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Unable to reach a deal with its lenders, upstart wireless carrier LightSquared will file for bankruptcy Monday, according to two sources with knowledge of the company's plans. The move has been widely expected, since the company's options for appeasing its creditors were running out. LightSquare's lenders claim that it has been in default on its debt since its $9 billion partnership with Sprint Nextel

It was just one line slipped into the middle of a paragraph of Mitt Romney’s speech on April 3 celebrating his primary victories in Wisconsin, Maryland and the District of Columbia: “And the most vulnerable have been hurt the most — over 30 percent of single moms are struggling in poverty.” Seemingly unremarkable, these 19 words represent one of the many steps Romney will be taking as he treks back to the center in the aftermath of a primary campaign dominated by the hard right. It was only two months ago, after all, that Romney told CNN: “I’m not concerned...

President Obama raised several hundred million dollars during the 2008 election, more than twice what Republican rival John McCain raised and a far cry more than any other U.S. President before him. The result? Obama’s fundraising achievements have ushered in a degree of crony capitalism Americans have quite possibly never witnessed before. The voluminous scale of political favoritism, and in some cases downright corruption, in the current administration has undermined taxpayers and trampled on the U.S. Constitution, as corporate bailouts, legislative kickbacks, and shady government appointments have become commonplace in the Obama White House. Crony capitalism, also referred to as...

Why on earth did President Obama offer algae as a solution to America's energy problems? I suspect that if he could, he would press the rewind button and erase the comment, as it has exposed him to widespread ridicule from heavyweights like Charles Krauthammer.  But the question remains: why bring it up at all?An answer may lie in his addiction to crony capitalism. Andrew Stiles of the Washington Free Beacon reports: Solazyme, a San Francisco-based firm that specializes in the plant matter, has received more than $25 million in federal grants and contracts as part of Obama administration's controversial...

As the early primaries draw near, Newt Gingrich’s Achilles’ heel could be the millions he was paid by Freddie Mac. Yesterday morning, top rival Mitt Romney called on Gingrich to return the money during a Fox News appearance. For Gingrich, Romney’s request was merely the latest in series of blows since Bloomberg first reported the payments, estimated at $1.6–$1.8 million, in mid-November. “It’s a perfect argument against Gingrich because it ties him to the sleazy practices of the beltway when he is trying to run as an outsider,” observes Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University...

President Obama, progressive politicians, Occupy protestors, and leftist intellectuals are having a field day attacking what they call the failures and excesses of capitalism. They declare wealth to be prima facie evidence of perfidy, making no distinction as to how it was obtained. They preach equality, not just in opportunity but in economic outcome. In their eyes, all members of the 1% are already guilty, so economic justice demands that the rich be heavily taxed, not just to lift others up, but to bring them down. Some defenders of capitalism draw a sharp distinction between those who obtained their wealth...

Economic Systems: The former head of the Service Employees International Union says capitalism is on the ash heap of history and sees China as our role model. We have seen his future, however, and it doesn't work. President Obama once reportedly told aides, according to the New York Times, that things would be easier if he were president of China. Presumably he meant there would be no pesky things like a Congress, free elections and a free press to deal with. Former SEIU chief Andy Stern, who may still hold the record for visits to the White House under this...

The last time I checked, didn’t the Left call this sort of thing ‘crony capitalism?’ Over the last year, the Obama administration has aggressively pushed a $433-million plan to buy an experimental smallpox drug, despite uncertainty over whether it is needed or will work. Senior officials have taken unusual steps to secure the contract for New York-based Siga Technologies Inc., whose controlling shareholder is billionaire Ronald O. Perelman, one of the world’s richest men and a longtime Democratic Party donor. As you probably know, smallpox was eradicated in the wild decades ago: mostly because it was a genuinely terrifying threat...

1. Alabama is a wonderfully free "right-to-work" state, which simply means it prevents unions from extracting dues from workers who do not wish to join. 2. General Electric's CEO Jeff Immelt is the poster-boy for crony capitalism, having backed Obama's rush to socialized medicine and green energy to benefit various of its business units. 3. It turns out that GE's Aviation division is breaking ground on a new factory in Alabama. And, unlike Boeing, which tried to build a factory in a right-to-work-state, the National Labor Relations Board hasn't uttered a peep. But I'm sure that's just a coincidence. Remember...

An investment firm whose vice chairman has been an adviser and fundraiser for President Obama saw one of its portfolio companies win approval this year for $50 million in loans from the administration’s clean-energy loan program. Washington-based Perseus says its affiliation with James A. Johnson, a major fundraiser for Obama’s campaign, played no role in persuading the Energy Department to award the loan to Vehicle Production Group, a Miami start-up that is manufacturing wheelchair-accessible cars and taxis. Johnson headed Obama’s vice presidential selection committee in 2008 and is the former chairman of housing mortgage giant Fannie Mae. He was listed...

Last night Obama headed to the Upper East Side to wine and dine Wall Street. The DNC fundraiser at tony restaurant Danielcostattendees $35,800 each, and a source told Ben White at Morning Money that the event netted $2.4 million [...] Marc Lasry was there, as expected. So was Orin Kramer. According to Dealbook, the menu included:“Maine lobster salad with roasted beets, duos of Black Angus beef, braised short ribs with young spinach, and roasted tenderloin with stuffed potato and hen of the woods.” The meal was prepared by Daniel Boulud himself.

Last night Obama headed to the Upper East Side to wine and dine Wall Street. The DNC fundraiser at tony restaurant Danielcostattendees $35,800 each, and a source told Ben White at Morning Money that the event netted $2.4 million [...] Marc Lasry was there, as expected. So was Orin Kramer. According to Dealbook, the menu included:“Maine lobster salad with roasted beets, duos of Black Angus beef, braised short ribs with young spinach, and roasted tenderloin with stuffed potato and hen of the woods.” The meal was prepared by Daniel Boulud himself.

U.S. taxpayers flying standby in Solyndra bankruptcy case Published: September 29, 2011 OKLAHOMA City was the birthplace of Braniff Airways. Lost it to Dallas, in 1945. Dallas lost it 37 years later when Braniff nosedived into bankruptcy. In 1986, Oklahoma City tried to lure a major Boeing maintenance center. Lost it to Lake Charles, La., which lost it a few years later when Boeing operations were grounded by the economy. Oklahoma City went after a $1 billion United Airlines maintenance center. Lost it to Indianapolis, in 1991. United's parent company filed for bankruptcy 11 years later and scuttled the Indy...

It’s as if Solyndra never happened. The Obama Administration is giving $737 million to a Tonopah Solar, a subsidiary of California-based SolarReserve. PCG is an investment partner with SolarReserve. Nancy Pelosi’s brother-in-law happens to be the number two man at PCG. Team Obama is spending $737 million to create 45 permanent jobs. The Hill reported, via Free Republic: The Energy Department announced Wednesday that is has finalized a $737 million loan guarantee for a Nevada solar project. The decision comes several weeks after a California-based solar manufacturer that received a $535 million loan guarantee from the Obama administration in 2009...

Mitt Romney is on the road, ... securing high-dollar donors and bundlers, He’s made stops in important primary states like Florida and has trips planned for another early state, Nevada. The former and would-be candidate also met with donors in New York City and Washington, D.C. this week. When all is said and done, the money tour is expected to hit 30 cities including stops in Los Angeles and Detroit. Donors that are getting ready to open their checkbooks or already have say that Romney has said he needs to raise $50 million quickly. “With all elections, of course, early...

If you thought the half-billion-dollar, stimulus-funded Solyndra bust was a taxpayer nightmare, just wait. If you thought the botched Fast and Furious gun-smuggling surveillance operation was a national-security nightmare, hold on. Right on the heels of those two blood-boilers comes yet another alleged pay-for-play racket from the most ethical administration ever. Welcome to LightSquared. It’s a toxic mix of venture socialism (to borrow GOP senator Jim DeMint’s apt phrase), campaign-finance influence-peddling, and perilous corner-cutting all rolled into one. The company is building “a state-of-the-art open wireless broadband network.” Competition in the industry is a good thing, of course. But military,...

Our new study shows that under the Obama jobs bill, debt-ridden states will get another big handout.Last Thursday, the president urged Congress to pony up roughly $200 billion in taxpayer money to "provide more jobs for teachers [and] more jobs for construction workers" and more money to carry out other state and local activities. He urges Congress to spend this money even after handing out hundreds of billions of dollars for similar purposes as part of the 2009 stimulus package, as well as a score and more billion dollars again in 2010. These vast contributions to the coffers of state...

The new super PAC backing Rick Perry has drawn up plans to spend $55 million as part of an ambitious campaign strategy aimed at blowing away the Texas governor's rivals in early primary states and securing him the Republican nomination by next spring, according to internal committee documents obtained by NBC News. The documents underscore the central role that such super PACs — or super political action committees unconstrained by any limits on how much they can collect from wealthy donors and corporations — will play in the 2012 presidential election. They also show that the strategists behind the new...

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama will nominate businessman John Bryson to lead the Commerce Department, a White House official said Tuesday. Bryson's appointment brings another private sector player into an administration that has been making a concerted effort to improve its relationship with the business community.

Michael Milken evokes thoughts of financial wisdom at a level far beyond that of an unsophisticated fishing industry essayist like me. So, when one of the sessions at the Milken Institute Global Conference 2009 is titled "Innovative Funding for Sustainable Fisheries and Oceans," I take notice. The panel for the fisheries session was moderated by Larry Bond, a consultant for the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and the speakers were David Crane, David Festa, Jerry Schubel, and Jason Winship. Two members from EDF and none from the fishing industry, oh, well. The audio of the session is fascinating, particularly that of...

Question: What do the following have in common? Eckert Cold Storage Co., Kerly Homes of Yuma, Classic Party Rentals, West Coast Turf Inc., Ellenbecker Investment Group Inc., Only in San Francisco, Hotel Nikko, International Pacific Halibut Commission, City of Puyallup, Local 485 Health and Welfare Fund, Chicago Plastering Institute Health & Welfare Fund, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee, Teamsters Local 522 Fund Welfare Fund Roofers Division, StayWell Saipan Basic Plan, CIGNA, Caribbean Workers' Voluntary Employees' Beneficiary Health and Welfare Plan. Answer: T Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2011/05/obama-skirts-rule-law-reward-pals-punish-foes#ixzz1NNIqd79w

The Wall Street Journal CEO Compensation Study was conducted by Hay Group, a management-consulting firm. The study analyzes CEO pay from the biggest 350 U.S. public companies by revenue that filed their definitive proxy statements between May 1, 2010, and April 30, 2011. Survey Methodology & Terms Definitions Footnotes How to Use This Chart: Click on a column heading to sort by that category. For an individual executive's full compensation details, as well as a link to the proxy statement, click the relevant row. All figures in thousands

"My view is that Washington and the regulators are there to serve the banks" Rarely do you see a politician quite this honest: Last Wednesday, just hours after securing the position of chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., told the Birmingham News that "in Washington, the view is that the banks are to be regulated, and my view is that Washington and the regulators are there to serve the banks." In the very next paragraph, the newspaper reported that Bachus "later clarified his comment to say that regulators should set the parameters in which banks operate...

Michigan Congressman Thad McCotter, R-Livonia, is one of just nine Republicans nationwide to co-sponsor legislation that seeks to bail out union pension funds and put taxpayers "on the hook for $165 billion in unfunded union pension liabilities," according to Americans for Limited Government. McCotter is also the only Michigan U.S. House member from either party to co-sponsor the bill, H.R. 3936, which was introduced by North Dakota Democrat Earl Pomeroy and has 43 total co-sponsors. One former co-sponsor, Republican Mike Pence of Indiana, removed his name from the bill in late April, and Americans for Limited Government is asking the...

The state's flagship job creation agency made a plea to the media and legislators to stop "unwarranted criticism" against it and said attacks on the Michigan Economic Development Corporation will undermine the state's efforts to attract businesses. The MEDC's open letter comes after some recent embarrassing disclosures, including a tax credit approved for a convicted embezzler and a state audit that found the MEDC awarded tax credits to companies for jobs that weren't created. Last week, Michigan Capitol Confidential revealed that a $38 million MEDC tax credit program in Ann Arbor for Google had produced just 224 direct jobs during...

The people who own a Michigan insurance company have been effectively deprived of their power to sell their own investment under a new law hurriedly introduced and overwhelmingly approved by the Legislature this spring. Fearing that they could not stop the owner-investors of Fremont Insurance from selling it to another company, the politically well-connected board of directors has decided to keep control in their hands by changing state law. Frank Kavanaugh, a stockholder with over $3 million invested in Fremont, says this decision by his own employees is akin to "investing in protection and influence instead of the success and...

In 2006, Google's announcement that it was opening an AdWords office in Ann Arbor was trumpeted as the start of the transformation of a suffering Michigan economy. The Michigan Economic Development Corp. lured the Internet giant to Ann Arbor with a 20-year tax credit valued at more than $38 million. The city of Ann Arbor also gave it up to 400 free parking spaces for four years in a city where parking spots are much in demand. Based on current costs for a spot in an Ann Arbor parking structure, the parking deal would be worth $633,600 a year to...

Illegal: Obama Fires Inspector General Who Investigated CronyJune 12, 2009 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: The inspector general of AmeriCorps has been fired. The inspector general... There are inspector generals for every federal agency, and they are not political, and they are there to investigate any malfeasance, any fraud, waste, theft, what have you. And they are not subject to -- theoretically they are not subject to -- political pressure. Firing one is a big deal. Firing an inspector general is a big deal. If you'll remember, Alberto Gonzales as attorney general fired a couple of US attorneys. He took hell for...

...Fan and Fred also couldn't prosper for as long as they have without the support of the political left, both in Congress and the intellectual class. This includes Mr. Frank and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) on Capitol Hill, as well as Mr. Krugman and the Washington Post's Steven Pearlstein in the press. Their claim is that the companies are essential for homeownership. Yet as studies have shown, about half of the implicit taxpayer subsidy for Fan and Fred is pocketed by shareholders and management. According to the Federal Reserve, the half that goes to homeowners adds up to a...

Just Breaking

Due to copy right, the contents cannot be posted but here is the jist of the story. The Tennessee Highway Patrol has been a cesspool of corruption for YEARS where promotions are routinely sold to the most favored political contributor. Recently it was revealed that at least 41 of the 850 odd TH patrolmen are FELONS yet still remain on the payroll presumably because they have political connections. Now, DemocRat carpetbagger Gov. Phil Bredesen has come up with a solution, issue a $100,000 to $200,000 no bid contract to a consulting firm that contributed $12,500 to Bredesen's re-election campaign! Here...

Things are going from bad to worse at the Bush Department of Homeland Security. Do not be fooled by DHS chief Michael Chertoff's tough-sounding rhetoric. While the Washington muckety-mucks pay lip service to reforming the nation's broken detention and deportation system, catch-and-release of immigration lawbreakers remains the order of the day -- not only at the border, but all across the country's interior. The rudderless and overwhelmed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency still does not have a new chief. Which is just as well since Bush nominee Julie Myers (a nice Bush lawyer with virtually no immigration or customs...

Political cronyism has no place when it comes to public safety, and the Attorney General’s office is no place for on-the-job training David A. Crossan, Sr., Executive Director of the Republican State Committee of Delaware, issued the following statement concerning the choice before Gov. Ruth Ann Minner about whom to appoint to the office of Attorney General for the State of Delaware: “Given the immense impact the Attorney General’s office has on the safety of all Delawareans, Ruth Ann Minner is faced with a choice of great importance. She can dip into the vast legal talent and experience in Delaware...

WASHINGTON - Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination to be a Supreme Court justice Thursday in the face of stiff opposition and mounting criticism about her qualifications. Bush said he reluctantly accepted her decision to withdraw, after weeks of insisting that he did not want her to step down. He blamed her withdrawal on calls in the Senate for the release of internal White House documents that the administration has insisted were protected by executive privilege. "It is clear that senators would not be satisfied until they gained access to internal documents concerning advice provided during her tenure at the White...

President Bush's nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court has divided the conservative movement. Initially, most conservatives, but not quite all, expressed disappointment with the nomination. Since then, paths have diverged. Some conservatives, having gone on record as wishing that Bush had chosen someone else, have now migrated back into the fold, pronounced Miers a qualified candidate, and defended her nomination as the president's prerogative. Other conservatives have continued to ratchet up their attacks on Miers. Nearly every day produces yet another instance of Miers's alleged incompetence, inexperience, or suspected liberal sympathies. Some of the criticisms of Miers are...

WASHINGTON — Republican and Democratic senators called on President Bush yesterday to release documents relating to Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers' service as White House counsel, with some warning that she may not win confirmation otherwise. In discussions on television talk shows, senators of both parties said that the biggest obstacle to Miers' confirmation is a lack of information about her capabilities. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., ordinarily a Bush ally but also a social conservative who is expected to seek the GOP presidential nomination in 2008, warned that the Senate "is not a rubber stamp." "If we're to give advice...

Is Miers Pro-Wife? Here's a fascinating detail from a Reuters report on an appearance by six former Texas Supreme Court justices supporting the nomination of Harriet Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court: The six former justices, all of them men, said they had worked with Miers while she was a lawyer in Dallas and they endorsed her Supreme Court nomination. "I'd trust her with my wife and with my life," former Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice John Hill told reporters on the White House driveway after a meeting with President George W. Bush. "I'd trust her with my wife"? This...

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans hope to begin confirmation hearings on Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers (search) the week of November 7, officials said Monday as President Bush sought to bolster support for her troubled appointment. Officials in both parties said Republicans have proposed a schedule for Miers' confirmation process that calls for a vote in the full Senate before Thanksgiving. It was not clear whether Democrats would agree or seek changes. "Harriet Miers is a uniquely qualified person to serve on the bench. She is smart, she is capable, she is a pioneer," the president said after meeting with the...

White House Counsel Harriet Miers reacts while speaking with Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N .Y., during a meeting to discuss her nomination to the Suprme Court Capitol Hill Monday, Oct. 17, 2005. Schumer is member of the Judiciary Committee, which will hold hearings and take the first vote on the nomination. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook)

Nice article highlighting Democrat confusion on how to handle the Miers nomination. Excerpts: "While the turmoil on the right offers Democrats a tantalizing opportunity, party strategists said, it also will confront them with a difficult choice: Confirm a conservative with close ties to President Bush, or oppose her and join ranks with hard-right activists who historically are their archenemies." and "Jim Jordan, a former presidential campaign manager for Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), agrees that Democrats will have plenty of reasons to oppose Miers, but he said some worry that Bush might replace her with a more forceful and effective...

Illegal Patronage Probe Snares Ky. Gov. By MARK R. CHELLGREN, Associated Press Writer 3 minutes ago For the past few months, Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher has been doing just about everything he can to fend off a criminal investigation into alleged political hiring-and-firing by his administration. But the investigation has steamed on, and appears to be getting closer to Fletcher himself. Eleven current or former members of his administration have been indicted so far in the probe by Kentucky's attorney general. And while there has been little or no evidence to publicly connect the governor to any wrongdoing, his efforts...

President Bush has divided conservatives with his choice of a “stealth” nominee for the Supreme Court who has no experience grappling with constitutional issues. But the conservative claim that we have insufficient guarantees that Harriet Miers is sufficiently conservative also reflects a conservative version of the kind of misunderstanding of the judiciary that liberals so frequently make. A plausible argument could be made that the greatest challenge in contemporary American politics is the restoration of judicial integrity. The only means for doing so is to appoint judges to the federal courts who are committed to applying the law as intended...

The e-mails are deeply divided and vehement on both sides. Anti-anti-Miers people want me to christen the Coaltion of Robert the Bruce and start naming names, call for the cancellation of various subscriptions, and gather Octavious Lepidus and Anthony for a list-making. The anti-Miers people want the same thing, just with different names attached. The nomination of Miers is one of three things: a brilliant move by the president; a blunder like Reagan's nominations of Justice O'Connor and Kennedy or the first Bush's of Souter; or a betrayal of the sort that occasions taking leave of the whole project. Other...

My favorite supporting character in the legendary strip, “Peanuts,” is Pigpen. His unique trait is raising a cloud of dirt everywhere, even on a clean, dry sidewalk. Pigpen came to mind when I saw the White House Press Corps’ question President Bush Wednesday on his nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. First, the status of the nomination. Monday afternoon, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid held a nearly unprecedented press conference with Harriet Miers, just hours after her nomination. Reid said that she was an “exceptional” candidate, and “the sort of person who should be nominated.” In short, the...

<p>WASHINGTON -- When in 1962 Edward Moore Kennedy ran for his brother's seat in the Senate, his opponent famously said that if Kennedy's name had been Edward Moore, his candidacy would have been a joke. If Harriet Miers were not a crony of the president of the United States, her nomination to the Supreme Court would be a joke, as it would have occurred to no one else to nominate her.</p>

The word Crony means "friend" and comes from the Greek word: "chronios", meaning "long-lasting." That could describe several things in this Maelstrom: read more

AUSTIN Governor Rick Perry has named Reece Rondon of Bellaire to be judge of the 234th district court in Harris County. Rondon will serve until the next general election, when he can opt to run for a full term. Rondon is an attorney with Andrews Kurth L-L-P, and is a former judge of the 334th district court.

MUNICH, Germany (AP) - U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton offered support Sunday for reforms to strengthen the United Nations, but also had a world of personal appreciation for U.N. chief Kofi Annan. "I also thank him for giving my husband a new job," she said, smiling. Annan recently appointed former U.S. President Bill Clinton as a special U.N. envoy to countries hit by December's Indian Ocean tsunami. Rodham Clinton was among a group of U.S. senators attending an annual security conference in Munich, where Annan was the keynote speaker Sunday. She backed his call for an overhaul of the world...