Free Republic

...The more important thing to focus on is the way that the big spenders in the White House and elsewhere are trying to build support for a big tax increase by characterizing tax breaks as “spending in the tax code.” The left obviously hopes Republicans are so stupid that Orwellian word games are all that is needed to get them to acquiesce to legislation that would increase the amount of revenue going to Washington. To be sure, Republicans are known as the “Stupid Party,” so anything is possible. But if GOPers can simply remember these three simple concepts, they will...

Eighth Resolution. Request Presence of NH. Equal State Suffrage in Second Branch. Wilson Speech. Madison Speech. North v. South. High Emotions. Bedford Speech. Foreign Alliances. In Convention Mr. BREARLY moved that the Presidt. write to the Executive of N. Hamshire, informing it that the business depending before the Convention was of such a nature as to require the immediate attendance of the deputies of that State. In support of his motion he observed that the difficulties of the subject and the diversity of opinions called for all the assistance we could possibly obtain. [it was well understood that the object...

On August 18th 1787, at the Federal Convention, an Enumerated Power was motioned for addition to our Constitution. That was, “To establish public institutions, rewards, and immunities for the promotion of agriculture, commerce, trades and manufactures.” Say what? Oh yes. Any Freeper knows this did not make its way into Article I Section 8. Instead, the delegates approved the familiar Commerce Clause, “To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with Indian Tribes.” Direct government involvement in “Promotion of commerce,” was rejected for regulation of commerce. Big difference, eh? Well, apparently not to FDR’s court some...

On Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs - Dave Grossman By LTC (RET) Dave Grossman, author of "On Killing." ### Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age. It does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost. In our time, that may mean social disapproval, public scorn, hardship, persecution, or as always,even death itself. The question remains: What is worth defending? What is worth dying for? What is worth living for? - William J. Bennett - in a lecture to the United States...

...Businesses know this will chase consumers from their stores. Shop-owners are worried that their customers will either go to other states to purchase their goods or services (not hard to do in that region), or they will simply cut back spending. Some stores are using discounts or sales to attract customers in advance of the higher levy’s implementation. One yoga instructor, Justine Fuller of Hartford, is having a “Keep your Money from Uncle Sam Sale,” offering 10-percent off if you buy classes for over six months. Porsche of Fairfield is offering a 7.35-percent discount on new cars before the tax...

...After the problematic gas rationing of the late 1970s, Kentucky levied their gas tax based on the wholesale prices of gasoline. They use three months worth of data to tax the following three months. The data now says that Kentucky must increase the gas tax by 1.9-cents to 27.8-cents a gallon – even though prices have drastically fluctuated since. With the federal tax, this totals over 46-cents a gallon in taxes. According to GasBuddy.com, the average Kentuckian pays $3.528 a gallon without the increase. As recent as 2008, Kentuckians were paying less than $2 a gallon. Georgia has a similar...

The Center for American Progress (CAP) is touting a myopic economic analysis claiming that a 10 percent cut in state spending actually leads to a 1.6 percent decline in private sector jobs. They even have fun scatterplots. But what CAP conveniently ignores for political gain is that correlation is not causation. In fact, the reverse of their argument is true: diminishing economic growth, rising unemployment, and reduced consumption all cause state tax revenues to decline, and spending to drop with it. In short: it’s the economy, stupid. Unlike our federal government that spent itself into debt, every state except Vermont...

Reality of Dissolution. Seventh Resolution. Equal Representation of States in First Branch. Proportional Representation in First Branch. Gerry Speech. Postpone Debate on Seventh. Eighth Resolution. Equal State Suffrage in Second Branch. Ellsworth Speech. In Convention Doctr. JOHNSON. The controversy must be endless whilst Gentlemen differ in the grounds of their arguments; Those on one side considering the States as districts of people composing one political Society; those on the other considering them as so many political societies. The fact is that the States do exist as political Societies, and a Govt. is to be formed for them in their political...

Okay. So it’s too late for some fried brains – but better late than never. From Reuters: Now, a Dutch commission has found that hashish and marijuana on sale in the Netherlands contain around 18 percent of THC, the main psychoactive substance, and advised the health minister that anything above 15 percent put drugs on a par with heroin or cocaine. “I've been very worried for years about the THC concentration, especially if it is so high. We will take a serious look at it," Health Minister Edith Schippers told public broadcaster NOS. “The addictive consequences are much stronger and...

Late Thursday afternoon, GOP Conference Vice Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05) hosted a call with Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (CA-22) and Congressman Steve Scalise (LA-01), to discuss the House Republicans’ Plans for Energy and Jobs. Opening with “[g]as prices and jobs are key to economic recovery; the more that we can do to unleash American energy, the more jobs we will create,” Rep. McMorris Rodgers propounds a simple and elegant solution for a widespread problem. The Congresswoman continued to rail against Democrats’ policies. “There’s something wrong when the Administration says 'no' to more American Energy.” Majority Whip McCarthy added that...

...Out of the myriad of grant programs operated by the federal government, the GAO report identified five programs whose egregious lack of accountability resulted in the highest amount of improper payments: Medicaid - $22.5 billion Unemployment Insurance - $17.5 billion Food Stamps - $2.2 billion School Lunch Program - $1.5 billion Pell Grants - $1 billion Calls for increased government transparency gain new clarity when faced with the sheer magnitude of federal negligence. Such pervasive redundancy and waste in federal grant programs is a symptom of a greater illness -- the absence of any meaningful accountability mechanism to rein in...

Seventh Resolution. Proportional Representation in First Branch. Dissolution. Madison Speech. Equal Representation of States in First Branch. In Convention Mr. L. MARTIN resumed his discourse, contending that the Genl. Govt. ought to be formed for the States, not for individuals: that if the States were to have votes in proportion to their numbers of people, it would be the same thing whether their representatives were chosen by the Legislatures or the people; the smaller States would be equally enslaved; that if the large States have the same interest with the smaller as was urged, there could be no danger in...

...North Dakota is doing pretty well. In addition to their massive surplus, they have the lowest jobless rate of any state (and their population has been growing steadily). Personal income has grown 6.9-percent, the highest increase in the nation. Publications like Forbes and USA Today have even wondered what North Dakota’s secret is. With money in the bank, an economy smoothly rolling along, and jobless rates as low as they are, the people are beginning to think that the government can take steps to reduce their burden. A ballot measure has been approved for the primary elections of 2012 which...

...One particular problem with the toll increase plan in Maryland is that, being a relatively small state, travelers will find it easy to reroute themselves through neighboring states or use alternate routes. One Maryland resident noted, at one of the MTA’s public hearings, that he will be forced to drive his RV through cities to avoid the high tolls: “I can go up (Interstate) 95 and take Route 1, so I would miss every toll I would have to come through. If that's what they want, they'll have a big traffic jam in the city with big campers and trucks.”...

In Convention Mr. RUTLIDGE moved to postpone the 6th Resolution, defining the powers of Congs. in order to take up the 7 & 8 which involved the most fundamental points; the rules of suffrage in the 2 branches which was agreed to nem. con. A question being proposed on Resol: 7 [FN1]: declaring that the suffrage in the first branch sd. be according to an equitable ratio. Mr. L. MARTIN contended at great length and with great eagerness that the General Govt. was meant merely to preserve the State Governts.: not to govern individuals: that its powers ought to be...

On the Precipice of Democracy. Madison Speech. Fourth Resolution. Length of Terms. Lifetime? Purpose of Second Branch. Six Year Terms. Senatorial Salaries. Who pays? Minimum Wealth Requirement. Subsequent Office Eligibility. Fifth Resolution, Originating Acts. In Convention The duration of the 2d. branch [FN1] under consideration. Mr. GHORUM moved to fill the blank with "six years," one third of the members to go out every second year. Mr. WILSON 2ded. the motion. Genl. PINKNEY opposed six years in favor of four years. The States he said had different interests. Those of the Southern, and of S. Carolina in particular were different...

Fourth Resolution. Superb Pinckney Speech. Parliament. Appointment to Second Branch by State Legislatures. Minimum Age Requirement. Length of Terms. In Convention Resolution 4. [FN1] being taken up. Mr. PINKNEY [FN2] spoke as follows- The efficacy of the System will depend on this article. In order to form a right judgmt. in the case, it will be proper to examine the situation of this Country more accurately than it has yet been done. The people of the U. States are perhaps the most singular of any we are acquainted with. Among them there are fewer distinctions of fortune & less of...

With the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office releasing its updated Budget Outlook on Wednesday, the debt limit discussions led by Vice President Joe Biden were forced to a halt, as Democrats’ arguments that taxes could close the budget deficit were unequivocally muted. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Senate Minority Whip John Kyl were forced to pull out of the debt limit discussions when Democrats refused to get serious about the government’s spending crisis. Democrats proved unwilling to focus on the trillions in savings needed to pull the government back from collapse; instead Democrats are willing to let the country default...

...Page after page of the report gives evidence proving that lower, flatter tax rates spur economic growth and create jobs. Starting in the preface, it gives “10 Golden Rules for Effective Taxation”, such as Rule #8: “An economically efficient tax system has a sensible, broad tax base and a low tax rate”. A chapter on “The State of the States” gives academic statistics from the Mercatus Center on the importance of saying no to spending and concludes stating that “The overall level of taxation has an inverse relationship to economic growth in a state”. The second chapter, with highlights and...

Third Resolution, a Kingdom Divided. First Branch Salaries. Corruption. Subsequent Office Eligibility. In Convention The 3. Resol: resumed. [FN1] On [FN2] Question yesterday postponed by S. Carol: for agreeing to the whole sentence "for allowing an adequate compensation to be paid out of the Treasury of the U. States" Masts. ay. Cont. no. N. Y. no. N. J. ay. Pena. ay Del. no. Md. ay. Va. ay. N. C. no. S. C. no. Geo divided. [FN3] So the question was lost, & the sentence not inserted: Genl. PINKNEY moves to strike out the ineligibility of members of the 1st. branch...