This past weekend, over 60 Tea Party activists from across the country gathered for the Liberty Leadership Summit, a two day conference at FreedomWorks.

From the business section of the New York Times comes this profile of medical care in Richmond since 1996.Since 1996, the Richmond area has lost more than 600 of its hospital beds, mostly because of state regulations on capacity. Several hospitals have closed, and others have shrunk. In 1996, the region had 4.8 hospital beds for every 1,000 residents. Today, it has about three. Hospital care has been, in a word, rationed.

Thanks so much to everyone who sent in a video for the contest. We had a number of fantastic entries. Below are the four finalists in no particular order.Please check them out and leave comments about your favorite. We'll announce the winners tomorrow.Thanks again for your participation and don't forget to be in D.C on Saturday! 

Marta Mossburg reports in the Washington Examiner that even as Maryland faces a $700 million budget shortfall this year:

It’s been a strange and troubling few weeks for advocates of lower taxes and limited government. Nancy Pelosi successfully rammed what may be the largest tax hike in American history through the House of Representatives. Two rapidly rising stars in the GOP have unexpectedly tumbled back to Earth. And a federally-funded special interest power grab looms over the health care system.

In a familiar storyline, Pennsylvania lawmakers are seeking to close a budget gap of some $3.2 billion by—you guessed it—raising taxes. To that end, Governor Ed Rendell has called for a “modest” hike of 16 percent in the state income tax rate from 3.07 to 3.57 percent for the next three years. Similar “temporary” tax hikes, implemented in 1983 and 1991, have yet to be fully repealed.

In comments to the Sacramento Bee late last week, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger magnanimously agreed to consider a proposal to maybe discuss a flat tax rate on income in California. Much like similarly surprising talk of ending marijuana prohibition, the news makes for great headlines, but taxpayers should avoid any real optimism for the time being.While Schwarzenegger cleverly pays lip service to what some consider the holy grail of tax code reform, at a suggested flat rate of 15 percent, he has actually proposed a massive tax increase. Currently, even the wealthiest Californians pay “only” 9.3 percent. In the seven states where a flat tax is already in effect, the average rate is just 4.1 percent.