Free Republic

If we're to believe a report by Heidi Przybyla at Bloomberg News on August 13, the country might be operating under bipartisan deficit-reduction framework instead of being without a budget for over three years if it weren't for Wisconsin Congressman and GOP vice-presidential nominee Paul Ryan. Her lead: "Representative Paul Ryan was a pivotal figure in killing the 2010 Bowles-Simpson agreement, which Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney now holds out as a model for putting America’s fiscal house in order." There are many deceptions and unsupported assertions in Przybyla's report, but before getting to some of the others, many of...

Capital income is important to the health of the American economy. Many experts recognize that lawmakers should do everything in their power to encourage entrepreneurs to take risks by allowing them to keep more of their money when those risks pay off in the form of capital gains. Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron notes that taxing capital income “punishes labor effort and savings…savings finances capital formation and research and development, which are crucial for economic growth.” Predictably, President Obama and Congressional Democrats are plotting a massive tax hike on capital income in 2013. Under the current law being defended by Democrats,...

Following Governor Romney's announcement that Rep. Paul Ryan would be his running mate, President Obama has been on the offensive, attacking Gov. Romney and Rep. Ryan on healthcare. The Obama White House has gone so far as to outline 5 Important Numbers on Health Reform on its website. The 5 numbers referenced by President Obama are misleading and ignore the 5 numbers which truly characterize the Obama Administration: $500 Billion in Tax Increases The impending tax hikes in December are a $500 billion tax hike in 2013 alone. $62 Billion in New Regulations $46 Billion in new regulations since President...

In a recent campaign speech in Cincinnati Ohio President Obama claimed "premiums will go down." However, studies on the effects of Obamacare evidence premiums will not go down but will increase for "a material portion of the population." Specifically the young and healthy will be burdened by exponential increases in their premiums as a result of Obamacare. An article published by the Washington Post today compiled numerous studies from around the country, all of which indicated that Obamacare will lead to sharp premium increases for young and healthy Americans. President Obama's campaign promise that "premiums will go down" finds no...

Technology is changing politics, government and civic life. This timeline shows the accelerating pace of change in the United States, in the international arena, and online. Here are the seminal moments, inventions, and first uses that mark the early emergence and then growing importance of the Internet and connection technologies on the political arena. To view it in it's original setting, go here. This timeline is meant to be a living document. We intend to keep updating it as events unfold. If you would like to suggest an important development that we may have missed, or make a correction to...

The latest jobs report only serves as confirmation that the economy is in a stall, and that President Obama’s approach to revitalizing the economy has proven to be consistently wrong. The latest job numbers provided no comfort to the administration as the unemployment rate remains above eight percent, and jobs continue to be added at a paltry rate. The White House reaction to the report was predictable and overused; “it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report.” Unemployment has only remained above eight percent since October 2008, but how significant could these reports be? Not...

President Barack Obama has altered his 2008 “firm pledge” that no family making less than $250,000 per year would see “any form of tax increase.” Obama has now limited the pledge to merely “income taxes” – and only for “next year.” On Sept. 12, 2008, speaking in Dover, New Hampshire, candidate Obama said: “I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.” But this Wednesday, August 8,...

Yesterday, Democrat Tim Kaine asked his Republican opponent to join him in taking a “balanced” approach to avoiding the looming sequestration cuts. Unfortunately Tim Kaine seems to suffer amnesia on his attempt to implement the same kind of “balanced” approach while he served as Virginia’s Governor. Such an approach included billions of dollars in new and higher taxes. Kaine called on George Allen to “set aside his Pledge,” and work for a “responsible path forward.” Translated, what Tim Kaine means is that he’s asking Allen to break his written commitment to Virginia taxpayers and join with him in an approach...

Former Governor Charlie Crist has formally announced his support for Democrat Senator Bill Nelson. For Florida voters who were tricked into supporting the so-called “Republican” Governor who promised not to raise taxes and then did just that, this should come as no surprise. When Crist ran for Governor, he signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge to Florida voters, promising to oppose any and all efforts to raise taxes. When he was confronted with the need to make a decision on tax hikes and spending cuts, however, Governor Crist broke his promise to Florida taxpayers and signed a budget that included $2.2...

Tax Provision The 2010 health care bill includes a requirement that employers report on each of their employees’ Form W-2s the cost of health insurance they sponsor on behalf of that employee. This requirement was made optional for tax year 2011 (when it officially went into effect), and will be optional for small businesses (those with fewer than 250 W-2s) in tax year 2012. ATRF Analysis The IRS has waived the W-2 reporting requirement for tax years 2011 and 2012 because of confusion surrounding the provision. This is understandable, because employers usually use Form W-2 to report salary and wage...

After suffering embarrassing defeats in New Jersey and Wisconsin, organized labor seems destined for yet another setback. The RAISE Act, introduced by Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), is legislation that seeks to eliminate union meddling when a business wants to increase their employees’ wages. Writing in the National Review, Rubio called the status quo “unfair to workers and out of touch with the modern workplace.” Enacting the RAISE ACT would pay immediate dividends for employees and businesses alike. A Heritage Foundation report found: “By offering workers the opportu¬nity to earn higher wages, the RAISE Act provides an incentive for increased productivity....

Tax Provision Section 9003 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act changed the definition of “medical expenses” for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), Archer Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs), health flexible spending arrangements, and health reimbursement arrangements to match that of the medical expenses deduction. Under the new definition, holders of account-based health plans will not be able to use pre-tax dollars to purchase over the counter (OTC) medications, unless they bear a prescription from a doctor. They will pay out of pocket for these products, and will not be able to deduct them come tax time. This provision went into...

Speaking about the economy recently on the campaign trail, President Obama stated, “We tried our plan and it worked.” Yet new data released this morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirm that the president is living in an alternate reality if he truly believes that statement. The Reagan recovery began in November 1982 with the end of the early 1980s recession. Through the first 37 months of that recovery, 9.817 million nonfarm jobs were added to the American economy. That represented a solid 11.06 percent change in total nonfarm employment. Meanwhile, President Obama has overseen a far different recovery...

Today, July 31, 2012, would have been the great free-market economist Milton Friedman's 100th birthday. Below, is a series of interviews Friedman had on the Phil Donahue Show in 1979. Friedman repeatedly, in his customary polite demeanor, makes Donahue look like the Socialist fool that he is. I do have to credit Donahue, however, for allowing Friedman on his program to obliterate him. He's a little more tolerant than today's lefties in media. Watching these videos provides more plain, unadulterated, common-sense economic wisdom than most American universities today would provide over a four-year degree. Happy 100th Milton Friedman!...

On June 11th 1788 at the Virginia Ratifying Convention to the Constitution of the United States, Anti-Federalist George Mason remarked in reference to the House of Representatives, “They must form an aristocracy, and will not regard the interest of the people. Experience tells us that men pay most regard to those whose rank and situation are similar to their own.” Certainly he did not mean the British definition of aristocracy, of artificial distinctions, where men were granted special rights, duties and privileges along perhaps with land from a centuries long gone monarch. What did Mr. Mason refer to? In the...

This week, the U.S. House will vote to prevent the most damaging aspects of Taxmageddon from taking effect on January 1, 2013. Below is a comprehensive resource list of all the economic studies showing how many jobs Taxmageddon will kill, and what Taxmageddon will do to damage economic growth: According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, President Obama’s income tax proposal would force 940,000 taxpayers with business income (that is, owners of small- and medium-sized businesses) to pay higher taxes at top marginal rates of 36% or 39.6%. CBO CBO Analysis: “Under those fiscal conditions, which will occur under current...

Taxing small business to pay for more government is the policy equivalent of “you didn’t build that.” Increasing taxes on the top bracket—$200,000 single; $250,000 married—hits small businesses, sole proprietorships and family farms that file as individuals or “pass through entities.” In 2011, the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that this plan hits 750,000 entities. A more recent update in their model concludes that, under this plan, 940,000 small businesses will pay higher taxes. The economy grew 2.0 and 1.5 percent in the last two quarters. Growth in real nonresidential fixed investment declined for the third straight quarter. RNRFI...

While the House of Representatives passed legislation eliminating red tape and rolling back regulations on businesses this week, Nanny State regulators at all levels of government continued to impose new bans on everything from LED lights to feeding turkeys. At the federal level, 2,266 pages were added to the federal register along with 86 new rules setting quotas for Atlantic Bluefin tuna and determining what assets state savings associations can invest in. Oregon Man Faces Jail Time for Collecting Rainwater: A rural Oregon man was sentenced to 30 days in jail and $1,500 in fines after he was found guilty...

On Wednesday, President Obama argued that not raising taxes on certain households amounts to a "giveaway" from the government. On Thursday, White House spokesman Jay Carney repeated and defended the term "giveaway." Chalk it up as another example of a "You didn't build that" worldview. During the Thursday press briefing, ABC News senior White House correspondent Jake Tapper asked Carney why the White House uses the term "giveaway": Jake Tapper: You used the word "giveaway", and President Obama, in his statement yesterday, used the word "giveaway," referring to the extension of the lower Bush tax cut rates for I guess...

In the weeks following the Supreme Court's ruling on the healthcare mandate, President Obama and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi have repeatedly stated to the public that the individual mandate contained in Obamacare is not a tax. The Democrats' hard line stance that the mandate is not a tax is illogical, as evidenced by Chief Justice Robert's constitutional analysis of the individual mandate. Contrary to President Obama and the Democrat's interpretation of the mandate, Justice Roberts made ten key points in his analysis on why the mandate is a tax, and not a penalty: The Government asks us to read...