Free Republic

When Big Business tells the federal government "yes, tax us more please," you can be pretty confident something shady is going on, and that the consumer will not be the beneficiary of it. In this case it's ownership of major energy providers backing the Waxman-Markey Cap and Trade bill, the proposal that would effectively cap American productivity by trading on fear of global warming. In the past few weeks both Exelon, the nation's largest gas and electric utility, and PG&E (Pacific Gas and Electric) have backed out of the Chamber of Commerce over the business lobby's refusal to bend over...

Japan’s historic election Sunday gave the Democratic Party an overwhelming victory over the Liberal Democrats that have dominated Japan’s government for 55 years.  The Liberal Democrats oversaw Japan’s industrial policy that supported Japan’s dominant firms during Japan’s rise as a major economic power during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.  Indeed, many American economists argued the U.S. should do more to emulate Japanese industrial policy and have the government actively involved in supporting dominant corporations to enhance their international competitiveness.American support for industrial policy, where the government actively picks the winners in economic competition, died off in the 1990s when the...

What did you do when capitalism died, Daddy? I won't be surprised to hear that question from my daughter by the time she gets out of college, or should I say the State Mandatory Voluntarism Training Facility. When liberals hear conservatives decry the death of capitalism, they titter and roll their eyes. "Oh, you paranoid right-wingers! You see Bolsheviks around every corner." But such exasperation is the exhalation of concentrated ignorance. The absence of free markets isn't necessarily Bolshevism, or even socialism. Capitalism's death can come in many forms, by many different hands. After all, not all of Julius Caesar's...

Earlier this month, the United States Chamber of Commerce handed out its annual "Spirit of Enterprise" awards to those members of Congress who voted with the Chamber 70 percent of the time on its most important legislative initiatives of 2008. The only four Republican senators who did not receive the award were Jon Kyl, Jeff Sessions, Jim Inhofe and me - four of the most conservative members of the Senate. What were the conservative offenses? We opposed the failed bailouts and stimulus. Which explains why many liberal Democrats scored higher, including Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton. The Republican who...

Self-proclaimed "conservatives" love to tout themselves as ardent supporters of the "free enterprise" system. In the name of "capitalism," they support any and every piece of legislation or governmental decision that caters to business — especially Big Business. Favorite policies of these folks include anything and everything that calls itself "free trade." Furthermore, these same "conservatives" will support just about anything and everything that is said to advance the so-called "global economy." Needless to say, in the name of "free trade" millions of American jobs and thousands of American manufacturing plants have been outsourced to foreign countries and interests. And...

... We fight for free-trade agreements and tax cuts, and they repay us time and again by jumping into bed with Barack Obama. And they don't even bother to wash off the smell of his cologne.

After the November election, business advocates hope to rekindle their push for a guest worker program and legal status for some illegal immigrants already in the U.S. Their hope is that immigration reform will have a better chance under a new president, whether it be John McCain or Barack Obama, and a new Congress in which Democrats are expected to gain seats. Both McCain and Obama support a guest worker plan and some kind of legal path for illegals in the U.S. and congressional Democrats tend to be more supportive of immigration reforms than Republicans.

It’s time to end the Government Property Lease Excise Tax Michelle Bolton, Goldwater Institute Daily Email, April 22, 2008 Fair and equitable taxation is key to economic freedom and prosperity. Rules that favor a few special interests create an un-level playing field and put other businesses at a disadvantage. The Government Property Lease Excise Tax (GPLET) is a case in point. It allows cities to take title to land and buildings and then lease them back to a private company for a nominal fee. These businesses then pay a fraction--often one tenth--of what their property taxes would otherwise be. GPLETs...

Aside from Al Gore, the biggest presidential endorsement prize that is still up for grabs from the Clinton administration is Robert E. Rubin, the former Treasury Secretary and deficit hawk who remains one of the most admired economic stewards in Democratic politics. Mr. Rubin is now ready to go public: Despite some early misgivings about Hillary Rodham Clinton’s candidacy, he is scheduled to headline a major fundraiser for her on Dec. 13 in New York City, according to a memo describing the event. Democrats close to the Clinton campaign said today that he may appear at additional events, with her...

Gov. Rick Perry’s veto this week of an eminent domain bill designed to protect landowners left a lot of Texans scratching their heads, and you can lump us in with those feeling dumbfounded. Perry — who was among those making political hay when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that cities can seize homes under eminent domain for use by private developers and made the issue an emergency item in a special session that same year — had a chance to back his tough talk and posturing on property rights with action. But when push came to powerful shove...

LUBBOCK, Texas — One Central Texas farmer said Monday he was "dumbfounded" by Gov. Rick Perry's veto of an eminent domain bill designed to protect landowners when the state wants to take their property. Robert Fleming is not alone in an area worried about the massive Trans Texas Corridor proposal. The planned route cuts through Fleming's Bell County farms. He's bewildered by Perry's veto. "We were so close to getting something done," Fleming said. "We've worked hard trying to get private property rights." Perry vetoed the bill, and 48 others, Friday. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Kelo...

I regularly read about television content consumers' preferred viewing environments (potentially) migrating from displays in living rooms to computer monitors (streamed directly off networks' websites, as well as coming from delivery partners such Joost and YouTube), and to iPods, cell phones and other portable devices. I also note the booming popularity of nationwide satellite radio providers Sirius and XM, and of Internet streaming radio services. And I wonder, in both cases, what this trend means for local radio and television affiliates; what role (if any) will they play in the future as centralized content sources increasingly assert themselves? I've got...

Big business jumped on board the health care reform train earlier this week with the announcement of the Coalition to Advance Healthcare Reform (CAHR). No presidential candidate worth his or her salt has failed to come out in favor of affordable high quality health care for all Americans. (As Wharton health care economist Mark Pauly says, "That's like being in favor of affordable Bentleys for everybody.") The bandwagon has room enough for all of them: The CAHR includes 40 big players including Safeway, Del Monte, Heinz, Kimberley-Clark, PepsiCo, Clorox, Norfolk Southern, GlaxoSmithKline, Aetna, Eli Lilly, Cigna and Kraft Foods. The...

Vitamin supplements taken by millions of people every day for their health could be increasing their risk of death a new Danish-led study suggests. The study is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The international research team reviewed the published evidence on beta carotene, vitamin A, vitamin E, Vitamin C and selenium. The team was led by Dr Goran Bjelakovic, from Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark. These dietary supplements are marketed as antioxidants and people take them in the hope they will improve health and guard against diseases like cancer and heart disease by eliminating the free radicals...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The new masters of the House, the Democrats, are promoting an economic agenda that would put more money in the pockets of ordinary citizens and government, while leading to greater oversight of big business. California Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who is in line to become speaker, has promised to fight early on in the next Congress to lower the price of prescription drugs available through Medicare. Efforts to curb military spending are also likely, political and financial analysts said, following an election whose outcome was influenced in large part by voters' dissatisfaction with the handling of the war...

Many people believe that government and business are warring factions, and that political parties typically align with one or the other. But the truth, as Timothy P. Carney points out in his new book, is that big business is often in bed with big government and that both Republicans and Democrats have helped forge a partnership that consistently rips off ordinary Americans. Carney's new book, The Big Ripoff: How Big Business and Big Government Steal Your Money, exposes this nasty partnership in detail—from Boeing subsidies to Ethanol mandates—and shows just how taxpayers lose their money and their voice in Washington....

Promoting Britain's biotech businesses will be at the top of British Prime Minister Tony Blair's agenda when he meets with California's government and industry leaders over the next few days. It is the first visit to the state by a sitting British prime minister, and Blair's visit demonstrates how aggressive his country has become in courting investment in its booming high-tech industries. In particular, Blair is keen to promote Britain's commitment to stem cell research, and will meet with executives from California's biotech companies on Monday. Blair's official spokesman said that a conference on stem cell research - between Californian...

The Big Government, The Big Business and the Little Guy. Not too long ago, in a small village not far from where you now sit there lived an apple merchant. He was a kind little man with a loving wife and two beautiful children. He sold his apples out of a cart at the side of the road leading between the village and the village’s only large place of employment, the box factory. The local townsfolk would stop and pick up boxes of apples on their way home from work. Directly across from our dear apple merchant, another apple merchant...

See for example this thread first. It seems we're awash in corn and by-products from night until morn In all that we chew and now for our cars, too! No wonder I treat it with scorn!

Thank heaven for the massive marches across the country by those favoring illegal immigrants. These marches revealed the ugly truth behind the fog of pious words and clever political spin from the media and from both Democrats and Republicans in Washington. "Guest workers"? Did any of the strident speakers, with their in-your-face bombast in Spanish, sound like guests? Did they sound like people who wanted to become Americans? Were they even asking for amnesty? They didn't sound like they were asking for anything. They sounded like they were telling. Demanding. Threatening. Somebody must have told them that their Mexican flags...

See for example this thread first. Exxon Mobil's retirement plan for their ex-CEO and chairman: Nearly $400 mill ! Not much compared to Bill-- one year's interest, to the Microsoft man.

In a break from his past, President Bush now embraces the idea of globalization and speaks against the dangers of isolationism... Developing...

WASHINGTON - In 1990, hardly a Spanish-speaking person could be found in California, Mo., population 4,106. That's not the case anymore. Today, Mexican immigrants are almost two of every 10 residents. They account for nearly 40 percent of the workers at the area's largest employers, three meat-processing plants.

Neal McCluskey is an education policy analyst at the Cato Institute. American higher education is getting dangerously fat. Unfortunately, the federal government's idea of a diet is to feed colleges more and cut back on their exercise. The signs of bloat are clear. According to a recent report from the College Board, between 2004 and 2005 — what seems like the hundredth straight year — the average price of tuition grew faster than inflation. Consider some of the recent binges the money went to pay for: American University president Benjamin Ladner, whose $633,000 salary and substantial university-owned house apparently weren't...

A Riverside man has been incurring the ire of businesses he has named on a Web site that purports to out alleged employers of undocumented workers. Jason Mrochek, a 30-year-old software developer, said he hasn't been sued over his Web site, www.WeHireAliens.com The site lists 200-plus companies, some of which are in San Diego County. On the site, he invites people from around the country to post complaints about specific companies, from large corporations to mom-and-pop businesses. Also posted are addresses, phone numbers, corporate logos and even photographs in some cases. "We have been dealing with people calling up and...

TALLAHASSEE -- A rare and spectacular showdown may be coming in Florida's Republican Party: Big Business vs. Big Guns. And the stakes couldn't be higher. To critics, it's about the safety of workplaces, including hospitals and churches, throughout the Sunshine State. To supporters, it's about the safety of employees who travel to and from those workplaces. The dust-up is over the "guns-at-work" bill, which the National Rifle Association began pushing last month in Tallahassee to force all Florida businesses to allow firearms in the vehicles of any employee or visitor. Companies could keep policies banning guns from their buildings themselves...

Among the more out-of-character things Wal-Mart Stores CEO H. Lee Scott has been talking up lately is the retailer's quest for more sales to more-affluent shoppers. To do it, the company's Wal-Mart (WMT) chain - which has built an empire out of going for the biggest discounts for the most price-conscious shoppers - is working to overhaul its merchandise mix, stores and image in hopes of snagging a share. "Our mistake was that we just kept our focus on how to get better value for that person who's under so much pressure," says Scott, explaining the strategy in an interview...

Five Supreme Court Justices with myriad educational degrees fumbled the simple meaning of the word “public”. Apparently the new meaning of the term “public use” is any use involving people. This is a brazen moving of the goal posts to rig the game in favor of powerful corporations and political interests. The Kelo vs. New London recision (it’s not a decision) is nothing less than a nail in the coffin of government by the people, for the people, and of the people. Here are five reasons why this has happened. BIG GOVERNMENT IS #1: The liberal wing of the Supreme...

N.J.'s big-bucks experiment Sunday, June 19, 2005 Series archive: Betting on BiotechFirst of four partsWith little fanfare and no direct approval of the electorate, the state of New Jersey has spent hundreds of millions of dollars supporting the biotech industry.Powerful forces are hard at work in Trenton, selling biotechnology as a way to simultaneously bolster the state economy and improve the health of citizens. Acting Governor Codey has been front and center, promoting a plan to spend $380 million more on research into embryonic stem cells.Much is at stake in a state where 200,000 jobs depend on the pharmaceutical industry...

Michael Crichton's latest novel may not be a great literary event, but it is a significant cultural event. In the past, his bestselling books have sparked public interest in genetic engineering, sexual harassment law, biotechnology, New Age religious thought, the search for extraterrestrial life, changing medical technology and bioethics, corporate ethics scandals, and other important trends. Now Crichton—a popular mainstream author—has chosen to ridicule left-wing political activism and challenge the intelligentsia's central ideas about civilization itself. State of Fear's protagonist, Peter Evans, is personal attorney to multibillionaire George Morton, a political liberal who bankrolls a dizzying array of left-wing causes...

"They were there waiting for me when I came back this morning: the sick, the hurt, the scared, the unwise..." "... waiting all night -- for health care..." "...I am the director of the "Fast Track" area of Johns Hopkins Bayview's Emergency Department in Baltimore..." "...Now, like many such facilities across the country, we're often overstuffed with people who simply cannot get care elsewhere..." "...We don't have anyone to whom we can spread the costs of staying open, and we can't afford to expand facilities or personnel..." "...In too many hospitals, people who need inpatient care spend their whole stay...

Big business religion Armstrong Williams February 27, 2005 Corporations and parishioners are increasingly coming together to spread the word of God and make money. All across the country churches—once intimate places of spiritual interconnectedness—have been replaced by stadiums of worship that utilize advanced technological innovations to awe, edify, and rip off those in attendance. The jig goes something like this: Corporations underwrite the construction of vast religious complexes that awe people into regular attendance. The preacher’s image is projected onto a big screen. His calm baritone is beamed out by state of the art speakers. From all sides, his voice...

CBS anchor Dan Rather on Friday characterized class action lawsuit reform as "the first in a hoped-for series of big wins for big business," before Thalia Assuras warned that "what's good for big business" in a proposed bankruptcy reform bill "could be bad for individuals like Jane Brack, who almost three years ago was charging her mortgage payments on credit cards." Assuras fretted that if the bill passes, "many people who file for bankruptcy could be forced to pay back some of their debts rather than having them wiped out." Yes, such people would no longer be able to effectively...

A question has just arisen at work today that I need some assistance answering...

As the death toll rises above 125,000 with countless injured, widowed and orphaned there has been a rush of aid and supplies to millions of the tsunami’s victims. Assistance came from a variety of “unlikely” sources, such as President Bush and large corporations, much to the chagrin of the liberal media and Hollywood elite. The network news bureaus and largely liberal entertainment industry have remained eerily silent regarding this devastating global crisis. Indeed, at this time of year most of the entertainers go on winter holiday to the slopes or sunny beaches. To date, they have ignored the crisis rather...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sears, Roebuck & Co. and Kmart Holding Corp. on Wednesday said they would merge in an $11 billion deal to form the third-largest U.S. retailer. The companies said in a joint statement that the new company, Sears Holdings, will have about $55 billion in annual revenues, 2,350 full-line and off-mall stores, and 1,100 specialty retail stores.

Stock and bond traders hedge their bets on investments every day, but during a presidential election so do the companies that employ them. Recent data shows big businesses, including those in the finance, communications, electronics, and health sectors are giving more money to presidential hopeful John Kerry and the Democratic Party when compared to Al Gore's failed bid for the White House in 2000. For example, the finance, insurance and real estate sector has given Kerry $6.7 million so far, compared to the $5.2 million (adjusted for inflation) to Gore, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a campaign finance...

/begin my translation A New Japanese Constitution To Be Drafted by Keitairen(The Association of Business Organization) Keitairen, which represents the Japanese business community, decided on its own to propose a draft of the new Japanese Constitution. This is in addition to reviving the practice of political donation(by business) after 11-year (voluntary) ban. With such moves, it is raising its political profile. Okuda Hiroshi, the Chairman of Keitairen These 'political moves' by Keitairen heavily reflect the view of Okuda Hiroshi, its chairman and the chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation. It is contrary to the current position of that Japanese business community,...

Conservativism Under Corporatism By Robert Locke FrontPageMagazine.com | October 2, 2002 I apologize for any inconvenience, but must strongly urge the reader to read my article What is American Corporatism? before reading this one, which draws upon the concept of corporatism as basic. Fundamentally, corporatism is the economic system that has largely replaced capitalism in this country. Like capitalism, it is based on private ownership and management of the means of production. Unlike capitalism, the free market is not trusted to provide goods, but is systematically manipulated by government to do so. At the end of the last article, I...

Harvard's seventh annual US-Russian investment symposium, held in Cambridge last week, passed under the shadow of disturbing recent events in Russia. One of the symposium's scheduled speakers, Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was unable to attend because he is sitting in a Russian prison cell. His arrest, widely viewed as politically motivated, is yet another alarm signal from Vladimir Putin's Russia. Khodorkovsky, who stepped down as chairman of the Yukos oil company after his arrest, has been charged with tax evasion, fraud and embezzlement. It is quite likely that, like most Russian oligarchs who made their fortunes after the collapse...

Can you hear the sucking sound of Big Business extracting millions of gallons of water from our lake? To the residents of Mecosta County and the surrounding areas in central Michigan, water is a ubiquitous backdrop. They fish for trout and watch ospreys and eagles feeding in the streams. They spend warm days by the ponds and small lakes that dot the woodlands. And of course the Great Lakes, which hold a fifth of the world's fresh water, are a constant presence. So when a huge multinational bottled water company decided to move in and start pumping more than half...

Under the pressure of a looming bankruptcy the employees at American Airlines had agreed to massive wage cuts and benefit reductions in order to avert an action that could effectively cost them their jobs and then rescinded the offer when they found out that at the same time the company's CEO was slated to receive a million dollar plus bonus this year on top of his annual salary of over $800,000. It was further revealed that as the rank and file of American resigned themselves to the fact that their paychecks would be reduced by a third, the upper echelons...

With little protest from its crime-weary citizens, the United States has become the prison camp of the Western world, locking up 2 million of its population. Young black men are a disproportionate number of the inmates. Among men between 20 and 34, 1.4 percent of white men and 4 percent of Hispanic men are behind bars. But 12 percent of black men in that same age group are incarcerated, according to the Justice Department. That is a stunning statistic. No community can survive the effective loss of so many of its young men. And the 12 percent figure manages to...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 25, 2003 Contact: Debi Vinnedge, Executive Director Children of God for Life (727) 538-5558 Email: debi@cogforlife.org http://www.cogforlife.org MERCK REQUESTS SHAREHOLDERS VOTE AGAINST RESOLUTION TO STOP THE USE OF ABORTED FETAL TISSUE IN VACCINES (Clearwater, FL; Front Royal, VA) Pro-life organizations, Children of God for Life and Human Life International charged today that pharmaceutical giant, Merck & Co. has betrayed their stockholders by refusing to include language in Shareholder Proposal No. 7. that would have revealed: - An organized boycott of all Merck products - A resolution by the Catholic Medical Association to use alternatives to their...

McCain May Team With Feingold To Limit Radio Station Ownership Consolidation Wed Jan 08 2002 09:51:31 ET Sen. Russell D. Feingold said Tuesday he plans to reintroduce legislation that would limit the consolidation of radio station ownership and to punish radio conglomerates that stifle competition. The bill died last year, but in the 108th Congress Feingold may have a powerful, if familiar, partner -- John McCain, R-Ariz, who has again become chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. McCain spokeswoman Pia Pialorsi said McCain 'is interested in the topic and has talked to Feingold about it. He's definitely...

Bernie Ebbers built a personal empire the way he built WorldCom: with bold deals, big gambles and costly mistakes. Over 20 years, while Ebbers turned WorldCom into the USA's No. 2 long-distance phone company, he also made a string of personal investments that engaged his passions. He bought Canada's biggest ranch and stakes in two farms, a minor league hockey team, a trucking company, an all-terrain-vehicle dealership, a lumberyard, enough acres of timberland to cover half the state of Rhode Island and a yacht company. He also expanded his original hotel chain. Ebbers viewed his outside ventures with pride. With...

SOME ADVICE FOR BUSH: Jonah Goldberg warns that the Republicans need to avoid overreaching, as Republicans have done in the past when things went unexpectedly well. (I linked to a similar warning from John Ellis earlier today). Democrats and their friends in the media, after all, will be waiting to pounce on anything that will let them paint the Republicans as corrupt pawns of greedy big business. I think he's right, and in particular I think that the Bush Administration needs to do something dramatic that will position it on the side of consumers against Evil Big Business. And I...

PRINCIPLE OF FAILURE TO YIELD JAMES TRAFICANT'S BIGGEST BLUNDER By: Dave Franklin On March 14, 2000, Representative Jim Traficant (D-OH) stood on the floor in the House of Representatives and said, "I want to yield back the gutless wonders of the United States International Trade Commission and the Clinton-Gore administration that appointed them." The Ohio Congressman has a knack for telling it like it is. But that is not what got him in trouble. Traficant doesn't pull any punches. And neither did the elite global establishment in its persecution of the eight-term Congressman. Can anyone honestly claim he would have...

The Bush Administration cannot afford the attitude this displays: ============================================ Fair Use Advocates Silenced by Big Brother

CORPORATE MALFEASANCE: "You see now what it means to have an administration that's committed to fighting and working on behalf of the powerful, and letting the people of this country get the short end of the stick." -- Former Vice President Al Gore (at a fundraiser aptly titled "Capture the Country 2002" -- "capture" being to deprive of freedom, "capture" being defined as to take by force, to take prisoner). "The Bush administration should realize they have been in the White House for a year and a half and should stop looking for places to lay blame and show some...