Free Republic

Today, a broad coalition of center-right organizations released a joint letter calling on Republican leaders in Congress to block any attempt to raise taxes in the ongoing debt ceiling negotiations. The letter reminds lawmakers of the budget deals of 1982 and 1990 that raised taxes but failed to deliver on promises to cut spending. In part, the letter states:... “The historical level of federal government spending has been 21 percent of economic output. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), federal spending will be 23-24 percent of economic output each year for the rest of this decade, and then...

Presidential Electors. How Many? Impeachment. Separation of Powers. Statholder. Mr. Morris & Impeachable Offenses. Executive Salary. In Convention. The postponed [FN1] Ratio of Electors for appointing the Executive; to wit 1 for each State whose inhabitants do not exceed 100,000, [FN2] &c. being taken up. Mr. MADISON observed that this would make in time all or nearly all the States equal. Since there were few that would not in time contain the number of inhabitants intitling them to 3 Electors: that this ratio ought either to be made temporary, or so varied as that it would adjust itself to the...

...To drive this home, Vernuccio brings to light the withering union’s latest pitch to recruit members by encouraging SEIU members to practice the following tactics to cause employers to fold to Big Labor demands. 1. Destroy Business Relationships 2. Drain Employers Bank Accounts 3. Ruin Public Image 4. Attack Family Members 5. Imprison Your Boss For instance, Vernuccio writes, “In May SEIU drove 14 busloads of protesters to the quiet suburban home of Bank of America’s deputy general counsel, Greg Baer. Intimidation was the whole point of this exercise…only Mr. Baer’s teenage son was home. Terrified, he locked himself in...

Popular Presidential Elections. Multiple Terms. Biennial Elections. President for Life. State Electors. Separation of Powers by Madison. North v. South Popular Suffrage. Elbridge Gerry Speech – State Governors Appoint Electors. State Legislatures Appoint Electors. Six Year Terms. In Convention. On reconsideration of the vote rendering the Executive re-eligible a 2d. time, Mr. MARTIN moved to reinstate the words, "to be ineligible a 2d. time." Mr. GOVERNEUR MORRIS. It is necessary to take into one view all that relates to the establishment of the Executive; on the due formation of which must depend the efficacy & utility of the Union among...

A recent article in the Jakarta Globe states that some backpacker hostels in Singapore are going upmarket, to cater to a rising number of backpackers with bigger budgets.   Well, this isn't entirely true.   It isn't just backpackers looking for reasonably priced place to stay but businessmen and tourists as well who have been looking for a decent place to stay without having to pay an arm and a leg. If you are looking for a hotel room in Singapore expect to pay anywhere from S$200 (US$165) to S$600 (US$493) a night.  On the high end, Singapore has some of...

Judiciary. Advise and Consent. Compensation of Judges. Inferior Courts. Jurisdiction. Continuation of Government. Republican Government Guarantee. Rebellions. In Convention On motion of Mr. L. Martin to fix tomorrow for reconsidering the vote concerning "eligibility of Exective. [FN1] a 2d. time" it passed in the affirmative. Mas. ay. Cont. ay. N. J. absent. Pa. ay. Del. ay. Md. ay. Va. ay. N. C. ay. S. C. ay. Geo. absent. [FN2] The residue of Resol. 9 [FN3] concerning the Executive was postpd. till tomorrow. Resol. 10. [FN4] that Executive shl. have a right to negative legislative acts not afterwards passed by 2/3...

Sixth Resolution. Taxation. Requisitions. Congressional Veto of State Law. Roger Sherman, James Madison, Governeur Morris & Judicial Review. Congressionally Elected Executive. Term Limits. President for life. In Convention Mr. GOVERNR. MORRIS. moved to reconsider the whole Resolution agreed to yesterday concerning the constitution of the 2 branches of the Legislature. His object was to bring the House to a consideration in the abstract of the powers necessary to be vested in the general Government. It had been said, Let us know how the Govt. is to be modelled, and then we can determine what powers can be properly given to...

The new captain jumped from the deck, fully dressed, and sprinted through the water. A former lifeguard, he kept his eyes on his victim as he headed straight for the couple swimming between their anchored sportfisher and the beach. “I think he thinks you’re drowning,” the husband said to his wife. They had been splashing each other and she had screamed but now they were just standing, neck-deep on the sand bar. “We’re fine, what is he doing?” she asked, a little annoyed. “We’re fine!” the husband yelled, waving him off, but his captain kept swimming hard. ”Move!” he barked...

Atty. Orly Taitz told The Post & Email this evening that she has filed an Opposition to a Motion for Summary Judgment filed by the government in the case of Taitz v. Astrue, which seeks a copy of the social security application issued with the number which Barack Hussein Obama II is currently using. On July 11, 2011, Taitz’s Motion to Compel in the same case was docketed by the U.S. District Court in Washington, DC, which is presiding over the case thus far. Taitz described the new development in this way: The government filed a Motion for Summary Judgment....

The Great Compromise. Initial House Apportionment. Enumerated Powers. Treatment of New States. Decennial Census. Three Fifths of Slaves. House Money Bills Unalterable by Senate. Equal Senatorial State Suffrage. Threat of Dissolution. In Convention. On the question for agreeing to the whole Report as amended & including the equality of votes in the 2d. branch. it passed in the Affirmative. Mas. divided Mr. Gerry, Mr. Strong, ay. Mr. King Mr. Ghorum no. Cont. ay. N.J.ay. Pena.no. Del.ay. Md.ay. Va.no. N.C. ay. Mr. Spaight no. S.C.no. Geo.no. [FN1] [Here enter the whole in the words entered in the Journal July 16] [FN2]...

...Should social security checks fail to go out on August 3, it will be because President Obama chose not to send them. The Social Security obligations the government is expected to meet on August 3 total $22 billion – far below the $73 billion cash balance Treasury is expected to have on hand the same day. In total, the government will take in around $2.2 trillion in revenues this year, enough to fulfill major entitlement obligations with cash to spare. The President is claiming Social Security checks can’t be paid because it would require him to admit his discretionary spending...

Domination of New States. Dissolution. Equality of Senatorial State Suffrage. Rufus King Speech. National vs. Federal. In Convention. Mr. L. MARTIN called for the question on the whole report, including the parts relating to the origination of money bills, and the equality of votes in the 2d. branch. Mr. GERRY. wished before the question should be put, that the attention of the House might be turned to the dangers apprehended from Western States. He was for admitting them on liberal terms, but not for putting ourselves into their hands. They will if they acquire power like all men, abuse it....

...MYTH: Tax Expenditures are Loopholes FACT: This is deliberately inaccurate. A loophole is something that Congress did not intend and would generally shut down, at least going forward, once it learned of the loophole. Tax expenditures, by contrast, were generally placed by Congress into the tax code deliberately. For example, the largest tax expenditure is the exclusion for employer-provided health insurance and benefits. The second-largest: the home mortgage interest deduction. Whether you agree with a particular tax expenditure or not, an honest debate requires recognition that tax expenditures were designed by Congress with economic or social goals in mind and...

Taxation & Representation. Population, not Wealth Basis in First Branch. Morris Speech. Mississippi River.In Convention. It being moved to postpone the clause in the Report of the Committee of Eleven as to the originating of money bills in the [FN1] first branch, in order to take up the following "that in the 2d. branch each State shall have an equal voice." Mr. GERRY, moved to add as an amendment to the last clause agreed to by the House, "that from the first meeting of the Legislature of the U. S. till a census shall be taken all monies to be...

How much would an additional 1 percentage point of real economic growth add to tax revenues? According to CBO, $2.66 trillion. But what about if the current tax rate hikes of 2013 are avoided indefinitely? That is, what if the top rate remains at 35 percent, and the capital gains/dividends rate remains at 15 percent (along with all the lower bracket policy remaining in place)... Read more: http://www.atr.org/percent-solution-tax-revenues-a6331#ixzz1RuWvt87s

I've meant to write about this for sometime but the recent verdict with Casey Anthony was what brought me into writing it. This incident is disgusting and shows that the jury trial, which was considered an important right and cornerstone in our nation's founding HAS been undermined. It shows how far we have drifted from our Christian values and the philosophical values of our godly founders who gave us this great nation. My view of why this happened can be summed up by Rush Limbaugh who pointed to the so called pro-choice movement that advocates legal murder for babies... "You...

Taxation & Representation. Requisitions. Three-Fifths Rule. Census. In Convention. Mr. Govr. MORRIS moved to add to the clause empowering the Legislature to vary the Representation according to the principles of wealth & number [FN1] of inhabts. a "proviso that taxation shall be in proportion to Representation." Mr. BUTLER contended again that Representation Sd.. be according to the full number of inhabts. including all the blacks; admitting the justice of Mr. Govr. Morris's motion. Mr. MASON also admitted the justice of the principle, but was afraid embarrassments might be occasioned to the Legislature by it. It might drive the Legislature to...

From President Obama today at his press conference: "What we have said is as part of a broader package we should have revenues, and the best place to get those revenues are from folks like me who have been extraordinarily fortunate, and that millionaires and billionaires can afford to pay a little bit more..." Is this true? Is the best way to raise additional tax revenue by raising the top marginal tax rate? Not according to CBO: Every 1 percentage point increase in the top marginal tax rate supposedly yields $84 billion in tax revenue over ten years. In order...

David Frum makes the argument that the spending cuts promised in the 1990 "read my lips" tax hike budget deal indeed did come to fruition (contra to my argument yesterday). He argues that, since spending as a percent of the economy declined in the 1990s, the spending cuts must have materialized.This is eminently-wrong for several reasons: CBO data shows that the promise--$274 billion in baseline spending cuts--not only didn't happen, but that baseline spending actually increased by $22 billion. This is simply what the data show. Spending as a percent of the economy did decline in the 1990s, but not...

...Oddly enough, while the BIP funds were meant to serve these areas due to a lack of broadband services, the authors of the report found that 85% of households in the three regions already had access to one or more broadband providers. The study found that the cost of providing broadband to the few underserved or unserved households in the three regions totaled $349,234…per household. The project in Montana, in particular, was especially useless and wasteful. Over 98% of the households in the Southwestern Montana region that received subsidized broadband funds already had access to broadband. If 3G wireless service...