Free Republic

As I sit here doing my 2016 tax training (I am an Enrolled Agent), I am wondering how many Blue State / Blue City politicians have really realized how much of a disaster SOCIALIST Sen. Bernie Sanders would be if he were to be elected and pass his proposal for increasing the Federal Income Tax rates? This post is an effort to answer his campaign point of "Why can't we return to the Eisenhower tax rates?"

The Obama administration on Wednesday reminded state officials across the country that states do not have legal authority to refuse to accept Syrian refugees, reports The Associated Press (AP). The reminder from the White House came amid a growing controversy over the plan to accept Syrian refugees, in the wake of the discovery of a Syrian passport near the body of one assailant in the Paris attacks. No less than 24 states announced earlier this week they would block the program to resettle Syrian migrants within their borders, though White House officials defended the current refugee program. Later, the House...

To search for Donald Trump upcoming events, go to the EventBrite web site. To the right of the box entitled "Search for events or categories", type in your particular state. To the right of the "State" box, there is a "Date" box. Select "This Week" or "Next Week". If Donald Trump has an event listed, you will be able to find the details about the event. If you post the information about the particular event on a particular thread, please ping me. I will then ping my Freeper ping list for your particular state to help spread the word about...

The jihadist attacks in Paris this past weekend have raised anew grave concerns about the president's aggressive policy of settling tens of thousands of Syrian refugees in cities and towns across the United States. More than two dozen governors have announced their opposition to the refugee-resettlement program, but commentators have raised serious questions about whether the states have any power whatsoever to prevent the president's actions. The federal government's power over immigration is "plenary," we are told, and the states have nothing to say about the matter. Or so the received wisdom goes. Truth be told, Congress does not...

"Slamming the door in their faces would be a betrayal of our values," [Obama] said.Six Republican governors have announced that Syrian refugees won't be allowed to resettle in their states in the wake of last week's terrorist attacks in Paris. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley issued statements Sunday saying that they wanted to prioritize the safety of the residents in their states. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott; Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a GOP presidential candidate; Arkansas Gov. Gov. Asa Hutchinson; and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence joined them on Monday. "Michigan is a welcoming state and we are...

The Paris terror attacks may have put a clamp on President Obama's plans to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees over the next year, as the number of governors saying they won't take them swells. At the same time, top congressional lawmakers are urging the administration to halt the plan. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul called on Obama to "temporarily suspend the admission of all additional Syrian refugees" pending a "full review," according to a letter obtained by Fox News. The resistance at the state level is coalescing at a rapid clip. So far, governors in at least 15 states...

When Congress left town for the August recess, it did so without coming to an agreement on a long-term transportation bill. Instead, the president signed a three-month extension that set the stage for another showdown this fall. More than 30 such temporary extensions have passed since the last multi-year transportation bill expired in 2011. The inability of Congress to come together to pass a transportation package has frustrated the myriad special interests whose lobbyists want assurances that the dollars will keep flowing for years, and not just months, to come. And the media, which seldom miss an opportunity to push...

Obama insists that DEMOCRATS are the future of America saying that the Republican party is 'outdated.' In reality, Obama is dead wrong. More Republicans are making massive gains at the state and local levels. Take the victory of the governor elect Matt Bevin in Kentucky recently! Bevin, a Tea Party favorite became only the second Republican in four decades to win Kentucky’s governorship! The Washington Post reports: With Matt Bevin’s win in Kentucky on Tuesday night, Republicans now hold 32 of the nation’s governorships — 64 percent of all the governors mansions in the country. (One race, in Louisiana, won’t...

The Center for Public Integrity has issued a report that shows tht only three states recieved a grade of better than "D+."  The investigation "found that in state after state, open records laws are laced with exemptions and part-time legislators and agency officials engage in glaring conflicts of interests and cozy relationships with lobbyists. Meanwhile, feckless, understaffed watchdogs struggle to enforce laws as porous as honeycombs." That's pulling no punches. After describing disturbing practices in several states, the report says: These are among the practices illuminated by the State Integrity Investigation, which measured hundreds of variables to compile transparency and...

For the most part, Republicans trounced Democrats in state and local races across the country. It was a great night for the GOP, especially Matt Bevin's surprise win in Kentucky. Most had written him off in the weeks prior to Election Day, citing the inability for both him and his Democratic opponent, Attorney General Jack Conway, from getting any sort of traction with the electorate. In the end, Bevin beat Conway by almost ten points. The Republican State Leadership Committee, who serves at the frontlines of state and local races, noted their massive victory during their conference call yesterday....

It's hard to overstate how important those GOP gains — and the consolidation of them we've seen in the last few years — are to the relative fates of the two parties. While the story at the national level suggests a Republican Party that is growing increasingly white, old and out of step with the country on social issues, the narrative at the local level is very different. Republicans are prospering at the state level in ways that suggest that the party's messaging is far from broken. There are other, more pragmatic effects of the GOP dominance in governor's races...

The fight is not over, and we are winning battles here and there. The problem was that more of us needed to start fighting in the first place I am not happy about what I am seeing in Washington. Frankly, I believe everyone feels this way. It’s about time that more people felt angry with Washington DC backroom deals, big business bailouts, and big labor cronyism. Then again, I am not happy about being unhappy. Too many people in this country were NOT angry. They were not even paying attention to what was going on, or they turned a blind...

By now, Illinois' budget problems are no secret. Back in May, after the State Supreme Court struck down a pension reform bid, Moody's move to downgrade the city of Chicago thrust the state's financial woes into the national spotlight. Since then, the situation hasn't gotten any better and despite hiring an "all star" budget guru (for $30,000 a month no less), Bruce Rauner was unable to pass a budget in a timely fashion leading directly to all types of absurdities including everything from the possibility of shortened school years to lottery winners being paid in IOUs. Now, as Bloomberg reports,...

A group of 64 legal experts and scholars have signed a statement calling on Americans to oppose the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision legalizing gay marriage nationwide.The Washington, DC-based American Principles Project posted the legal experts' statement Thursday on their website in which they denounced the 5-4 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges. "The Court's majority opinion eschewed reliance on the text, logic, structure, or original understanding of the Constitution, as well as the Court's own interpretative doctrines and precedents, and supplied no compelling reasoning to show why it is unjustified for the laws of the states to sustain marriage as...

LANSING- In response to President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette and Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt today issued a letter to the Governors of all 50 states urging them to impose state-based sanctions against Iran. “Iran engages in some of the world’s most severe human rights abuses, oppressing women, and persecuting people of nearly all faiths, including Jews, Christians and Baha’is,” said Schuette. "In my past service as a Congressman from Michigan, I supported a strong national defensive capability and opposed relations with Iran, a country hostile to both the United States and our key...

In 2013, more than 200,000 people on net fled states with Democrat governors for ones run by Republicans, according to an analysis of newly released IRS data by Americans for Tax Reform. "People move away from high tax states to low tax states. Every tax refugee is sending a powerful message to politicians," said ATR President Grover Norquist. "They are voting with their feet. Leaders in Texas and Florida are listening. New York and California are not." That year, Democrat-run states lost a net 226,763 taxpayers, bringing with them nearly $15.7 billion in adjusted gross income (AGI). That same year,...

The US is the richest nation in the world, with an annual GDP of $17.3 trillion in 2014. However, some states are greater contributors to the economy than others. To illustrate differences among state economies, the folks at HowMuch.net created a chart that shows the relative economic value of each US state. The states are also color-coded based on which region of the country they're in.HowMuch.net The three regions that contribute the most to the economy are the Far West (18.6%), Southeast (21.3%), and Mideast (18.2%). California (13.3%), Texas (9.5%), and New York (8.1%) have the largest economies in the...

Please see the the following links below. Just a coincidence or what? http://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2015/08/24/windshield-shatters-on-i-25-in-fort-collins/32283265/ http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/shootings-arizonas-i-10-put-drivers-alert-n419291 http://www.youngcons.com/sniper-suspected-of-shooting-at-cars-on-two-interstates-in-michigan/ http://www.cleveland.com/akron/index.ssf/2015/09/akron_highway_shooting_mirrors.html#incart_m-rpt-1 http://kwqc.com/2015/09/01/henry-county-ill-vehicles-targeted-sheriff-investigates/ http://www.wsoctv.com/photo/news/local/shots-fired-car-waiting-east-charlotte-intersectio/pCpx5Q/

It may have escaped the attention of Baltimoreans but things have gotten a little testy in the New York-New Jersey area in recent weeks over the state of century-old rail tunnels running under the Hudson River. The deteriorating condition of the tunnels is threatening Amtrak and other rail service, but how to pay for a $14 billion-plus replacement has proven a challenge. Unfortunately, that's not just a problem for New York City but for Baltimore and other stops along Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, the nation's most heavily traveled railway handling more than 750,000 passengers a day. The stations in Baltimore and...