July 9, 2019

Trump’s citizenship question isn’t controversial. Obama deleting it should’ve been.

fromHumanEvents: Barack Obama was the first U.S. President to not include a question on nationality in the decennial census.

Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Some big farms collect big checks from Trump aid package

fromRiverFrontTimes: Trump's tariff policy is a big help to big farming. Tariffs, bailouts, entitlements and subsidies, at their root, are always about vote-buying.

Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

France has turned into one of the worldwide threats to free speech

fromTheHill: "While our politicians in the United States may applaud Macron like village idiots, most Americans are hardcore believers in free speech. It runs in our blood."

Indoctrination and Censorship

VIDEO: Brendan O'Neill - Political Correct Bigotry

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: British columnist Brendan O’Neil gives an in depth explanation of the sugar-coated tyranny we call political correctness.

Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Biden vows to bring back Obamacare’s individual mandate penalty for not having insurance

fromRiverFrontTimes: Candidate insists on dictating how previously free Americans must spend the money government doesn't take off the top.

Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

The St. Louis County SWAT team blasted a dog. Now the county owes $750,000

fromRiverFrontTimes: Five years after a St. Louis County SWAT Team raided her home in order to conduct a property inspection related to a missed gas bill, Angela Zorich is walking away with a $750,000 settlement. 

Police State America

How Obamacare Just Made Filing Your Taxes Worse

by Nathan Nascimento.    It’s that wonderful time of year again: tax season. Some 150 million American businesses and individuals are expected to file taxes by this month, covering thousands of arcane provisions that determine how much you and your family will pay Uncle Sam and state governments this year. But this filing season is the second     ... MORE

Ali Waked: Saudi Arabia Proposes Executions Of Gays

The birthplace of Islam.    The Saudi judiciary has demanded stricter punishments, including death sentences, against homosexuals who display their sexuality in public and on social media, Okaz newspaper reported. According to the paper, over the last six months the Saudi judiciary reviewed 35 cases of homosexuality and what it calls sexual     ... MORE

Mike Hopper: The Federal Government Is Launching A Criminal Investigation Into Chipotle, And It’s A Bad Sign

Criminalizing mistakes.   Law enforcement is a growth industry. 2015 was full of high-profile safety cases. Blue Bell Ice Cream had to take all of its products off the shelves after several cases of listeria, Chicago-based Aspen Foods recalled over 2.5 million pounds of frozen chicken over salmonella concerns, and, most recently, Chipotle saw cases of   ... MORE

That Obamacare Penalty Will Be Bigger Than You Think

by Dan Mangan. The stick's getting a lot bigger — but it's not clear that many more people will choose the carrot as a result. Households that opt to go without health insurance in 2016 are set to get hit with an average Obamacare fine of $969. That is 47 percent higher than the average $661 penalty per uninsured household for this year, a new analysis  ... MORE

How To Steal $75,000 From The Poor In One Day’s Work

by Jeffrey A. Tucker. A tax-collecting scheme disguised as justice. The new liberality concerning marijuana possession in the United States is long overdue, but let’s not exaggerate how much progress we’ve made. Users might not be ending up in jail as frequently as they did 10 years ago. But cops, judges, and courts still exercise arbitrary power to ruin    ... MORE

AP: States Sue Over New EPA Air Regulations

States fight to protect the elderly and the poor.     States and industry groups dependent on fossil fuels began filing court challenges Friday to President Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Opponents of the plan were expected to file a flurry of lawsuits at the U.S. Court of Appeals as the        ... MORE

Prison Sentences Based On Crimes Not Yet Committed

by Barry-Jester, Casselman and Goldstein.   Criminal sentencing has long been based on the present crime and, sometimes, the defendant’s past criminal record. In Pennsylvania, judges could soon consider a new dimension: the future. Pennsylvania is on the verge of becoming one of the first states in the country to base criminal sentences not only on  ... MORE

Reg-Crazed Bureaucrats Continue War On Common Sense

by Thomas Novelly.   Indian restaurant fined for wanting ‘experienced Indian waiter.’ The New York City Commission on Human Rights issued a $5,000 fine to an Indian restaurant for hiring an Indian waiter, the New York Post reported Wednesday. Shalom Bombay in Midtown Manhattan posted an ad in October of 2013 on Craigslist, asking for an   ... MORE

Hope And Change Update: 6.6 Million Americans Had To Pay ObamaCare's Individual Mandate Tax For 2014

The one promise kept.    More Americans paid ObamaCare's individual mandate tax for 2014 than previously estimated, according to a new report from the Internal Revenue Service's National Taxpayer Advocate. In January, the Treasury Department projected that up to 6 million households would be subject to the tax because they did not   ... MORE

Jacob Sullum: How Libertarian Is Rand Paul On Drug Policy?

More than the others, but there is room for improvement. Last week about 40 people paid at least $2,700 each to hear Rand Paul talk about drug policy during the National Cannabis Industry Association's conference at the Denver Convention Center. That "private briefing" made the Kentucky senator the first major-party presidential candidate ... MORE

Jacob Sullum: Shona Banda Faces Decades in Prison Because Her Son Questioned Anti-Pot Propaganda

Childs comments may lead to prison for mom.   In Live Free or Die, a 2010 memoir recounting how cannabis oil saved her life, Shona Banda emphasizes the importance of "self-taught knowledge," acquired by constantly asking questions and "looking at all of the angles of any information given." Her son may have learned that lesson too  ... MORE

'It's All About The Money:' Iraq War Veteran Ends Up Homeless After $25 Traffic Ticket Spirals To $4,000

by Charlene Adams.      California's money-making citation scheme. Critics are calling California's traffic citation system a money-making scam that targets the poor and places inappropriate fees on basic penalties from a citation. Four million California residents -- nearly 20 percent of the state's adult population -- currently have a suspended license   ... MORE

House Bill Would Force Supremes To Enroll In ObamaCare

by Mark Hensch.    Justices could be victimized by Congressional ruling. A House Republican on Thursday proposed forcing the Supreme Court justices and their staff to enroll in ObamaCare. Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) said that his SCOTUScare Act would make all nine justices and their employees join the national healthcare law’s exchanges.     ... MORE

Democrats Seek Relief From Obamacare Penalties

by Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar.     Politicians fear the ugly truth. The official sign-up season for President Barack Obama's health care law may be over, but leading congressional Democrats say millions of Americans facing new tax penalties deserve a second chance. Three senior House members told The Associated Press that they plan to strongly    ... MORE

Jeffrey Tucker: Legalize Drunk Driving

Criminalize bad behavior, not consumed chemicals.       Most people have been there: a few drinks at a restaurant or bar and then into the car to get home. Am I over the legal limit? Hard to say. Is my driving impaired? It doesn’t seem to be. But what if I get stopped? Will I lose my license, go to jail, and be disgraced in front of the community?   ... MORE

Union Wants Violence Against Cops To Be Hate Crimes

by Joanna Rothkopf.     The sanctity of the badge. On Monday, the National Fraternal Order of Police requested that crimes against its members be officially considered hate crimes, a classification that means harsher penalties for offenders who have targeted cops because they are cops. The union represents over 300,000 police officers.       ... MORE

14 Ways Americans Can Avoid Paying The Obamacare Tax

by Omar Hamada.      Tax season is just around the corner, and the majority of Americans are still completely puzzled when it comes to how Obamacare will affect their taxes. Unbeknownst to most, 14 ways, in total, to avoid paying the Obamacare tax penalty for not complying with the federal insurance mandate exist. In fact, one of them is so   ... MORE

Ed Adamczyk: Cost Of Renouncing U.S. Citizenship Goes Up

Govt's shrewed scheme to reduce the debt.        The cost of renouncing U.S. citizenship will increase Sept. 12, from $450 to $2,350 per person, the U.S. State Department said. The new fee reflects what a U.S. Federal Register notice calls the "full cost" of the paperwork involved. "Documenting a U.S. citizen's renunciation of citizenship is       ... MORE

VIDEO: America's 3 Most Fee-Ridden Cities