Bothered about the prospect of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials patting you or your kids down? Ever go through security at Philadelphia International Airport? If the answers to both of those questions are “yes,” you might want to stop reading
Rhode Island’s plague of cigarette tax evasion by those looking to capitalize on the Ocean State’s demand for cheap smokes appears to continue. That is the takeaway from recent announcements by the Rhode Island Division of Taxation, which in the
As the policy debate regarding how best to ameliorate what some style the “spectrum crunch” affecting wireless broadband providers plays out in Washington, D.C., TV broadcasters are trumpeting some new statistics that demonstrate the popularity of broadcast media with the
Misguided emotions, union misbehavior, and government intervention on behalf of Big Labor are collectively combining to threaten jobs and are putting in danger any potential deal between American Airlines and U.S. Airways which might serve to save American. This most
As Illinois faces a $2.7 billion hole in its Medicaid budget, the AP reports that legislators have voted to cut benefits in an effort to bring program costs under control: Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, said the Medicaid program will fall apart without
A group of industry heavyweights have asked a top House Republican to put the breaks on the federal government’s likely adoption of new green building standards, a letter obtained by Breitbart News shows. After a Congressional hearing last week examining
Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), a proponent of free market television and video marketplace reform, says in a new interview that “obsolete regulations have held back innovation and growth” in this fast-changing area of the economy. As congressional attention has increasingly
What would happen if you decided to suddenly stop paying your cable bill? Obviously, the cable company in question would not tolerate your negligence for very long, and after some time, would certainly shut off your access to channels full
April revenues have been totaled in New Hampshire, and there is more good news for advocates of last year’s cigarette tax cut. In the fourth month of the year, revenues from the tax were up and cigarette tax revenue continues to outperform estimates.
As Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker faces a recall election in a little over a month, Chief Executive magazine has some good news for the embattled limited government hero: The Badger State keeps rising in the Chief Executive Best States/Worst States list,
As previously noted, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn is proposing a $1 per pack tax increase on cigarettes, aimed at helping to eliminate a $2.7 billion shortfall in the Prairie State’s Medicaid funding. However, those keeping tabs on Medicaid negotiations in Springfield
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn last year signed into law massive increases in personal and corporate income tax rates. However, that hasn’t kept Quinn’s state from facing ongoing budget holes caused by high spending. Medicaid is costing the Land of Lincoln
Rhode Island Democratic Rep. Robert Phillips is urging a $1 per pack cut to the state’s cigarette tax. Meanwhile, the Ocean State’s Independent governor, former Republican U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee, is pushing for a 4-cent tobacco tax increase. Phillips’ move
The Washington Post reports that a bureau of the Commerce Department has suffered a major cybersecurity breach that has put it into the “bureaucratic Dark Ages”: The virus struck in an e-mail 81 days ago, flagged by a federal team that monitors cyberthreats. The
New Hampshire, a notoriously tax-averse state, has liberals clamoring for tax hikes with recent news that state revenues for March were down slightly as against last year’s takings. In the immediate sights of would-be revenue-enhancers? The Granite State’s cigarette tax.
On Tuesday, a federal court chucked out Colorado’s “Amazon Tax” law, with U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn writing that “the veil provided by the words of the act and the regulations is too thin to support the conclusion that the act and
A battle is currently brewing in the U.S. Senate over dueling pieces of cybersecurity legislation aimed at protecting against cyberespionage and other forms of cybercriminality, including hacking. American firms and government officials are concerned about better preventing and punishing activities
Hide your kids, hide your wife: the scourge of the grocery market remains on the lam. Fortunately, courageous legislators have assumed the burden of this great responsibility to ban plastic bags nationwide and, in the process, throttle the manufacturing sector.
In a move that surprised some observers, Maryland’s Senate recently passed a plan that, while raising taxes, increased tobacco taxes by a much more modest amount than pro-tax groups had hoped and some taxpayer advocates had feared. Maryland’s House, meanwhile, has
Chicagoist reports that Illinois’ attempt to force out-of-state, online-only retailers to collect and remit use tax where they advertise online with an “affiliate” based in-state has proved to be a massive failure: When House Bill 3659, otherwise known as the “Amazon
The decennial redistricting process always creates interesting match-ups for congressional seats and 2012 is no exception. As you look around at the most interesting races resulting from this process, the battle over Florida’s 7th District, which features freshman Republican Sandy Adams against
The largest American labor federation promised this week it would launch the most aggressive campaign effort in the labor movement’s history, tapping at least 400,000 union members to fill the voter contact and get-out-the-vote voids in the larger Democratic operation. AFL-CIO
Last year, to much outcry from liberal quarters, New Hampshire cut its tobacco tax by 10 cents a pack. The move was designed to bring in more revenue, at least in part by providing out-of-state purchasers an added incentive to
As Republicans take a step closer to deciding their fate at the top of the 2012 ticket all of the ticket, Senate Republicans this week are preparing to shoot themselves in their collective foot by lining the pockets of left-wing
In theory, the U.S. Export-Import Bank exists to help American businesses both small and large sell their products in overseas markets by offering loan guarantees and alleviating credit risks. But in practice, nearly all of Ex-Im’s taxpayer-backed funds go straight
Rick Santorum is surging in national polling. As Ed Morrissey notes, in a two-man race, Santorum beats Mitt Romney among Republicans by a sweeping 55% to 34% margin. In other words, ouch. But while many pundits suggest that Santorum has a
President Obama’s EPA usually has a bad habit of kicking American industry when it’s down by dumping on them with unnecessary regulations, regardless of what business leaders say the effects will be. Usually. Which is why the latest fiasco over
A well-connected company with close ties to a key Obama Administration official may be running afoul of the SEC by failing to report to its investors material events that significantly impact its bottom line. Just another day in Barack Obama’s
Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley last week proposed a budget that would raise taxes by $311 million. From the Washington Post: The Democrat outlined a $15.3 billion general fund budget plan that includes about $311 million in new revenue. About $182
Call it life imitating art. Call it a cynical election year ploy for campaign cash. Call it a desperate Hollywood remake. But don’t call it over. Sources on Capitol Hill claim that, although last week saw the timely and bloody
President’s appointment of liberal former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray to head the powerful Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was a direct assault on the Constitution and the law causing constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley to remark that President Obama has
The controversial anti-piracy legislation that set off an unprecedented wave of opposition from the technology sector is withering on the vine, with additional Members of Congress withdrawing support for the bills on an almost hourly basis. What’s interesting is that
The Empire State is struggling to bring in additional tax revenue it projected it would gain from efforts to stop smokers from buying untaxed cigarettes on Indian Reservations, reports the New York Post: The state’s tax collectors were recently calling
Senator Tom Harkin, whose outspoken opposition to Wall Street generally and for-profit schools specifically has made him a leading voice in Congressional regulation of career and for-profit colleges. His office is set to release a report this month – the
Now we know why President Obama isn’t spending any time fighting a war on unemployment. He’s too busy fighting his war on coal. Indeed, while the past few months have seen tiny signs our economy might be growing despite Obama’s
Senate Republicans have been holding up the confirmation of Richard Cordray to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau until changes to the agency’s structure are made to provide oversight and accountability at the agency. But sources from inside the
Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, who is the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, has launched an investigation into the compensation of executives at private sector colleges and universities. Rep. Elijah Cummings The New York Times reports: “The American taxpayers
Across the United States, Idaho is typically known for two things: Potatoes, and its conservative political tendencies. Indeed, in 2010, only Wyoming bested the Gem State in terms of “redness.” So, suffice to say, Idaho is no Maryland. However, it
We never thought that there would be a problem with an Obama administration regulatory agency not regulating enough, but that bizarre day has come. The Federal Electric Reliability Commission (FERC), which is charged with ensuring that the nation’s power grid
Spurred on by the need to court a waning youth vote, the Obama Administration addressed a concern that has been on many students’ and recent graduates’ minds: The cost of education in America. Calling college presidents from across the country