April 15th – Tax Day – is going to be another not-so-fun milestone for hundreds of thousands of ObamaCare’s beneficiaries. The paperwork to comply with the law’s individual mandate is already going to be an annoyance to all who file taxes, but those who receive subsidies to help pay for their health insurance could be in for an especially rude surprise.
Anyone whose income is under 400 percent of the Federal poverty level is eligible for subsidies to help them pay for their government-mandated health insurance. Because the amount of the subsidies is based on income and family status, differences in the numbers reported to the exchange and those reported in the later tax return could result in filers being required to pay back some or all of their subsidies. USA Today notes: “Some married couples could owe $600 or $1,500 or $2,500 or even more. It might feel like a raw deal for some who are already suffocating under the escalating costs of health insurance.” Read more here...
2. The IRS and ObamaCare: Letting the Fox Guard the Henhouse - by Logan Albright
When Congress drafted the most sweeping and disruptive set of health care regulations America has ever seen, a multi-thousand page monstrosity that no one even read before voting on, they needed an agency to enforce the dozens of new taxes, mandates, and penalties that were to be an integral part of ObamaCare. But which?
Due to the broad scope of its power and the massive amounts of sensitive data that would pass through its hands, the agency in question needed to be one that was known and respected for fairness, for competence, for attention to detail, and for an unimpeachable reputation for honesty and integrity.
To the surprise of no one, the agency selected was the Internal Revenue Service. Read more here...
3. Why is the Chamber Endorsing Democrats? - by Easton Randall
Most businesses offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee on their goods or services. We have heard about it all time, most of us even taken advantage of this offer from time to time. In light of this, it would be interesting to ask whether the U.S. Chamber of Commerce offers the same level of guarantee to their members that the rest of us get from them. Because if they do, it is about time their members start asking for their money back.
Members of the Chamber join because they need a voice in Washington to fight against the federal intrusion we see year after year. They expect the Chamber to fight on their behalf and promote candidates who are going to serve in the best interests of the business community. However, it is time for the members to take notice, because the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is failing them. Case in point, once again the Chamber has decided to diversify their portfolio and endorse Democrats for Congress in 2014. The same party that gave us a federal takeover of health care, fought to increase the minimum wage, and regulate every business into the ground is running candidates with the Chamber seal of approval. Read more here...
4. Will Texas Legislators Stand Up for Ethics - by Matt Armstrong
Wallace Hall, a University of Texas Regent, discovered what he believed to be malfeasance at best, andoutright cronyism and corruption at worst, involving both the President of UT, and some in the Texas Legislature, who were using their position of power to assist under qualified students gain entrance into the University of Texas Law School, one of the nation’s most prestigious law schools. He did what we all expect someone of character to do, and instead of looking the other way, he pursued it to find out the truth. When Mr. Hall began to ask tough questions, the full force of political power came crashing down on his head in an attempt to intimidate him into staying quiet, and eventually in an attempt to make him go away.
The questions are these: 1) WHO wanted to keep the information from coming to light? 2) WHY were they willing to go to such great lengths to assassinate the character of a member of the Board of Regents to keep him quiet? Read more here...
5. Ceding Control of the Internet to Foreign Governments - by Logan Albright
Back in March, the U.S. government announced that it would relinquish control over ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. This is the organization that is responsible for managing how domain names are assigned on the internet, and until now, it has been under fairly tight supervision from the Commerce Department.
The announcement was met with two different reactions from people who
understand and care about internet freedom. One group, seizing on the
Commerce Department’s assurances that ICANN would be moving towards a
model of private management, were hopeful that the lack of government
involvement could lead to a better, more efficient internet. Just as a
government run post office will never outperform a privately run one,
they reasoned, it was right for government to relax its hold on internet
domains. Read more here...
6. 6 Reasons to Audit the Federal Reserve
In Liberty,
Jackie Bodnar
Director of Communications, FreedomWorks
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