Free Republic

MANSFIELD, Ohio (AP) — President Barack Obama says Republican Mitt Romney's economic plan would give tax cuts to the richest people in America at the expense of popular tax breaks for most everyone else. On a campaign trip in Ohio, Obama said Wednesday that Romney's tax proposal would force many people to give up popular tax deductions that allow them to buy a house, afford health care and send their kids to college. Obama pointed to a new report that concluded Romney's economic plan would shift the tax burden from wealthy taxpayers to low- and middle-class taxpayers.

WASHINGTON/HOUSTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama will outline a plan to reduce the country's addiction to oil on Tuesday after U.S. lawmakers say BP's cost-cutting culture caused the worst spill in U.S. history. A day after BP shares fell 9 percent in London and New York, U.S. lawmakers will ask its U.S. boss Lamar McKay why the company made repeated choices that appeared to favor cost savings over safety before its rig blew up in the Gulf of Mexico. The accusations come as BP, a listed company which has lost about half it's market value since the spill began almost...

WASHINGTON — Pitching President Barack Obama's health care law to skeptical business owners, the IRS on Monday will announce ground rules for small firms wishing to claim a new federal tax credit for health insurance. Created under the health overhaul law, the tax credit covers up to 35 percent of the premiums that certain small businesses pay on behalf of their workers. The IRS notice addresses unanswered questions about the benefit, which is available starting this year. The agency's action comes days after the nation's largest small business lobbying group announced it was joining a lawsuit challenging the health care...

RENO, Nev. – Democratic candidate Barack Obama began his closing argument for the presidency Saturday by asking voters to look to the future while Republican rival John McCain continued to attack Obama on taxes. Obama, a senator from Illinois, unveiled a two-minute TV ad that asks, "Will our country be better off four years from now?" "At this defining moment in our history, the question is not, 'Are you better off than you were four years ago?'" Obama says in the ad. "We all know the answer to that." Without mentioning McCain, the ad promotes Obama's economic policies while saying...

POTTSTOWN, Pa. - Calling nuclear power an overregulated industry that needs a jump-start from Washington, President Bush on Wednesday pitched his plan to expand nuclear power generation by dealing with radioactive waste, lessening regulations and reviving nuclear fuel processing. The backdrop for the president's effort was the Limerick Generating Station, a nuclear plant operated by Excelon Corp. about 40 miles from Philadelphia. Bush donned a white hard hat for a brief tour, then spoke to employees in a sweltering tent set up in the shadow of the plant's two enormous cooling towers. Bush argued that nuclear power is abundant, affordable,...

WACO, Texas – President Bush used the upcoming income tax-filing deadline and his weekly radio address to promote tax-cut proposals and set up an election-year debate with Democrats over the issue. In the broadcast Saturday, Bush urged Congress to permanently extend tax cuts that he pushed into law during his first term, which are set to expire in coming years. “Some Democrats in Washington are insisting that we let that happen, or even repeal the tax cuts now,” Bush said as he spent the weekend at his Texas ranch. “In either case, that would weaken our economy and would leave...

State Senate leader Don Perata, D-Oakland, proposed Wednesday a $7.7 billion bond to complete the new Bay Bridge and reinvest in highways, port security and ailing levees up and down the state. Though no date is set in the bill for when voters would consider the general obligation bond, Perata aides said the measure is unlikely to appear on ballots before June 2006. In the meantime, a companion bill, introduced by Sen. Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch, would increase Bay Area bridge tolls by $1 to pay for the planned tower on the eastern span of the Bay Bridge. If either bill...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger used both his weekly radio address Saturday and his official Easter Sunday message to promote changes he is proposing in the way Californians select their representatives and govern their state. The Republican governor argued in his radio address that it is unfair the way legislative and congressional districts are drawn, noting that not one of the 153 congressional and legislative seats up for election last November changed political parties. Politicians now create the districts in which they will seek office, he noted, "so that they could pick the voters rather than the voters picking...

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to balance the next state budget depends heavily on spending cuts in health and welfare programs and higher health care costs for 550,000 low-income Californians. The Republican governor Monday proposed cutting spending by $1.2 billion for health and welfare to help eliminate a $9 billion deficit for the fiscal year that starts July 1. His plan includes a 6.5 percent cut in welfare grants, elimination of automatic annual cost-of-living increases in welfare benefits, a benefit freeze for the elderly poor and disabled, and a $1,000 annual limit on dental care for low-income adults in...

NEW YORK (AP) - Touting tofu chowder and vegetarian sushi as alternatives, animal-rights activists have launched a novel campaign arguing that fish - contrary to stereotype - are intelligent, sensitive animals no more deserving of being eaten than a pet dog or cat. Called the Fish Empathy Project, the campaign reflects a strategy shift by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals as it challenges a diet component widely viewed as nutritious and uncontroversial. "No one would ever put a hook through a dog's or cat's mouth," said Bruce Friedrich, PETA's director of vegan outreach. "Once people start to understand...