefighters to retire with pensions higher than their final salaries. But the move does not address the state fire department's troubling high vacancy rate among top manager positions – 34 out of 151 division chief positions – that some fear could weaken response and jeopardize safety as the fire season begins. The excessive pensions, which may have been limited to about a dozen people, stem from the same lucrative labor contract that gives rank-and-file firefighters more pay than supervisors, making the top jobs hard...

RUSH: Just to once again demonstrate that I'm not off the reservation on immigration, let me tell you -- it's a very fine line here -- but I have some experts from a floor speech made by Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama about the bill. This is a 500-page bill and most of the Senate has not even seen it. They've not read it all. Perhaps their staff is digging deep and reading it now, but some of stuff in here is shocking. Now, the point of this is to show you just how desperate some of these senators are...

The Honest Leadership & Open Government Act The Pledge: Sign Here The Democratic Proposal Governor Dean's Letter Read Ongoing Coverage Democrats offer an aggressive reform package to reverse Republican excesses and restore the public trust. Our program for change embodies the following provisions:Close the Revolving Door. Close the revolving door between the Congress and lobbying firms by doubling (from one year to two) the cooling-off period during which lawmakers, senior Congressional staff, and Executive Branch officials are prohibited from lobbying their former offices. Eliminate floor privileges for former Members of Congress and officers of the Senate and House who return...

Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza, and last week permitted Palestinians to pass between Egypt and Gaza through the Rafah border crossing. The agreement to open this border point was hailed as a positive step for Palestinians -- but who cares about the consequences for Israel? It looks like Rafah will become another security loophole for Palestinian terrorists (Jerusalem Post): Rafik al-Hasanat, a senior member of Hamas who has been wanted by Israel for more than a decade, on Wednesday night returned to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing. ... A senior member of the armed wing of Hamas,...

Public employee labor unions say Proposition 75 would "cripple employees' ability to fight on a level playing field," by restricting the use of members' dues for political purposes. But even if the measure is approved, unions would have nearly unfettered ability to collect and spend members' dues for issue advocacy - a catch-all category in state law that can include voter "education" or television ads attacking a politician over a particular issue not related to an election. (snip) Supported by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and business interests among others, the measure would bar public employee unions from using dues collected from...