Free Republic

New jobs report is terrible, but the cronies are doing just fine! Here's a new video showing you:

The embattled chair of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission resigned this week. It's a victory for Republican oversight on Capitol Hill, women and sound science. But it's also a lesson in the futility of Bush-era bipartisanship. When you cut deals with bullies, it's a timeless and bitter recipe for more bullying. Gregory Jaczko served as appropriations director and science policy adviser to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., before joining the NRC in 2005. The anti-nuclear advocate was sworn in by his brass-knuckled boss and protector, Reid, who pressured the Bush administration to appoint him as a condition for moving...

In 2008, the federal government bailed out two major automakers – General Motors and Chrysler, along with their financial groups that offered loans. At the time, it was said that these bailouts needed to happen to prevent a crisis, and that these auto companies would pay back the taxpayers in time.The companies got tens of billions of dollars to keep operating. Disaster averted? No. Chrysler and GM certainly benefited, but the taxpayers are now footing the bill. The Treasury Department has admitted that taxpayers will lose a staggering $14 billion from the bailout. At least, that was what they said...

The following is a story from Crony Chronicles, if you want similar stories updated daily visit here: http://cronychronicles.org/facebookOur story begins with two entrepreneurial women in Williston, North Dakota, who noticed that there was a shortage of cabs in their town because of the recent oil boom in the area. They decided to start two small shuttle services, with some service for locals. As the Williston Herald reported on April 2nd: “We initially intended to do the shuttle service, but until that really gets built up and people are aware, if people need rides home, we’re giving them rides home. We’re...

Few readers will be surprised to learn that decades of incompetence and entrenched corruption in Detroit’s government have not only helped wreck the city; firms linked to former Democratic mayor Kwame Kilpatrick also looted the pension fund.The latest scandal, which leaves even hardened observers of the abysmal Democratic machine that has run the city into the ground bemused, involves a real estate firm which gave the felonious mayor massages, golf outings, trips in chartered jets and other perks as this enemy of the people went about his hypocritical business of pretending to care about the poor while robbing them blind....

While the media was “tripping out” over Energy Secretary Chu giving himself “an A grade on controlling the cost of gasoline at the pump” during his testimony before a House panel last month, they missed the real scandal! As insulting as that seems (especially since gas prices have significantly increased under Chu’s watch), Gene Koprowski of The Daily Caller unleashed the most outrageous part of the House Oversight’s investigation –– "Obama energy officials funded solar firms despite ‘junk bond’ ratings from S&P and Fitch." Koprowski detailed the Department of Energy's (DOE) lack of caution in backing hundreds of millions of...

With all the cronyism occurring right now, it is good to see this site, which has dozens of specific examples of cronyism occurring between business and government, and breaks it down by local and state level too. For example, not surprisingly, California has quite a few examples. Here are some recent stories there: Missouri company walks away with $2.4 million from state, cuts jobsCronyism Undermines the Beneficial Role of Business in SocietyDodd-Frank and the expansion of crony capitalismIf you like the page there is a Facebook effort too, go and support it: http://cronychronicles.org/facebook

According to this news source, Michigan Department of Natural Resources agents are forcing farmers to shoot their piglets due to a new ruling labeling the pigs an invasive species. Found it on Drudge, but I can't vouch for NaturalNews. Never heard of them. Of course, I'd never heard of Barack Obama until 2007, either. Farmer forced to shoot his own baby piglets in cold blood, screams the headline, in Hearstian manner. If true, this reminds me of FDR's Hog Reduction Program of 1933, one of his first "accomplishments." Two billion pounds of pork, mostly piglets and sows, were slaughtered to...

Steven Sterin thinks he has a better way. As president of the advanced fuels division at Dallas-based chemicals company Celanese, he’s supervising construction of two new plants—one in Texas, the other in China—to make ethanol. But you won’t see any vats fermenting corn here. Celanese makes its ethanol by tearing apart and recombining the hydrocarbons found in plentiful natural gas or coal. ..... The problem isn’t science. It’s Washington. Thanks to the 2007 Renewable Fuel Standard law, gasoline refiners are mandated to blend so much plant-based or renewable ethanol into the gas supply that it prevents Celanese or any other...

The leader of the occupation in the video — Robert L. Wilkins of the Harvard Black Law Students Association — was nominated by President Obama on May 20, 2010 to be considered for judge of the U.S. District Court, District of Columbia. He is now a sitting judge in that position. (snip)Not mentioned in the press release: that Wilkins once led an illegal occupation of a law school building to demand the school hire based on skin color, a protest primarily focused on supporting the actions of radical bigot Derrick Bell.

Forget for a minute the religious question and look at who wins big here: Big Pharma. This mandate is not really about condoms or generic versions of “the pill,” which are available free or cheap in lots of places. This is about brand-name birth control drugs and other devices that some consumers swear off because they are too expensive. The Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate requires health-insurance companies provide contraceptive coverage for all “FDA approved contraceptive methods.” It does not insist on generics. And it does not offer any cost containment. What’s more, the mandate prevents health-insurance companies from...

As if it were his private stash of fun-money, Barack Obama set aside $80 billion of the Stimulus boondoggle to artificially pump up the green-energy industry through a DOE administered program of grants and loans.  When three of the companies that received funding, Solyndra, Beacon Power, and Ener1, each declared bankruptcy in rapid succession, a rotten stench started to waft from the DOE and the White House. It quickly became apparent that there were numerous close connections between many of these heavily government funded businesses and Obama campaign supporters and operatives.    While the cronyism and corruption appeared extensive, until recently...

Documents and copies of communications obtained by The Daily Caller indicate that the Federal Communications Commission propped up broadband company LightSquared with favorable regulatory decisions and other special treatment, while driving its competition out of business. In August 2008, Wall Street hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners, owned by longtime Democratic political donor Philip Falcone, sought to buy a majority stake in the satellite company SkyTerra — the company that would later become LightSquared. On June 27 of that year, just before Falcone’s Harbinger Capital sought FCC approval for that purchase, Falcone donated $28,500 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. But...

A U.S. shipping company with ties to the Iranian oil industry has spent years donating money mostly to Democrats, as have family members of one of its founders.Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. (OSG), the world’s skirting U.S. sanctions meant to limit American companies’ interaction with the regime, Bloomberg reported.Members of OSG’s founding family—as well as its political action committee—are prominent financiers of the Democratic Party, donating nearly $1 million to various candidates and causes over the past decade. Their disbursements raise questions about the prevalence of Iran-tainted money in the political sphere

Reporter Randy Economy reveals the existence of criminal allegations against LA County Assessor John Noguez to reduce the commercial property taxes of clients of longtime campaign contributor Encino businessman Ramin Salari. Assessor Noguez, who lacks a college degree, was elected in 2010 to manage the $1 Trillion LA Assessors office with strong political backing and support of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and California Assembly member Gil Cedillo. Villaraigosa and Cedillo supported Noguez even when confronted with facts about Noguez connections to one of the City of Bell’s indicted officials, ex Bell Councilman George Cole and other felons Noguez associates...

In his New York Times bestselling book, Throw Them All Out, Breitbart editor Peter Schweizer revealed how members of Congress enrich themselves and their relatives using earmarks and insider information. Now, the Washington Post, following in Schweizer’s footsteps, has conducted a study that found 16 members of Congress have used their power of the purse to benefit companies, colleges, and community groups tied to their relatives...

.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Lanny Breuer, head of the Justice Department's criminal division, were partners for years at a Washington law firm that represented a Who's Who of big banks and other companies at the center of alleged foreclosure fraud, a Reuters inquiry shows. The firm, Covington & Burling, is one of Washington's biggest white shoe law firms. Law professors and other federal ethics experts said that federal conflict of interest rules required Holder and Breuer to recuse themselves from any Justice Department decisions relating to law firm clients they personally had done work for.

Energy Policy: Killing the Keystone XL pipeline may help one of the world's richest men get richer. North Dakota's booming oil fields will now grow more dependent on a railroad the president's economic guru just bought. [....] Interestingly, another billionaire, Obama economic inspiration Warren Buffett, stands to benefit from the Keystone XL pipeline delay. As oil production ramps up in the Bakken fields of North Dakota, plans to use the pipeline to transport it have been dashed. As a result, North Dakota's booming oil producers will have to rely even more on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railroad, which...

With only one congressman and two senators, Vermont’s congressional delegation may be small. But that isn’t stopping Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) from doling out big dollars–$236,830, to be exact–to members of their staffs...

U.S. President Barack Obama is keeping a trend alive with new White House Chief of Staff Jacob Lew. You see, Lew has something in common with his predecessors: He spent years raking in millions on Wall Street. Like William M. Daley, who on Monday resigned from his post as chief of staff, and Rahm Emanuel, who vacated the position in 2009 to successfully run for mayor of Chicago, Lew has strong ties to the financial sector. Until 2009 he was the chief operating officer of Citigroup Alternative Investments, which made money betting against the housing market with controversial credit default...

........There remains no one in the GOP field quite like Perry, a plain-speaking governor from a sprawling, Southwestern state who, when he says he's never been a creature of Washington, is telling it straight. With the debates behind him, he's been able to play to his strengths, his record as an 11-year governor, his anti-government attitude, and his capacity to bond with voters through allusions to faith, farm work and military service. But there's no doubt he has altered his approach. Gone are the days when he tried to stand toe-to-toe with front-runner Mitt Romney and boast about his job-creation...

December 31, 2011TRENDING: Perry bets Iowa fortunes on robust ground game CNN Political Reporter Peter Hamby Boone, Iowa (CNN)...with public and internal polling from various campaigns showing the fight for third place to be a fluid one between Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Perry, a robust organization can mean the difference between a ticket home and a ticket to New Hampshire. There are 1,774 Republican caucus precincts around the state, 900 of which are combined and held at the same location. As of Friday, the Texas governor had signed up 1,500 precinct leaders in Iowa, a source inside the Perry...

New Rick Perry Ad: A Fiscal Conservative The Right Scoop December 30, 2011 Rick Perry is just pumping out the ads and this one is excellent. In fact, I’d love to know what the music reminds you of, if anything, around the point where they focus on the handshake:

WATERLOO, Iowa -- Rick Perry's events have taken a turn for the crowded. He'll arrive, typically, to find that a coffee shop built to accommodate 75 people is crammed with up to twice that many, spilling out the door and jammed into every available corner. The crowds are excited, too. They'll murmur "mmm-hmms" and exclaim "yeahs!" as he winds through his stump speech, breaking into loud applause when he calls for a balanced budget amendment, a part-time Congress and the end of Obamacare. Despite the excitement and enthusiasm, though, the Texas governor remains very firmly stuck in the middle of...

April 07, 2009 • Speech to Texas Home School Association Thank you, Tim [Lambert, President, Texas Home School Coalition], for those kind words, and thank you for all you do to equip, inform and defend home school families in our states. It is an honor to be here with some of our state’s most gifted students and most committed teachers: the members of the Texas Home School Coalition. My parents didn’t home school me, but the size of our rural community made it seem that they were practically in the classroom with me, given the way that news of my...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is taking aim at Rick Santorum in a tongue-in-cheek new radio ad which blasts the former Pennsylvania senator for supporting earmarks during his years in Congress. The spot highlights how Santorum—a nonfactor in the race as recently as a few weeks ago—has become a fat target for fellow candidates. [See the latest political cartoons.] The ad accuses Santorum of trying to get more than $1 billion in earmarks over his years in Congress, and for voting for the so-called "Bridge to Nowhere," the 2005 proposed bridge in Alaska which became a symbol of wasteful government projects....

ON THE RECORD-December 28, 2011Gov. Rick Perry on the Attack in Iowa Kimberly Guilfoyle This is a rush transcript. KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE, HOST: What are your plans for Iowa, and how do you expect to do? GOV. RICK PERRY: Well, it's a sprint, that's for sure. We're moving across a lot of Iowa and hitting a lot of not just small towns but medium-sized towns... And the crowds have been fantastic. I mean, we've hit coffee shops that -- 200 to 300 people and flowing out into the streets and a lot of excitement..... So we're going to keep running and...

With one week left before the Iowa caucuses, Texas Governor Rick Perry is touting his outsider status in a new ad that highlights his opponents' combined 63 years of congressional experience. As the narrator says, "If Washington's the problem, why trust a congressman to fix it?" Prominently featuring fellow GOP contenders Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum; the ad reminds voters that federal legislators are responsible for the earmarks and deficit spending that have led to our unsustainable national debt and that the nation needs a leader who will provide real solutions.

Gov. Rick Perry was near the height of his popularity when he barnstormed California in September to raise money for his presidential bid and to participate in his first nationally televised debate. His state-provided security guards were flying pretty high, too, spending more than $32,000 in taxpayer money for travel and lodging in San Francisco, $4,400 to dine near the Ronald Reagan Library and Museum in Simi Valley, and another $6,400 for plane tickets to San Diego, records show.

I have strolled down many roads this primary season. I have been intrigued by many of the candidates, some of who have had their rise and fall. They all have excellent attributes in one way or another that can attract a conservative voter. Even the former speaker who reminds me of the old “E.F. Hutton” commercials brought me on board for awhile despite his couching liaisons. However, the road I currently find myself on once again is the road with Governor Perry. I know that I am solidly on this road now. I know this because this is the first...

<p>Now we find the Navy partnering with the Agriculture Department to purchase hundreds of thousands of gallons of alternative biofuel in place of standard JP-5 fuel for Navy aircraft � the biggest federal purchase of biofuel ever.</p> <p>A look at the lucky seller of this environmentalist version of the proverbial $600 Pentagon toilet seat indicates that the move is not just wasteful, but ethically suspect.</p>

MASON CITY — Calling the Obama presidency “an experiment that failed,” Texas Gov. Rick Perry pledged Saturday night to bring government spending under control and reduce the role of the federal government in people’s lives. “Are you better off today than you were $4 trillion ago?” he asked a crowd of about 100 at a town hall meeting at The Music Man Square. He said most of the problems the country faces stem from out-of-control government spending, too many taxes and too much regulation of business. Perry said American jobs are not going overseas because of cheap labor abroad, as...

Gov. Rick Perry is double-dipping, drawing retirement income from the state in addition to his salary as governor since late January, newly released records show. Perry's move to begin drawing from his pension early this year while remaining governor, which his staff says is legal and consistent with state retirement rules, was unknown to the public until federal financial disclosures were made public on Friday. ... Combined, his net pay from the state is now more than $225,000 annually.

CLICK THE PICTURE Sarah Palin lets loose in this interview. Calls herself an Independent, too. :)

Last week Frito-Lay, the $12 billion snack foods division of PepsiCo, boasted it would add 10 all-electric delivery trucks in Orlando, Fla. , as part of its plan to deploy 176 such vehicles in the U.S. and Canada by the end of year. As is custom with corporate announcements that proclaim their eco-accomplishments, so as to pacify persistent climate alarmists , Frito-Lay said the vehicles would emit “zero” pollutants from tailpipes and release 75 percent fewer greenhouse gases than diesel. The ETs (electric trucks) can allegedly run 100 miles on a single charge, and Frito-Lay says the groundbreaking new...

Capitalism is the greatest socio-economic system in human history, because it’s so moral and so productive – the two features so essential to human survival and flourishing. It’s moral because it enshrines and fosters rationality and self-interest – “enlightened greed,” if you will – the two key virtues we all must consciously adopt and practice if we’re to pursue and attain life and love, health and wealth, adventure and inspiration. It produces not only material-economic abundance but the aesthetic values seen in the arts and entertainment. But what is capitalism, exactly? How do we know it when we see it...

“Not very much.” This was the answer that the Department of Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, recently provided when asked of the amount the federal government will be able to recover from the Solyndra bankruptcy. “Not very much.” The same could be said for the amount of research that the federal government has put into other companies involved in the Solyndra scandal. One such company, CH2M HILL, should be next on the House GOP radar, having used nearly $10 million in stimulus funding to design the elaborate Solyndra facility in Fremont, California. While CH2M HILL is in no danger of suffering...

While Ron Paul attacks Newt Gingrich for being a flip-flopper, Newt Gingrich attacks Mitt Romney for his too-liberal record and Mitt Romney attacks Fox News for being "overly aggressive," one GOP presidential contender is focused on the issues that matter. In a new ad, Texas Governor Rick Perry compares President Barack Obama's rhetoric on energy to that of former President Jimmy Carter showing that little has changed in over 30 years.

"In spite of all the Naysayers who were predicting failure, our economy is growing again; no more manufactured crisis' no more games, we are headed in the right direction." "I love these folks who say well this is Obama's economy; that's fine, "give it to me...!" President Barack Hussein Obama

..The Texas governor has faced criticism from Republican rivals like Mitt Romney for being "soft" on illegal immigrants, because those who live in Texas can attend state universities at the same cost as other Texas residents. Perry, who made the remarks while campaigning in New Hampshire with a controversial Arizona sheriff, said that if elected he would immediately order the deportation of any illegal immigrant detained in the United States. "My policy will be to detain and deport every illegal alien who is apprehended in this country," Perry said. "And we'll do it with an expedited hearing process so that...

President Obama likes to brag that his energy secretary, Steven Chu, won a Nobel Prize in physics. You would think that means that Chu is a brainiac who makes shrewd decisions and is extremely aware of whatever is happening around him. But as his testimony before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Thursday revealed, there's a world of information that escapes Chu's notice. The subcommittee is investigating Chu's decision to make Fremont solar power company Solyndra the first recipient of a federal energy program loan in September 2009. Two years and $528 million later, Solyndra filed for bankruptcy, and...

NEW YORK—Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry says President Barack Obama and his administration are responsible for policies that have endangered agents patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border. The Texas governor made his remarks while picking up an award from the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation. Perry said lack of funding and "bureaucratic bungling" in Washington have made the border less safe. He singled out one program in particular, Operation Fast and Furious. The arms-trafficking probe run by the Justice Department allowed AK-47s and other weapons to leak into the black market.

Anybody remember this? [VIDEO AT SITE] And as the lazy, whining, and confused OWS nimrods march we get this news. At least ten members of President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign finance committee, plus more than a dozen of his campaign bundlers, benefited from sweetheart loans through the Department of Energy (DOE) that collectively dwarfed those given to Solyndra and Fisker. Around 80% of all the money loaned out by the Department of Energy's 1705 Loan Guarantee Program, over 16 BILLION dollars went to companies run by, or owned by, Obama cronies. Shocked? I think not. After living with Obama...

In the wake of the $700 billion TARP bailout, Warren Buffett apparently shaped a plan to clean up toxic assets that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner later adopted–resulting in massive profits for Buffett.That’s the latest bombshell revelation from investigative journalist and Breitbart editor Peter Schweizer’s sensational new book, Throw Them All Out. According to Schweizer, after the bailout bill’s passage, Warren Buffett sat down and wrote then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson a four-page private letter laying out a plan to clean up the toxic assets plaguing numerous financial institutions. Buffett proposed something he called a “public-private partnership fund.” For every $10 billion...

Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Thursday that no one from the White House ever contacted him to make a political decision on a half-billion-dollar loan to a California solar company that later went bankrupt. Testifying under oath on a widening controversy, Chu said he was unaware of his staff predictions in 2009 that Solyndra was likely to face severe cash-flow problems. He said that market changes which led to a steep decline in the price of solar panels were "totally unexpected." Solyndra went belly-up after getting the $528 million loan from the government, and Chu told the House Energy and...

Jack Abramoff, the fedora-sporting former lobbyist whose name tends to be synonymous with a certain type of corruption scandal, accused Newt Gingrich of just that in an interview with David Gregory for the "Meet The Press" webshow "PRESS Pass." At about the 15-minute mark of the interview, Gregory asked Abramoff - who finished a jail stint over a year ago on influence-peddling charges and has been promoting his recently-published book - about the strategic counseling fee of over $1 million that was paid to Newt Gingrich by housing giant Freddie Mac. "What do you make of all that?" Gregory asked....

BETTENDORF, Iowa -- Previewing an address he will deliver Tuesday morning in Eastern Iowa, Gov. Rick Perry on Monday night promised to "uproot" the three branches of government and institute wide-reaching reforms throughout the federal apparatus. "Tomorrow I'm going to unveil a plan to uproot all three branches of government and overhaul Washington," he said in an address to the Scott County GOP, adding that his plan will "touch each branch of government, because they each have contributed to the demise of America." Perry said his reform proposal will target "lifetime federal judges who arrogantly rewrite our laws from the...

BETTENDORF, Iowa - An early copy of Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry's government reform speech shared with the Des Moines Register shows the Texas governor is planning to propose widespread changes for the federal government, including term limits on federal judges and Supreme Court justices, a part-time Congress, and laws criminalizing insider trading. The governor first previewed the reforms in a speech Monday evening at an event by the Scott County Republican Party, where he said, "Washington doesn't need a new coat of paint, it needs a complete overhaul." Today, he will deliver the details of his plan in a...

A new book by Hoover Institution fellow Peter Schweizer details the startling extent of the cronyism that has pervaded President Obama’s “green jobs” push. According to Schweizer, 4 out of every 5 renewable energy companies backed by the Energy Department was “run by or primarily owned by Obama financial backers.” Those companies’ “political largesse is probably the best investment they ever made in alternative energy,” Schweizer explains. “It brought them returns many times over.” Such is the inevitable consequence of large government interventions in private markets. Leaving aside the losses associated with transfers of funds from self-sustaining industries to ones...

Largely out of the media spotlight, the federal government operates a network of financial subsidy programs that benefit big banks by putting taxpayer money at risk. And President Obama, that self-styled populist scourge of Wall Street, is increasing this racket of private profit and public risk that Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) aptly dubbed "venture socialism." In its latest act of venture socialism, the Obama administration has offered a novel taxpayer backstop to General Electric, the multinational industrial conglomerate that is famously close to this administration, and that spends more on federal lobbying than any other company. [...] Here's how to...