Free Republic

"Lawmakers looking to replace current code with flat-rate levy on business transactions." A South Carolina senator dissatisfied with the results of a Bush advisory panel's recommendations on tax reform is set to introduce a bill to abolish federal income tax in favor of a levy on business transactions. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., told the New York Sun he would put his plan before the Senate tomorrow. The proposal calls for an end to all personal income taxes and the attendant bevy of related taxes, deductions and exemptions, including the estate tax and the alternative minimum tax. The plan would eliminate...

One of the most important battles of the 17th century was the Battle of Vienna, which was fought on September 12, 1683... This victory freed Europe from the Ottoman Turks and their invasions and secured Christianity as the main religion in all of Europe.

Farmers leader sentenced for slander The maverick farmers’ Self-Defense party leader Andrzej Lepper has been sentenced to 15 months in jail, suspended for 5 years for slandering five politicians. He will have to pay a 20,000 zloty or almost 7,000 dollar fine. Four years ago, Lepper, then deputy speaker of Parliament, claimed that three leading politicians from the Civic Platform and two politicians from the Democratic Left Alliance were on the payroll of gangsters and fraudulent businessmen. He also misinformed public opinion with revelations that the Afghan Thaleban landed in a small village in eastern Poland.

Just heard over the radio that his plane went down in Wyoming I think. He was 59 yrs old.

Pat Buchanan speaks of American conservatism in the past tense. "The conservative movement has passed into history," says the one-time White House aide, three-time presidential candidate, commentator and magazine publisher. "It doesn't exist anymore as a unifying force," he says in an interview with The Washington Times. "There are still a lot of people who are conservative, but the movement is now broken up, crumbled, dismantled." He is seated in his living room on a sunny afternoon. His wife, Shelley -- a member of the Nixon White House staff when he met and married her -- is upstairs in their...

I just saw Bill Maher on Hannity and Colmes say he wants more conservatives in his studio audience, saying his goal this season is to "attract a conservative audience" because he wants the conservative guests to get some applause on his show. Be careful what you wish for, Bill! If you're in LA, get tickets! Let's show him how unpopular his opinions really are.

Don't know if anybody else noticed on Monday night, but after reporting the "panel found no political agenda", CBS Evening News ran a second piece on others who disagree. They proceeded to show a Fox News clip followed by a Rush Limbaugh clip, noting: "On talk TV and radio, political bias was item number one." (I think the Fox News clip was of Neil Cavuto) So Fox News is now "Talk TV." While CBS continues to deny any bias, they smear Fox News as not being a credible news source, but putting it in the same category as Rush Limbaugh.

Les Kuczynski, Executive Director of the Polish American Congress announced that thanks to strong pressure from Polish Americans, the U.S. Senate may pass a bill to abolish visas for Poles. The draft bill was submitted for debate by senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) in September, 2003, and fast-tracked. It was subsequently blocked by an anonymous senator, but lobbying from Polish-Americans, the senator withdrew the objection. The so-called anonymous dissenter was reportedly Senator Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.)

I heard on the Larry Elder show today that D.L. Hughley has been picked to be the new host of the Late Late Show. I knew he was in the running, but haven't seen any articles confirming this news. If he hasn't been picked yet, then CBS needs to be Freeped with some emails that he shouldn't be. You can see how far left this "comedian" is from a transcript of “REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER”, Episode #43, 11-05-2004.