Budgets/Taxes · Economics · Environment/Energy · Featured
Who says bipartisanship is dead? We recently had 57 Senators and 152 House members – (obviously) culled from both Parties – sign letters to Barack Obama Administration Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. In which[...]
Featured · Government · Liberty · Politics
It began as the idea of one eccentric entrepreneur, but now has 1.3 million signatories backing it: the case for breaking California up into six separate states is gathering steam. When the Six Californias campaign began, most serious commentators thought it was crackpot scheme, a pipe-dream of a few people that had no hope of gaining traction. They have been proved wrong. To an extent anyway.
Even so, you do not have to be smart with numbers to know that the real state of the U.S. economy is pathetic these days. You can thank Barack Obama for that because, dear reader, he is utterly clueless regarding America’s economy; how it works, and what it needs to work.
Coming thirteen days after state and federal income tax returns were initially due, Tax Freedom Day, according to the Illinois Policy Institute’s Senior Budget and Tax Policy Analyst Benjamin VanMetre, marks the point in the year when Illinoisans have worked long and hard enough in the aggregate to cover their share of state, federal and local taxes “and can start keeping their hard-earned money.” About a third of Illinois residents’ efforts this year – 118 days’ worth out of the calendar year’s 365, in other words – went just to paying taxes.
Budgets/Taxes · Featured · Politics
In a hard fought election campaign, voters in the city of Tigard appear to have narrowly enacted another barrier to light rail expansion in suburban Portland. The Washington County Elections Division reported that with 100 percent of precincts counted, Charter Amendment 34-210 had obtained 51 percent of the vote, compared to 49 percent opposed.
Budgets/Taxes · Economics · Featured · Podcast
Steve Stanek says the most recent federal budget deal is meaningless! It’s a scam, a sham, a fraud! Congress hasn’t had an actual budget since 2009, and they barely have one now.
Budgets/Taxes · Economics · Featured · Government
As a longtime book reviewer, I have read a growing stack of books warning about a financial collapse, but Holland’s book is not only based in the actual debt, but is written in a manner that even a person who has no knowledge of this issue can understand.
Budgets/Taxes · Economics · Featured · Liberty · Podcast · Taxes
End the sales tax? Are you crazy? No says Mike Stenhouse, CEO of the Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity. In fact, Rhode Island might be the first state ever to end a sales tax.
Budgets/Taxes · Economics · Featured · Taxes
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is proposing to increase the city’s cigarette tax by $.75 a pack, which would raise the combined local and state tax rate to $7.42 a pack- the highest in the nation. The video above, by Fox 32, features the Heartland Institute’s John Nothdurft and his brief, yet powerful, opinion on the proposed tax increase.
Budgets/Taxes · Economics · Taxes
The ongoing battles in Washington over the government shutdown and the debt ceiling are merely symptoms of a raging disease wracking the body politic: terminal government obesity.
Budgets/Taxes · Economics · Featured · Politics
Everyone is so sure of their opinion. But almost no one knows anything about it. With most of the news media actually participating in the partisan political wrangling, instead of[...]
Budgets/Taxes · Economics · Education · Featured · Liberty · Politics · Taxes
“In America, we celebrate our independence from the government, not our dependence on it.”
Budgets/Taxes · Featured · Politics
How much would you need to be able to retire comfortably? If you’re not sure of the answer, don’t worry: the Obama administration will answer for you. President Obama’s FY[...]
Budgets/Taxes · Featured · Health Care
As I’ve noted before, there were three opportunities for those who oppose Obamacare to repeal and replace it. One path was at the ballot box, where opponents failed. The next[...]
Budgets/Taxes · Economics · Education · Environment/Energy · Featured
President Barack Obama released his 2014 budget proposal, which would spend $3.8 trillion. The budget contains a tax hike of some $800 billion, including a requirement that “millionaires” pay at[...]
In recent weeks, Illinois legislators have considered several major pension reform proposals. Several pieces of legislation were considered by legislators that attempted to take some positive steps towards controlling costs[...]
Budgets/Taxes · Health Care · Politics
In the aftermath of the 2012 elections, Republicans took solace in the idea that while the GOP isn’t doing well in Washington, it’s winning in emphatic fashion elsewhere. Republicans have[...]
Budgets/Taxes · Education · Environment/Energy · FIRE
You’re a reader of this blog, so you are a part of the conversation at The Heartland Institute, one of America’s most influential free-market think tanks. The posts here reflect[...]
Budgets/Taxes · Economics · Politics
Get ready for the Ryan/Biden showdown Thursday night by reviewing this new Policy Brief by Peter Ferrara, senior fellow for entitlement and budget policy at The Heartland Institute. By selecting[...]
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