No Taxing Our Way Out of Looming Health Spending Crisis

by Mallory Carr.      The fiscal train wreck that Obamacare and other health care entitlements will inevitably cause is quickly approaching—and no amount of tax increases can save us from the crash. Although the “Eat the Rich” and “Tax the one percent” way of thinking is currently in vogue, these catchy sound-bites remain nothing more than pithy    ... MORE

America's Unsustainable Long-Term Debt Trajectory

by Peter Suderman.       In the past year or so, the White House has become increasingly aggressive in touting President Obama’s achievements in reducing the deficit. The deficit has been “cut by more than half since 2009,” a 2013 blog post by the White House Office of Management and Budget declared, pointing to the shrinking of  ... MORE

Report Shows Police Using Asset Seizure To Bolster Budgets

by Katie Rucke.     The government is not us. The rights afforded to people by the U.S. Constitution do not extend to their property. This means that when a law enforcement official suspects that someone’s property — including his or her car, money, home or gun — was involved in a crime, the official can seize that property and keep it.     ... MORE

VIDEO: Cop Fishing In A Revenue Collection Trap

Is the issue public safety or simply separating citizens from their money?

6 Months of Legal Pot In Colorado: More Money, Less Crime

by Laura Pegram.     Bad news for drug warriors. With the passage of Amendment 64 in November 2012, Colorado made history and became one of the first two states to approve legal regulation of the cultivation, manufacture and sale of marijuana for adults 21 and over. Colorado has become a proving ground to demonstrate the positive impacts  ... MORE

VIDEO: John Stossel - Taxing The Devil Out Of You

Taxpayers Cough Up Record Amount As Deficits Increase

Government's unquenchable thirst for revenue.        Federal tax revenues continue to run at a record pace (in inflation-adjusted dollars) in fiscal 2014, as the federal government’s total receipts for the fiscal year closed May at an unprecedented $1,934,919,000,000, according to the Monthly Treasury Statement. Despite record revenue, the     ... MORE

IRS Sets Sights on Frequent Flyer Miles, Hotel Points

by Ira Stoll.       New method to separate citizens from their money. Just in time for your summer vacation, the IRS is getting ready to toughen the tax treatment on frequent flyer miles and hotel loyalty reward programs. The IRS announced in 2002 that it wouldn't try to go after individuals for income taxes on frequent flyer miles or hotel     ... MORE

VIDEO: Fleecing Motorists "For Their Own Good"

The next pretense for government roadblocks.

VIDEO: John Stossel - The Flat Tax

Western States Want Feds to Surrender “Federal” Land

by Alex Newman.     Elected officials from across the American West, from top lawmakers to county commissioners, held a historic gathering in Utah in recent days to discuss how Western states could wrest control of the almost 50 percent of land in the region currently claimed by the federal government. Aside from constitutional concerns — with    ... MORE

Jeff Berwick: Stealing Every Last Penny From Americans

More evidence the government is not us.        All of a sudden the government lays claims to your savings. They can't prove you owe them a dime, but you're deprived due process. The legal bills become overwhelming, and so you let your money be stolen. You simply have no choice. Sound outlandish? It's not. Not in the "Land of the Free"   ... MORE

VIDEO: Don't Cops Have Better Things To Do?

Obama's Wish List Since 2009: 442 New Taxes & Fees

by Cheryl K. Chumley.         No one ever said vote-buying is cheap. President Obama has introduced a total of 442 new tax increase proposals since he took office in 2009, a watchdog group reported. Moreover, those 442 tax proposals are different than the 20 that are contained in Obamacare legislation that was signed into law, Americans for    ... MORE

VIDEO: IRS Collects For 'Sins Of The Father'

Can Government Make You Pay A Relative's Debt?

by Wyatt Andrews.      Whose going to stop them? Two months ago, Mary Grice, a career employee at the Food and Drug Administration, was notified the U.S. Treasury had confiscated her state and federal tax refunds totaling $4,500. The government had taken the money before she knew there was a problem. "To be honest, I was ticked off,"  ... MORE

Higher Than Expected: Colorado's Marijuana Tax Revenue

by Robin Respaut.       Colorado, the first state to tax legalized recreational marijuana sales, expects to bring in an estimated $98 million in revenue this year, exceeding the state's original expectations by 40 percent. The state began levying sales and excise taxes on recreational marijuana on January 1, 2014. Moody's Investors Service, in a     ... MORE

Taxes More Than Food, Housing, Clothing Combined

by Caroline May.      No wonder tax freedom day falls later this year. The day when the nation collectively has made enough money to pay its total tax burden for the year is three days later this year, according to a new report. According to a report released Monday by the Tax Foundation, this year Tax Freedom Day falls 111 days into 2014, on April 21.     ... MORE

Ann McFeatters: Those Revenue-Generating Traffic Cams

Something we all can hate.        Finally. An issue that unites both rabid Democrats and rabid Republicans: Those demon traffic cameras. Not too long ago in the otherwise very nice state of Ohio, on a quiet Sunday morning with no other cars in sight, I made a right-turn-on-red maneuver after slowing to 2 mph. A traffic camera caught me. A few weeks  ... MORE

Nick Sibilla: Cops Deploy Traffic Stops To Seize Millions From Drivers Who Are Never Charged With A Crime

Highway robbery.      Incentives for cops to see you as the enemy. A deputy for the Humboldt County’s Sheriff Office in rural Nevada has been accused of confiscating over $60,000 from drivers who were never charged with a crime.  These cash seizures are now the subject of two federal lawsuits and are the latest to spotlight a little-known police      ... MORE