The big-government advocates at the Center for American Progress recently released a series of charts designed to prove America is a low-tax nation. I wish this was the case.

The United States does have a lower overall tax burden than Europe, which is shown in one of the CAP charts, but that doesn’t exactly demonstrate that taxes are low in America. Unless, of course, you think weighing less than an offensive lineman in the NFL is proof of being skinny.

But the one chart that jumped out at me was the one showing that the United States collects less corporate tax revenue than other developed nations. The CAP document states, with obvious disapproval, that “Corporate income tax revenue in the United States is about 25 percent below the OECD average.”

The obvious implication, at least for the uninformed reader, is that the United States should increase the corporate tax burden.

But here’s some information that CAP didn’t bother to include in the study. The U.S. corporate tax rate is more than 39 percent and the average corporate tax rate in Europe is less than 25 percent.

So let’s ponder these interesting facts. CAP is right that the U.S. collects less tax revenue from corporations, but even they would be forced to admit (though they omit the info from their report) that the U.S. corporate tax rate is much higher. Let’s see…higher tax rate-lower revenue…lower tax rate-higher revenue…this seems vaguely familiar.

Could this possibly be an example of that “crazy” concept of (gasp!) a Laffer Curve? To be sure, it is only in rare cases, when tax rates get very high, that researchers find that high tax rates lose revenue. In most cases, the Laffer Curve simply implies that higher tax rates won’t raise as much money as politicians want.

But have our friends at CAP inadvertently identified one of those cases where a tax cut (i.e., a lower corporate tax rate) would “pay for itself”?

There certainly is strong evidence for this proposition. In a 2007 study, Alex Brill and Kevin Hassett of the American Enterprise Institute found that the revenue-maximizing corporate tax rate is about 25 percent (click chart to enlarge).

Somehow, I suspect this wasn’t their intention, but I want to thank the statists at CAP for reminding us about the self-destructive impact of high tax rates.

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Patriots, I am heart broken and extremely angry. TEA for Education, a non-profit, invited me to a viewing of the documentary, “Waiting For Superman”. Wow, talk about powerful. I realize many of you are familiar with this movie, but many are not.

The movie exposes how America’s public education system is about keeping the teachers unions fat and happy at the expense of our kids. The devastating affect on the lives of “real people”, students and their parents is infuriating.

Despite what libs would have you believe, we spend a ton of money, per child, on education. And yet, public school test scores continue to plummet. Your money is not going to teachers, it is going to bureaucrats and union dues. The democrat party receives 90% of teachers unions political contributions.

In the movie, committed good teachers and administrators attempted to implement common sense changes to better educate students. They were politically beaten down and kicked to the curb by the teachers unions. How dare these teachers and administrators buck the system!

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Perhaps in response to the Politico report earlier this week, it appears that some low-level Jewish players have decided to seal their place in the progressive movement rather than act for the best interests of both the United States and its valuable Mid-East ally,  Israel. According to the WAPO’s Greg Sargent, the Obama campaign is planning to send out surrogates to go on the offensive against pro-Israel groups critical of the president’s Israel policy.

“We will have highly credible spokespeople and surrogates speak out in a general manner in support of what this administration has done, and articulate it in a way that we think will resonate with voters who care about this issue,” former Conference of Presidents leader Alan Solow told Sargent. “We will meet with supporters who have expressed concerns or want to be briefed on these issues on a one-on-one basis.”

Just like any predator, the Obama Jew-squad has picked off a bunch of “never weres” and “used to bes” to try and convince Jews that the truth that he  is the most anti-Israel President in history,  is simply not true.

According to the article, the Jew-squad will  include Jewish Obama fundraisers, including Solow, former U.S. Reps. Mel Levine and Robert Wexler, and businesswoman Penny Pritzker, (who’s position on Israel can be described as slightly more negative than Louis Farrakhan).

This group of house-Jews will work hard to convince that Obama is really pro-Israel, but short of Bobby Ewing stepping out of the shower and claiming the last two years were just a bad dream, or simply lying, I am at a loss at how these how these modern day Kapos-in training, will be able to convince people of the President is really a buddy of the Jewish State.

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As we head into Independence Day weekend, Minnesotans have more on their mind than just holiday celebrations. Late Thursday night Legislators sat in their chambers waiting to be called into a special session in order to pass the “lights-on” bill that would prevent the government from shutting down until a deal could be reached. Meanwhile Governor Dayton was holding a press conference in which he referred to the “lights-on” bill as a “publicity stunt” several times, and never called the special session. As a result of the shutdown, over 22,000 state employees will be forced out of work.

The Governor keeps referring to the ‘cuts’ in the Republican budget as “draconian” which is absolutely false. The Republican budget of $34 billion is the largest budget in the history of Minnesota, yet it does not raise taxes. Republican leadership has offered to match almost half of the Governor’s budget, yet the Governor refused.

In an article by FrumForum, the Governor was quoted saying Republicans “would prefer to protect the richest handful of Minnesotans at the expense of everyone else.. Instead of taxing their friends, they would prefer very damaging cuts to healthcare, public safety, mass transit” and other state services. What he failed to mention was that taxes will go up for everyone. According to a study by the Department of Revenue, his tax increase will affect all levels of income earners.

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On September 11, 2001, 2,977 people were killed by terrorists. The terrorists were indiscriminate in their slaughter of lives—while the attacks were an attack on America, the terrorists did not care whether those they killed were exclusively American or not, nor did they care whether or not the victims were carrying a union card.

In New York, there were first responders killed on September 11th, 343 of them from the FDNY, many of them who happened to be members of a union, the IAFF.

To most Americans, it is the bravery and heroism of those first responders, including the 343 from the FDNY, that is remembered with honor—along  with the tragedy of all those who perished—regardless of their union membership.

Yet, in Racine, Wisconsin, the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 321 has made this Independence Day more about union loyalties than America when they voted to refuse support of a float built to honor the public safety workers killed on September 11th in Racine’s Independence Day Parade . Why? (more…)

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten recently led a delegation of union representatives to Cairo, Egypt to meet with “leaders of Egyptian unions that were instrumental in the recent political and governmental changes there,” according to a news release issued by the union.

Whoa.  Are public sector unions planning a similar “regime change” here in America?

If not, why would Weingarten be cavorting in the Middle East at a time when American public schools are seeing massive dropout rates, budget reductions and reforms that strike at the base of union power?

Details are scant regarding Weingarten’s trip or agenda.  The union didn’t identify her traveling companions, the Egyptian unions they met with, or what action plan may have been devised.

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Today, in 1962, the first Wal-Mart opened for business.

In a response filed yesterday to a federal judge’s order May 11, an FBI official offered no denials about the existence of video images captured by more than 20 surveillance cameras operating prior to 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995, in the vicinity of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City. Instead, he explained that officials at the bureau merely cannot find the tapes and raised the possibility that they “might have been misfiled and thus could be located somewhere other than in the OKBOMB file (though it would be impossible to know where).”

The order, issued by Judge Clark Waddoup in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, Central Division, stemmed from the bureau’s failure to comply with a three-year-old Freedom of Information Act request submitted by Salt Lake City lawyer Jesse Trentadue, a man on a quest for answers related to the Oklahoma City Bombing and the death of his brother, Kenneth Trentadue, who died under suspicious circumstances several months later while in custody at the U.S. Bureau of Prisons Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City.

Judge Waddoups’ order was both clear and concise. The items to which the FBI was to respond by June 30, 2011, and how the bureau responded (shown in italics after each item) appear below:

1. Affirm whether the six government officials from the FBI and CIA who had submitted affidavits in this case had misrepresented information or provided incomplete or otherwise misleading information to the Court. In response to this item, the only thing Judge Waddoups received as an affidavit from David M. Hardy, section chief of the FBI’s Record/Information Dissemination Section of the Records Management Divsion in Winchester, Va. The CIA submitted nothing.

2. Advise whether the I-Drive and S-Drive, data storage areas on the FBI computer system, were searched for the videotapes and other documents sought by my FOIA request and, if not, why not. In response, the FBI told the judge the I-Drive no longer exists and that FBI officials have no reason to believe that S-Drive would contain anything.

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This Fourth of July weekend think about what truly represents freedom: Old Glory, the Liberty Bell, and an ice-cold glass of lemonade.

This month’s lineup of busybodies includes two regulars: the FDA, which is slapping new, more graphic, possibly counterproductive, warning labels on cigarette packs and the goldfish grabbers on San Francisco’s Animal Control and Welfare Commission.

But top dishonors go to the sour bureaucrat who put the squeeze on a group of kids for running a lemonade stand. Sure they were raising money for a worthy cause (pediatric cancer research), but they were doing it without a permit, and that’s why they got slapped with a $500 fine.

Presenting Reason.tv’s Nanny of the Month for June 2011: Jennifer Hughes of Montgomery County, Maryland’s Department of Permitting Services!

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss the debt and Tim Geithner’s potential exit from Obama’s cabinet. Then Senator Tom Coburn joins us to talk about his plan to reform Medicare and gives us an inside look at the debt ceiling debate.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

Tom Coburn and Joe Lieberman’s Impressive New Medicare Reform Proposal
Top Democrats reject new plan to cut Medicare spending
Finally: A pragmatic proposal for Medicare
Senator Tom Coburn, M.D.

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So much for the unions caring about their members like ‘family.’  I guess in the teachers’ union ‘family’ when times are tight the whole family doesn’t sacrifice, the youngest two kids are just kicked to the curb to fend for themselves.

Can they stop using the term ‘union brothers and sisters,’ now?

[MILWAUKEE] The Milwaukee teachers’ union wants area businesses to donate $94 million to solve the district’s financial problems, hoping that will save some of the 519 jobs to be lost on Friday.

Milwaukee Public Schools announced the layoffs on Wednesday.  Dr. Gregory Thornton, MPS superintendent, said at least 200 teachers’ jobs could be saved if the union would have agreed to a 5.8 percent pension contribution from its members.

“We will move into a new school year with a big loss of a lot of talent and a lot of strong educators,” Thornton said.

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Well, here we go again. Republicans scratching their heads, watching the Democrats run circles around them. It seems The Grand Old Party is always waiting for the chance to turn tables on the Democrats, and, it just never works out. When Democrats were in the Majority, the Press Loved the Democrats, so it was assumed when Republicans took over in 1994, that they would have the same close relationship. (Whoops.) Such naive trust is the kind, that loses great fortunes to Nigerian Princes.

When Republicans held the majority, they were civil with Democrats. They would give them important seats, seek their council on policies, and pass through every Democrat judicial nominee with respect; hoping that when they were in the minority again, they will be shown the same respect. (Whoops again.) No wonder Conservative ideas never gain any traction. They are as helpless as red-coated soldiers marching into the forest with pipes and drums blaring.

Now that Republicans have the majority back, and the President has initiated force in Libya, there was a futile hope that a Democrat President will respect the War Powers Resolution. (Whoops cubed. Fool me one time, shame on you; fool me twice, let’s go for three!) It was a mistake of perception. Despite the antiquated notion of equal treatment under the law, the War Powers Resolution wasn’t written for Democrat Presidents –it only applies to Republicans.

It all boils down to our differing views of law. While we see the Constitution as an inflexible document that outlines the sole authority under which the Federal Government can legally exist, the Democrats see it as six pages of enormous loopholes. To us, laws are inflexible orders that apply to everyone, regardless of their position in society; to Democrats they are nothing more than handy tools for leveraging a campaign donation out of a stingy donor. The Health Care waivers are good examples of this double standard; another is Al Gore’s private jet.

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It’s been popular lately for GOP Presidential hopefuls and many conservative pundits to declare that we can’t afford four more years of Barack Obama in the White House. I agree, but I would take it a step further. I don’t think we can afford even another year and a half of this big government, economy-busting wrecking ball. It’s time for the President to cut his losses and resign.

It took a lot for me to say that, especially considering I’m essentially calling for a President Joe Biden (hey, when hair plug Joe looks better than the incumbent, things are really bad). The catalyst came in the June 29^th news conference in which Obama discussed the debt ceiling impasse. During that odd, sometimes off-teleprompter rambling address, Obama delivered one of his typical un-Presidential cheap-shot, demagogic speeches. He chastised the Congress (the GOP) for failing to reach a deal and contrasted them with his preteen daughters (who always get their homework done early).

He also read aloud from the worn-out progressive playbook:

• Class warfare
• Raising revenue via tax hikes
• Saving children and seniors from the evil clutches of the GOP
• Yadda yadda

He called for the two sides to come together, but by laying out his vision for ending the impasse, he essentially defined compromise as the GOP agreeing with him and the Democrats. Then he showed he’s been spending his time on Planet Hypocrisy by scolding the Congress for even thinking about taking a vacation during such a crisis, while virtually practicing his golf swing at the podium.

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For both political and policy reasons, the left is desperately trying to maneuver Republicans into going along with a tax increase. And they are smart to make this their top goal. After all, it will be very difficult – if not impossible – to increase the burden of government spending without more revenue coming to Washington.

But how to make this happen? President Obama is mostly arguing in favor of class-warfare tax increases, but that’s a non-serious gambit driven by 2012 political considerations. Moreover, there’s presumably zero chance that Republicans would surrender to higher tax rates on work, saving, and investment.

The real threat is back-door hikes resulting from the elimination and/or reduction of so-called tax breaks. The big spenders on the left are being very clever about this effort, appealing to anti-spending and pro-tax reform sentiments by arguing that it is important to get rid of “tax expenditures” and “spending in the tax code.”

I recently warned, however, that GOPers shouldn’t fall for this sophistry, noting that “If legislation is enacted that results in more money coming into Washington, that is a tax increase.” I also explained that tax breaks are not spending, stating that “When politicians tax (or borrow) money from one person and give it to another, that’s government spending. But if politicians allow a person keep more of their own money, that’s a tax cut.”

To be sure, the tax code is riddled with inefficient and corrupt loopholes. But those provisions should be eliminated as part of fundamental tax reform, such as a flat tax. More specifically, every penny of revenue generated by shutting down tax preferences should be used to lower tax rates. This is a win-win situation that would make America more prosperous and competitive.

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Why is the Obama administration defying federal law by funding ACORN?

Judicial Watch discovered that the president is flouting the will of Congress by surreptitiously giving federal taxpayer money to ACORN, his former employer and legal client. This is the first such grant to surface this year but more are certain to follow.

Obama’s Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) gave a $79,819 grant to a Florida office of the largest branch of the ACORN tree, the massive conglomerate known as ACORN Housing Corp. (AHC). AHC filed papers last year legally changing its name to Affordable Housing Centers of America (AHCOA). Despite the nifty new moniker, it’s the same old corrupt, antisocial organization.

As I wrote in my new book, Subversion Inc.: How Obama’s ACORN Red Shirts are Still Terrorizing and Ripping Off American Taxpayers, ACORN Housing grew out of crime: trespassing. It emerged from a 1982 squatting campaign in which ACORN built a squatters’ tent city behind the White House. Rampaging ACORN activists break in and illegally occupy property already owned by others – and your tax dollars subsidize this criminal activity.

The secretary of HUD is Shaun Donovan. Donovan and ACORN are tight. (Donovan and ACORN’s then-chief organizer Bertha Lewis are seen in the above screen grab from footage shot for the documentary film Battle for Brooklyn.)

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A paper published by several college professors, entitled “Organizing the Curriculum for Labor Consciousness,” calls for more weaving of Big Labor history and tactics into every day K-12 school curriculum.

The professors cite leftist American “historian” Howard Zinn, who wrote:

“If teacher unions want to be strong and well-supported, it’s essential that they not only be teacher-unionists but teachers of unionism.  We need to create a generation of students who support teachers and the movement of teachers for their rights.” (emphasis added)

Kate Lyman, an elementary teacher in the Madison, Wisconsin school district, is clearly answering the call.

According to an article she penned for the leftist Rethinking Schools magazine, she was swept into the recent collective bargaining protests in her hometown by her daughter and Facebook, because “that’s how they did it in Egypt.”

Lyman described the mass “sickout,” which forced some districts, including her own, to cancel classes, as “four exhilarating days, four confusing days, four stressful and exhausting days.”

For the record, she’s speaking on behalf of the self-serving school employees.  She’s not talking about the working parents that had to scramble to find child care because their children were not in school.

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Today, in 1863, the Battle of Gettysburg began.