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Updated July 03, 2017 18:47:03

South Australia's Liberal Opposition has decided to block a proposed state budget measure imposing a levy on five major banks.

Some Liberals expressed concern the banks might try to pass on the cost to SA households and borrowers, despite the Labor Government vowing to legislate so that cannot happen.

Opposition Leader Steven Marshall said the public would welcome the bank levy being voted down by the Liberals.

"I am 100 per cent convinced that nobody in South Australia wants more tax," he said.

"We believe unequivocally that SA is at a tipping point, the SA economy is teetering.

"We have the highest unemployment rate, we have a government that's got all of the wrong economic settings, our economy has ground to a halt with the highest energy costs in the nation.

"The last thing that any South Australian needs is another tax."

The budget measure now seems unlikely to get through the Upper House, where several crossbenchers have already indicated their opposition to a state tax on the biggest of the banks.

Premier Jay Weatherill said Australia's five biggest banks could afford to pay the levy and Parliament should let it through.

Mr Weatherill said the Opposition Liberals could not be trusted to fill the budgetary gap if the $370-million levy was blocked.

"It means that they will have to cut something else and what the Liberal Party does when they're faced with choices about budget holes [is] they cut jobs, they cut deeply into public services," he said.

SA Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis said Mr Marshall was being a weak leader.

"The big banks come knocking on his door one day and he changes his mind the next," he said.

"The Liberal Party has put protecting the big banks' super profits ahead of tax cuts for small business and investing in jobs.

"The Government will continue to promote its budget through the Parliament in its current form."

But Australian Bankers Association chief economist Tony Pearson believed blocking the tax would help promote job growth in the state.

"The tax raised the prospect of business investment not coming to this state," he said.

"It was sending a signal to the business community that the risk of being targeted for a tax just because you're successful is high in South Australia and it would have led to jobs not being created in South Australia, but outside South Australia in every other state and territory.

"We think this is a great decision, it'll reconfirm that South Australia is open for business, it'll help to rebuild business confidence in South Australia and we believe it'll help to promote inflows of investment, promote economic growth and create much-needed jobs."

Topics: state-parliament, budget, government-and-politics, states-and-territories, tax, federal---state-issues, sa, adelaide-5000

First posted July 03, 2017 16:51:33

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SA budget: Bank levy to be opposed by Liberals in SA Parliament - ABC Online

Over the past decade, patriotism has been out of vogue among many liberals. Rituals like saluting the flag were largely left to those serving our country at home and abroad through military or government service. Meanwhile, pledges of allegiance conjured memories of school assemblies.

Republicans, in contrast, wrapped themselves in the mantle of patriotism. Open love of country justified the party's claim to moral authority and united its members. Drive through America and you know when you've entered Republican strongholds by the number of flags displayed. Despite its embrace of anti-big government ideologies, the GOP managed to preserve its reputation in the eyes of its base as the party of national fidelity.

Trump stands to change all that. Our 45th President has spoken and acted in ways that for millions test the basic definition of what it means to be a patriot: someone who loves one's country and acts with its best interests in mind. Like the many authoritarian rulers he so admires, Trump seems intent on making public office serve his personal desires and goals. He has done very little to resolve the conflicts of interest with his business concerns, leaving the impression that private profit comes first and national well-being second.

When it became known that he had excluded our national press corps from the Oval Office meeting while allowing a Russian photographer access, it seemed to many Americans another sign of loyalties that did not seemingly lie with the country he took an oath to serve -- and certainly a gamble with our national security and intelligence allies.

Millions of Americans who feel the void in political leadership are looking for patriots to admire and emulate. Fearing that their civil liberties and rights are threatened, they are scanning the horizon for individuals who have stood out and stood up to power, putting the national interest before their own careers. Sally Yates has been anointed and, for many, James Comey too. Others will likely emerge before we are through with Trump.

This quiet building of patriotic sentiment presents an opportunity for the Democrats, who have been struggling to craft an identity in the wake of the lost presidential election. The use of powerful patriotic rhetoric and symbols can underpin the party's assertive positioning of itself as the guardian of American freedoms and values now imperiled by Trump and his GOP allies.

The GOP squandered patriotism's precious currency by backing Trump. Their loss can be the Democrats' gain in 2018 and 2020.

The rest is here:
Liberals are reclaiming patriotism from the right - CNN

There is nothing "charitable" about charities spending less on philanthropic work and more on political endeavours. But Justin Trudeau's Liberals are nevertheless considering loosening charities' spending limits and restrictions on political activity.

By the end of this month, the Liberals say they will officially respond to a report commissioned from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), which recommends the government "broaden the ability of registered charities to engage in political activities," while at the same time maintain "an absolute prohibition on partisan political activities."

The Liberals have already gone ahead and suspended the political audits and revocations of charities, a process that was launched under the Harper government in 2012. At the time, the government was accused of political opportunism for its "witch hunt" of charities that were, for example, critical of its policies on the environment. The CRA, nevertheless, found violations committed by seven out of the 54 charities audited violations that were grievous enough to warrant revocations. Indeed, with hindsight, it appears the Conservatives might have been onto something.

Currently, a large (annual income over $200,000) charity can spend only 10 per cent of its budget on "non-partisan" political activity, but if the report's recommendations are adopted by the government, charities will be allowed unlimited "non-partisan" political engagement, just as long as it is "subordinate to and furthers their charitable purposes."

What that means, and how the line will be drawn, is unclear.

What would be clear, however, is that charities such as the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, of which Trudeau was vice president of the board in 2012, would have no limit as to how much it could spend on social science research, conferences and speaking events promoting progressive policies policiesthat are awfully well aligned with the Liberal agenda.

The right-wingFraser Institute, which is also a registered charity, would likewise have no cap as to how much it could spend on reports meant to influence government policy. Yet none of these activities are even deemed political by the current rules, as these charities didn't file any of their expenses under the political activity section with the CRA. As it stands, the rules might be too lax already.

It already appears the Liberals have benefitted from third party political involvement:arecent report in the Calgary Herald alleged registered third parties with the aid of funnelled foreign money helped the Liberals win ridings in the last federal election.

Granted, only a few of those 114 third parties were registered charities. Butwould it not be politically advantageous for the Liberals to allow and encourage more charities to get politically involved if could potentially lead to electoral success?

Sure, every party theoretically stands to gain from unconstrained "charitable"spending, but as National Post columnist Andrew Coyne has pointed out, other than the odd conservative-minded charity like the Fraser Institute, "the vast majority are more likely to sympathize with Liberal and NDP policy than Conservative." Trudeau'stop adviser Gerald Butts ran a charity while it engaged inpolitical activities and campaigns against pipelines, so he surely knows firsthand how charities can be politically influential in reaching a desired end.

According to charity expert and lawyer Mark Blumberg, Canadian charities report spending a total of about $25 million annually on political activities, but they already have the combined potential to spend a whopping total of $25 billion. That's without counting added funds fromforeign entities, which have already gotten involved withstopping pipeline development.

If the Liberal government relaxes the laws in a misguided effort toencourage charities to "make an important contribution to public debate and public policy," more out of these billions could be syphoned for political operationsinstead of charitable purposes, potentially dwarfing the tens of millions political parties themselves spend.

The philanthropic sector in the U.S. has already been largely co-opted by trillions of dollars from its richest citizens looking to covertly influence the political process. That's not the case in Canada; by and large, charities remain highly respected by industry experts for their vital work in helping the needy.

But if the Liberals let go of the reins and allow charities unlimited political spending, an opportunistic few could sully the reputation of an entire industry. There are limits on political spending by third parties for a reason. The Liberals should not be making it easier to bypass the rules.

This column is part ofCBC'sOpinion section.For more information about this section, please read thiseditor'sblogandourFAQ.

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The Liberals are considering loosening the reins on charities' political spending. That is a terrible idea - CBC.ca

A young supporter of President Donald Trump is taking heat after she was pictured cleaning Trumps defaced Hollywood Walk of Fame star.

Since he announced his intentions to run for president in June 2015 and after he won the Republican nomination and later the White House, Trumps Hollywood Walk of Fame star on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles has been defaced numerous times.

So when University of Wyoming student Makenna Greenwald visited Hollywood last week, it was no surprise that she found Trumps star to vandalized. And instead of further defacing the star or spitting on it or taking another action to symbolically bash Trump, she instead chose to clean the star.

Stopped to clean @realDonaldTrump Hollywood Star. Nothing but respect for MY President, Greenwald wrote on Twitter last week, adding the hashtag #RaisedRight.

She also posted three pictures of herself posing with the star. One of the pictures shows Greenwald cleaning the defaced star and scrubbing what appears to be marker lines and doodles off the star. The other two pictures show Greenwald posing with the then-cleaned star.

As of early Sunday morning the tweet had received nearly 50,000 retweets and more than 200,000 likes.

And while Greenwald took pride in cleaning off her presidents star, liberals decided to tear Greenwald apart for her seemingly kind and compassionate decision.

But despite the liberal hate, many big names, including Eric Trump and Fox News host Sean Hannity recognized Greenwald for her efforts:

Thank you Makenna! #MakeAmericaGreatAgain ?????? https://t.co/2JL6xTSI4C

— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) July 1, 2017

Trump was awarded his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007 during the height of the hit TV show The Apprentice, which he hosted up until he began his run for the White House.

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Young Trump supporter cleans Trump's defaced Hollywood star and liberals blow a gasket over it - TheBlaze.com

Updated 5 hours ago

In Connecticut's Cromwell High School, a 15-year-old boy with a mustache is crushing female competitors in track and field, to the great dismay of the girls who have spent many intense days training hard.

This doesn't seem fair, does it?

Well, it does in the left's brave new world of fundamental transformation.

The boy, you see, calls himself a girl. That's his self-proclaimed gender identity. And all's fair in the bizarre universe of modern-day LGBTQ liberalism.

The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference permits students and their schools to decide which teams they can join. The conference is abiding by state and federal laws mandating that students have the ability to compete on sports teams that accord with their public gender identity.

And Andraya Yearwood, a 15-year-old biological boy, identifies (at least for now) as a girl. And get this, sports fans: He's only a freshman. He could easily dominate the girls' meets for four years.

Too bad, ladies. You've come a long way, but liberalism's new world is erecting some brand-new obstacles to your progress.

The (real) girl who finished second to Andraya, a junior named Kate Hall, was tearful over her loss. It's frustrating, Hall said. But that's just the way it is now. I can't really say what I want to say, but there's not much I can do about it.

No, there's not. Kate doesn't want to be denounced as a hater, as an intolerant bigot toward LGBTQ persons.

Ditto for Hall's coach, Ben Bowne, who's no doubt terrified about saying anything that would bring him the enmity of nature's redefiners. The coach lamely told the Hartford Courant: Kate was emotional. She works really hard. She's a very competitive athlete. She hates losing to anybody.

As for the father of the transgender girl, he's fully on board the LGBTQ-liberal train. He apparently has been sufficiently indoctrinated into the modern progressive worldview and thus is tolerating no objections. He told the Hartford newspaper: If someone says, Why is your daughter running with the girls?' I say because she's my daughter, much like the reason your daughter is running with the girls. The dad barks: She's running exactly where she should be running.

The dad, of course, is merely mimicking the prevailing progressive zeitgeist. Note how he cleverly uses all the right liberal language to silence any critics who dare suggest this was an unfair race biased toward his daughter.

And good for him. The well-coached dad simply is taking a page from the bible of modern liberalism, The New York Times, which, in a breathtakingly hilarious February editorial titled Welcoming Transgender Boy Scouts, authoritatively stated: The Boy Scouts are recognizing transgender boys for what they genuinely are: boys.

So, liberals, if your daughters lose their track meets, or swim meets, or tennis tournaments, or golf tournaments, or whatever other sporting events to inherently stronger biological boys declaring themselves girls and perhaps lose scholarships in the process then suck it up and take one for the liberal team.

You've created this monster. And now you can live with it.

Paul Kengor is a professor of political science at Grove City College. His latest book is A Pope and a President: John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and the Extraordinary Untold Story of the 20th Century.

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When liberals punish girls - Tribune-Review