Free Republic

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is ready to take on the tea party in 2014 Senate primaries and elections with a deep-pocketed boost of establishment and business Republican candidates. "Our No. 1 focus is to make sure, when it comes to the Senate, that we have no loser candidates," Chamber strategist Scott Reed told The Wall Street Journal. "That will be our mantra: No fools on our ticket."

George Zimmerman is selling an original painting on eBay and with several days remaining on the auction, bids on the former neighborhood watch captain’s art had reached $100,000. The Florida man posted his painting Monday, less than a week after domestic abuse charges against him were dropped when his girlfriend Samantha Scheibe chose not to pursue them....

Amendment to establish congressional term limits. No more than twelve total years combined in house and senate. Amendment to repeal the 17th Amendment. Governors may fill vacancies to fill out remainder of terms. Upon two thirds vote, state legislatures may remove their senators. Amendment to establish twelve year term limits on scotus. On three-fifths vote, and within twenty four months of a ruling, congress or the states may override scotus decisions. These overrides are not subject to judicial review. Congress shall submit preliminary budget to president by first Monday in May for the next fiscal year. Should congress/president not adopt...

Last year the American Truckers Association prepared a report for Congress highlighting the susceptibility of the nation’s just-in-time delivery system, the majority of which is made possible by the transport and delivery of freight. In the event of a catastrophic disaster such as a war that drives fuel prices through the roof or even a natural disaster such as a solar flare that renders electronic trucks inoperable, there would be a “a swift and devastating impact on the food, healthcare, transportation, waste removal, retail, manufacturing, and financial sectors,” according to the report. The backbone of commerce in the United States...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog_post/beyond_the_echo_chamber/ Friday, February 6th, 2009 at 12:55 pm Advice from "beyond the echo chamber" We just learned the economy lost another 600,000 jobs last month. It's a staggering number, and it underscores just how deep this crisis is – and, as the President pointed out this morning, it’s accelerating. That's why he created the Economic Recovery Advisory Board -- to solicit ideas from "beyond the echo chamber of Washington, DC." "I’m not interested in groupthink, which is why the Board reflects a broad cross-section of experience, expertise, and ideology," he said. "We’ve recruited...

President Obama has often denounced “fat-cat bankers” for their role in the 2008 financial collapse, the subsequent bailouts and the recession. His strong words on the topic suggest that he would have little sympathy, say, the former chairman of her family’s bank, whose collapse caused 1,400 depositors to lose millions at the time. You’d expect him to have even less sympathy if said bank had collapsed because it had adopted an aggressive subprime lending strategy; if it had tried to sell itself and its subprime packages to low-income borrowers as their only hope of getting loans; if it had fixed...

Penny Pritzker will be nominated this morning to be the next U.S. Commerce Secretary... She ran candidate Obama's wildly successful fundraising operation in his 2008 presidential bid — even as her brother J.B. was a key adviser to nomination rival Hillary Clinton..... ...Ms. Pritzker, whose family controls Hyatt Hotels Corp... hitched a ride on Air Force One from San Francisco to Portland with the president. In the general-election campaign, she raised at least $500,000 and spent election night with Mr. Obama. She served on the president's Council for Jobs and Competitiveness and his Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

Nearly two years ago, I wrote about an intriguing Commerce Clause case involving the Montana Firearms Freedom Act. To wit, Montana enacted a regulatory regime to cover guns manufactured and kept wholly within state lines that was less restrictive than federal law. The Montana Shooting Sports Association filed a claim for declaratory judgment to ensure that Montanans could enjoy the benefits of this state legislation without threat of federal prosecution. The federal district court ruled against the MSSA. On appeal to the Ninth Circuit, Cato joined the Goldwater Institute on an amicus brief, arguing that federal law doesn’t preempt Montana’s...

Business and labor groups announced agreement Thursday on the principles of a new system to bring lower-skilled workers to the U.S, a key priority for a comprehensive immigration bill. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO reached consensus after weeks of closed-doors negotiations they were conducting at the request of Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., two of the senators involved in crafting an immigration deal on Capitol Hill. Ensuring that future workers can come to the U.S. legally is expected to be a central element of the deal, which will also address border security, employer verification...

U.S. states could collect millions of dollars in online sales taxes, with members of both parties in Congress sponsoring legislation Thursday that would resolve states' decades-long struggle to tax businesses beyond their borders. "Small businesses and states alike are suffering from the inability to collect due — not new — taxes from purchases made online," said Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., adding the legislation is a "bipartisan, bicameral, common-sense solution that promotes states' rights and levels the playing field for our Main Street businesses." Legislation on the Amazon tax, named for the colossal Internet retailer, has languished for years. ..... <...

Next week may be Black Friday but sweets lovers across the nation hung their heads in sorrow on a dark Friday yesterday as Hostess announced they would cease making their line of products, which include the iconic Twinkies brand, because of the Bakers Union Strike. But now as the brand heads towards liquidating and selling off their assets, a Mexican company may be angling to resurrect the golden Twinkies. According to the Christian Science Monitor, while food producers ConAgra and Flowers Food, the American company behind Nature Valley granola, have expressed interest along with Little Debbie baker McKee Foods, MexicoÂ’s...

Rep. Paul Ryan in Greeley, Colo., Thursday: “You know, we already have a Secretary of Business — it’s actually called the Secretary of Commerce.”

Someone stopped by searching for “guns manufactured in usa 2011.” Unfortunately, the ATF say they cannot release production numbers for fourteen months after the end of the year, so we cannot expect that number until April, 2013. However, I can come up with an estimate. According to the ATF’s 2012 Firearms in Commerce Update, there were 5,459,240 guns made in the United States during 2010. Judging by firearms taxes collected, the total number of guns manufactured in the United States during 2011 was slightly more than 7,100,000 guns. That is somewhat confirmed by 2011′s 24/7 gun production from virtually all...

Tucked into the U.S. Supreme Court’s agenda this fall is a little-known case that could upend your ability to resell everything from your grandmother’s antique furniture to your iPhone 4. At issue in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons is the first-sale doctrine in copyright law, which allows you to buy and then sell things like electronics, books, artwork and furniture, as well as CDs and DVDs, without getting permission from the copyright holder of those.

The latest indication of how rapidly the frack sand mining industry is growing in western Wisconsin can be found on Wall Street. Houston-based Hi-Crush Partners LP, whose sole operation is in the tiny Monroe County town of Wyeville, wants to raise $200 million in an initial public stock offering. In operation for a little more than a year, the Hi-Crush mine has experienced rapid growth. Trains with more than 80 cars regularly depart with tons of sand for delivery to the oil and gas production industry.

...the Damson Dene Hotel [London], a 40-bedroom retreat that has made the bold decision to replace the Gideon Bible in each room with the smash hit “Fifty Shades of Grey” by E. L. James. On his blog Innkeeper Jonathan Denby explained the decision noting the world is a more secular place, no one reads the bible (some even dislike that it’s in their room), and that “Fifty Shades of Grey” is something everyone seems to want to read at the moment.

WASHINGTON -- I have a headache. I imagine you do too, if you have been trying to interpret the legalese employed by those legal sages who have pronounced on Thursday's Supreme Court decision on Obamacare. I would rather read the lyrics of a thousand rap composers than the anfractuous language of one legal sage. Thanks, however, to Professor E. Donald Elliott of the Yale Law School I had a translator at my side, and I shall now hand down my judgment of the Court's decision on Obamacare, which all sensible Americans have abstained from reading in its entirety including B....

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. tomato growers on Monday said they have formally asked the U.S. Commerce Department to tear up a pricing agreement with Mexican producers that they say has become "a charade." Reggie Brown, executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Exchange, told Reuters U.S. producers want the pact voided so they can file a new anti-dumping complaint against Mexico. The rare request comes in a dispute that dates back to 1996, when U.S. industry filed a petition accusing Mexican producers of selling in the United States at unfairly low prices. Brown said the Commerce Department found that Mexican...

WASHINGTON -- Commerce Secretary John Bryson has resigned, saying the seizure that he suffered on June 9 that led to two San Gabriel Valley hit-and-run accidents could be a distraction in the job. "I have concluded that the seizure I suffered on June 9th could be a distraction from my performance as Secretary and that our country would be better served by a change in leadership of the Department," Bryson wrote to President Obama in a letter dated Wednesday.

Developing U.S Commerce Secretary John Bryson resigns - letter to commerce employees.