Free Republic

Spiro Agnew's words of the Nixon era ring true today. The politicians, pundits and, yes, the press, are nattering nabobs of negativism. For example, in recent weeks, the broadcast and the print media have filed stories replete with scare words. You don't even have to look at the tabloids to see what I mean. The front page of the New York Times recently described what it called "chaos" in the financial markets. Not to be outdone, most of the first section of The Wall Street Journal one day last week was devoted to articles describing the "spreading crisis" in our...

We've been working towards a one stop thread of "contact info" for the 65 Republicans who voted for the bailout. Yes, I know you can go to a site and pull them up one by one for a phone number, but lets get real, not too many people are going to do that. If you could claim one group of 5 Republicans from the list below, and cut and paste their contact info from THIS LINK, I will collect it all to create a single one stop post for contact info. THANKS! GROUP 1 Kline (MN) R MN legislator Aye...

The $700 billion bailout bill is palatable to no one. It’s a huge price tag. It was originally presented to Congress as all but a fait accompli. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke have been underwhelming in selling the plan on Capitol Hill. And it’s hated by a public suspicious of the country’s elites, whether in Washington or on Wall Street. Put that all together with a reflex against such a massive governmental intervention among House Republicans, and it’s understandable that so many of them voted against it and the bill went down yesterday....

Trying to sell his financial rescue package for the second morning in a row, President Bush warned on national television Tuesday that the country will experience “painful and lasting” economic damage if Congress does not pass a bailout measure. “The consequences will grow worse each day if we do not act,” he said. Bush sounded determined but looked worn in brief remarks as he faced perhaps the final trial of his presidency, and one that pits him against powerful voices in the lifelong party of his family. “Our economy is depending on decisive action from the government,” Bush said in...

Lawmakers' failure to pass the Treasury's bailout plan Monday could further weaken an economy already hurt by a crisis of credit and confidence ... Even economists who expressed skepticism about the bailout legislation said action was preferable to no plan at all -- and essential to shore up confidence. University of Chicago Graduate School of Business economist Anil Kashyap was among those with reservations about the Treasury plan, which he felt didn't adequately attack the problem of low capital levels at financial institutions. Mr. Kashyap also felt that given the fragility of financial markets, the consequences of not acting would...

Highlighting the gap between Main Street and Wall Street, the Rasmussen Consumer Index shows consumer confidence gaining a point on Tuesday morning. On the day after the economic "rescue" package failed in the House of Representatives and the stock market fell 800 points, the Index shows that consumer confidence rose for the third straight day to 70.4--the highest level of the past week.

In his Communist Manifesto, published in 1848, Karl Marx proposed 10 measures to be implemented after the proletariat takes power, with the aim of centralizing all instruments of production in the hands of the state. Proposal Number Five was to bring about the “centralization of credit in the banks of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.” If he were to rise from the dead today, Marx might be delighted to discover that most economists and financial commentators, including many who claim to favour the free market, agree with him. Indeed, analysts...

Speaking early this morning, President George W. Bush said Congress "must act" on financial bailout legislation, and they must act quickly. . . (Watch Video)

I listened in on a phone conference this evening with anti-bailout conservatives, congressional staffers, and other Hill insiders. With only one exception, the groups and individuals on the call all opposed the bailout in its current form. They also concurred that this deal is worse than the one Paulson proposed — on constitutional, policy, and fiscal grounds. Phone calls to congressional offices continue to show overwhelming public opposition to the massive, unprecedented government giveaway. Nevertheless, GOP House Minority Leader John Boehner and the House Republican leadership have thrown in the towel. Make room for them on the couch with Gingrich...

I’ve just given the draft bailout bill a first read (link here; there’s apparently a more recent draft posted at the House Financial Services cmte website, but it’s currently inaccessible). There’s a lot of b.s. stuffed in it (more to come), but let’s start with one section that warrants your attention– Section 115 (c). It appears that Hank Paulson and the cackling Democrats have written in a provision that codifies the short-circuiting of the democratic process: (c) FAST TRACK CONSIDERATION.— (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the Secretary may not exercise any authority to make purchases under...

"It's more hype than real risk," said James K. Galbraith, a University of Texas economist and son of the late economic historian John Kenneth Galbraith. "A nasty recession is possible, but the bailout will not cure that. So it's mainly relevant to the financial industry." Another doubter of the Great Depression theme is Kenneth Rogoff, a Harvard University economics professor, who thinks the intervention may prevent or delay the necessary failure of weak financial institutions. "It is time to take stock of the crisis and recognize that the financial industry is undergoing fundamental shifts, and is not simply the...

I'm a little disgusted with the government bailout of numerous large corporations but it looks like it's going to happen no matter what we think. You may remember that I am running for President, I just don't get any press coverage because I make too much sense. No one wants to see a populace the size of America galvanized by outrage over the massive media manipulation that seems to be working so well. Like Paul Revere, I try to sound the alarm that "The government is coming, the government is coming!" This time the government is coming and they're going...

All the Fed Chairman has to do is do is spend half that amount of fresh Federal Reserve Notes on U.S. Government Bonds and stop making a fool of himself by begging Congress for a favor that would just create a nightmare for him, and ergo the rest of us. What that simple inflationary monetary shock would do is immediately increase the U.S. price-level by just about 20%. The dollar would sink that much in the world's money markets and this would (1) stimulate our economy out of its current recessionary threat; (2) raise the value of real estate by...

A great day for the United States of America? A reminder of what a great power can do when its back is against the wall? A historic move by a lame-duck administration many thought could no longer solve any problems? It will be some time before we know whether this week will go down in history as all, or even some, of those things. But as the largest bailout in government history unfolded in almost dizzying waves over recent days, a very different view prevailed at the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights, an outpost of free-market, anti-government thinking located...

DETROIT -- Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Thursday he doesn't believe General Motors Corp. needs a federal government bailout, but if conditions worsen enough for the auto maker, all options need to be considered."I hope GM does not require it, but if it looks like it is approaching that, everyone has to consider every option," the Arizona senator said in a phone interview with Dow Jones Newswires. "I'm not ready to assume that's the case right now."

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Expecting to lose an estimated $10 billion this year because of skyrocketing fuel costs, chief executives of the country's biggest airlines Wednesday resorted to begging their customers to press Congress for tougher regulation of energy markets.

All we hear these days is whining from reckless home borrowers and their banks. But did you know that renters are 32 percent of American households? And that homes in foreclosure are less than 2 percent? So why is Congress rushing to bailout high-flying borrowers and their lenders with our tax dollars? Unfortunately, renters aren't as good at politics as the small minority of homeowners (and their bankers) who are in trouble. We don't have lobbyists in Washington, DC. We don't get a tax deduction for our rent and we don't get sweetheart government loans. Quite simply, we are just...

Never has one word been used so many times by so many people who think they know what's best for our sluggish economy than the word "taxpayers." Take the New York Times, for example. On Sunday, an editorial discussing the steps that the Federal Reserve recently took to prevent Bear Stearns Companies Inc. from going bankrupt mentioned the word "taxpayers" no less than nine times. -SNIP- Like many others, the Times is worried that taxpayers will bear some or all of the cost of rescuing Bear Stearns, and thus averting a possible crisis to our financial system. I'm not so...

Bear Stearns Cos. Chairman James Cayne sold $61.3 million in insider stock this week, his entire remaining stake, amid a controversial acquisition of the struggling investment firm by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., according to a regulatory filing. Cayne and his wife sold two large blocks of more than 5.6 million Bear Stearns shares on Tuesday at $10.84, leaving them with no remaining shares, according to the filing. In a stunning deal authorized by the U.S. government earlier this month, J.P. Morgan agreed to pay a mere $2 a share to acquire Bear Stearns, after Bear suffered from a collapse...

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is still in denial about the financial crisis. A few months ago, he said the subprime problem was "contained." It wasn't. Then he said we'd avoid recession. We won't. Now he's saying the financial world can go back to the way things were before March 16, when the Federal Reserve stepped over the line and bailed out failing investment bank Bear Stearns Cos. The world Paulson knew as chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs is gone forever, despite what Paulson said Wednesday about how the Fed's safety net for investment banks is temporary, and only to...

I’d like to follow up on Roger “Event? What Event?” Simon’s Politico story with some details about Fred Thompson’s visit to the Waverly, Iowa newspaper. You know, the newspaper where Thompson’s staff made Simon and Mark Halperin wait outside. It seems that Simon appeared a bit miffed by the exclusion and that, in my opinion, colored his entire story. According to the Waverly Democrat (via an e-mail commenter), here’s what happened. Two national journalists who had covered the Bill Clinton and Magic Johnson appearance in Waterloo earlier in the afternoon showed up for Thompson’s sit-down session, but were asked by...

One of the common defenses for federal farm subsidies is that without them, the family farm would go under. But farm subsides have been around for over 70 years, and in that time, the farm population has dropped from 25 percent of the nation’s total to 2 percent.

For years, General Motors has said it supports the United Automobile Workers union in its push for change in the nation’s health care system. Now the U.A.W. has persuaded G.M. to put its money where its mouth is. In a labor agreement reached last week between the company and the union, G.M. has agreed to spend up to $15 million over the next few years to create a National Institute for Health Care Reform. The pledge is contained in contract language that creates a voluntary employee benefit association, or VEBA, a health care trust that would take responsibility for G.M.’s...

More Bias from Public Broadcasting By Cliff Kincaid December 19, 2006 The election results have caused knowledgeable conservatives to conclude that the much-vaunted conservative media isn't as powerful as they thought it was. While conservative radio hosts are on hundreds of radio stations, taxpayer-supported public radio has 800 affiliates. Its bias, usually presented as objectve journalism, has a real impact on people. Its recent treatment of the controversy over the launch of Al-Jazeera English is a case study of how the bias is displayed on a daily basis. On American University Radio, WAMU, on the Diane Rehm Show, there were...

September 11, 2006 Raising the Cigarette Tax is Bad Policy California Prop. 86 Should Be Defeated By: Matt Schumsky In less than two months, Californians will vote on a new $2.60 per pack tax on cigarettes. The new tobacco tax would bring the total cigarette tax to $3.47 a pack. The ballot measure to increase taxes by more than 250 percent is called Proposition 86, or the Tobacco Tax Act. According to California’s non-partisan Legislative Analyst, the total revenue from the Tobacco Tax Act of 2006 could be up to $2.1 billion. What will happen to this new revenue? The...

According to Fox 35, Charlie Crist is the winner of the Republican Primary for Governor. Time for us to get behind him. SM

DETROIT -- While the two largest U.S. automakers are in a painful fight for their financial well-being, surging foreign rivals are dealing with more refined issues. This week at the North American International Auto Show, Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor Corp. rolled out a Camry with seat fabric coated with moisturizer gleaned from silkworms and an air-conditioning system that removes odors and bacteria. Toyota's luxury Lexus line showcases a new LS sedan that parallel-parks almost entirely on its own. There are a back massager, a leg rest and reclining seats in the back. The LS will be the first car...

When Yogi Berra said, "It's like déjà vu all over again," he might as well have been describing this week's D.C. City Council vote on the deal negotiated by the city and Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Nationals' stadium. Last year around this time, Mayor Williams and the council acquiesced to the league's demands by agreeing to build a brand new, baseball-only stadium to be financed largely by a new tax on local businesses. Now the council is being asked to agree to a stadium lease that keeps MLB from having to pay more than $20 million of...

Freight rail lines running in the middle of major roads will be a thing of the past, if voters approve Proposition 1. Proposition 1 would amend the Texas Constitution to create a Rail Relocation Fund to be used by the Texas Department of Transportation and regional mobility authorities. Early voting began Monday for the Tuesday, Nov. 8 election. Essentially, Proposition 1 is asking voters if they want to spend taxpayer money and taxpayer credit to move rail lines like the one in the middle of MoPac. Round Rock Rep. Mike Krusee supports the idea. "For a long time, a goal...

Candidates square off over biotech Wednesday, June 22, 2005 Public, private partners in a brave new world The Record asked the gubernatorial campaigns of Democrat Jon S. Corzine and Republican Douglas Forrester to respond to questions about public investment in biotechnology. acting Governor Codey is not seeking a full term and will leave office in January.The following comes from e-mail responses received from the campaigns.Do you support using state taxpayer money to finance embryonic stem-cell research?Corzine: "Jon Corzine supports the investment of public funds in embryonic stem-cell research partnerships with the private sector. The Edison Innovation Fund proposal that Corzine...

Remember when Hollywood liberals claimed to care about the world's poor? Man, those were the days. Now the richest people in Southern California, who sit on top of a booming $35-billion industry, are using their impressive political clout to punish the struggling citizens of South Africa, Mexico and Romania for having the nerve to think that their tiny domestic film industries could so much as bite Hollywood's ankles. And our politicians are falling all over each other to service Hollywood's poor and huddled masses, doling out heaps of protectionist corporate welfare that our government cannot begin to afford. In Los...

RALEIGH -- A fingerprint technology company promoted by State Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight received $307,575 from the state's Tobacco Trust Fund, ostensibly in exchange for relocating significant operations to North Carolina, which the company never fulfilled. After Privaris, Inc. completed a pilot project for the state Division of Motor Vehicles in 2003, company workers vacated their office space at a publicly funded business incubator in Williamston. Despite its failure to create 10 to 15 new jobs as promised in its contract with the Tobacco Trust, Privaris was paid $132,575 in April 2004. Sources with direct knowledge of the...

Fortune 500 companies that invested millions of dollars in electing Republicans are emerging as the earliest beneficiaries of a government controlled by President Bush and the largest GOP House and Senate majority in a half century.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) - The U.S. House has approved a federal highway bill that includes $37 million for widening and extending the Bentonville street that provides the main access to the headquarters of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The company says it asked U.S. Rep. John Boozman, R-Ark., to help get federal money for the proposed project. U.S. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, added an amendment that put the work into the $284 billion bill, which is now before the Senate. Wal-Mart spokesman Jay Allen said the company wants Eighth Street improved so the 10,000 workers at company headquarters will have an easier...

There are dark clouds on the horizon for cities, which for decades have used eminent domain or its threat as a tool to replace run-down neighborhoods with tax-generating, job-creating businesses. Not only are courts across the nation beginning to side with private-property rights' advocates, the Utah Legislature is cracking open the door to have a look. This is at the behest of educators and Gov. Olene Walker, who note the loss of revenue to schools from some redevelopment projects. Cities also are paying attention to Kelo v. City of New London, a case scheduled for arguments before the U.S. Supreme...

RALEIGH --It was only a matter of time. Two owners of a Wal-Mart in Wilson have filed suit in federal court to challenge $2 million in local-government incentives for a planned Target store in the county. "This is a very peculiar thing to have the government decide it wants a particular brand of store, and it's willing to pay it $2 million to come to town," said the plaintiffs' attorney. North Carolina's escalating use of tax subsidies to "close deals" with potential private employers was destined to provoke the state's existing businesses. While there are many different arguments, both legal...

OGDEN - The city Redevelopment Agency took the first steps Tuesday toward condemning three properties in a downtown neighborhood to make way for a Super Wal-Mart. The Ogden City Council, acting as the agency board, voted 5-2 to negotiate or, if necessary, exercise its right of eminent domain to condemn two homes and a vacant lot. The owners of one home and the lot have died and heirs could not come to agreement on selling the properties to the city, said City Attorney Norm Ashton. The owners of the second home have moved out of state and have not been...

A fight by homeowners to save their New London, Connecticut, neighborhood from city officials and private developers -- an important property rights case with an unusual twist -- will reach the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday. At issue is whether governments can forcibly seize homes and businesses, for private economic development.... ......Legal analysts said they see the case as having major implications nationwide in property rights and redevelopment issues.

Dell promised publicly that, in exchange for $242.5 million in incentives, it will invest at least $100 million to relocate in the Triad and create 1,200 jobs in five years. Nothing, however, will require Dell to show the public that it kept its promises -- not the way state law is written now. Not the press, not the public at large, not even the legislature -- which voted last week to give Dell the huge incentives package of tax breaks and direct grants -- can require Dell to provide production, employment and tax information to prove the computer company is...

Since Pennsylvania is not business-friendly, corporate welfare, to paraphrase Karl Marx, has become the opiate of the state. Dick's Sporting Goods Inc., with 169 stores in 27 states, is shooting up more than $2.7 million of government-supplied synthetic heroin. The pusher's middlemen include agencies for the state, Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, Findlay and South Huntington townships, and the West Allegheny and Yough school districts. The handouts for Dick's are for moving about 1/4 mile from its old headquarters to its new one, both in Findlay....

Over the past few years, downtown Houston has experienced a dramatic makeover. After decades of blight, the area has seen the restoration of old buildings and the return of retail, particularly restaurants and clubs. Many of these new businesses suffered through months of road construction with the hope that the arrival of light rail would turn things around. It's been almost six months since rail's launch, enough time, perhaps, for retailers to gauge whether the train will have a positive effect on their businesses. It should be noted, of course, that no two businesses have the same story to tell....

This July 2003 artist's rendering shows the planned Saks Fifth Avenue store. There's a big hole in the ground at the corner of Park and Gleneagles roads in south Charlotte. Developer Dee-Dee Harris wants to fill it with a glitzy Saks Fifth Avenue store -- and public money. In a rambling plea sent this week to city and state officials, Harris asked for unspecified assistance from government. Without help, she said, her $200 million project might collapse. Construction has stalled for nearly three months. Harris' letter notes that low profit expectations have made private money tough to get. "We read...

Breaking News! Well at least according to channel 8. Gloria Compost breathlessly announced that the Dallas Cowboys have finally officially named Fair Park their choice for building the new stadium and Jerry's World complex. Still no decision on financing, local state reps are looking into extending the car/hotel taxes to cover the Fair Park site(which may or may not be allowed under current convoluted law.) The timing may or may not be tied to the BCS debating this week about adding a 5th bowl to the mix, and any new stadium would put the Cotton Bowl in the running. IIRC,...

CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - President Bush signed into law Saturday a measure aimed at saving U.S. companies more than $80 billion in pension contributions over two years, days before many firms make quarterly payments. Businesses lobbied hard for the bill, which would provide about $80 billion in pension accounting relief through the end of 2005 for some 31,000 companies with traditional "defined benefit" pension plans. Those cover about 35 million workers and promise a specific payout based on salary and service. Many traditional pension plans are underfunded because of the weak stock market the last few years and current low...

How rich bastards like me rip off taxpayers for millions of dollars Law grinds the poor, and rich men rule the law. -- Oliver Goldsmith Ronald Reagan memorably complained about "welfare queens," but he never told us that the biggest welfare queens are the already wealthy. Their lobbyists fawn over politicians, giving them little bits of money -- campaign contributions, plane trips, dinners, golf outings -- in exchange for huge chunks of taxpayers’ money. Millionaires who own your favorite sports teams get subsidies, as do millionaire farmers, corporations, and well-connected plutocrats of every variety. Even successful, wealthy TV journalists. That’s...

Most businesses - and several business associations - were carefully silent on Measure 30 [a massive increase in income and business taxes to be voted on next Tuesday]. Intel, a bellwether as the largest private employer in the state, kept mum. Associated Oregon Industries was equally coy. And high profile Nike joined the recently created Oregon Business Association to campaign actively for the tax. On reflection, we shouldn't be surprised when businesses don't fight for good economic policies, and at times even fight in favor of bad ones. There's no reason to think business people are much wiser or much...

DALLAS - Cosmetics giant Mary Kay Inc. is threatening to have its conventioneers hop in their pink Cadillacs and head west if voters approve an increased hotel tax to pay for a new Cowboys stadium. Mary Kay annually hosts one of the largest conventions in the city, bringing nearly 53,000 people to five three-day conferences that pump more than $115 million into the Dallas economy. The Cowboys would like to use recent legislation that allows Dallas County to levy additional taxes on car rentals and hotel rooms to help pay for a proposed $1 billion stadium complex. If approved by...

Not since the great lottery debate has such a curious coalition of conservatives and liberals developed in North Carolina. I’m talking about the General Assembly’s December action to subsidize one pharmaceutical company and a couple of cigarette manufacturers in the guise of economic development. It hurts to admit my opposition to our lawmakers’ action. For one thing, I count friends among the legislators who voted for the millions of dollars in corporate incentives, and they are people whom I admire and respect. I just disagree on this issue. But at the risk of clucking ominously and looking for the sky...

What is American Corporatism? By Robert Locke FrontPageMagazine.com | September 13, 2002 We are probably heading into some economic heavy weather which will spur needed debate on what's right and wrong with our economy. This will require our being clear about what kind of economy we really have. I have mentioned before that we increasingly live not in a capitalist society but in a corporatist one, and I would like to flesh out this notion. What is corporatism? In a (somewhat inaccurate) phrase, socialism for the bourgeois. It has the outward form of capitalism in that it preserves private ownership...

<p>The convincing re-election of Paul Ferguson and Walter Tejada to the Arlington County Board despite heavy opposition lobbying from ballpark advocates, spells further political trouble for the Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority.</p> <p>Four months after setting off a political firestorm by removing Arlington County from consideration as a potential stadium location, the two Democratic incumbents Tuesday received a clear vote of approval from voters and a mandate to maintain the anti-ballpark posture.</p>