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Drug Enforcement Administration agents have raided an Oklahoma car dealership that the government suspects may be one of about 30 such businesses in the U.S. involved in funding the terrorist group Hezbollah. DEA agents say the car lot of Ace Auto Leasing in Tulsa is part of a huge network that is selling cars and drugs -- and then using the money to support terrorism against the U.S., myfoxphoenix.com reports. During Friday's raid, agents could be seen carryout out filing cabinets and other items. They also questioned employees and took inventory. "They're making big time money and it's going right...

We expect our politicians – particularly governors and presidents – to focus a good deal of attention on job creation (the wrong philosophy may cause their efforts to fail, but at least they’re expected to try). A continuous increase in employment opportunities is obviously critical for both the individual and the economy at large, not to mention the fact that the difference between employment and unemployment is soon to be a key driver in each voter’s level of satisfaction on Election Day. So it has been surprising to see, over the past two years, how much the Obama administration, instead...

Everything you need to know about the nightmare of government-controlled businesses can be found in a damning new inspector general's report on Dealergate. The independent review of how and why the Obama administration forced Chrysler and General Motors to oversee mass closures of car dealerships across the country reveals grisly incompetence, fatal bureaucratic hubris and Big Labor cronyism. No wonder you won't hear much about the report's in-depth details in the so-called mainstream media. Under the guise of "saving" the American auto industry through a bipartisan, taxpayer-funded bailout now topping $80 billion, President Obama's know-nothing bureaucrats pushed the car companies...

As many as 100,000 Americans who lost their jobs, or will soon, because of GM and Chrysler dealership closings can thank Barack Obama and his "mandate for shared sacrifice," according to a top Obama official. In a scathing report on the federal auto industry bailout, Special Inspector General Neil M. Barofsky notes that the Obama administration rejected initial automaker plans which would have required relatively minimal dealership closings, insisting instead on far more drastic cuts -- as many as two thousand dealerships between the two corporations. (snip) And Barofsky's report even questions whether the closures would lead to any real...

Lawmakers Chide Automakers Over Dealership Cuts GM Issues State-by-State Closings List By Dan Eggen and Kendra Marr Washington Post Staff Writers Saturday, June 13, 2009 Out of the 1,323 General Motors dealers targeted for elimination, the most will come from Pennsylvania. Ninety dealerships will be forced to wind down in the state. Pennsylvania is followed by Ohio with 79, Illinois with 66, California with 65 and New York with 60. GM, which has declined to name individual dealers, released the state-by-state list for the first time yesterday to a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee. And lawmakers vented their frustration, demanding...

A LETTER FROM A DODGE DEALER By Neal Boortz @ May 20, 2009 8:24 AM Permalink | A listener pointed me to this letter from a Dodge dealer down in Florida. Thought you may enjoy ....=============================================================================================================== My name is George C. Joseph. I am the sole owner of Sunshine Dodge-Isuzu, a family owned and operated business in Melbourne, Florida. My family bought and paid for this automobile franchise 35 years ago in 1974. I am the second generation to manage this business. We currently employ 50+ people and before the economic slowdown we employed over 70 local people. We are...

An estimated 137,332 people could find out by the end of the week that they will lose their jobs when General Motors Corp. announces which 2,641 dealerships will close by year's end. While that won't be good news, it may at least offer an end to the endless speculation that has dealers comparing notes to try to figure out what comes next and how GM officials will be making their choices. "We haven't heard anything at all here, and we may be one of the dealerships being canceled," said Bob Arnold, owner of Arnold Pontiac in Houston, Pa., which also...

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. — Three Scottsbluff auto dealership executives are expected to be under arrest by this morning after they packed up their belongings, loaded 81 new vehicles onto trucks and left town. Scottsbluff police, with help from federal authorities, tracked the trio across the southwestern United States on Wednesday as many of the vehicles were sold at auctions. Felony theft charges were filed in Scotts Bluff County Court on Wednesday against Legacy Auto Sales owner Allen Patch and two of his senior managers: comptroller Rachel Fait, 37, and general manager Rick Covello, 53. Detectives located Patch, 52, at his attorney's...

Scottsbluff dealership missing three bosses, dozens of cars http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10583582 SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. — One by one, somebody loaded new Toyotas onto trucks Monday evening from the Legacy Auto Sales dealership in Scottsbluff and drove off into the night. Dozens of cars were taken. Now plenty of people, including Scottsbluff police, want to know what's going on. That includes Legacy employee Miranda Cervantes. She discovered Tuesday morning that the dealership's owner and two other officers had disappeared without a word to the staff. Also gone were more than 80 Ford and Toyota vehicles. Employees found the desks of owner Allen Patch, comptroller...

SEATTLE- In bizarre series of events that have led to multiple arrests, Seattle police say a group of employees at a car dealership in West Seattle stole more than $100,000 from a disabled man. Seattle police spokesman Sean Whitcomb said the bizarre series of events began when the victim, a 60-year-old man with a diminished mental capacity, went to the Huling Brothers dealership in late July. The man was covered in his own urine and feces and asked a salesman about buying a truck. "I think that anyone would look at that individual and at least pause - and think...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A red Hyundai sports coupe graces Iraq's first new car showroom, opened last week as violence rose to levels not seen since the war began. "We have sold 38 Hyundais already, but no coupes. They are considered too flashy in these circumstances," said Nihad Abdul Rahman, assistant general manager of Al-Kasid, exclusive agents for selling Hyundai Motor Company cars in Iraq. "Iraqis are looking for something affordable and reliable, and Hyundai fits the bill," he said after selling a $10,200 Elantra to a retired officer. ... But Khalaf Ganabi, the retired officer who bought the Elantra, was...