Arkansas Drivers May Be Taxed Based On Odometer

by Mallory Jordan.  Gov't seeks new way to sheer the sheep. Drivers in Arkansas could be seeing a big change if House Bill 1716 passes the Arkansas legislature. A bill to tax Arkansas drivers per mile they drive passed committees and now moves to the House. For drivers who drive to work every day or drive anywhere, the state may begin to look  ... MORE

Sports Stadiums Throw Taxpayers For A Loss

by Steve Chapman.     It's a play fake that never fails. Since 1995, Los Angeles has been an anomaly: a huge city with lots of sports fans that has exactly as much professional football as Billings, Montana. This week, Angelenos got a bit of good news: They still aren't getting an NFL franchise. A corporation called AEG announced Monday that it    ... MORE

California Gas Prices Almost A Dollar A Gallon More Than National Average Due To Needless Taxes And Regulation

by Gregg Laskoski.    What is "middle-class economics"? We’ll probably be hearing a lot of answers to that question in the coming months as politicians vie for position in the 2016 presidential election. The New York Times took a close look at America’s middle class after President Barack Obama discussed it in aspirational terms during his State of    ... MORE

IRS Defends Refunds To Illegals Who Never Filed Taxes

by Stephan Dinan.      The IRS is defending its decision to let illegal immigrants claim up to three years’ refunds on income even if they never paid income taxes, telling Congress in a new letter last week that agency lawyers have concluded getting a Social Security number triggers the ability to go back and ask for previous refunds. President     ... MORE

Taxes & Restrictions Posing As Federal Dietary Guidelines

by Baylen Linnekin.       Last week the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC), which meets every five years to help set federal dietary policies, issued its final recommendations. The recommendations of the committee, first established in 1990, "provide the basis for federal food and nutrition policy and education initiatives." So just what  ... MORE

VIDEO: George Will - A Conflict Of Visions

Stepen Dinan: White House That Promised Transparency Refuses To Cooperate With The Congressional IRS Probe

How to behave when the truth is not on your side.  The White House told Congress last week it refused to dig into its computers for emails that could shed light on what kinds of private taxpayer information the IRS shares with President Obama’s top aides, assuring Congress that the IRS will address the issue — eventually. The tax agency has  ... MORE

VIDEO: Is Our Debt A Revenue Or Spending Problem?

Shearing The Sheep: Democrats Want To Spend Taxpayer Dollars To Study New Ways To Tax People Even More

by Pete Kasperowicz.     Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) this week introduced legislation that would give states federal grants to study the possibility of imposing a controversial new tax — one that would tax people for every mile they drive in their cars. Blumenauer’s Road Usage Charge Pilot Program Act is the latest effort to move away from a gas  ... MORE

VIDEO: Andrew Napolitano - Using Tax As A Weapon

Pot Is Making Colorado So Much Money The State May Have To Give Some Of Its $50 Million Windfall To Taxpayers

by David McCormack.   Colorado has generated so much money from recreational pot taxes that the state is bound by law to pass some of the tax money directly on to residents. Voters legalized marijuana in 2012 on the understanding that revenue raised would go to schools, but a 1992 voter-approved constitutional amendment means some of the   ... MORE

Stephen Moore: Why Wages Aren't Rising

Obama is scooping up job creation money. President Obama has wisely abandoned his lead-filled trial balloon of taxing college savings plans. Congressional offices were deluged over the last week with indignant calls from voters on this middle-class bait-and-switch scheme and finally Democrats caved. Good riddance. But the worst    ... MORE

VIDEO: The Progressive Income Tax - A Tale Of Three Bros

Walter E Williams: Defense Against Demagogues

Economic ignorance used as a political tool. When gasoline sold at record prices, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said, "I think it's time to say to these people, 'Stop ripping off the American people.'" When the average price of regular gas was close to $4 a gallon, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called for Congress to look into breaking up giant oil companies. ... MORE

Washington State Growers Struggle To Sell Legal Marijuana

High taxes are driving many to black market. Washington's legal marijuana market opened last summer to a dearth of weed. Some stores periodically closed because they didn't have pot to sell. Prices were through the roof. Six months later, the equation has flipped, bringing serious growing pains to the new industry. A big harvest of   ... MORE

Study Finds Local Taxes Hit Lower Wage Earners Harder

by Patricia Cohen.   When it comes to the taxes closest to home, the less you earn, the harder you’re hit. That is the conclusion of an analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy that evaluates the local tax burden in every state, from Washington, labeled the most regressive, to Delaware, ranked as the fairest of them all. According to the  ... MORE

VIDEO: Most Important Economic Principle To Know

Wendy McElroy: The Brain Drain, Gain and Retain

On incentives, freedom and prosperity.       America is making emigration more difficult and expensive. Last year, for example, the cost of renouncing U.S. citizenship rose by over 400% from $450 to $2,350. Those who take the far more common step of simply and quietly leaving still remain vulnerable to a massive tax system that reaches      ... MORE

VIDEO: Jeff Berwick - End The Drug War

Robert W. Wood: Who Shares In Marijuana Taxes?

Will gov't tax drive pot back to the black market?   Taxes on marijuana are big, and it’s easy to see why. A discussion about legalizing marijuana often segues into one about tax revenues. Marijuana for medical use is legal in 23 states and the District of Columbia. Recreational marijuana is legal in DC and in four states, Colorado,      ... MORE