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The federal Highway Trust Fund is running out of money, and some senators have proposed to fix the problem by raising gas taxes. This, however, is the wrong solution because it treats the symptom, and not the underlying reason for the shortfall. Here are five reasons for not increasing gas taxes. 1. The problem is not a shortage of funds but an excess of spending. For more than 50 years after Congress created the Highway Trust Fund in 1956 it was able to avoid a shortage of funds by a simple measure: it didn't spend more than was collected in...

You may have heard on the news about a Southern California man who was put under 72-hour psychiatric observation when it was found he owned 100 guns and allegedly had 100,000 rounds of ammunition stored in his home. The house also featured a secret escape tunnel.

The happiest small-business owners are all in the Midwest and South, according to a new survey. Online job marketplace Thumbtack and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation surveyed more than 12,000 small-business owners across 38 states in the U.S. on topics concerning how easy it is to start and grow a small business in their state."Thousands of small-business owners across the country told us that the keys to a pro-growth environment are ease of compliance with tax and regulatory systems and helpful training programs," says Jon Lieber, Thumbtack's chief economist.Participants determined that the most important regulatory issue in determining their state's...

You’ve probably seen the recent reports of President Obama ordering the transport and dumping of thousands of Mexican Illegal Aliens into various states, particularly Arizona. According to DHS and ICE officials it’s because the border with Texas is overwhelmed with an influx of Mexican Nationals seeking U.S. status with pending Amnesty Immigration Legislation widely anticipated. Before looking at what DHS/ICE are actually doing, I would like to divert your immediate attention to this video. This video was taken in 2011, in the exact area where the U.S. Border Patrol are currently being overwhelmed. The Border Patrol has been overwhelmed by...

Christianity is by far the largest religion in the United States; more than three-quarters of Americans identify as Christians. A little more than half of us identify as Protestants, about 23 percent as Catholic and about 2 percent as Mormon. But what about the rest of us? In the Western U.S., Buddhists represent the largest non-Christian religious bloc in most states. In 20 states, mostly in the Midwest and South, Islam is the largest non-Christian faith tradition. And in 15 states, mostly in the Northeast, Judaism has the most followers after Christianity. Hindus come in second place in Arizona and...

The GOP-controlled House voted early Friday in favor of blocking the federal government from interfering with states that permit the use of medical marijuana. The somewhat surprising 219-189 vote came as the House debated a bill funding the Justice Department’s budget. The amendment by conservative GOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California—the first state to legalize medical marijuana—came as almost half the states have legalized marijuana for medical uses, such as improving the appetites of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. …

Broadview Networks The above map, sent to us by Mike Simmons of Broadview Networks, shows the largest employer in every state. Broadview Networks used information from CareerOneStop, a database sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor. Interestingly, only two companies in the top 10 largest employers in America — IBM and Wal-Mart — appear as a state front-runner. And the map doesn't feature other large companies, like UPS and McDonald's, at all.Instead, major state universities, like those in Alabama and Colorado, and innovative hospitals, like the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, employ the most residents in numerous states.In some states, like Alabama, when...

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to testify today regarding the federal role in highway and transit funding.Federal policymakers are considering ways to close the large funding gap in the Highway Trust Fund. One option would be to reduce spending and downsize the federal role in transportation. That approach would encourage state governments to pursue their own innovative solutions for highways and transit, such as new types of user charges, public-private partnerships, and privatization.Federal aid programs for highways and transit have many shortcomings. Aid redistributes transportation funds between the states in ways that are...

There is an obvious disconnect in the minds of taxpayers between the amount we fork over each April and what we ultimately receive from the government in return. Tax Day is a tangible, painful reminder of our investments in federal, state and local governments, but it’s difficult to discern the government’s precise role in our day-to-day quality of life and overall pursuit of happiness. Perhaps that’s why 52% of people feel they pay too much in taxes and most people think roughly half of their tax dollars are being wasted.

A map of the U.S. shows the states where residents were the most and least likely to say they had recently donated to charity.Gallup There are only two U.S. states where at least 50 percent of residents say they've recently given either money or time to charity: Utah and Minnesota, according to a new Gallup poll. Nevada and Kentucky tied for the lowest rate of charitable giving.The poll was conducted in the last six months of 2013, when at least 600 residents of each state were asked whether they had donated money to a charity or volunteered at an...

Finally, after being headquartered in Torrance, Calif., for half a century, Toyota has had enough of CaliforniaÂ’s anti-business, anti-growth policies and is packing its bags and moving to Plano, Texas, where the contrast couldnÂ’t be greater. And Toyota is not alone in fleeing California. You can tell a lot about the hot spots in America by tracking where Americans are moving to and where they are running from. Every year, about 3 million Americans move from one state to another; the combined adjusted gross incomes (AGI) of these movers and shakers is over $140 billion. Last week, the IRS...

INDIANAPOLIS | Hoosiers never again would vote in a primary election for U.S. Senate candidates if the decision were up to Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller. Zoeller is among a growing number of state's rights conservatives who favor a so-called "soft repeal" of the 17th Amendment that would empower members of the General Assembly, instead of voters, to nominate each party's U.S. Senate candidates. Voters still would have the final say on who represents Indiana in the Senate. But Zoeller, a Republican, believes giving the General Assembly's control of selecting candidates could revive the idea that U.S. senators are ambassadors...

Throughout the country, states are looking for ways to energize their economies and become more competitive. Each state confronts this task with a set of policy decisions unique to their own situation, but not all state policies lead to economic prosperity. Using years of economic data and empirical evidence from each state, the authors identify which policies can lead a state to economic prosperity. Rich States, Poor States not only identifies these policies but also makes sound research-based conclusions about which states are poised to achieve greater economic prosperity and those that are stuck on the path to a lackluster...

We reported on Tuesday about the major demographic problem facing Republicans. So, how can the GOP start winning larger shares of non-white voters? Reforming the immigration system might not be the answer. Why not? Because reforming the nation's immigration laws could very well create a whole bunch of new Democrats, including in some key swing states. Let's break it down. The rise in the Hispanic population in the United States is problematic for the GOP, but so far it's been quite slow. In 2004, Hispanics made up 6 percent of all voters. That ticked up to 7 percent in 2008...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- When asked to rate their state as a place to live, three in four Montanans (77%) and Alaskans (77%) say their state is the best or one of the best places to live. Residents of Rhode Island (18%) and Illinois (19%) are the least likely to praise their states.

More than two-thirds of the states reported job gains in March, as hiring has improved for much of the country during what has been a sluggish but sustained 4 1/2-year recovery. The Labor Department said Friday that unemployment rates dropped in 21 states, rose in 17 and were unchanged in the remaining 12. Meanwhile, hiring increased in 34 states and fell in 16. The unemployment rate varies from as low as 2.6 percent in North Dakota to as much as 8.7 percent in Rhode Island. South Carolina has experienced the sharpest rate decline over 12 months to 5.5 percent from...

The Most Important Exported Good From Every Statea Andy KierszApr. 3, 2014, 5:03 PMIn addition to national numbers, the Census Bureau also keeps track of imports and exports for each of the states. This map shows the international export commodity or product from each state with the greatest dollar value in 2013:{?

The Most Popular Job In Every State Andy KierszApr. 2, 2014, 4:59 PM   Some jobs are disproportionately concentrated in certain states. Fashion designers flock to New York, Texas has an outsize share of petroleum engineers, and Floridians are much more likely to be motorboat operators than are other Americans. We made a map that shows the most over-represented job in each state, using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' recently released May 2013 "Occupational Employment Statistics." Each state has far more of these jobs per capita than the nation as a whole. We'll discuss the methodology later. First check...

The Georgia state legislature has passed a measure calling for a Convention of States to amend the U.S. Constitution, a move long championed by many in the tea party movement. The action restricts the convention to topics of limiting the power of the federal government and establishing term limits for federal officials. Georgia's House voted 107-58 on Thursday to pass the measure, which previously had passed the state Senate. "An Article V Convention of States would provide an opportunity for the citizens of this great nation to restore the balance of power between the states and the federal government," Republican...

Video of Obamacare failure accross the country