States that helped carry President Obama to victory in 2012, are now suffering at the hands of his signature legislation. Democrats hoping to avoid the repercussions of Obamacare are going to have a difficult time explaining away its failures in their own friendly states. Republicans are referring to it as the Blue State Obamacare Blues, with Colorado, Hawaii, Washington D.C., Oregon, Maryland, and Massachusetts all suffering varying degrees of embarrassment.

The Senate is set to vote on the fiscally irresponsible budget negotiated by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) soon. FreedomWorks has issued a key vote notice declaring that we will deduct the scores of any member of Congress who votes for it on our congressional scorecard. As you may imagine, this news hasn’t thrilled the Washington establishment.

We all know that communism is evil, socialism is bad, big government reduces personal liberty and central planners can't plan their way out of a wet paper bag. But we don't often examine why.

I attend Hillsdale College in southern Michigan. It’s a pleasant place, the people are friendly, the landscape of the college is beautiful, and the academic rigor is intellectually stimulating. Some of the things that I’ve learned since becoming a temporary Michigander are that  the weather is utterly and truly unpredictable, that Ohio State fans are worst people on earth (their words, not mine), and that native Michiganders insist that “soda” is something you bake with and “pop” is the thing you drink. (They’re wrong.) 

The Obamacare individual mandate will disproportionately affect those who can least afford it. Rather than simply allow people to buy health insurance if they wish to do so, the "Affordable Care Act" imposes a fine if you don't. But for many people without means, the insurance, even with subsidies, will be too expensive. The law amounts to a tax on being poor -- a Poor Tax.

With President Obama's umpteenth (twentieth, if you're counting) pivot back to jobs and the economy, there has been a lot of trotting out of the concept that meaninful economic recovery must begin with the "middle class". Politicians, economists, and pundits alike have all revived the meme, but almost none are directly addressing that fact the "middle class" has reached the mythical status of unicorns or free health care for all. 

Boxing Superstar Manny Pacquiao plans on taking his next fight on November 24th to China because of the would-be near 40% federal income tax if the fight took place in the United States.   Americans for Tax Reform r

The Marketplace Fairness Act would subject retailers to sales tax audits from 50 different states and tax laws of nearly 10,000 local tax authorities. Proponents of this bill claim that this levels the playing field between internet merchants, such as Ebay or Amazon with brick and mortar retailers like Walmart or Best Buy. Critics point out that it only boosts the tax bill for America’s consumers and allows state governments to tax businesses not within their jurisdiction.

Regulation of alcohol in the United States uses  a three-tiered system  that perpetuates big business’s control on the alcohol industry and has helped maintain a cartel-like hold on the marketplace ever since the end of alcohol prohibition in 1933.

Sit up and take notice, Washington – the future of America’s entitlements is unfolding before you in the form of the Illinois pension crisis. Illinois’ five state-funded pension systems were almost $100 billion too small to meet promised pension obligations, potentially affecting state employees, “down-state” teachers (Chicago teachers have their own pension problems), state university employees and even General Assembly members.