"The Trump administration's justification for its airstrikes on Syria manages somehow to be even weaker than Obama's Libya arguments. The time to push back is running out for Congress. If they can't do it with a deeply, widely unpopular president who in his first three months in office has antagonized not just members of the opposition party but members of his own as well, they may never be able to." Continue reading →
"It could cost about $60 million to replace the cruise missiles that the U.S. military rained on Syrian targets Thursday night. The missiles used on Thursday likely cost the U.S. military around $1 million, but the latest versions of the missile that would replace those could be more costly, depending on size of the order and other factors, said Loren Thompson, a consultant and chief operating officer of nonprofit Lexington Institute." Continue reading →
"70% of millennials in China and 46% of Mexican millennials own a home versus 35% of young adults in the U.S. Young people in China are benefiting from wage growth that is projected to outpace the rate of home price appreciation set last year. And the U.S. doesn’t just fall behind China — France (41%) also came out ahead. In the United Arab Emirates, only 26% of millennials own a home, and Australia does only slightly better at 28%. (The average millennial U.S. homeownership rate in a separate WalletHub study rested around 40%.)" Continue reading →
"In 2016, United Van Lines reported, New Jersey was the state with the most 'outbound' movers, followed by Illinois, New York and Connecticut. The top ten 'inbound states' included some with a higher tax burden, like #5 Vermont, but also Nevada and South Carolina, which rank #43 and #44, respectively." Continue reading →
"When he asked law enforcement if he could see the actual text of the statute he was breaking, the officer on the scene immediately called for backup and threatened the father with jail time." Continue reading →
"The state of Georgia has gone to extreme lengths to keep its own state laws hidden from the people, and has even gone after those who have attempted to give this information to the people." Continue reading →
"Four privacy-minded lawmakers have introduced legislation requiring law enforcement officials to obtain a warrant before searching phones belonging to US citizens, and prohibiting them from barring entry to Americans who decline to share their passwords at the border. 'Americans’ Constitutional rights shouldn’t disappear at the border,' Senator Ron Wyden said in statement to BuzzFeed News." Continue reading →
"Common red flags for passengers are 'traveling to or from a known source city for drug trafficking, purchasing a ticket within 24 hours of travel, purchasing a ticket for a long flight with an immediate return, purchasing a one-way ticket, and traveling without checked luggage.' DEA agents then detain and question travelers with large amounts of cash, and, if they determine the money is linked to drug activity, seize it, even if there is no hard evidence that it is connected to illegal activity. As the Inspector General notes, these agents 'rely on their immediate, on-the-spot judgment.' The passenger is then released, bereft of money but otherwise free to go." Continue reading →
"The full scope of the cash seizures—and the overwhelming amount of cases involving innocent people—have not been revealed until now. The inspector general found money seized and forfeited by the IRS was legally obtained in 91 percent of a sample of 278 structuring investigations it reviewed occurring between fiscal years 2012 and 2014. Altogether, those funds totalled $17.1 million and involved 231 cases." Continue reading →
"While the cancer is in remission, Charf is still struggling with the deadly disease – and is now being pursued by an equally deadly and persistent stalker, the Internal Revenue Service. A few weeks ago, the IRS sent Charf – who is now a mother – a notice claiming that the donations that had paid for her treatment were considered income, and demanding more than $15,000 in back taxes and more than $3,500 in penalties." Continue reading →