Free Republic

Fed up with his congressman's vote on a sweeping climate-change bill that passed the House of Representatives in late June, the proprietor of McArthur's Bakery took to his street sign and posted a clear message to all passersby: "Russ Carnahan voted to ... close us and other ... small business." McArthur told FOXNews.com that every aspect of his business relies on the forms of energy targeted by the American Clean Energy and Security Act, and that his congressman, Carnahan, was supporting "a direct tax increase on small business" by voting for it. "We make (our product) with electricity, we bake...

The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA, H.R. 1409, S. 560) does more than take away secret ballot elections: It empowers the federal government to impose contracts on newly organized companies. The government would set wages, benefits, work assignments, promotion procedures, and any major changes to business operations. Because EFCA has no meaningful small businesses exemption, it would authorize federal control of up to 4 million small businesses employing 39 million Americans. Consequently, bureaucrats with no management experience would effectively control these small businesses, says James Sherk, the Bradley Fellow in Labor Policy at the Heritage Foundation. The misnamed Employee Free...

SACRAMENTO — As the Legislature's latest attempt to fix the state's fiscal mess ended once again in a bout of partisan sniping and no visible progress, something surprising happened: Hints began to emerge of the possible contours of a compromise. All year, Republicans have refused to consider raising taxes, without which Democrats and Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger insist the state's massive deficit — $28 billion through mid-2010 — can't possibly be closed. At least a handful of GOP votes are needed because California law requires a two-thirds supermajority to raise taxes. That opposition continued when the governor called lawmakers back...

State highway officials said Wednesday that the first step in carrying out their decision to build a controversial toll road along the present U.S. 59, and not through farm and ranch land, is to get federal approval. Although no federal funding has been sought for the Interstate 69/Trans-Texas Corridor, the Texas Department of Transportation is bound by federal environmental law. The project has generated thick volumes about its likely impact on the natural environment and the communities in its path. The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) is expected to undergo public review late this year and then get sent to...

The U.S. Supreme Court created a huge political backlash when it ruled that local governments could use eminent domain to seize private property and transfer it to other private owners for "economic development." Since the Kelo ruling in 2005, 42 states have enacted limitations on eminent domain — not always effective ones. But like lawmakers in many other states, some California officials are trying to block real eminent domain reform. On June 3, Californians will vote on Proposition 99, a ballot initiative sponsored by groups representing cities, counties, redevelopment agencies and other pro-condemnation interests. It purports to protect property rights...

In the first such program in California, and perhaps the United States, Bay Area air pollution regulators are proposing to charge an annual fee to thousands of businesses based on the amount of greenhouse gases they emit. The fee - 4.2 cents per metric ton of carbon dioxide - would affect everything from oil refineries to power plants, and landfills, factories and small businesses like restaurants and bakeries. --snip-- After years of voluntary measures, the fees, proposed this week by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, set a precedent as the first time that businesses and government agencies would...

TIJUANA – With cross-border visits showing marked declines, business and Baja California tourism officials are going into full-scale damage control in hopes of regaining ground lost over the past year. “The image of the security problem has hit the state very badly,” said Baja California's tourism secretary, Oscar Escobedo Carignan. At a news conference Wednesday at state government offices in Tijuana, Escobedo described a new program aimed at luring visitors back to the region's tourist spots. The program, called “Get Your Passport,” offers discounts at hotels, restaurants bars and shops to those holding a U.S. passport. On the promotional posters...

California on Thursday became the first state in the nation to require oil refineries, electricity generating plants, cement kilns and other major polluters to report their annual greenhouse gas emissions beginning in 2009. The mandatory reporting rule approved by state air regulators would affect 800 manufacturing facilities that account for about 95 percent of emissions from industrial sources in California. Through the end of the year, businesses can continue to voluntarily submit their carbon emissions to the California Climate Action Registry, a nonprofit created by the state in 2000 to encourage companies and government agencies to track and ultimately reduce...

Among the nation’s so-called megachurches — those usually Protestant congregations with average weekly attendance of 2,000 or more — ChangePoint’s appetite for expansion into many kinds of businesses is hardly unique. An analysis by The New York Times of the online public records of just over 1,300 of these giant churches shows that their business interests are as varied as basketball schools, aviation subsidiaries, investment partnerships and limousine service. At least 10 own and operate shopping centers, and some financially formidable congregations are adding residential developments to their holdings. In one such elaborate project, LifeBridge Christian Church, near Longmont, Colo.,...

Determining which industries aren't long for this world may seem easy enough. But some types of businesses, such as telemarketing, are surprisingly hard to kill. And then again, other industries, probably the ones you're sad to see go, can't find a way to survive. So start setting up your office pool, because here are our picks for 10 businesses facing extinction in 10 years. RECORD STORES: Record stores are closing in, well, record numbers. One of the most prominent music retailers, Tower Records, shut down all 89 stores last year after concluding it couldn't withstand the onslaught of online music...

THERE'S GOOD NEWS in the latest Ports-to-Plains progress report for Lubbock and West Texas residents who recognize the evolving trade route's potential economic benefit to our area. Extending from the most active U.S.-Mexico border port, Laredo, through Lubbock and West Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Colorado, the Ports-to-Plains Corridor links the nation's plains states to the border centers of commerce. The Texas Department of Transportation is analyzing funding alternatives including opportunities for private investment and partnerships to pay for moving freight and utilities along the trade route. Using Ports-to-Plains as a case study, TxDOT will research the best potential applications...

Uncertainty over how California will implement new regulations seeking to cut greenhouse gas emissions could delay business investments and force companies to cut jobs, industry leaders told state regulators Monday. The uncertainty stems from the broad mandate in the state's new global warming law. The law, which passed with great fanfare last year and took effect Jan. 1, imposes an economy-wide cap on greenhouse gas emissions but leaves open how much individual companies, industries and sectors must reduce their emissions. Developing regulations to implement the law by the state Air Resources Board could take three years or longer. That's too...

Businesses are wary of a crop of new state health care proposals to reduce the number of uninsured, fearing the programs will drive up their expenses without solving the problem. Dissension already has surfaced: Maine's health insurers and businesses have balked at how the state's program to expand coverage has been funded and have filed several lawsuits over the policy. Smaller companies are especially worried, because they are less likely to provide health insurance than bigger concerns, and some of the proposals call for companies that don't provide coverage to pay into state funds. But experts note that if the...

Staking out the middle ground in the burgeoning health care debate, Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata on Tuesday outlined a plan to cover 4.2 million uninsured Californians, mostly the working poor. Perata's plan would require both employers and employees who do not now have health insurance to start paying for it. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is developing a health care reform proposal, has opposed making employers pay in the past. But Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Kim Belshe said Tuesday that he does not rule out the idea if it is part of a comprehensive health care reform...

KIRUK — It was only a few months ago that a terrorist incident in this northern Iraq city destroyed most of the stock of a local pharmacy, leaving a family-owned business in tatters and depriving the community of much needed medication. In a spark of hope for moving beyond the insurgency, however, the pharmacy and the services it provides to the community will soon be fully restored. In mid-July, the family took out a loan – the equivalent of $3,000 in Iraqi dinars – to replenish the stock and rebuild their business. Small as it may sound, the amount means...

While the debate over illegal immigration continues, business owners and others who are frustrated by the lack of enforcement of current immigration laws are turning to a new strategy: economics. Through lawsuits, some employers are fighting back by accusing competitors of hiring illegal aliens to gain an unfair business advantage. Whether this type of lawsuit will work remains to be seen, but something needs to be done to fix the illegal immigration problem, and enforcement of laws is the key. As reported by the Washington Times, the legal action is “an attempt by business and anti-illegal-immigration groups to create an...

LOS ANGELES - National anti-illegal immigration groups and disgruntled businesses are taking the fight against undocumented workers to California courts. In the first of dozens of expected lawsuits, a temporary employment agency that supplies farm workers sued a grower and a two competing companies on Monday. Using California's unfair competition statutes, the plaintiff claimed the competitors gained an unfair advantage by hiring undocumented immigrants who accept lower wages and don't demand pensions or workers compensation. Similar cases claiming violations of federal anti-racketeering laws have seen mixed results. The California suits are believed to be the first based on a state's...

For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryAugust 5, 2006 President's Radio Address       Audio      In Focus: Immigration      THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week, my Administration met a key objective in our efforts to better secure our Nation's border. In May, I pledged to deploy up to 6,000 National Guard members to support the Border Patrol, and we fulfilled that pledge by August 1st. Through Operation Jump Start, National Guard members are now on duty supporting the Border Patrol in Texas, California, Arizona, and New Mexico.  Radio Address 200620052004200320022001  Radio Interviews 20052004 On Thursday, I visited the Rio Grande Valley...

WASHINGTON - Strangers from the heartland, two businessmen share the hope that the energy resting beneath the deep blue waters of the central Gulf of Mexico might bring relief from high natural gas prices. So, they wonder, why isn't it being pumped? The Senate was expected to vote Monday on whether to expand oil and gas drilling to 8.3 million acres of Gulf waters off-limits to energy development for a quarter-century. The House has passed a broader bill dealing with offshore drilling. Watching the developments closely are Tony Raimondo, owner of a metal fabricating company in Columbus, Neb., and Jay...

The same shockwaves that have homeowners reeling are striking business owners who must now confront premiums that have increased since last year by as much as 400 percent -- when they can get insurance. Florida homeowners have railed for months about the skyrocketing cost of residential property insurance and the suffering it is causing. They're about to have a lot of company. Business owners looking for commercial property insurance are increasingly finding themselves in the same rickety boat as homeowners. And should the crisis get out of hand, the effects could reach throughout Florida's economy. "The commercial insurance market is...