What would it take to lure basketball star LeBron James away from his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers to sign a contract with the Miami Heat? Believe it or not, taxes might have something to do with it, and that’s an important message for all levels of government. In Florida, James’ new place of business, there is no income tax, and the superstar will see a big benefit in his bottom line for playing ball in a Heat jersey. James will make $1.014 million more in Miami than in Cleveland over the …
Late Thursday night, the New York State Assembly passed no-fault divorce legislation in a 113–19 vote after the Senate voted 32–29 to approve the bill two weeks ago. Governor David Paterson is expected to sign the bill into law. The bill allows a spouse to file for divorce unilaterally after swearing under oath that the marriage has broken down irreconcilably for six months. The other spouse gets no say in the matter. Movement of the legislation in New York is significant because the Empire State is the only one in …
Barbara Martinez of The Wall Street Journal reported last week that New York City schools have begun handing out pink slips to teachers: Principals—who are facing an average 4% budget cut at their schools—have started eliminating teaching positions ahead of Friday, when their spending plans are due to the city Department of Education [DOE]. Presumably this action is meant to cut costs. But there’s a twist:
Saturday at 6:30 p.m., authorities were alerted that a Nissan Pathfinder was billowing smoke in the middle of Times Square, New York City. Upon investigation, they found the car was rigged with explosives including “three propane tanks, consumer-grade fireworks, two gasoline containers, [and] wires and two clocks.” No one was hurt, and authorities were able to stop a potentially deadly explosion. New York Governor David Paterson has recently stated that this attempted car bombing was in fact “an act of terrorism.” Both the timing (Saturday night) and location (Times Square) …
The pending health care legislation would cover the uninsured mainly by dumping most of them into the federal/state Medicaid program. Not surprisingly, many states have objected to the additional costs that such a Medicaid expansion would impose on their taxpayers. Indeed, that was the motivation behind the infamous “Cornhusker Kickback” in the Senate bill, under which the Federal government would pick up all of Nebraska’s Medicaid expansion costs in perpetuity. In response to complaints from governors and state lawmakers, coupled with public outrage over the “Cornhusker Kickback,” section 1201 of …
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) today swung hard against a public-relations campaign by the Obama Administration to clean up its tattered image over its handling of the war on terrorists, and especially Nigerian terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. In a major address at The Heritage Foundation, McConnell gave a point-by-point refutation of all of the administration’s failures in this area, from the decision to close the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay to the botched attempt to try some terrorists in New York. But McConnell took special aim at the administration …
The case for historical inevitability took another hit on Wednesday as the New York State Senate rejected a bill to redefine traditional marriage by a wide margin, 38-24. In the days before the vote, and especially after the New York House voted for marriage redefinition by a margin of 89-52 on Wednesday, media reports like this one in the New York Observer suggested that the Democratic majority in the Senate would allow a vote only if they were confident it would pass. Instead, eight Democrats joined all 30 Republicans in …
In today’s Morning Bell, we wrote about the historically bad decision Attorney General Eric Holder made in announcing that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and five other terrorists would be tried in a civilian court in New York City rather than before a military tribunal. Edwin Meese III, the Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow in Public Policy and Chairman of the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation as well as the United States Attorney General between 1985 and 1988, called Holder’s decisions a “a tragic mistake.” In the video …
While Frank Sinatra wanted to wake up in a city that doesn’t sleep, today’s New Yorkers are looking to live in states where taxes aren’t so steep. New York, whose state and local taxes are among the highest in the nation, is bleeding residents due in large part to the state’s extraordinarily high tax rate. According to a new study by The Empire Center for New York State Policy: From 2000 to 2008, in both absolute and relative terms, New York experienced the nation’s largest loss of residents to other …
The damage is done. The Empire State Building was lit read and yellow last night to celebrate the 60th anniversary China’s communist revolution. It is hard to imagine a more inappropriate – indeed, offensive – use of an iconic American symbol. No one begrudges China lifting its people from poverty. But that remarkable achievement has been accomplished only over the last 30 years – after China abandoned its communist moorings and began to embrace free market principles. Until then, the Chinese communist party was responsible only for terrible human tragedy. …
