Free Republic

With its political consensus, labour agreements and reforms in progress, Portugal appears to be better off than Greece. But the threat of bankruptcy remains and a fresh turn of the screw is still possible, warns Expresso. In Portugal, anyone who has watched the footage of pitched battles between demonstrators and police in Syntagma Square and heard the reports of political party disputes over the latest austerity package will have no trouble distinguishing between the respective situations of the two countries. In Portugal, we have a political consensus backed by 80% of MPs, and a social agreement [between political parties and...

“We have a supply of natural gas that can last America nearly 100 years,” declared President Barack Obama in his State of the Union speech last month. “And my administration will take every possible action to safely develop this energy. Experts believe this will support more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade.” Hooray, right? Some environmental lobbyists aren't exactly celebrating—and some analysts say that the president doesn't know what he’s talking about. Burning natural gas adds far less of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide to the atmosphere than does burning coal, but many activists fear that cheap,...

Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine, apparently, is big into politics. When recently asked by Music Radar for his views on U.S. politics, Mustaine candidly stated that he hopes Rick Santorum takes over the White House after the 2012 election and gave his reasons. “Looking at the Republican candidates, I’ve got to tell you, I was floored the other day to see that Mitt Romney’s five boys have a $100 million trust fund,” said the self-proclaimed Republican musician. “Where does a guy make that much money? So there [are] some questions there. And watching Newt Gingrich, I was pretty excited for a...

Fiscal Policy: President Obama’s top economic adviser says the U.S. should join other nations in creating a “global minimum tax.” One way or another, this administration means to shove a big tax hike down Americans’ throats. Discussing President Obama's new budget, Gene Sperling, the White House's top economist, said "we need a global minimum tax" so no one escapes paying "their fair share." This idea is not just bad; it's likely unconstitutional. In any event, it starkly reveals the underlying premise behind Obama's latest budget plan: To hike taxes massively on all Americans to pay for an unprecedented expansion of...

Do you agree with President Obama's proposed federal budget? Yes, it's the best road to recovery Maybe, but it needs more spending cuts No. No new taxes Deficit spending spells disaster Other (tell us in the comments)

A Greek default and traumatic ejection from the euro moved a step closer last night after eurozone finance ministers cancelled a crucial meeting, accusing Athens of failing to flesh out austerity cuts. The escalating brinkmanship came as fresh data showed that Greece's economy contracted by 6.8pc last year and at an accelerating 7pc rate in the last quarter, far worse than expected by the European Union (EU), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) "troika". The country appears to be in a self-feeding downward spiral that is playing havoc with budget targets, leaving Greece with a...

1-year-old Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. a pioneer in materials science and renewable energy technologies, today voluntarily filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. As part of its bankruptcy plan, ECD intends to sell through separate sales its wholly owned operating subsidiary United Solar Ovonic LLC (USO) and other assets, including its minority stake in Ovonyx, Inc. On 13 February ECD sold its majority owned subsidiary, Ovonic Battery Company, Inc. (OBC), to BASF Corporation for the gross purchase price of $58 million in cash before transaction fees, minority participations,...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration's corporate tax reform plan will end "dozens and dozens" of tax breaks, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Tuesday as he defended the White House's election-year call for higher taxes on the wealthy. Within days, the administration is set to unveil a blueprint for revamping the corporate tax system aimed at leveling the playing field for all companies, which pay wildly differing levels of taxes, while lowering the top corporate tax rate. Companies are clamoring for a cut in the top 35 percent corporate tax rate but disagree about how to how eliminate...

His show's called The Daily Rundown. And sure enough, Chuck Todd ran down Rick Santorum this morning as just another "flavor of the day" who "probably won't be the nominee." Apparently, trouncing Mitt Romney in three contests last week, and leading by a reportedly huge margin in Romney's native state of Michigan, isn't enough to impress Chuck. But Todd totally swerved around Anita Dunn, failing to question his guest about the story of her big-money hypocrisy making today's news. As Obama's White House communications director, Dunn regularly went after hedge funds. But now as a PR consultant, as the Washington...

President Obama’s budget is bad for jobs, bad for seniors, and makes the economy worse. House Budget Committee And Senate Budget Committee Republican Summary Of President’s FY2013 Budget February 13, 2012 The President has not merely ducked from our fiscal and economic challenges, but—with his fourth straight budget flop—he has advanced policies that dangerously accelerate the crisis before us. His gimmick-filled budget fails to reduce the fast-rising debt, permanently entrenches unsustainable levels of government spending, and erects new barriers to upward mobility. His plan stifles economic growth, threatens the health and retirement security of millions of Americans, and commits the...

A decision was made during the Bradley County Commission work session Monday afternoon to place a resolution to call for a referendum on the question of whether a countywide motor vehicle tax (wheel tax) of $32 should be levied. Commissioner and Education Committee Chairman Jeff Yarber proposed the wheel tax resolution several weeks ago as a solution to funding requests for capital projects by the county school system. The county school system needs an estimated $25.5 million for a new elementary school, improvements and expansion for Walker Valley High School and Lake Forest Middle School and land for a third...

The Auburn Hills, Mich., company filed for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Detroit after it was unable to come to terms on an out-of-court deal with its convertible bondholders, according to Michael E. Schostak, director of business development at Energy Conversion Devices.

Announcing his budget plans for fiscal year 2013 in an address at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, Va., President Barack Obama characterized the current income tax rates--signed into law by President Bush a decade ago--as a form of government spending. Essentially, the president said that the federal government "spends" when it does not raise taxes. “Right now, we’re scheduled to spend more than $1 trillion more on what was intended to be a temporary tax cut for the wealthiest two percent of Americans,” Obama said. “We’ve already spent about that much. Now we’re expected to spend another $1 trillion....

Wall Street made its broadest assault yet against new regulation on Monday, taking aim at a rule that has come to define the battle over how to police banks in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Regulators in charge of writing the Volcker Rule, which would ban banks from trading with their own money, were inundated with complaints and suggestions on Monday, the deadline to comment on a draft proposal. More than 200 letters were expected to be filed by the midnight deadline on the rule, which regulators outlined in October. Commenters included the rule’s namesake, Paul A. Volcker, the...

The US is scrapping a joint project with the EU to land a robot on Mars due to lack of money. Charles Bolden, the chief of US space agency NASA, announced the move at a press conference in Washington on Monday (13 February) on how his agency plans to spend its 2013 budget. He said: "Tough choices had to be made ... This means we will not be moving forward with the planned 2016 and 2018 ExoMars missions that we had been exploring with the European Space Agency (ESA)." He added the US is not giving up on Mars as...

International talk show queen Oprah Winfrey has issued an apology for breaking TV ratings rules and urging fans to watch her Oprah's Next Chapter show instead of the Grammy Awards, according to reports. Oprah invited followers to turn off music's big night and switch to her network, OWN, on Twitter. "Everyone who can please turn to OWN, especially if u have a Nielsen box (sic). Commercial Grammy people..you can turn to Own," she tweeted.

The Greek government on Sunday agreed to drastic austerity measures in the hopes of securing a 130 billion euro bailout from international creditors — the second bailout in two years. The measures include dramatic cuts in pay, pensions and government services. The creditors, which include the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank, demanded that by Wednesday Greece show clear evidence of how it will make 325 million euro of the 3.3 billion euro cuts. Greece, which has among the worst debt in the world, faces default as early as March if it does not get...

Gun bloggers Sebastian and gay cynic responded to the National Gun Victims Action Council recent announcement of a Valentine’s Day Starbucks boycott by organizing a BUYcott. Greg’s asking gun owners to reward Starbucks for its firearms policy by buying a beverage or food item with a two dollar bill (representing the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms) on February 14th. Not forgetting to “thank the clerk for Starbucks’ support of the Constitution.” Ahead of Starbuck’s Appreciation Day–which has now gone viral—our own Tim Tritt contacted the Seattle coffeesmith to voice his support for their support for gun rights....

As Mr Millin and I do not seem to be getting anywhere on this issue, I have determined a way that we could possibly break this nexus, i.e. I would like to offer you USD1,000,000 for a successful repeat of the March 29, 2011 demonstration.

The topic of BLS propaganda seasonal adjustments has been discussed extensively here especially in light of January's NFP beat. We'll leave it at that. However, we were rather surprised to note that the Census Bureau may have also ramped up its seasonal adjustment "fudge factoring" because when looking at the January headline retail sales data, which naturally was a smoothly continuous line on a Seasonally Adjusted basis, rising from $399.9 billion in December to $401.4 billion in January, something rather odd happened in the Unadjusted data set: the plunge from $459.8 billion in December to $361.4 billion in January, or...

Earlier this week, we noted that Chinese authorities had begun seizing iPad stocks from a small number of retailers over Apple's alleged infringement of a disputed "iPad" trademark. Apple claims that it purchased the Chinese rights to the trademark several years ago, but the original owner Proview and Chinese courts have disagreed with that assertion. Bloomberg now notes that Proview is seeking to go beyond local enforcement and is asking Chinese customs officials to block both imports and exports of the iPad over the issue. With iPad production taking place in China, a successful bid by Proview could cut off...

A healthcare worker has filed a complaint alleging the Service Employees International Union Healthcare Workers West and Chapman Medical Center illegally ...

The great myth of the last few decades is that people can establish sustainable savings by investing in other people’s debt. That is how relatively astute and candid writers, such as Jeremy Warner for the Telegraph, can claim that “Britain is still a hugely wealthy nation� and actually mean it. In his latest blog post, Warner tries to convince us that aggregate private debt in Britain is not so bad when we factor in “assets� as well.From his piece:Believe it or not, Britain is still a hugely wealthy nationLast week I drew attention to a report by Royal Bank of...

A switchboard operator has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board against the local American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, alleging violations of labor laws. Rebecca Holt, who works for Regions Hospital in St. Paul, filed the complaint filed the charges with the NLRB Region 18 office in Minneapolis claiming that she was threatened ...

NEW YORK — Boeing has locked in its biggest order ever. The Chicago airplane manufacturer said Tuesday that it has finalized an order from Indonesian carrier Lion Air for 230 planes — worth a combined $22.4 billion. Lion Air also has the rights to buy 150 more. The deal is the largest commercial airplane order ever for Boeing Co. by both dollar value and number of airplanes.

Federal budgets are by definition political documents, but even by that standard yesterday's White House proposal for fiscal year 2013 is a brilliant bit of misdirection. With the abracadabra of a tax increase on the wealthy and defense spending cuts that will never materialize, the White House asserts that in President Obama's second term revenues will soar, outlays will fall, and $1.3 trillion annual deficits will be cut in half like the lady in the box on stage. All voters need to do is suspend disbelief for another nine months. And ignore the first four years. The real news in...

Greece is burning. Not that this is a new phenomenon. But it sounds so sinister, so ominous.When you find out why it's burning, it becomes a tragicomedy. The Greek government -- led by unelected economist Lucas Papademos -- promises to slash the safety net of many Greek citizens for a big sack of bailout money. Ordinary Greeks, whose futures are being mortgaged, are very angry. Things burn. Then everyone goes home and waits for the money to arrive.The process repeats with such frequency that a lengthy Wikipedia page has sprung up to catalog each outburst, hence the tragicomedy. And why...

It is sad that we have gotten here, but House Republicans, including conservative stalwarts like Jim Jordan of Ohio, are set to pass Barack Obama’s latest stimulus plan. Except they are calling it John Boehner’s “Highway Bill.” Consider, however that Barack Obama’s budget, unveiled yesterday, calls for much of the same infrastructure spending the House Republicans want. There is a reason the Heritage Action for America, Club for Growth, Competitive Enterprise Institute, and other conservative organizations are opposed to this spending spree. It is not conservative. It should not be Republican. It is Barack Obama style spending. Call your Congressman...

The echoes of his oath of office had barely faded when President Barack Obama added another accolade to his resume. Just nine days after he began his occupation of the White House, Barack Hussein Obama was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, which he infamously won. Although the prestige of the Nobel laureates has declined in recent years (their number includes the murderous Islamofascist Yasser Arafat and the faux-scientist Al Gore), ObamaÂ’s win was hailed by his minions as proof that his ascension from obscurity was the first step toward a modern-day Pax Americana. Unfortunately, much like the votes of...

Crews are working to clean up the damage left behind from the Occupy Miami camp in downtown Miami. The water has been turned back on, and a dozer is hard at work on what once was the Occupy Miami camp. Protesters were evicted the end of last month, but they left behind quite a mess. "All the sod here was dead," said Arturo Vidal, a member of the cleanup crew.

President Obama unveiled his budget for Fiscal Year 2013 on Monday and threw down the gauntlet to Republicans, daring them to oppose his idea of “fairness” in an election year — ideas that, as he will frame the debate, will no doubt be popular with many Americans. Indeed, as CNN’s Alan Silverleib points out in his analysis, “It’s all about election year 2012, not fiscal year 2013.” It is an extraordinary document. Not because it has a ghost of a chance of becoming law, but because it reveals themes and issues the president plans to run on in the fall,...

President Obama is nothing if not an incorrigible spendaholic, as his new budget reconfirms in spades. While the nation drowns in debt, Obama wants to buy new expensive Tinkertoys to indulge his utopian fantasies. Legend has it that prior to embarking on his mission to conquer the known world, Alexander the Great, who had not yet established his greatness, visited the oracle at Delphi seeking a good omen. The oracle was actually a priestess who sat on a stool in the crypt of Apollo's Temple above a fissure in the earth that emitted vapors and put her into a trance,...

The Obama administration proposed a sharp increase in spending at the agency that runs Medicare and Medicaid – and the reason why might surprise you. Monday’s budget calls for spending $4.82 billion on administrative costs at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for fiscal 2013, a 25.9% increase in the previous year’s estimated budget of $3.83 billion. That doesn’t include the much larger sums the agency spends on its actual programs, which provide insurance to seniors, the disabled and the poor. A chunk of Baby Boomers will turn age 65 this year and become eligible for Medicare, but that...

Gene Sperling, director of the White House's national economic council, said today at an official meeting that "we need a global minimum tax": “He supports corporate tax reform that would reduce expenditures and loopholes, lower rates for people investing and creating jobs in the U.S., due so further for manufacturing, and that we need to, as we have the Buffett Rule and the individual tax reform, we need a global minimum tax so that people have the assurance that nobody is escaping doing their fair share as part of a race to the bottom or having our tax code actually...

...For a Canadian mining company, these same hills look like a billion dollars worth of buried silver. In a stark collision of cultures, the famously mystical Huichol are trying to stop a $100 million, 15-year mining project from starting this year. Their struggle comes as indigenous people from Alaska to the Amazon are rallying to protect not just their environment but also their cultures from decay. This raises a tough question: How do you protect a cosmic portal? “For them the whole mountain is a temple, and the gold and silver below the ground are there for a reason —...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned Israel on Monday of potential economic instability, AFP reported. According to the report, the IMF said the instability was due to the high unemployment and deep poverty among Arab-Israelis as well as hareidi-religious Jews. The warning was made in an IMF report on the Israeli economy. “Severe poverty is concentrated in these groups,” the IMF report was quoted as having said, adding that only 40 percent of hareidi men have jobs, and only 20 percent of Arab-Israeli women are employed. The report noted that their wage levels are low compared to other Israeli groups....

Obama Budget: National Debt Will Be $1 Trillion Higher In A Decade Than Forecast The Washington Post’s Fact Checker Glenn Kessler examines recent claims made in Washington and on the campaign trail about the budget and the economy and determines which are fact and which are fiction. By Lori Montgomery February 13 President Obama rolled out an election-year budget on Monday that would delay action to reduce the national debt in favor of fresh spending on Democratic priorities aimed at rebuilding the American middle class. In his final budget request before facing voters in November, Obama called for $350 billion...

Greek parliamentarians have voted through an austerity package that keeps their hopes of securing a €130bn bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund on track. But more hurdles have to be cleared before loans start flowing, which are vital if Greece is to avoid a default in March, when it faces €14.5bn of bond repayments, a bill it cannot foot alone. Following are the next steps in the process. This week • Having secured parliamentary approval against a backdrop of violent protest across Greece, Athens must now detail where it will find an extra €325m of cuts demanded...

The owner of the Empire State Building plans to raise $1bn (£633m) in a flotation of one of the world's most famous properties. Malkin Holdings, which counts the 82-year old building as one of 12 it owns in New York, plans to combine them into the Empire State Realty Trust that will float on the New York Stock Exchange. Developers Peter Malkin and his son, Anthony, are betting that the resilience of Manhattan's property market since the financial crisis will prove attractive to investors looking for a steady bet. Office prices in the centre of Manhattan have soared almost 90pc...

Financial Ruin: What do you call a budget that boosts spending $227 billion, adds $329 billion to an already huge deficit, and does nothing to fix the entitlement crisis? If you're President Obama, it's called "fiscal responsibility." In the message Obama attached to his 2013 budget, he claimed that he's "taken many steps to reestablish fiscal responsibility." But his budget is a colossal monument to irresponsibility, continuing a deficit-fueled spending spree that will take the country ever closer to fiscal ruin. Just how big is this budget's spending splurge? Among other things: • It increases projected federal spending for this...

The coalition government has overcome party rebellions and massive public pressure in passing new austerity measures, but says it still faces "three weeks from hell," it is struggle to avoid bankruptcy. The government is now racing to find a formula for a 325m euros budget gap before eurozone finance ministers meet again on Wednesday. Their approval of the Greek plan is vital for the country to launch procedures for a separate 100 euro debt-relief deal with banks that the government has said must start no later than Friday. Government spokesman Pantelis Kapsis "We are facing three weeks from hell," government...

Out on the campaign trail, Fed head Ben Bernanke is an unpopular guy. Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich have both said they would replace Bernanke, not reappoint him. Rep. Ron Paul would swap the whole Federal Reserve monetary system for a gold-linked dollar, making the yellow metal legal tender. And it was Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, before he dropped out of the race, who said more quantitative easing by the Fed would be "almost treasonous." Republicans in Washington are equally unimpressed by Bernanke. Rep. Paul Ryan recently criticized the Fed for bankrolling our huge budget deficits and thereby accommodating...

Gasoline prices could soon hit $4 a gallon, a threshold they haven't flirted with since last spring. .....(snip)..... The reason prices aren't falling comes down to increased uncertainty. ....(snip) The market is waiting to see if Sunoco will shut down its Philadelphia refinery, which, if it happens, would be the third refinery closure in Pennsylvania in the last six months. ...snip....

TAPPER: The president, when he spoke to students earlier today acknowledged that the numbers and the budget were so big, they were difficult to talk about. And to break them down, it would be along the lines of a family that makes $29,000 a year spending $38,000 a year, so taking on new debt — $9,000 in new debt, with a $153,000 credit card bill that they were not able to pay down. That would be a way for — like the average American to afford – to understand it. Does that seem responsible? CARNEY: I appreciate the analogy... TAPPER:...

Republican leaders in the House of Representatives, in an about face, proposed on Monday extending a payroll tax cut for 160 million workers without offsetting spending cuts. In a statement, the Republican leaders confirmed what was first reported by Reuters that they decided to move ahead with a simple extension of the payroll tax cut, now set to expire at the end of this month. The proposal might not sit well with conservatives who have insisted on paying for the package, but it would ensure that the tax break for workers would continue beyond February 29. It also would help...

Moody's actions can be summarised as follows: - Austria: outlook on Aaa rating changed to negative - France: outlook on Aaa rating changed to negative - Italy: downgraded to A3 from A2, negative outlook - Malta: downgraded to A3 from A2, negative outlook - Portugal: downgraded to Ba3 from Ba2, negative outlook - Slovakia: downgraded to A2 from A1, negative outlook - Slovenia: downgraded to A2 from A1, negative outlook - Spain: downgraded to A3 from A1, negative outlook - United Kingdom: outlook on Aaa rating changed to negative Please see the individual country specific statements below for more detailed...

Cue the fireworks in 3...2...1... FRIEDEN EUROPEANS CAN'T DO MUCH FOR GREECE BEYOND AGREEMENT - BBGFRIEDEN: GREECE NEEDS STRUCTURAL REFORMS, SHORT-TERM FINANCING - BBGFRIEDEN: GREECE HAS HISTORY OF PROBLEMS IMPLEMENTING DECISIONS - BBG And... drumroll please: FRIEDEN SAYS HE WISHES U.S. MORE INVOLVED IN STRENGTHENING IMF - BBG Translation: Hey America, we've done all we can, now it's your turn to sustain the Ponzi. Because if we go, you go.The upside: think of just how much faster the latest and gratest $16.4 trillion debt target will be breached if America simply issues Greek bonds with a US guarantee. Like...

The Budget proposes to provide the Mint with greater flexibility in the material composition of coins to reduce its losses on some coins and the production costs associated with volatile metal prices. Additionally, the Budget increases the Mint's flexibility to match customer demand and supply by eliminating the provision requiring the Mint to produce Native American dollar coins in an amount equal to 20 percent of all dollar coins produced. Justification The Mint's primary cost driver is the price of metal, a factor over which it has no control. Daily spot prices of copper and zinc, the Mint's two main...

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, February 13, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – As politicians in both political parties debate Mitt Romney’s role in implementing a 2005 statute requiring Catholic hospitals in Massachusetts to dispense Plan B - an “emergency contraceptive” that studies and the pill’s manufacturer have suggested can cause early abortions - a leader in the state’s pro-life movement puts the blame squarely on the former governor. “The injury to the conscience rights of Catholic hospitals was not done so much so much by the church’s ideological enemies on the Left but by the Romney administration,” C.J. Doyle, executive director of the Catholic Action...

Energy: While our president sleeps on the Keystone XL pipeline, Canada’s prime minister is in Beijing signing a series of trade deals to ship additional petroleum to China. Halftime in America? We need a new quarterback. While Clint Eastwood, in that thinly disguised infomercial for President Obama's re-election campaign, was promising that the world would soon hear the roar of our engines, China's economy will soon be revving up with petroleum that should and could be flowing south in a pipeline the Obama administration won't build. Prime Minister Steven Harper is making good on his warning that Canada would seek...