Immigration reform poll shows Floridians support secure borders and "registration for undocumented immigrants"

Public Policy Polling conducted a poll of Florida voters earlier this month regarding immigration reform, and there are a number of interesting results. I'd also like to highlight the specific wording used in the poll, because the actual questions asked have a big impact on how people respond to the very complicated issue of immigration reform.

First, immigration reform is definitely a priority for Floridians, with 86% of respondents saying that it's "very" or "somewhat" important to "fix the immigration system" this year. 

The poll also shows that Floridians want immigration reform to include secure borders and a process for people who are here illegally to register for legal status, with a "long list of requirements" to be met for over a decade before they could be eligible for citizenship.

Why it's a big deal that the White House Counsel knew about the IRS audit findings

2013's best new carnival ride, the Obama White House Scandalpalooza, continues to spit out new shocking headlines on a daily basis, and I wanted to put a spotlight on one detail regarding the targeting of conservative groups by the IRS. 

The administration admitted yesterday that the Office of the White House Counsel was informed about the findings of the IRS audit weeks ago - including specifically informing Kathryn Ruemmler, the Senior White House Counsel and the head of the office. 

President Obama somehow knew nothing about the whole mess until he saw it in the press with the rest of us little people. 

Why is this a big deal? 

Because attorneys have a ethical duty to keep their clients informed. 

Rubio on #IRSscandal - "These are the Tactics of the Third World" [VIDEO]

Florida Senator Marco Rubio had harsh words for the Obama administration in a floor speech he delivered today [video of full speech and text of selected excerpts after the break]:

Here's what your smaller paychecks get you, America!

I present the bang-your-head-on-the-wall news of the day...

Ain't that the truth!

Best depiction of the fiscal cliff negotiations I've seen so far:

Is the lottery a tax on the poor?

Earlier today, I saw an article posted by a friend on Facebook, asking whether lottery programs were a form of regressive taxation, in other words, whether they have a disproportionate effect on the poor.

A reminder about the Orange County Tax Collector's race

If you are voting in Orange County, Florida, one of the races on your ballot is for Orange County Tax Collector. I strongly encourage you to support Jim Huckeba.

New ad hits Bill Nelson's hypocrisy on agriculture taxes [VIDEO]

Here's the latest ad from American Crossroads, hitting Florida Democrat Senator Bill Nelson on his hypocrisy taking advantage of an agricultural tax exemption for his own property while pushing to raise taxes on actual farmers:

The Taxman Cometh...Even to the Olympics

"I owe how much?"

Athletes across the country grow up dreaming of one day bringing home  an Olympic medal. Unfortunately for those who do, Olympic glory comes with a price: a bill from Uncle Sam. 

Any of our athletes who win a medal will also  receive a cash prize from the U.S. Olympic Organizing Committee, and some sports have additional prizes, and the IRS expects to get their cut. Even the medals themselves could incur a tax bill.

Americans for Tax Reform calculated what the taxes would be for Olympic medal winners:

Oh, Canada!

Canada: Home of moose, hockey,
and well-capitalized banks

Looks like our neighbors to the north are doing something right.

Correction: they are doing a lot of things right.

Canada is succeeding by doing things "right," literally. They have implemented many of the same economic policies championed by fiscally conservative Republicans here in the United States, and swiftly began seeing positive effects.

Now Mica is calling for tax increases. Please, just go away.

"There's no way in hell I would support banning earmarks" ~ John Mica

Well, I guess we now know how John Mica plans on paying for those earmarks and pet projects he loves so much: tax increases! 

Despite the fact that the 20-year incumbent has been desperately trying to re-brand himself as a fiscal conservative in his primary battle with Sandy Adams, Mica was in Atlanta on Friday and did his best to talk the locals into voting for a tax increase. Yes, really. 

A Doctor's View of ObamaCare

American Thinker posted a must-read article over the weekend, featuring an interview with a surgeon frustrated about ObamaCare and its looming impacts on the medical profession:

Yes, tax bills have to originate in the House. No, Obamacare didn't violate this rule.

I addressed this in the comments section of my post on the Supreme Court opinion yesterday, but I wanted to reemphasize the issue, because I'm still seeing it pop up today:

Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution requires tax bills to originate in the House of Representatives, and it was the Senate version of the Obamacare legislation that became law. 

The Supreme Court just wrote Romney's campaign ads

In case you've been hiding under a rock this morning, the Supreme Court just issued its opinion on ObamaCare, with Justices Alito, Scalia, Thomas, and even swing-vote Kennedy voting to overturn the law as unconstitutional, but Chief Justice Roberts joined the liberal wing of the court in voting to uphold it.

The Court ruled that even though it was an unconstitutional violation of the Commerce Clause to force Americans to buy health insurance, the individual mandate survived as a...tax.

Wait, what?

Jon Lovitz, Tax Expert? [VIDEO]

In an appearance on Piers Morgan's CNN show last night, comedian Jon Lovitz managed to expose the fallacy of the Democrats' economic policies in less than ten minutes.

In a series of rapid-fire comments, he went through his frustrations with President Obama's class warfare rhetoric, explained why capital gains are taxed at a different rate, smacked down the idea that raising taxes on the rich would solve all our problems, refused to give in to Morgan's repeated attempts to blame Wall Street for the economy, and blew apart the idea of the "1%" versus the "99%" that the Occupy movement promotes.

What's behind the shady false attacks on Cliff Stearns?

Cliff Stearns never struck me as controversial. Quiet and unassuming, he's managed to forge a solidly conservative path during his time in Congress, but largely avoided the spotlight until this past year, when he earned accolades for his work leading the Solyndra investigation. So I was, quite frankly, shocked that this election year brought not only a slew of primary challengers against Stearns, but also at the level of vitriol of their attacks on him.

No CGI Bunnies Were Harmed in the Making of this Video...

...but we can't say the same for small businesses in the current economy.

The latest video from Cain Connections:

"999 Means Jobs Jobs Jobs!"

Here is Herman Cain's new radio ad, which just went into heavy rotation on The Rush Limbaugh Show starting today:

Marco Rubio on O'Reilly Factor

Here's Senator Marco Rubio's appearance on The O'Reilly Factor from earlier tonight:


FoxNews | O'Reilly Factor | Marco Rubio in No Spin Zone

Rubio discusses the controversy surrounding the Washington Post article (see my posts here and here):

Angry Taxpayers

This is making the rounds on Facebook (I saw it posted on several friends' profiles tonight) and it's too cute not to share: