Free Republic

Mexico has issued the U.S. government what amounts to a diplomatic threat for exonerating a Border Patrol agent who shot an illegal immigrant near the Texas border nearly two years ago after being assaulted with rocks. The shooting occurred in the summer of 2010 when the federal agent, Jesus Mesa, spotted a group of Mexicans crossing the Rio Grande near El Paso. U.S. authorities say Mesa fatally shot a teen (Sergio Hernández-Guereca) traveling with the group in self-defense after the teen and his friends threw rocks at the agent. Last year a Texas judge dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit against...

An in-depth analysis of every clause of every section from the Preamble to the 27th Amendment.

After refusing to pass a budget for three years, the Senate today moved a postal “reform” bill that edifies the upper chamber’s refusal to confront the nation’s fiscal problems. Rather than reform the postal service’s bloated bureaucracy, the Democrat Senate has expanded the federal carrier’s authority and pushed it further towards bankruptcy. Unfortunately, the already watered down Senate bill only worsened throughout the amendment process; nearly every amendment that would have made S. 1789 more like Issa’s Postal Reform Act failed. ATR highlighted many of S. 1789’s shortcomings in an earlier letter: Given that over 80 percent of the Post...

In celebration of this year’s Earth Day, ALEC has released a new study examining the EPA and how their regulations affect the American people. As we all have witnessed, the EPA has grown in size and has passed more regulations in the first 2 years of the Obama administration than it did during the entire first term of President Clinton’s presidency. The administration has claimed to be looking out for the people’s lives and wellbeing by putting new restrictions on various energy producing communities. With this new report from ALEC it is now clear exactly what kind of impact these...

There are seven characteristics I can think of that define a sociopath, although I'm sure the list could be extended. 1) Sociopaths completely lack a conscience or any capacity for real regret about hurting people. Although they pretend the opposite. 2) Sociopaths put their own desires and wants on a totally different level from those of other people. Their wants are incommensurate. They truly believe their ends justify their means. Although they pretend the opposite. 3) Sociopaths consider themselves superior to everyone else, because they aren't burdened by the emotions and ethics others have – they're above all that. They're...

North Carolina has been in the media recently for all the wrong reasons, whether it be the state Democratic Party scandal or the John Edwards trial. It is time for the media and the public to talk about the right reasons that attention should be paid to the Tar Heel State, namely that the state is home to one of the most pro-taxpayer pieces of legislation ever crafted. The aforementioned legislation is The Taxpayer Information Act (HB 315), and it is the brainchild of NC Speaker Pro Tem and candidate for Lt. Governor, Dale Folwell. The Taxpayer Information Act is...

MUST WATCH VIDEO: "These are American voters, people! No wonder Democrats (and even most Republicans) tell everyone they should vote because it's their "patriotic duty." I disagree. If you're an uninformed, brainwashed idiot, like the Obama voters in this video, it is your patriotic duty NOT to vote, and to let those who know what in the hell is going on to vote in your stead..."

Nanny Bloomberg’s at it again; exasperated environmentalists try another approach to save spotted owls; and Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood moonlights as a traffic cop all in this week’s edition of Nanny State overreach. Highway to Hell: Last week we brought you news of Nanny State regulators at NHTSA battling what they now call “the distracted driving epidemic.” Perhaps they should add Transportation Secretary LaHood to their expanding list of potential distractions. In a fit of self-righteousness LaHood claimedduring a speech this week that he hasn’t used a cellphone while driving in over three years. LaHood also stated that he...

This week, the Greenlining Institute released a study slamming tech companies for keeping a substantial portion of their assets overseas. According to the study, American tech firms held $430 billion in cash off American shores, an increase of 21 percent since last year. All told, $1.4 trillion in assets are held overseas, and the tech sector represents about 30 percent of it. Assuming the study’s numbers are accurate, it’s completely understandable and it’s justified. The blame should not be laid at the feet of tech companies, but at the feet of the IRS. The U.S. is the only nation in...

Shurat HaDin – Israel Law Center has received notice that the US Supreme Court decided to dismiss a lawsuit brought on behalf of the family of a Palestinian-American murdered at the hands of Palestinian intelligence officers in Jericho in 1995. The Court ruled that the Torture Victim Protection Act, as it is currently drafted, did not allow the family to sue the Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization. The Justices held that the use of the term “individual” in the law’s wording denoted that only private individuals, rather than corporations or organizations, could be targeted. “We were sorry to hear...

A recent report released by the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) found that if EPA regulations are implemented, we can expect to see 7 million car buyers drop out of the new vehicle market by 2025. According to the EPA, the new rules concerning the fuel economies of these vehicles will increase the average cost of these passenger cars and small trucks by $3,000. It is not surprising that this increase in price will force 7 million people to leave the new car market. Lower income citizens, like college students and small families, will be forced out of the new...

As a well-researched economist Paul Krugman used to play by the numbers, now he’s distorting the facts to rob the Huxtables. In a recently released excerpt from his contribution to the Occupy Handbook, Paul “blame Bush” Krugman discusses political polarization as a negative extension of power borne by the so-called one-percenters. Never mind the free-speech protections and profligation of online media that have allowed a larger number of Americans to participate politically, Krugman blames the one-percent. Krugman blames the one percent for everything from political polarization to the economic crisis. His solution is to find more “things to tax”—specifically higher...

Tax Freedom Day® 2012 arrives on April 17 this year, four days later than last year due to higher federal income and corporate tax collections. That means Americans will work 107 days into the year, from January 1 to April 17, to earn enough money to pay this year’s combined 29.2% federal, state, and local tax bill...

If you’re reading this, you’ve likely filed your 2011 income tax return or maybe you’re taking a break from hours spent deciphering the tax code to file an individual tax return before the April 17 deadline. Either way you’re one of the millions of Americans who are struggling to comply with a complicated tax system that wastes working hours and hard earned dollars. By both IRS and Forbes’ estimates, Americans spend billions of hours complying with federal tax law; a number that is likely higher if we include state compliance costs. The same report concluded that the average taxpayer spends...

One of the fascinating aspects of all the controversy about paper money v hard money, has been the lack of knowledge of just how did it come about? Oh we can go back to paper money being a receipt from bullion dealers offering money storage, and we can go the American Colonial Period and point to the drastic shortage of coin that necessitated paper money issues. But those stories are fairly common knowledge. What isn’t talked about even in school is the manipulation of the Supreme Court AFTER it declared that PAPER MONEY WAS UNCONSTITUTIONAL!... ...The recordings of the debates...

Second, rather than struggling to weaken the capitalist state to overthrow it, the strategy was to work “within the system” to seize control of the state apparatus in order to transform the society. Thus, the state is to be strengthened as a tool for transforming society rather than defeated. Such a tactic, called “entryism,” is by no means new. Historically, however, Communist forces ruined the effect by turning captured organizations into “front” organizations that too obviously followed the party line. They also lacked sufficient cadre to take over major institutions, and faced strong, conscious opposition. Now, however, the New New...

We can all agree that further broadband deployment is key to further economic and technological advancement. Yet, many local and state governments are going about deploying broadband in the entirely wrong way—through municipal broadband ventures. These projects, financed by tax dollars and taxpayer-backed debt, permit governments to engage in regional broadband deployment, essentially building entirely new broadband networks from the ground up. In a recent study by the National Taxpayers Union (NTU), the authors found that several of these municipal broadband ventures have ended in failure, mostly due to poor management, and have saddled taxpayers with the bill. Since 2001,...

Stumping for his “Buffett Rule” tax increase in Florida today, President Barack Obama said the following: “For those people who make under $250,000 a year – like 98 percent of American families do – then your taxes don’t go up.” – Barack Obama, April 10, 2012 But since taking office, President Obama has signed into law at least seven new or higher taxes on families making less than $250,000 per year. President Barack Obama’s central campaign promise – a “firm pledge” against “any form of tax increase” on families making less than $250,000 per year – was shattered when he...

What percent of all tax revenues do high-income households pay?   Income Tax All Federal Taxes Top 1% ($344,000 +) 39.5% 28.1% Top 5% ($155,000 +) 61% 44.3% Top 10% ($112,000 +) 72.7% 55% Lower Half ($32,000 -) 2.4% 2.6% Middle Quintile ($65,000) 4.6% 9.2% All Households 100% 100% What is the average tax rate paid by high-income households?   Income Tax All Federal Taxes Top 1% ($344,000 +) 19% 29.5% Top 5% ($155,000 +) 17.6% 27.9% Top 10% ($112,000 +) 16.2% 26.7% Lower Half ($32,000 -) 1.9% 9.6% Middle Quintile ($65,000) 3.3% 14.3% All Households 9.3% 20.4% IRS Statistics...

'Political Correctness is tyranny with manners' I didn't change. The Democratic Party slid to the left from right under me. Affirmative action is a stain on the American soul. (Heston famously marched/supported the 1960s Civil Rights cause 'before it was fashionable') Well, we have certainly produced great art before... In my view, there are any number of areas of government which tax money should not be spent. Somewhere in the busy pipeline of public funding is sure to be a demand from a disabled lesbian on welfare that the Metropolitan Opera stage her rap version of Carmen as translated...