National taxpayer

The Biden administration asked lawmakers earlier this month to allow the Pentagon to allocate funds for foreign critical mineral projects. “By removing key barriers to the execution of DPA authorities, the industrial base will be better positioned to provide the DoD with critical technology, resulting in increased industrial base readiness and lethality,” the Pentagon said in the request. “The Biden Administration continues to put American union workers last and look anywhere else but domestically for minerals, the opposite of what Biden pledged to do before taking office,” said Minnesota Rep. Pete Stauber, the top Republican on the Natural Resources Energy and Mineral Subcommittee. The Biden administration asked Congress to allow the Department of Defense (DoD) to fund foreign critical mineral facilities in the annual defense spending bill. The Pentagon asked lawmakers earlier this month to broaden where it is able to fund projects under the Defense Production Act (DPA) … [Read more...] about Biden Wants Taxpayers To Fund Massive Mining Projects — Just Not In The US

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Tax audits are down. By a lot. Internal Revenue Service audit rates of individual taxpayers’ returns have dropped for all income levels from tax years 2010 to 2019, according to a new Government Accountability Office report. On average, individual tax returns were audited over three times more often for tax year 2010 (0.9 percent) than for tax year 2019 (0.25 percent). Audit rates for taxpayers with incomes between $200,000 and $500,000 saw the biggest drop (a 92% drop), from 2.3% in 2010 to 0.2% in 2019. For the highest income taxpayers, those with income of $10 million or more, the audit rate dropped from 21.2% in 2019 to just 3.9% in 2019 (an 81% drop). Here’s a look at how much audit rates are declining: Table 3 in the report, Trends of IRS Audit Rates and Results for Individual Taxpayers by Income , has more detailed numbers. The drop in audits is good news for tax cheats and bad news for the rest of … [Read more...] about IRS Tax Return Audit Rates Plummet

(CNN) Chicago officials launched a fundraising campaign to support the city's largest ever gun buyback program, with the goal of raising $1 million to entice people to turn in guns during two large events this year. Mayor Lori Lightfoot called it a "bold new initiative" and said it would get "guns out of the hands of dangerous people." Chicago and other cities have been running these programs for decades, often trading gift cards of $100 or so for guns and some lesser amount for replica guns. Gun violence keeps supercharging America's Second Amendment debate Chicago officials annually take in hundreds of guns through buyback programs . But decades of research shows such programs don't reduce gun violence, in large part because they don't result in guns being taken from people who aren't supposed to have them. One recent study found "no evidence that (gun buyback programs) reduce suicides or homicides where a firearm was involved." These types of … [Read more...] about Gun buybacks take weapons out of circulation, but experts say there’s no evidence the programs reduce violence

A California law mandating diversity on the boards of directors of public companies has been ruled to be in violation of that state's constitution by Judge Terry Green of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, in a ruling made on April 1, 2022. The law applies to corporations whose principal executive offices are in that state. California Assembly Bill 979 went into effect in 2020. It mandates that a minimum number of board seats, varying by the size of the board, be filled by women and members of "underrepresented communities." The ruling was in response to a suit brought by Judicial Watch, which describes itself as "a conservative, non-partisan educational foundation, which promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law." Key Takeaways A California law mandating minimum numbers of women and members of "underrepresented communities" on corporate boards has been struck down. "The courts have generally been hostile to … [Read more...] about California Law Mandating Board Diversity Struck Down

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin By Jolyn Metro, Congressman Ben McAdams, and Luke Tuttle In 2017, Former Utah Congressman and Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams launched Pay For Success (PFS), a social impact model that incentivizes collaboration between government, service providers, and financial partners to problem-solve in real-time to achieve measurable results. After nearly six years of hard work and early promising outcomes, stakeholders of the Salt Lake County PFS projects have gained important takeaways and insights among Utah jails and homeless populations. This is the first article in a two part series examining lessons learned and recommendations for future success. Watch our contributor page for updates. The rate of individuals incarcerated in Utah has historically been lower than the national average. So, when the state saw an 18 percent increase in its prison population between 2004 and 2014, officials were alarmed. The future … [Read more...] about Pay For Success: The Social Impact Model Mitigating Homelessness And Incarceration In Salt Lake County, Part One

A Chinese government proposal for a financial stability guarantee fund to safeguard against systemic risks has attracted attention from many parties. Some have differing opinions on how to best resolve the current financial risks related to defaults and debt reduction, especially among property developers. At the direction of the State Council, the People's Bank of China (PBoC) will take the lead in developing the framework for the fund. Also taking part are the National Development and Reform Commission, the ministries of Justice and Finance, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. Preliminary work is expected to be completed by the end of September. The purpose of the fund is to improve risk prevention and deal with systemic-hidden dangers, a spokesperson for the CBIRC has said. Participants are studying the relevant regulations for the establishment of the fund and … [Read more...] about China debates a financial stability guarantee fund

The Government Accountability Office stated Wednesday that confusing policy statements from the Obama administration were largely responsible for the surge of illegal immigrant minors last summer. Seventy thousand unaccompanied children poured through the southern border in 2014. On top of those numbers, 60,000 additional children came into the country accompanied by their parents, according to the GAO. The Obama administration previously claimed dangerous economies ravaged by drug cartels were responsible for the surge. “Agency officials noted that a variety of factors likely caused the recent rapid increase in [unaccompanied minor children] migration, including the increased presence of coyotes, perceptions concerning U.S. immigration law, and recent improvements in the U.S. economy,” according to the report. “In addition, agency officials noted that some pervasive problems have recently intensified in some places, including rising levels of violence and insecurity and … [Read more...] about Obama Administration’s Confusing Immigration Policy Causes Influx Of Illegals

The new White House press sec. Karine Jean-Pierre appeared to dodge a question from Fox News’ Peter Doocy about a tweet from President Joe Biden regarding inflation. “Karine, congratulations, it’s nice to see you up there,” Doocy began. “The president’s Twitter account posted the other day if you wanna bring down inflation, let’s make sure the wealthiest corporations pay their fair share. How does raising taxes on corporations reduce inflation?” “Um, so, are you talking about a specific tweet?” Jean-Pierre, who appeared stumped, asked. Doocy then referenced a May 13 tweet from Biden that said “you want to bring down inflation? Let’s make sure the wealthiest corporations pay their fair share.” You want to bring down inflation? Let’s make sure the wealthiest corporations pay their fair share. — Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 13, 2022 “Look, we have talked about, um, we have talked about this past year, about making sure that the wealthiest among us are paying their … [Read more...] about Karine Jean-Pierre Stumped On Her First Day When Peter Doocy Asks How Raising Corporate Taxes Lowers Inflation

Salih Hudayar, the prime minister of the East Turkistan Government in Exile, told The Daily Caller News Foundation that he was framed by a Chinese spy. After being arrested for “terrorism” and interrogated by the FBI in September 2018, Hudayar’s case was suddenly dropped by the state in January 2022 before a Chinese espionage expert could testify that his accuser’s profile was consistent with a Chinese agent. Authorities denied TheDCNF’s Freedom of Information Act request for body worn camera footage showing officers responding to the complainant, but delivered footage showing Hudayar’s interview by the FBI. A prominent Uyghur human rights activist is asking the U.S. Senate to investigate his claim of an ongoing Chinese intelligence operation against him, The Daily Caller News Foundation has learned. Salih Hudayar, the prime minister of the East Turkistan Government in Exile, was arrested for “terrorism” in 2018, according to court filings made by his defense; … [Read more...] about EXCLUSIVE: US-Based Activist Claims A Chinese Agent ‘Weaponized’ The Justice System To Get Him Arrested On Terrorism Charges

Barring a miracle of biblical proportions, the Biden administration’s disastrous record on – well, there are actually too many issues to name – will result in the Democratic Party losing its slim majorities in both chambers of Congress. By default, Republicans are almost certain to be in charge of the legislative branch of government in 2023 and will have to demonstrate to the American public that they are up to the task of remedying the countless crises wrought by the Biden administration. One of those crises is the self-inflicted mess at the border. Even White House spin doctors haven’t found a way to blame Putin for that one. President Biden and his hand-picked Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, did it all by themselves with Democrats on Capitol Hill marching along. As the minority party, Republicans have been able to rail against the administration’s blatant subversion of our immigration laws and the grievous harm that is being inflicted on the country, but … [Read more...] about MEHLMAN: If The GOP Takes Congress In November, They Will Have A Mandate To End The Border Crisis