Free Republic

CARSON CITY — State employees and covered family members will have health coverage for gender reassignment and other transgender procedures under a new insurance policy that takes effect July 1. The Public Employee Benefits Program board voted in November to remove language in the state’s self-funded and HMO plans that specifically excluded therapy for gender dysphoria. Brock Maylath, president of the advocacy group Transgender Allies Group, on Wednesday hailed the change as a “significant step” for the transgender community. Previous language in the state insurance design plan excluded treatment designed to alter physical characteristics and any other treatment related to...

The Supreme Court will soon announce its decision in King v. Burwell, a case that could have far-ranging impact on the Affordable Care Act. The system more commonly known as Obamacare pays subsidies to taxpayers below 400 percent of the poverty line to cover health-insurance premiums. The plaintiffs in King argue that the explicit language of the law forbids subsidy payments to those purchasing health insurance outside of a state exchange. States lack 'plan B' for loss of Obamacare aid CNBC Obama Readies His Veto Pen for a GOP Health Care Fix The Fiscal Times Post-King v. Burwell Advice for...

Budget cuts to the IRS are hampering the agency’s efforts to uncover tax cheats, an agency watchdog said Wednesday, and more trims are on the way under legislation approved by a GOP-controlled House panel. IRS budget cuts are hurting tax collections because there are fewer agents chasing delinquent taxpayers, according to a report released Wednesday by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. The IRS budget has been cut by $1.2 billion since 2010. The House Appropriations Committee approved IRS cuts of $900 million more on Wednesday on a party-line vote. Republicans controlling Congress have targeted the much-maligned agency, particularly...

Hillary Clinton is going to propose “revenue enhancements,” which is a term that means tax hikes. Clinton campaign press secretary Brian Fallon said on Twitter that the campaign will propose “revenue enhancements” to raise money for various government programs including universal preschool.

There has been a lot of talk lately about Tariffs and peopel wanting to implement larger Tariffs in order to boost domestic production and employment. But here is the sticking point, and that is the definition of the Word Tariff. A tariff is a tax on imports or exports IS A TAX. And like all taxes it does follow certain rules of thumb and behaviors and one of those is the "laffer curve", which means if you raise a Tariff too high it will have the opposite effect of what any other tax would have. Also if raised too high...

As the Michigan Legislature has a real discussion about how much money in special tax credits and subsidies it should be handing out, supporters of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation are defending its existence. The entity has agreed to deals that return little to the state, though it argues that things have changed. It’s true that the MEDC is better than in years past. The state has eliminated the MEGA tax credit program, which created an uncertain budget situation (though Michigan will be on the hook for past deals for decades). The amount of incentives handed out is less, particularly...

Police in Overton, Texas ordered two sisters, Zoey (aged 7) and Andria Green (aged 8) to “cease and desist” selling lemonade in their efforts to raise money to buy a Father’s Day gift for their dad. “Selling anything in Texas without a permit is illegal,” explained rousting officer Doug Stamper. “It doesn’t matter that neighborhood lemonade stands have been a time-honored way for kids to make a buck. Under the law, they need to buy a permit if they want to sell lemonade.” The cost of the required permit is $150. Few kids would have the funds to afford it....

Cigarettes are legal in the U.S., but a black market is alive and thriving, generating crime and imposing costs on residents and businesses. To witness this in action one need only cross the state's southern border and see the busy parking lots of Indiana tobacco shops filled with cars from Michigan, whose occupants are stocking up on smokes that cost a dollar less per pack. One South Bend store even offers drive-thru service. “It doesn’t matter to me, just don’t get caught,” said the clerk when asked if she could sell several cartons to a Michigan resident. “There was always...

How can it be that the largest pending trade deal in history – a deal backed both by a Democratic president and Republican leaders in Congress – is nearly dead? The Trans Pacific Partnership may yet squeak through Congress but its near-death experience offers an important lesson. It’s not that labor unions have regained political power (union membership continues to dwindle and large corporations have more clout in Washington than ever) or that the President is especially weak (no president can pull off a major deal like this if the public isn’t behind him). The biggest lesson is most Americans...

A s Jeb Bush formally enters the race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, allow me to make a humble request of the former Florida governor: Please drop out. I appreciate that my request is impertinent in the extreme. Bush is by all accounts one of the most creative, thoughtful, and disciplined minds in American politics, and if anyone has earned the right to weigh in on the future direction of the GOP, it is him. I also appreciate that my timing is awful. To drop out immediately after entering the race would seem capricious, and no one wants to...

A member of the Illinois General Assembly has proposed a bill that would allow Chicago’s deeply troubled public school system to solve its massive projected budget deficit of $1.1 billion by declaring bankruptcy. The House member is Ron Sandack, a Republican from the pleasant Chicago suburb of Downers Grove, according to WLS-TV. “This knee jerk reaction to always say ‘let’s just raise taxes,” Sandack told the ABC affiliate. “That’s where a bankruptcy can actually be helpful.” Sandack’s matter-of-fact recommendation comes as Chicago Public Schools, the third-largest taxpayer-funded school system in the nation, faces a grave and immediate financial crisis. The...

A couple of weeks ago, we reported that the war waged by the Jeffco teachers union against school district staff, particularly those in the communications office, was the most vitriolic in history. We couldn’t figure out why the union would be such abusive bullies to staff members – not even elected officials. And, now, the reason is clear. Documents recently uncovered show that the teachers union and other school staff were using the Jeffco Schools communications department as a de facto campaign headquarters – and had been since at least 2003 (see last picture of memo). With a contentious election...

Clark County management has ordered Martin Bassick, president of the Service Employees International Union Local 1107, to report for work at a county job in a move that reflects the county’s interpretation of a new state law concerning paid leave for union representatives. The county’s human resources department notified Bassick in a letter Thursday to report at his county public works job at 8 a.m. Monday, according to correspondence obtained by the Review-Journal. The letter cites a bill that the Legislature passed this session and Gov. Brian Sandoval signed into law. An attorney for the SEIU, the county’s largest union,...

During the Great Recession, involuntary part-time employment surged. So, now that the economy is recovering, shouldn't involuntary employment return to prerecession levels? Perhaps not, according to new research from the San Francisco Fed. Changes in the U.S. economy's industrial composition toward services combined with shifting demographics and changes in labor costs appear to have caused a permanent increase in the percentage of people forced to accept involuntary part-time employment.

Thank you for contacting me with your concerns about the targeting of Conservative organizations by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). I appreciate hearing from you on this issue. Like many Americans, I am disturbed by the idea that the IRS would target groups for their political beliefs. These actions by the IRS have caused many to lose trust in the federal government and in the agency's ability to administer our nation's tax laws. As you may know, in May 2013, the IRS Inspector General released a report stating that inappropriate criteria were used to identify 501(c)(4) status applications for review....

In an interview at the governor’s mansion, Gov. Pat McCrory tells me that when he took office in January 2013 he looked at the data and knew “we couldn’t stay on the course we were on. We had the highest unemployment benefits and yet at the same time businesses were routinely complaining they couldn’t find workers until benefits ran out. We heard a lot of stories of workers waiting until benefits ran out before going back to work.” In sum, the state was paying people not to work. While these measures were passing the legislature, the state capital boiled over...

What tax rate should rich people pay? A working paper by Fabian Kindermann from the University of Bonn and Dirk Krueger from the University of Pennsylvania advocates taxing the highest 1 percent of earners at a marginal tax rate that is “somewhere between 85 and 90 percent.” As reported by Ben Walsh at the Huffington Post: Krueger described the phenomenon like this: “How much less hard would LeBron James play basketball if he were taxed at a much higher rate? The answer is not much. “James knows he only has five years,” or so of peak earning potential, Krueger said,...

So now several of the largest corporations in the state, including Yankee mainstays such as insurance giants Aetna and Travelers, as well as General Electric, are threatening to leave and get out of this abusive relationship. GE's CEO Jeff Immelt told his thousands of Connecticut-based employees that he has put together a team to evaluate a move to another state with "a more pro-business environment." He says the company's state taxes have increased five times since 2011 and the new hike would impose "significant and retroactive tax increases for businesses." Aetna complained that it already pays $65 million a year...

General Electric is exploring a move from its Connecticut headquarters after it objected to tax aspects of the state's recently passed budget. The Connecticut legislature on Wednesday approved a $40 billion budget that would increase some business taxes. In a Thursday email provided by GE, CEO Jeff Immelt told Connecticut-based employees that he has put together a team to evaluate a move to another state with "a more pro-business environment." Immelt claims the company's state taxes have increased five times since 2011 and the new budget would impose "significant and retroactive tax increases for businesses." GE—which employs more than 5,700...

WASHINGTON — The Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley wants to raise capital gains taxes. His rival Bernie Sanders seeks to tax stock trades and increase personal income tax rates. Indeed, Mr. Sanders’s plan harks back to the Eisenhower-era top rate of over 90 percent — more than twice today’s level. Asked whether that rate is obviously too high, Mr. Sanders responded simply, “No.” Their stances partly reflect attempts to outflank Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic race for the presidential nomination. Mrs. Clinton herself is considering a friendly think tank’s advice to raise taxes on inherited wealth and close loopholes...