Calling all Patriots!

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'all of Washington lacks courage'

And you thought you had weird feet

An image shared on Facebook claims to show Afghan fighters joining Hezbollah. Verdict: False The image is from 2018 and took place in Syria. Fact Check: Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel in retaliation for an alleged Israeli drone strike that killed two members of the militant group, according to The New York Times. The rocket fire […]

'Should withdraw their support'

Normalize letter writing again!

Mr. Panikos Panayiotou is attracting diners from all over the world after the restaurant he built in his backyard became a local hotspot. Forking out tens of thousands to bring a slice of the Mediterranean to the industrial heartlands of Walsall, England, all the net proceeds from his delicious Greek menu go to charity. It’s […] The post Dad Attracts Diners from Across the Globe After Building $22k Greek Taverna–in His Backyard appeared first on Good News Network.

Among the worst ideas in the Biden administration’s proposed budget is a new annual tax of at least 25% on unrealized gains for Americans with incomes and assets of over $100 million. Taxing unrealized gains is an entirely new prospect that, if the Biden administration succeeds in doing it, would penalize individuals for owning assets that appreciate, regardless of whether those assets are sold. But there the proposed tax is anyway in President Joe Biden’s 188-page Fiscal Year 2025 U.S. Government Budget and accompanying 256-page General Explanations of the Administration’s FY 2025 Revenue Proposals. Such taxes are rare due to complexities in valuing these assets, liquidity concerns, and overall implementation challenges and risks. When implemented, such taxes lead to an exodus of taxpayers. For example, when Norway initiated a similar tax in fall 2022, over 30 Norwegian multimillionaires and billionaires left the country, moving to Switzerland. This number eclipsed the total number of multimillionaires and billionaires who abandoned Norway in the prior 13 years. Entrepreneurship is the engine of the U.S. economy, and the proposed tax on unrealized gains would act as a kill switch on several fronts. First, America’s wealthiest fund a significant share of high-risk, high-variance investments in early-stage, startup, and small-cap companies. The proposed tax would require that with every high variation, the investor must pay a tax on it. So the highs get higher and the lows stay lower. Thus, investors may be less likely to invest in growth-oriented ventures due to greater swings in valuation compared to larger, established companies. As an example, imagine being worth about $100 million and investing $1 million in a promising new biotech startup. BioNTech, a biotechnology immunotherapy company, began publicly trading at $13.82 ($1 million = 72,368.9 shares) and reached a high of $389.01 and a year-end price of $257.80. In this scenario, the investor would have owed taxes to the federal government on the $243.98-a-share gain ($17,656,564.22) at 25%, or $4,414,141.05 in taxes, even without selling any shares. Now fast-forward to today, when BioNTech’s stock price is trending down and now trading around $100. There is no tax on unrealized losses. Moreover, investors now will think far more about the time component of the equation and the expected future behavior and valuation of an exit. The new tax on unrealized gains could hasten the selling of assets by investors for tax reasons rather than legitimate business reasons. This tax also would hurt entrepreneurs who typically hold a large share of stock in their ventures. When successful, that share would increase substantially in value. Even if the entrepreneur doesn’t sell any stock in his or her successful company, he would owe taxes on the increase in value. An example here would be Fanatics, the Jacksonville-based online sports memorabilia and merchandise retailer. As of December’s latest investment round, Fanatics is valued at $31 billion. Under the Biden proposal, Fanatics founder and CEO Michael Rubin would owe substantial taxes on the unrealized gains over this appreciation. Taken together, these pressures would result in less capital for entrepreneurs, significantly lowering investment in entrepreneurship. This in turn would result in lower rates of innovation and productivity—a kill switch for entrepreneurship. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Biden’s Tax on Unrealized Gains Would Be Kill Switch for Entrepreneurship appeared first on The Daily Signal.

THE CENTER SQUARE—Tesla founder and X owner Elon Musk said Thursday that he plans to file a lawsuit against people and organizations working to prevent advertising dollars from going to conservative news media. Musk announced his intention on the social media giant X while sharing video of Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro’s congressional testimony Wednesday on the topic. “Having seen the evidence unearthed today by Congress, X has no choice but to file suit against the perpetrators and collaborators in the advertising boycott racket,” Musk wrote. “Hopefully, some states will consider criminal prosecution.” At Wednesday’s hearing before the House Judiciary Committee targeting a coalition called the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, Shapiro told lawmakers that legacy media and their political allies conspire with online advertising gatekeepers to paint conservative news organizations as “dangerous,” limiting their opportunity to receive advertising revenue. “There is in fact an internal pressure system created by Democratic legislators, this White House, legacy media, advertisers and pseudo-objective brand safety organizations,” Shapiro testified. “That system guarantees that advertising dollars flow only to left-leaning media brands.” Shapiro identified the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, or GARM, as one of those gatekeepers of online advertising revenue. “In reality, GARM acts as a cartel. Its members account for 90% of ad spending in the United States, almost a trillion dollars,” Shapiro testified. “In other words, if you’re not getting ad dollars from GARM members, it’s nearly impossible to run an ad-based business. And if you’re not following their preferred political narratives … you will not be deemed brand safe. Your business will be throttled.” Originally published by The Center Square The post Musk’s X to Sue Groups That Boycott Conservative News Sites appeared first on The Daily Signal.