Jerry Brown Wins $52 Billion Gasoline Tax in California (VIDEO)

Jerry Brown is the lamest of lame ducks. He's finishing his fourth term as Governor of California, cementing his legacy of clusterfuck moonbeam progressivism.

At the Los Angeles Times, "California Legislature votes to raise gas taxes, vehicle fees by $5.2 billion a year for road repairs and transit."

Video via KCRA News 3 Sacramento.

I've got another 10 to 15 years or so at the college, then retirement. A lifelong Californian, I'm constantly wondering which state would be best to relocate? Nevada? Texas? Idaho or Montana? Seriously. I want to get out to more of the classic West, and especially to a low-tax state that's big on gun rights.

More at WND, "FLEEING INSANITY -- THAT IS, LIBERALISM: Exclusive: Patrice Lewis cites increasing exodus of people from California, Chicago, NYC:

In 1972, when I was 10 years old, my father’s job was transferred from Buffalo, New York, to California. After endless cold Buffalo winters, the golden state seemed like a golden place, a land of golden opportunity. My parents built a house, my father built a successful career, and my brothers and I thrived.

That was then, this is now. California is going off the deep end. The gold has turned to brass. It has become the land of fruits and nuts, a caricature of its former glory, a place people seek to leave in droves before they run afoul of the latest insanity.

Consider just a few examples of recent lunacy:

* Public university to host talk on animal-based sex fetishes
* Claim: Trump ‘threatens mental health of young Californians’
* They’ll have a ‘gay’ old time: ‘Bordellos’ now in nursing homes?
* California just passed a law regulating cow farts
* New bill would criminalize pronoun usage in nursing homes
* California bans students from traveling to ‘anti-LGBT’ states

Perhaps unsurprisingly, middle class Californians are leaving the state in droves. Take a look at these words from a frustrated inhabitant:

Came to SoCal as a kid in 1969 … got married and had kids who now are in college (out of state). I worked my *** off to get where I am today, but my house goes on the market this spring. I’ve watched this state sink into the abyss of liberal insanity inch by inch, drop by drop.

There is no hope for the state of Kalifornia. The Dems and their insane view of this world have a super majority in the Senate and Assembly. Combined with a Dem governor, there is nothing they cannot get passed. Even the Republicans who end up getting into the minority party are squishy and put up little resistance.

This past summer the legislative branch passed a bunch of bills that finally broke my desire to stay here with my salary. Gov. Moonbeam signed into law a bill that forces the cattle industry (dairy and meat) into providing flatulent catching backpacks for all cows to wear, for their precious global warming efforts. He also signed a bill that permits early release of felons out of jail and has them live amongst the citizenry. Combine that with the draconian laws further limiting my Second Amendment rights by making ammunition costly and more difficult to obtain, making some of my firearms illegal to own, he has put more rights into criminals and made my family less safe to live here.

I am DONE. Good riddance. I am moving to a state that will appreciate my conservative, constitutional values.

This person’s lament echoes that of over a million (mostly middle-class) people who have departed California in recent decades. We were among them. My husband and I shook the California dust off our feet in 1992 and never looked back at that once-beautiful state.

But it’s not just California. Recent articles show a massive exodus from both New York City and Chicago as well.

What do these three locations (California, New York, Chicago) have in common? They are bastions of liberalism, cauldrons of experimental progressive policies, vanguards of whatever feel-good fiscally irresponsible nonsense disturbed minds can think up.

So when we read about populations draining out of certain locations, the conclusion is obvious. People aren’t fleeing New York or Chicago or California; people are fleeing liberalism. The festering cauldron of progressive thought ultimately makes places unlivable.

I’m honestly sorry for those freedom-loving conservatives who are unable (due to work or family commitments) to beat feet and flee the gold-plated state. And I welcome those honestly looking to escape the insidious poison. I do, however, bear a grudge with those who bring their poison with them and enthusiastically spread it to a new location, dragging everything down with them.

Keep reading.

BONUS: From Ed Driscoll, at Instapundit, "WELL, THAT’S ONE WAY TO PUT IT: “California’s gas tax hike shows governor’s political skill” reads an AP headline this weekend."

Fear and Loathing at MSNBC

Following-up from last night, "President Trump Paid $38 Million in Taxes on More Than $150 Million in Income in 2005 (VIDEO)."

At the Other McCain:

FEAR AND LOATHING AT MSNBC! https://t.co/GxSx1DHubW pic.twitter.com/XWWdGXomav

— The Patriarch Tree (@PatriarchTree) March 15, 2017

Thank you Rachel Maddow, for debunking the myth that Trump hasn't paid any taxes in 18 years. pic.twitter.com/wRWNbQZzu1

— Elizabeth® (@MissLizzyNJ) March 15, 2017

President Trump Paid $38 Million in Taxes on More Than $150 Million in Income in 2005 (VIDEO)

I saw a couple of tweets on this, but now here comes Legal Insurrection with the story. See, "Rachel Maddow’s career committed suicide live on national TV tonight."

And at Bloomberg, "Trump Paid $38 Million Tax on $150 Million Income, Return Shows."

That's huge tax hit. Huge.

It's an effective tax rate of 24 percent. Sheesh. Didn't Mitt Romney get his effective rate down to 14 percent in 2011? I think President Trump needs a new accountant, lol.

And Rachel Maddow needs to get her head screwed on correctly. This is no bombshell. Trump's paying his fair share in federal taxes. Shoot, he's being over-taxed. Maybe that's why he didn't want to release his returns? He's getting hammered by the IRS.

In any case, Maddow's still as butch as ever. I never --- absolutely never --- watch her show. It's been years, literally.



Also, at the Daily Beast, via Memeorandum, "Report: Trump's 2005 Taxes Revealed."

Mike Pence Wins Vice-Presidential Debate (VIDEO)

I did watch.

I didn't blog, but I did watch.

And Mike Pence was definitely a lot cooler under pressure. I turned it on a little bit late, so I guess I missed the beginning where Tim Kaine opened both barrels on Pence, and made himself look out of control, if not desperate and unhinged.

Here's Matthew Vadum, at FrontPage Magazine, "PENCE SCHOOLS KAINE: And holds Hillary accountable":

Donald Trump’s running mate Mike Pence put in a strong showing in the vice presidential candidates’ debate last night, explaining clearly what a Trump administration would do to bring America back from the brink and hitting his opponent Tim Kaine hard.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) laid out a largely conservative vision and a fuzzy but coherent blueprint for restoring America’s greatness last night. His opponent, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), assumed the role of Santa Claus and promised that more handouts, bigger government, and higher taxes on the productive would solve the nation’s problems. Kaine said cops and police brutality are big problems and Pence said the Left is too quick to condemn police before facts are known.

“Law enforcement in this country is a force for good,” Pence said.

Pence brought out onto the national stage the other ticket’s contempt for the State of Israel. After Kaine suggested the Israeli Joint Chiefs of Staff support the Obama administration’s loophole-ridden Iranian nuclear nonproliferation pact, the governor hammered him saying, “that’s not what Israel thinks.”

“You can go check it,” Kaine replied.

Pence then noted correctly that Kaine stayed away from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress about Iranian nuclear arms in February 2015.

“You wouldn’t necessarily know that,” Pence said. “I know you boycotted Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech.”

“I visited him in his office,” was Kaine’s weak reply.

Kaine was on the defensive almost the entire debate while Pence seemed unfazed by anything thrown at him. After Kaine said Trump’s was an insult-driven campaign, Pence laid into him:

I mean, to be honest with you, if Donald Trump had said all of the things that you've said he said in the way you said he said them, he still wouldn't have a fraction of the insults that Hillary Clinton leveled when she said that half of our supporters were a basket of deplorables. It's -- she said they were irredeemable, they were not American. I mean, it's extraordinary.

In a nutshell, Kaine made the argument during the debate that battling terrorism is at least as important as fighting climate change. He got his prefab class-warfare talking points in which should make Democrats happy. He said it was important to elect Hillary Clinton because she’s a woman and her election would be historic and because he and his wife trust Hillary with the life of their son who, like Pence’s son, is deployed overseas in the Marine Corps. The thought of Donald Trump “as commander-in-chief scares us to death,” the senator said...

Keep reading.

And watch, at Fox News, "Who won the vice presidential debate?"

And at the PBS NewsHour, "Watch the 2016 Vice Presidential Debate between Mike Pence and Tim Kaine."

Also, at Memeorandum.

Why is Donald Trump Still Winning?

Well, why's he winning at the USC Dornsife / LA Times Presidential Election 'Daybreak' Tracking Poll.

David Lauter has the answer, at the Los Angeles Times:

Why is #DonaldTrump still winning our poll? White men and uncertain voters. https://t.co/M8W3VfVx15

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) October 5, 2016

PBS Interview with David Cay Johnston (VIDEO)

I learned more about the Donald Trump tax issue from this video than I learned from all the other reporting over the weekend combined --- and David Cay Johnston's a leftist.

Watch, from the PBS NewsHour, "Why seeing Trump’s tax returns really matters."

And see the man's book, at Amazon, The Making of Donald Trump.

Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points Memo: Voting Against a Potential President (VIDEO)

A great segment from last night on Fox News.

I especially liked O'Reilly's dissection of Hillary Clinton's post-debate "gloating."

Yes, that's quite ugly, but that's her. Like Barack Obama in 2008 (and since), it's all about her.

Watch:

Donald Trump to Attack Hillary Clinton Over Husband Bill's History of Infidelity and Sexual Assault

Charles Krauthammer mentioned that you don't go after these things unless you're down 12 points in the polls. It's too dangerous. It's ugly. The GOP got burned on Monica Lewinsky and impeachment in the '90s. Bill Clinton's numbers were at nearly 60 percent by the time he left office. It's a losing proposition.

Well, after the first debate Team Trump was already gearing up for attacks on Bill's "dalliances," but after NYT's vicious attack on Trump's taxes last night, I doubt The Donald's going to be able to resist.

See this great post at Hot Air, "Should Trump attack Hillary for trying to discredit Bill’s accusers at the next debate?"

And embedded there is Rush Limgaugh's radio segment, "RUSH: Hillary Beats Trump In BULLYING WOMEN, Every Day of the Week."

We'll see. Frankly, I'd be hammering Hillary over this, but like Allahpundit notes at Hot Air, you gotta make it about Hilary's complicity. She bullied women to shut up. Don't make her a victim.

Anyway, FWIW, at NYT, "Donald Trump Opens New Line of Attack on Hillary Clinton: Her Marriage."

The Left's Response to New York Times Release of Donald Trump's 1995 Taxes

My initial thoughts are here, "New York Times Publishes Parts of Donald Trump's 1995 Taxes."

New York Magazine has a good post on the left's response, "Report: Donald Trump May Not Have Paid Taxes for 18 Years."

HRC's campaign tweets:

Trump "apparently got to avoid paying taxes for nearly two decades—while tens of millions of working families paid theirs." pic.twitter.com/g62jB9fKr5

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 2, 2016

More at Politico, "Bombshell report on Trump taxes sends GOP nominee reeling: It puts an exclamation point on what was already one of the worst weeks for any presidential candidate in recent memory."

Well, as they say, all's fair in love and war, and this is war.

More later...

New York Times Publishes Parts of Donald Trump's 1995 Taxes

I read the story online last night.

Exclusive: NYT has obtained parts of Trump's 1995 tax records. He could have paid no federal income tax for 18 years https://t.co/lpSr9M6IwA

— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 2, 2016

Here are the pages from Donald Trump’s 1995 income tax records that were obtained by The Times. https://t.co/SFSIzIiSXQ

— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 2, 2016

Trump team puts out statement with no one's name on it, unusual since @JasonMillerinDC arrival from Cruz pic.twitter.com/1OiwUYCROs

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) October 2, 2016

This is obviously scandalous, as evidenced by the leftist reaction on Memorandum.

Whatever sense of electoral possibility I felt last weekend, on the eve of the presidential debate, is gone now. Trump's mediocre debate performance wasn't strong enough to overcome the left's ceaseless smears and attacks. The surge in polling Trump was enjoying has stalled. And now, with just over another week until the second debate, the campaign's going to be focused on Donald Trump's taxes rather than how much farther down the Democrats will take the country into the rat hole. And it's the Old Gray Lady who broke the news. I mean, it's too perfect. The newspaper's entire organization, from top to bottom, has been intent to take down The Donald, going so far as announcing that the traditional "objective" standards of old-fashioned press reporting no longer applies. Reporters are free to write "A-section" news reports as if they were op-ed pieces. If the election's still close a couple of weeks from now it'll be a miracle.

Expect updates.

ADDED: I forgot to mention that Donald Trump's done nothing wrong. There's no claim of law-breaking or illegality. New York Times leftists want to paint Trump as a plutocrat scofflaw out to stiff the average Joe. They also want to portray him as a loser in business, who passes the costs of his business loses onto the average schmuck. If folks remember how the left destroyed Mitt Romney in 2012, especially with the secret "47 percent" video, then you'll have a sense of how leftists will play it. The only difference this year is that Obama's not on the ballot, and the Clinton Foundation scam, and Hillary's endless email scandal, should be the bigger controversies. But we're dealing with neo-Marxist collectivists who'll do anything to win. Anything. No lie. No Alinskyite tactic. Nothing is too low for the left. They'll use any means necessary to destroy opposition to their undemocratic statist program.

Anti-Tobacco Coalition Launches Signature Petition Drive for Increased Cigarette Taxes (VIDEO)

I hate new taxes. But I especially hate them when they're imposed through the initiative process by far left-wing nut jobs --- like billionaire enviro-wacko Tom Steyer!

I don't smoke. But it's high time to leave smokers alone.

At the Sacramento Bee, "Coalition launches petition to take tobacco tax to November ballot":

Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer and Democratic Sen. Richard Pan spoke about the evils of cigarettes and vaporizers Tuesday at C.K. McClatchy High School as they joined a coalition of medical and labor groups to launch a petition for a ballot measure that would levy a $2 tax on tobacco sales.

“My mother smoked three packs a day of non-filtered cigarettes and died of lung cancer, so I have a personal interest in preventing smoking and preventing young people from starting smoking,” Steyer said to a room of teenagers. Steyer is a former hedge-fund manager turned advocate for legislation to fight climate change.

The ballot measure calls for the state to largely funnel the revenue from a tobacco tax to Medi-Cal, with some money set aside for anti-smoking programs and research on tobacco-related illnesses and diseases. The tax would apply to cigarettes, e-cigarettes and any other products containing or derived from tobacco or nicotine.

Pan, a practicing pediatrician from Sacramento, warned students that despite misconceptions, e-cigarettes are also addictive and contain nicotine...

Still more.

Powerball's Biggest Winner: Government

Heh.

My wife buys tickets.

Not me. I don't like the odds, lol.

From Michelle Malkin:

Ka-ching!

Wednesday’s Powerball jackpot soared to $1.5 billion as get-rich-quick mania seized America this week. But you don’t need to wait for the drawing to know who’ll score the royal payoff.

The biggest winner of the multistate numbers game is — drumroll, please — Uncle Sam.

Powerball is a government-sponsored gambling racket in 44 states, plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The feds automatically skim 25 percent off the top of a lump-sum cash award. Additional state withholding taxes vary depending on residency status. Mega-winners are taxed at the highest federal income tax bracket (nearly 40 percent); those who live in states with personal income taxes could pay up to an additional 9 percent. Local municipal taxes can add another 3-5 percent to the tax burden.

Government lotteries of all kinds raked in a whopping $70 billon in revenue last year, according to the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries. Cash-strapped states pitch the rackets as civic enterprises by purporting to earmark a portion of proceeds for public education, economic development and mass transit, senior citizens’ programs, professional sports stadiums and environmental protection.

As I’ve noted during previous, high-stakes lotto crazes, the state bureaucrats who run these schemes for numeracy-challenged consumers are free to ban outside competition — including private slot machines, phone betting, instant pull tabs and card rooms. The feds help out by limiting sweepstakes and Internet gambling, as well as exempting state lottery marketing materials from Federal Trade Commission regulations that guarantee truth in advertising.

That’s right. While cracking down on ads on everything from cereal to toothpaste to cars, Washington protects states that spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year falsely promising “a dollar and a dream,” “everyone is a winner” and “somebody’s gotta win — might as well be you.”

Numeracy challenged!

And ripped off by the permanent political bureaucracy!

Keep reading.

Donald Trump, Marco Rubio Win Republican Debate, WSJ Poll Finds

Here, "Donald Trump, Marco Rubio Won GOP Debate, Poll Finds":

Donald Trump and Marco Rubio won Tuesday’s night primetime Republican debate, according to an overnight poll of Internet users who watched the contest, but Mr. Trump came out as the favorite among Republicans and left the best impression about his ability to serve as president.

Some 24% of debate-viewers named Mr. Trump and 23% picked Mr. Rubio as the winner of the eight-candidate event, which was sponsored by the Wall Street Journal and Fox Business News. Ted Cruz and Ben Carson followed, with 13% declaring each to have won.

Mr. Trump’s lead in the Internet survey was larger among debate-watchers who said they’d vote in a Republican primary...

Also at Memeorandum.

'The truth is, I don't like anyone who's running for President in either party...'

Not me. I like Cruz, Rubio, and Trump. I pretty much despise Jeb Bush, and I agree that Kasich looks like a drunk blowhard know-it-all.

But see Althouse, "'Biggest loser on merits: Kasich. He’s done. He came across angry, condescending, and unprincipled'..."

PREVIOUSLY: "Marco Rubio Wins Fourth Republican Debate (VIDEO)."

Marco Rubio Wins Fourth Republican Debate (VIDEO)

He did well. Even my wife was impressed, heh.

At Politico, "Insiders: Rubio wins, Kasich bombs":

Marco Rubio won the fourth Republican debate -- and John Kasich lost.

That’s the assessment of this week’s POLITICO Caucus, our bipartisan survey of the top activists, strategists and operatives in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. Nearly 40 percent of Republican participants said Rubio won the debate in a survey taken immediately following Tuesday night’s contest -- no other candidate had more than 12 percent.

“Energy,” said an Iowa Republican of Rubio. “He wants the job.”

“By every measure Marco Rubio won the [night],” a New Hampshire Republican said. “Strong and informed on every issue, inspirational, presidential. He actually moved the ball down the field.”

Added a Nevada Republican, Rubio “gave a compelling vision for a hopeful future contrasting his youthful vision to a tired "older" take on the country epitomized by Hillary.”

For the second Republican debate in a row, the POLITICO Caucus named the Florida senator the biggest winner of the night, noting his vigorous defense of a muscular American foreign policy — one of the biggest applause lines of the evening — and forceful remarks concerning Wall Street as evidence of a strong and articulate candidate.

Forty-two percent of Democrats also agreed that Rubio won the night.

“He is engaging, articulate, comfortable in his own skin and has a hopeful positive message...he packages well for a party that is looking for change but still wants a foot in policy and politics,” a New Hampshire Democrat said...

Donald Trump Announces Tax-Cutting Plan (VIDEO)

Following-up from earlier, "Trump Plan Cuts Taxes for Millions."

This is starting to sound even more bold and significant than I thought.

At CBS Evening News, "Trump announces tax plan: Presidential hopeful Donald Trump has unveiled his new tax plan. Major Garrett has the details."

California Leftists Push Ballot Measures to Extend Prop. 30's 'Temporary' Tax Hikes

Unexpectedly!

For leftists, there's no such thing as "temporary tax hikes."

At the Los Angeles Times, "Are higher taxes here to stay? Activists push for Prop. 30 extensions":

Gov. Jerry Brown may have expressed reservations about continuing the temporary tax hikes he championed three years ago, but activist groups are pushing forward anyway.

Two campaigns are circulating initiatives to extend some parts of Proposition 30, with the goal of collecting enough signatures to place their proposals on the November 2016 ballot.

One of them, which filed its initiative on Monday, is even using the same political firm, SCN Strategies, that helped elect Brown and convince voters to pass his tax-hike plan in 2012.

Called the “Invest in California’s Children Act,” it would make permanent the higher income taxes set by Proposition 30, which are currently scheduled to expire at the end of 2018. (The quarter-cent sales tax hike would be allowed the lapse.) The proposal would also set higher levies for households earning more than $2 million a year.

Called the “Invest in California’s Children Act,” it would make permanent the higher income taxes set by Proposition 30, which are currently scheduled to expire at the end of 2018. (The quarter-cent sales tax hike would be allowed the lapse.) The proposal would also set higher levies for households earning more than $2 million a year.

Revenue from the taxes is estimated at $10 billion per year, with 45% for K-12 schools, 5% for community colleges, 10% for early childhood programs and 40% for Medi-Cal. It would also ensure some money was deposited in a reserve fund specifically for funding child services, a step intended to shield the programs from cuts during an economic recession.

Asked if the campaign has received or asked for Brown's support, spokesman Dan Newman said, "We're reaching out to all the stakeholders."

The initiative is backed by the California Hospital Assn. and a chapter of the Service Employees International Union representing healthcare workers.

They're not the only powerful interest groups seeking to preserve Proposition 30 revenue. Last week another initiative, the School Funding and Budget Stability Act, was filed by the California Teachers Assn. and the statewide Service Employees International Union.

Instead of making the income tax hike permanent, it would extend them until 2030. All of the money, up to an estimated $9 billion per year, would be sent to schools and community colleges. There would be no additional tax on households earning more than $2 million annually...

LOL! It's for the children!

And hey, don't miss the comments:

ENOUGH ALREADY. Cut some heavily abused programs like food stamps, EBT and welfare. I'm so tired of seeing people use EBT cards in line at the supermarket while using their iPhone 6's and getting into new cars out in the parking lot.

FRANKEN_STEIN

Yeah, they pick up lobster and thick top sirloin steaks with the EBT cards too. Sh*t's out of control.

Conservatives Need to 'Get Activist'

This is interesting, from Neo-Neocon, at Legal Insurrection, "Problem: Passive Right, Activist Left."

However, I don't know if conservatives are truly "passive." Are they right-wing Alinskyites? Not sure, but the tea party movement wasn't bean bag.

Austrian Brothel in Salzburg Offers Free Sex to Protest High Taxation

Well, they were offering free drinks too, but I'll bet men were coming for the free sex, heh.

Watch: At Ruptly, "Austria: Brothel offers free SEX in protest against taxation."

The Tax Burden Rises

At WSJ, "The share of income paid by workers keeps rising":

Your government hopes you haven’t noticed, but if you live in a developed country there’s a good chance your taxes have gone up over the past four years. That’s the conclusion from the OECD’s latest “Taxing Wages” report, which finds the average worker paid a higher proportion of income in tax in 2014 than in 2010.

The average total “tax wedge” is the difference between the gross cost to a company of employing one person and what that worker takes home after income tax and employee and employer social insurance taxes. The OECD finds that this wedge stood at 36% in 2014, up 0.1 percentage points from 2013 for its 32 member countries. The average tax burden was 35% in 2010. The burden increased in 23 OECD member countries in 2014, though no country increased marginal tax rates.

Governments were able to make this tax grab on the sly thanks in part to bracket creep. As nominal income rises, a taxpayer can find himself in a higher tax bracket even if inflation means his purchasing power hasn’t increased at the same pace. Rising nominal incomes also diminish the relative value of personal allowances and deductions that generally don’t keep up with inflation, and in some cases were reduced.

As a result, an increase of only 0.3% in inflation-adjusted earnings was enough to increase the average Finn’s tax wedge by 0.84 percentage points to 43.9%. Japanese workers were even worse off as modest nominal wage increases pushed them into higher tax brackets while faster inflation left them with less purchasing power: Inflation-adjusted earnings fell by 1.9% but the average tax wedge rose 0.29 percentage points to 31.9%, ranking 21st on the list. Belgium’s 55.6% tax wedge puts it at the top of the rankings, with Chile’s 7% wedge is at the bottom.

The OECD provides a useful public service by including social-insurance taxes on workers and employers in these rankings. These contributed significantly to the bigger tax wedges in countries such as Canada, where social charges amounted to nearly half of the 0.52 percentage point increase to 31.5%, tying America at 22nd. Politicians like to present these levies as “contributions,” but the sooner voters recognize them for the income taxes they are, the better.

Americans saw their inflation-adjusted wages increase 1%, and their tax wedge increased 0.11 percentage points to 31.5% last year. This is still lower than most of Europe. Americans also don’t pay the steep value-added taxes that European welfare states use to finance themselves, and which aren’t included in this study.

But American taxes on labor already are edging higher without statutory rate increases since 2013, even before the full burden of ObamaCare’s subsidies arrives. Only Britain, Ireland and Switzerland have tax wedges lower than America’s among OECD countries, and most European countries tax labor at 40% or above...

Still more.

These statist incursions never seem to abate, do they?