Free Republic

Storied Minnesota medical-device company Medtronic will move its headquarters to Ireland after shareholders approved a merger Tuesday with Dublin-based health care supplier Covidien. The controversial $43 billion "inversion" deal will allow the new company, to be called Medtronic PLC, to reduce its corporate tax liability as it repatriates cash stored overseas. But the deal has irked longtime Twin Cities shareholders, who will face significant capital gains taxes on their Medtronic holdings. In preliminary vote totals, shareholders representing about 75 percent of Medtronic's outstanding shares approved the deal, general counsel Brad Lerman announced to a special shareholder meeting in Minneapolis. And...

Not content with imposing the highest corporate tax structure in the “free” world, Democrat hacks in the legislature are now asking the Imperial President to unilaterally take action. A group of tax happy corporate protectionists are hoping the President uses his "pen and his phone" to start punishing American businesses that have the audacity to lower their corporate tax burden. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), Dick Durbin (D-Ill), and Jack Reed (D-RI), have crafted a letter (yeah… It took three of them) to President Obama requesting that action be taken toward businesses that have sheltered themselves from some US taxes. According to...

Most employees believe they have no say when it comes to changes in the workplace that directly affect their jobs. Six out of ten corporate staff said they have little or no input in decisions which affect them personally at work, according to a recent survey by Strayer University and Ipsos. Those over 35 felt their opinions mattered less than those workers aged 18-34 - although perhaps that's just a healthy dose of cynicism that comes from spending longer on the corporate ladder.

The P20 Pyramid project in Grand Rapids has been characterized as a "mystery project" due to the lack of details about it. But Sen. Mark Jansen, R-Gaines Township, says the story behind his effort to get state funding for the project is neither unusual nor mysterious. "I saw a project that was very close to my community that had time sensitivity concerning donors' decisions," he said. "I believed and still believe it can be a very important project." On that basis, he sought $5.5 million in state funding for the project as a line item in Senate Bill 608, a...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court appeared poised on Tuesday to open the door to companies' religious-based objections to government regulations as justices weighed whether business owners can object to part of President Barack Obama's healthcare law. It was unclear whether the companies objecting to the regulation requiring them to provide insurance coverage that includes contraception would win overall, but a majority of the nine justices seemed ready to rule that companies had the same religious rights to object as individuals do. In one of the biggest cases of the year, the court heard an extended 90-minute oral argument,...

Gov. Perry may have a new look, yuppie glasses and all, but it is still business as usual in Austin. Last year, we showed numerous examples of cronyism, specifically the Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF), where hundreds of millions of Texans’ tax dollars were being given to multi-billion companies and in turn were giving millions in campaign contributions to Gov. Perry, Lt. Gov. Dewhurst, and House Speaker Straus (the three controls the TEF). Despite a law being passed in 2013 to audit the fund, our report on the issue, and numerous media outlets covering the controversy, the fund still remains in...

With the recent release of Gov. Rick Snyder's fiscal 2015 budget we can examine his administration's priorities for the coming year. Once again, Michigan's corporate welfare apparatus — led by the Michigan Economic Development Corp. — looks like it gets a boost instead of a well-deserving and large cut. The MEDC's basic function is to take money from many people and give it to a few under the guise that it will create more jobs than the taxes needed to fund it will kill. The MEDC’s many failures and other short comings are well known. This institution has not only...

Mark Schauer, Democratic candidate for governor, is railing against tax breaks for businesses. In a recent ad Schauer alleges that Gov. Rick Snyder cut education spending and used the revenue "to give tax breaks to businesses even if they send jobs overseas." Schauer's spokesperson, Zack Pohl, reiterated the claim in a recent Detroit Free Press article: "Snyder chose not to find new revenue for education because he used that money to pay for his huge $1.8 billion corporate tax break." The media has recently given more scrutiny to this narrative. Yet over the past decade Schauer himself was one of...

A Detroit News editorial weighs in with a favorable opinion of a proposed Detroit "Business Improvement Zone" tax, which it denies is a tax and reports will sustain an existing downtown cleanup campaign funded by some property owners. But it's not hard to see why these so-called "BIZ assessments" are unfair and bad public policy. Imagine you and six of the other 10 residents in your subdivision own normal three-bedroom ranch homes with assessed market values of around $200,000 each, or $1.2 million combined. The other three subdivision residents are different. Their lots are the same size but on each...

The Michigan Economic Development Corp., the state of Michigan's promotional and corporate welfare arm, recently responded to questions posed to it by Michigan Capitol Confidential nearly six months ago. For an article posted July 25, Capitol Confidential asked the agency four questions pertaining to problematic job creation numbers reported in April 2013 for A123 Systems, which was a lithium battery company. A123 Systems was approved for $100 million in MEGA (Michigan Economic Growth Authority) tax credits and another $41 million in tax breaks and subsidies from a separate program. Rep. Jon Switalski, D-Warren, and Rep. Pat Somerville, R-New Boston In...

DEA agent goes to pot, leaves fed agency to join marijuana industry Former DEA Agent Patrick Moen — whose career with the Drug Enforcement Administration went up in smoke when he joined the lucrative legal marijuana industry — isn't likely to spark an exodus from the agency, former colleagues say. Moen, 36, quit his post in Portland late last year and is now working for Seattle-based Privateer Holdings, a private equity firm specializing in acquiring businesses in the burgeoning marijuana industry. The attorney who once spent long days dismantling drug rings throughout the Pacific Northwest will now help the company...

Will Obamacare Cancel Corporate Health Care Insurance Policies? Obama delayed the corporate mandate but did not delay the individual mandate. Obama explained that they were not ready to handle the corporate mandate but assured the people they were prepared to handle the individual mandate. We have now learned that Obama lied to us. The government is not ready to handle the individual mandated policies. Obama had also assured the people that they would not lose their existing plans or doctors because of Obamacare. We have now learned that Obama deliberately lied to gain support for Obamacare. People are receiving cancellation...

I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Bill Clinton. In part, that’s because economic freedom increased and the burden of government spending was reduced during his time in office. Partisans can argue whether Clinton actually deserves the credit for these good results, but I’m just happy we got better policy. Heck, Clinton was a lot more akin to Reagan that Obama, as this Michael Ramirez cartoon suggests. Moreover, Clinton also has been the source of some very good political humor, some of which you can enjoy here, here, here, here, and here. Most recently, he even made...

The owners of the Detroit Red Wings are looking to building a new $650-million entertainment district for the team in downtown Detroit with the help of state and local taxpayers. The plan is in its early stages and details are scarce, but the overwhelming economic consensus is that subsidized stadiums are huge losers for taxpayers. Amidst all the other excitement in Lansing, a bill to exempt certain businesses from state and local taxes via the Downtown Development Act was signed by Gov. Rick Snyder recently. According to MIRS Capitol Capsule, this “paves the way” for a replacement for Joe Louis...

Big Business Sells Out Small Business CEOs say yes to higher individual taxes in return for Obama's promise of corporate tax reform. By KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL Were the Hollywood academy to hand out Oscars for roles in this fiscal cliff drama, the winner of the Best Charlatan award would not be in much doubt. Corporate America, take your bow. Say this for the Republicans and Democrats: Both sides are fighting over principles. Nothing so generous can be said for the bulk of America's corporate chieftains, whose agenda lately has been to stick it to everyone else. As the negotiations have...

Report: White House considering corporate donors for inaugurationBy Alexandra Jaffe - 11/23/12 09:47 AM ET President Obama is considering allowing corporate donors to help fund his inauguration in 2013, the Wall Street Journal reports. Such a move would be a reversal of Obama's 2009 ban on such donations, which was then meant as a symbolic gesture. In 2009, the president raised over $50 million from donors, sans any contributions from corporate donors, to fund his inauguration. But he did not pursue corporate donors, "a gesture meant to show that well-heeled interests wouldn't have undue influence in his administration," according to...

Initiative to help solve unfilled jobs in aerospace industry By Barrie Barber FAIRBORN — An initiative announced Friday aims to solve an ironic problem with Ohio’s economy — in spite of high unemployment rates there are more than 10,000 unfilled jobs in the state’s aerospace industry. Wright State University will be home to the Aerospace Professional Development Center, a first-of-its-kind outreach initiative in Ohio to train, educate and attract skilled workers into the ranks of the aerospace industry, officials said Friday. Ohio has more than 10,700 unfilled jobs in the aerospace and defense-related industries, according to state Sen. Chris Widener,...

Corporate cash paid DNC’s arena feeBy Tim Funk The Charlotte Observer **SNIP** Though President Barack Obama had instructed convention organizers to not use business money for the actual convention, Dan Murrey – head of the city’s host committee – said Thursday that contracts signed in early 2011 allowed for his group to pay the arena license fee from either of two funds. **SNIP** But its contract with the Democratic National Convention Committee also called for the host committee to raise $36.65 million to pay for the actual convention. Making that job harder: the restrictions imposed by Obama. **SNIP** “We’ll delineate...

The Michigan Economic Development Corp. has awarded millions of dollars in grants, loans and tax breaks under claims that such efforts will grow economic development, job creation and private investment, but the trend of failing to meet expectations exists instead. The MEDC oversees the 21st Century Jobs Fund. In a 2008 press release, then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm said, “The 21st Century Jobs Fund is the cornerstone of the most comprehensive and aggressive strategy in the nation to transform our economy, grow new high-tech companies and create good-paying jobs for our citizens.” Programs of the 21st Century Jobs Fund have not lived...

Democratic Convention Benefits From Corporate Cashby The Associated Press July 21, 2012 Shortly after last year's high-profile announcement that the 2012 Democratic National Convention would be the first in history not to rely on special-interest money, organizers in Charlotte quietly set up a nonprofit entity to rake in corporate cash. Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Duke Energy have all sent checks to New American City Inc., a non-profit entity being run by top officials on the convention host committee. Corporate money is bankrolling operations in direct support of the convention, including paying the salaries of the 41 full-time host...