Free Republic

Former Vice President Joe Biden, now running for president, told a gathering of ministers and community activists on Monday that the American public is ready for institutional change, and he indicated that he'll raise taxes to accomplish that, if elected: Biden said it's "pure selfishness" to object to higher taxes that would help pay for programs benefiting the black community.

Striking a contrast to the Trump administration, Democrats behind Joe Biden's campaign believe higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations will not slow economic recovery, planning "significant income redistribution" as soon as 2021, The Wall Street Journal reported. Democrats want to store the taxes on the wealthy and corporations in order to bring more revenue for government spending in the wake of coronavirus impact payments and bailouts, per the report. "It's all the more important to protect the retirement and security of working [people] and make sure the wealthy pay their fair share," Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who would become...

.... The financial crisis wrought by COVID-19 has left America’s more than 13,000 school systems wrestling with the likelihood of big budget cuts. In some, it already has spoiled dreams of expanded funding and teacher pay raises. Advocates are pushing for more federal aid to schools as researchers warn budget woes could lead to massive teacher layoffs - and less learning. The cuts will add to the strain on districts like Catoosa County that never recovered fully from the 2008 recession, which led to sharp staffing declines at American public schools over a period of rising student enrollment. With cuts...

LONDON/BOSTON - Last month Zagg Inc, a Utah-based company that makes mobile device accessories, received more than $9.4 million in cash from a U.S. government program that has provided emergency loans to millions of businesses hit by the coronavirus. The money was part of the $660 billion Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) - a linchpin of President Donald Trump’s economic rescue package, meant to save small firms convulsed by the pandemic and help them to keep workers on the payroll. Claimants certified the loans were necessary to support their business and received an average of $115,000 as of May 26, according...

They work hard, but they are not rich. He is a local police officer in a suburb of a midwestern city. His annual salary is $67,620 -- exactly the national average for his job, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. She is a registered nurse at the local Catholic hospital. Since their youngest joined his siblings in high school last fall, she has resumed working full time. Her annual salary is now $77,460 -- also exactly the national average for her job. Where does their money go? The biggest chunk goes to the government. They pay federal income taxes,...

'Assume your complaint is w/ the tax code, not Amazon' Amazon fired back at Joe Biden on Friday after presumptive Democratic presidential nominee told the company it needs "to pay its fair share" in taxes. The former vice president not only declared that Amazon must "pay its fair share," but he claimed the company pays less in taxes than firefighters and teachers. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again: No company pulling in billions of dollars in profits should pay a lower tax rate than firefighters and teachers. It's time for Amazon to pay its fair share," Biden...

The Supreme Court should not require President Trump to release his tax returns on several grounds. There is not one good reason for his tax return to be released, and far too many why they should not. In addition, the Supreme Court should not vote along party lines on this issue. This should be a unanimous vote in order to send a message that the release of these documents would set a dangerous precedent. Without getting into whether it is unconstitutional or not; for sake of argument let’s just assume it is not. All the problems that can occur cannot...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Jefferson County Board of Education voted 5-2 Thursday to increase the district’s property tax rate by 7 cents per $100 of assessed property value, setting up a potential recall at the polls in November if opponents can garner enough support. Board members Diane Porter, Chris Kolb, James Craig, Corrie Shull and Joe Marshall voted for the rate increase while board members Chris Brady and Linda Duncan voted against it. Jefferson County Public Schools Superintendent Marty Pollio recommended the board pass the higher tax rate, which puts the district's tax rate at 80.6 cents per $100...

US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wants to raise taxes on the rich — but not pay her own. The Democratic socialist congresswoman from The Bronx still hasn’t paid a 7-year-old tax bill left over from a failed business venture. AOC had founded Brook Avenue Press, a publishing house that sought designers, artists and writers from urban areas to help paint The Bronx in a positive way in children’s stories, in 2012. As The Post previously reported, public records show the state dissolved the company in October 2016. The state can make such a move when a business fails to pay corporate...

US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wants to raise taxes on the rich - just not pay her own. The Democratic socialist congresswoman from The Bronx still hasn’t paid a 7-year-old tax bill leftover from a failed business venture. AOC had founded Brook Avenue Press, a publishing house that sought designers, artists and writers from urban areas to help paint The Bronx in a positive way in children’s stories, in 2012. As the Post previously reported, public records show the state dissolved the company in October 2016. The state can make such a move when a business fails to pay corporate taxes...

Red States Can't Let Blue Ones Go Down Without Sinking Themselves. Republicans may not want to bail out blue states, but they can’t afford to let them go under. Nicole Gelinas Published May. 16, 2020 5:35AM ET A long-simmering uneasiness between densely populated Democratic states and more sprawling Republican states has turned into open contempt, with national Republicans refusing more aid for cash-strapped states, and local and state Democrats seeing anything less than 100 percent funding as a betrayal. As New York, New Jersey, Michigan and Illinois, in particular, struggle with the economic consequences of locking down their states to...

Americans had a collective fit when they learned about Nancy Pelosi’s insane new “relief” bill. The massive spending package would cost us $3 trillion dollars. All of it would go to Democrat “wish lists.” Immediately, the White House promised they would never sign such a bill. Now, Pelosi is backtracking. You have to give it to Nancy Pelosi. The old gal doesn’t give two rats asses about America. When Congress was trying to pass funding to save small businesses, she held it up… twice. Then, she closed the House, preventing lawmakers from continuing to provide solutions during the crisis. Meanwhile,...

When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the $3 trillion coronavirus spending bill she and her allies had written – a bill passed by House Democrats Friday night with only a single Republican vote in support – my first reaction was that it would be dead on arrival in the Senate and that the move made no sense. The bill is the most expensive spending bill ever passed in the history of the House of Representatives, but Pelosi took no public comment, no Republican input, and didn’t consult with the Republican-controlled Senate or the White House on the bill. As we...

• There is so much good (and also bad) analytical work appearing every day that calls into question the conventional wisdom about both COVID-19 and the hard lockdown remedy that just about every country has adopted. There’s so much that I can’t keep up, and can’t decide from day to day which items to pass along to Power Line readers. Fortunately for us, the British journalist Toby Young has put together a pretty good one-stop-shopping site called Lockdown Sceptics. Worth a look each day. Other good recent reads on lockdown skepticism include Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic (“Take the Shutdown...

Former Barack Obama adviser Rahm Emanuel, during a recent interview, reminded us of his 2008 financial crisis quotation, "Never allow a crisis to go to waste." The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a wonderful opportunity for those of us who want greater control over our lives. Sadly, too many Americans have already taken the bait. We've allowed politicians and bureaucrats to dictate to us what's an essential business and what isn't, who has access to hospitals and who hasn't, and a host of minor and major dictates. Leftist politicians who want to get into our pocketbooks are beginning to argue that...

President Donald Trump's lawyers will urge the Supreme Court on Tuesday to let him block access to his tax returns and other financial documents sought by three congressional committees and a New York prosecutor. In one of the most closely watched disputes of the court's term, the cases will test the justices' independence and could yield major rulings on the power of Congress to demand documents from a sitting president — or the authority of a president to refuse. The court will hear the two separate cases by telephone conference call with each justice taking a turn to ask questions,...

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is asking Samaritan’s Purse to pay state taxes after the Christian humanitarian organization discharged its last patient this week — one of the over 300 COVID-19 patients it treated at a temporary hospital in New York City’s Central Park while facing a backlash due to its statement of faith. “We’re not in a position to provide any subsidies right now because we have a $13 billion deficit,” Cuomo said at a daily press briefing this week, Fox News reported Friday. According to a New York state law, anyone working in the state for more than 14 days...

Because of the coronavirus bailouts, the federal deficit is now expected to be $3.7 trillion for fiscal year 2020. This is a huge drag on Americans' earnings and retirement security. Coronavirus panic is hitting the global economy, and America is no exception. To patch over the shelter-in-place orders and compensate closed businesses, Congress has passed well more than $2.7 trillion in so-called stimulus, including subsidized loans to businesses, increased unemployment insurance, direct payments to Americans, and funding for hospitals and state and local governments.Because of this, the federal deficit is now expected to be $3.7 trillion for fiscal year 2020....

For decades, the biggest portion of Washington expenditures has been retirement income sent to individuals from the federal government, principally in the form of Social Security or retirement benefits for federal workers. The studies track this money as it is sent to the states where people reside in retirement. New York has consistently ranked near the bottom in the amount of these funds that it receives because it’s not a desirable place to retire and has one of the highest rates of out-migration to other states. ... New York is a “donor” state insofar as its citizens take their retirement...

rumor at this point, but completely believable: Rumor has it that city considering doubling water, garbage, city sticker and neighborhood parking permit fees. This on top of much higher tax levy on all home values. They have been told that about 1/2 of the canceled conventions will not be booking in the city any longer. They have found better less costly facilities and much better weather. But no worries the city will make up the lost revenues by their new taxing policies. Budget cuts, head count cuts, furloughs or buyouts were never discussed at the round table. First shoe to...