Free Republic

A renewed push by some Democrats for an increase in the federal gas tax to replenish the Highway Trust Fund drew a frosty reception Thursday from Speaker John A. Boehner — though the Ohio Republican stopped short of ruling the idea out. Both Boehner and the top-ranking Democrat in the House, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, were asked Thursday about an increase in the 18.4 cent-per-gallon federal gas tax after the National Republican Campaign Committee sought to make a gas tax increase a political liability for Democrats. “I’ve never voted to raise the gas tax. Funding the highway bill is critically...

Gov. Mark Dayton walked into unfriendly territory Wednesday to pitch his plan for a gas tax increase to fund transportation needs. Surrounded by business leaders at a Minnesota Chamber of Commerce dinner, Dayton reiterated his call to raise $6 billion over 10 years by applying the sales tax to gasoline and imposing a series of fee increases. But minutes before Dayton took the stage, a chamber leader repeated the position of the business group: Road work should be paid for without raising taxes and fees. "I know there are things about state government and my administration's policies that you don't...

If you're wondering why New York City police officers keep turning their back on Mayor Bill de Blasio, let's review parts of the mayor's recent speech on the Eric Garner case that have been removed from the "Official Website of the City of New York." De Blasio said: "I was at the White House the other day, and the president of the United States turned to me and he said that [De Blasio son] Dante reminded him of what he looked like as a teenager." Why does Obama think every black teenager looks like him? Does he think they all...

Storied Minnesota medical-device company Medtronic will move its headquarters to Ireland after shareholders approved a merger Tuesday with Dublin-based health care supplier Covidien. The controversial $43 billion "inversion" deal will allow the new company, to be called Medtronic PLC, to reduce its corporate tax liability as it repatriates cash stored overseas. But the deal has irked longtime Twin Cities shareholders, who will face significant capital gains taxes on their Medtronic holdings. In preliminary vote totals, shareholders representing about 75 percent of Medtronic's outstanding shares approved the deal, general counsel Brad Lerman announced to a special shareholder meeting in Minneapolis. And...

Effing the Middle Class:: By: Larry Walker II ::In Part 1, we voiced concern that in constitutional law sense, an excise tax is usually an event tax as opposed to a “state of being” tax, the recent exception to this principle being the "minimum essential coverage" tax under Internal Revenue Code section 5000A as enacted by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111–148), whereby an indirect tax is imposed on the condition of not having purchased health insurance coverage.This is not the first time in history the United States has forced its middle class to pay a...

When prominent members of both political parties talk about the possibility of taxing fossil fuels – you know something serious has shifted in U.S. politics. On Monday morning, former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, a largely pro-business Democrat, published a column in The Washington Post calling for the imposition of a carbon tax.

Everyone wants tax reform. At least we pay lip service to the idea that the U.S. economy would be better off with lower rates, a simpler code, and fewer loopholes. Yet something everyone claims to support has proved elusive time and again. Why? For starters, it's not clear that everyone's idea of tax reform is the same. Corporations want lower statutory rates; they are less enthusiastic when it comes to sacrificing their bought-and-paid-for tax breaks. Liberals want an even more progressive tax code, with higher rates on the wealthy. Conservatives want to reduce anything that looks, smells, or acts like...

In the latest blow to New Jersey, which is still staggering from the recession, Mercedes-Benz USA said on Tuesday that it would move its headquarters to Georgia from Montvale, N.J.

As 2014 draws to a close and the final few state legislatures still in session prepare to finally adjourn for the year, the ALEC Center for State Fiscal Reform has again published State Tax Cut Roundup, which details the states that cut taxes in the 2014 legislative session. During the 2014 legislative session, 14 states passed significant tax cuts into law. These cuts vary in what tax they reduced and their size but they share one crucial similarity: they put more money into the pockets of taxpayers in their respective states. Those 14 states are detailed in the map below:...

Another day and another complaint by the IRS that they won’t have enough money to administer the tax code properly. Boohoo. Maybe they should have thought about that before Lois Lerner came before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and decided to invoke her right not to incriminate herself. Repeatedly. Its one thing when a Mafia don does that. But come on: The IRS? Or perhaps they should have thought of it before they lost the emails that they said died because of a hard drive failure. This time the crier for the IRS is CNNMoney, which complains that...

The new Congress will begin its session today. Conservatives will try to oust Speaker John Boehner and will fail badly in their efforts. From there the question is what direction is the new Republican Congress going to take things. The next 100 days are crucial for the Republican Party, which badly needs to show its capable of governing. It’s a given that President Obama will veto just about every bill Congress sends him. The key for Republicans will be passing bills the general public can support while making Obama look like an obstructionist in vetoing them. It’s easier said than...

If Michigan voters approve a proposed sales tax increase that will be on the ballot, it would give Michigan the second-highest state sales tax in the country, trailing only California. According to the Tax Foundation, California has the highest state-level tax rate at 7.5 percent. Five states (Indiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Tennessee) have the second-highest state sales tax at 7 percent. Michigan’s current sales tax is 6 percent. As part of a compromise made by the Michigan House and Senate, a deal was made to let voters decide May 5, 2015 if they want to increase the...

Last night, as shivering tourists gathered in Times Square to watch the New Year’s Eve Ball drop, something much more impactful rose across the entire state of New York. Rising from $8.00 per hour to $8.75 per hour on December 31, New York’s minimum wage became the fourth-highest state minimum wage in the nation. Yet advocates continue to call for a higher minimum wage, some even as high as $15 per hour. While many applaud the move as a positive step for New York residents, the minimum wage increase will adversely affect those it is intended to help by eliminating...

Thirty-six states that rely on private managed care programs to provide medical services to all or some of their Medicaid recipients are facing an added ObamaCare tax. According to a report by Milliman consulting actuaries, states that contract with Medicaid managed care plans face up to $15 billion in added costs over 10 years for their share of the law’s tax on private health insurance. States will pay even if they strongly oppose ObamaCare and are refusing to establish health insurance exchanges or expand Medicaid. The health law imposes an annual tax on private health insurance plans – a tax...

Obama plans to talk manufacturing in Detroit ahead of auto show By Khalil AlHajal | kalhajal@mlive.com January 05, 2015 at 1:48 PM DETROIT, MI -- President Barack Obama is scheduled to speak in Michigan on Wednesday and is expected talk about manufacturing jobs, according to the Associated Press. The visit will come days ahead of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, which begins with press previews Jan. 12. The president is expected to highlight manufacturing jobs and his decision to bail out the auto industry in a Detroit-area visit before heading to Phoenix the next day to focus...

Moving to quash a conservative GOP insurrection, Assembly Speaker-designee John Hambrick on Saturday harshly rebuked Assemblywoman Michelle Fiore, telling her to stop playing “childish games” and undermining him by insisting she’s still Republican majority leader. Hambrick said in an email to Fiore that he had full authority as the elected leader of the Assembly Republican Caucus to remove her as majority leader and as chair of the Assembly Taxation Committee. He said he removed her last month for insubordination and for how she’s handling a dispute with the Internal Revenue Service over unpaid payroll taxes for her home health care...

Republican Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin was just reelected, despite the fact that his state has distinct liberal trends and is far more blue than it is red. How did that happen? Easy; Walker is no casual conservative when it comes to doing what is right for his state and its residents, no matter what their chosen political affiliation. And the thing national Republicans could learn from Walker is that when you stick to conservative principles, good things happen and the people will follow you (remember the “Reagan Democrats?”)

Legislators in the 24 states where Republicans now hold total control plan to push a series of aggressive policy initiatives in the coming year aimed at limiting the power of the federal government and rekindling the culture wars. The unprecedented breadth of the Republican majority — the party now controls 31 governorships and 68 of 98 partisan legislative chambers — all but guarantees a new tide of conservative laws. Republicans plan to launch a fresh assault on the Common Core education standards, press abortion regulations, cut personal and corporate income taxes and take up dozens of measures challenging the power...

PARIS (AP) — It was supposed to force millionaires to pay tax rates of up to 75 percent: "Cuba without the sun," as described by a critic from the banking industry. Socialist President Francois Hollande's super tax was rejected by a court, rewritten and ultimately netted just a sliver of its projected proceeds. It ends on Wednesday and will not be renewed. And that critic of the tax? He's now Hollande's economy minister, trying mightily to undo the damage to France's image in international business circles. The tax of 75 percent on income earned above one million euros ($1.22 million)...

Minnesota's highway needs can't be met without more tax revenue, Gov. Mark Dayton said Tuesday -- setting him up for a possible clash with the new Republican majority in the House. Dayton is finalizing his 2016-17 budget proposal, which aims to raise what he says is the $6 billion Minnesota's roads need over the next 10 years. The plan calls for a 6.5 percent wholesale surtax on gasoline -- separate from the existing 28.5 cents-per-gallon tax already levied. That means the tax would bring in more money when gas prices increase. "Our transportation systems are getting worse," Dayton said. "Anybody...