In the second debate with John McCain in 2008, Barack Obama promised, “We’re going to work with your employer to lower the cost of your premiums by up to $2,500 a year.” It wasn’t just there, though. He reiterated this numerous times on the campaign trail. Freedomworks has a great compilation to emphasize this: Well, to quote Freddie Mercury, “Another one bites the dust.” Yes, | Read More »
Economist Paul Samuelson was once asked to explain how sin taxes worked. He offered up the following commentary.
“Sin Taxes” are so called because they are levied on those commodities, such as tobacco and alcohol, which are the objects of widespread disapproval. “Such taxes,” Paul Samuelson says, “are often tolerated because most people–including many cigarette smokers and moderate drinkers–feel that there is something vaguely immoral about tobacco and alcohol. They think these ”sin taxes“ stun two birds with one stone: the state gets revenue, and vice is made more expensive.”
This is absolutely what has not happened in New York since Mein Obama and Gropenfurher Bloomberg have decided they would levy exorbitant sin taxes on tobacco products in New York City. Newsday.com describes the destructively regressive nature of the sin taxes on tobacco below.
Read More »
One thing I’ve learned over the years is that you don’t read Mark Steyn to feel good about the future. Indeed, there are few writers out there who are better at pouring a cold bucket of reality on our expectations for the future–with a nice bit of gallows humor to make it a little easier to stomach. So, it should go without saying that he’s | Read More »
The Romney campaign has released a powerful new television ad contrasting the Romney/ Ryan plan, which strengthens Medicare and protects the commitments made to current seniors, against Obama’s $716 billion cuts from Medicare. Watch the new ad, called “Paid In.”:
Download Podcast | iTunes | Podcast Feed On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss who the economy’s job creators really are, what raising taxes on the rich would actually mean for our bottom line, and why tax policy should favor small businesses. We’re brought to you as always by Stephen Clouse and Associates. | Read More »
So, will Romney’s pick of Paul Ryan as VP help or hinder his chances to defeat Obama? That is the million dollar question Republican pundits and grassroots activists are frantically asking this week. One serious flaw with much of the post-analysis of any VP selection during a presidential campaign is the singular focus on the pick himself without any regard for the top of the | Read More »
To borrow a phrase from President Reagan, there they go again. As soon as Mitt Romney announced Congressman Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate the Democrats again started with their debunked and discredited MediScare campaign. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee called Ryan “the architect of the Republican plan to kill Medicare” in a fundraising message sent by DCCC Executive Director Robby Mook. A | Read More »
Since the Supreme Court ignored the Constitution by upholding Obamacare, we have no choice but to use every legislative and executive tool at our disposal to kill this socialist monstrosity. One opportunity we will have to disrupt and impede its implementation will be through the appropriations process. Last December, we incurred the ‘great spending betrayal’ under Republican leadership in the House. Sixty percent of House | Read More »
Most of us view Obamacare as a national fight, but over the next few months we will have the opportunity to disrupt this travesty on a local level. Governors and state legislators can refuse to expand the Medicaid rolls as prescribed under Obamacare, pursuant to the Supreme Court’s decision. Moreover, there is no mechanism in place to prevent them from blocking the establishment of the | Read More »
Friday I spoke with WBYZ 94.5 Radio’s Wild Bill McKubby about my recent article, “Romney extends lead among Independents to 14 percent.” During the interview we blow up mainstream media’s meme that the presidential race tied. We also take Obama to task for his $trillion deficits, his 50% increase in the national debt and his incessant Pinocchio campaign falsehoods. You can listen to the interview | Read More »
How do we know this? Because they’re all FREAKING OUT about it today. Watch the speech, and see for yourself why: Particularly the part of that speech that started at about 11:28 (this would be the part where Romney told the crowd that he was going to shut down Obamacare, and the crowd then proceeded to boo him for it). I’ll let the National Journal | Read More »
The House voted today to fully repeal Obamacare. It is important that we keep Obamacare at the forefront of the debate, but we must also act in a meaningful way to disrupt its implementation. The more smoothly this behemoth is enacted, the harder it will be to repeal. To that end, we turn to the 29 Republican governors to lead the way. The one practical | Read More »
While Obama is prosecuting a flaccid war overseas and apologizing for our troops when they defend against Taliban attacks, he is fighting a no-holds-barred class war at home. Once again, Obama has announced that he will orchestrate the largest tax hike in American history on those earning more than $200,000. After all, taxing the rich is a great way to raise revenue; it worked so | Read More »
In the new ABC News/Washington Post poll, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney extends his lead among Independents to 14 points, 53-39 percent. Two months ago, a POLITICO/George Washington University Battleground poll found Romney had a ten-point lead among the critical Independent voters. The mainstream media is touting the poll as showing the race is “dead even” — a 47-47 percent Obama-Romney contest among registered voters. | Read More »
Rick Perry is joining Governors Nikki Haley, Rick Scott, and Bobby Jindal in leading the way for other governors in the United States, some of whom — even Republicans, are starting to get cold feet on the issue of exchanges and medicaid. Rick Perry is drawing a line in the sand and giving Washington a “hell no.” Under Governor Perry, Texas will not create state | Read More »
![[RS]](/t/img/logo-footer.jpg){kind=logo}