Free Republic

The four Republican Wisconsin state senators targeted for recall said Thursday that collectively they have about $734,000 in the bank to fight efforts to remove them from office. ~snip~ Recall organizers submitted more than enough signatures on Tuesday to force elections in all four districts. State elections officials are in the process of verifying those signatures, which could take months. It's not known when any elections may be but most expect them to be in the spring or summer. Under state law, anyone targeted for recall can raise unlimited amounts until an election is certified. In regular elections, donations are...

Where I live outside of Lansing, there are new bike paths sporting shiny asphalt, but the roads are crumbling. Motorists might be surprised to learn that of the 18.4 cents per gallon of federal gas tax they pay at the pump, only about 11 cents goes to maintain highways and bridges. According to federal law, about 10 percent of federal highway funds must be used for projects such as highway beautification and transportation museums. According to a new National Center for Policy Analysis report, “Paying for Pet Projects at the Pump,” the Federal Highway Administration also allocates gas tax revenues...

E-Mail Clues in Tracking MF Global Client FundsBy BEN PROTESS and AZAM AHMED December 20, 2011, 9:00 pm Federal authorities investigating the collapse of MF Global have uncovered e-mails that detail the transfers of money in the firm’s last days, including transfers that contained customer money, according to people close to the investigation. One e-mail chain refers to the transfer of roughly $200 million that MF Global owed JPMorgan Chase on Oct. 28 — the firm’s last business day before it filed for bankruptcy. In that chain, a senior official in the firm’s Chicago office was told to make the...

As the first former U.S. senator to be subpoenaed by Congress in more than a century, Jon Corzine testified Thursday about the “last chaotic days” of MF Global, the trading firm that declared bankruptcy under his watch. Corzine said he was “stunned” to learn that the firm could not locate hundreds of millions of dollars in client money in the days before the firm’s collapse, and said he had no idea where the money had gone.

Penn State alum raising funds for SanduskyTribune News Services 2:06 p.m. CST, November 11, 2011 Sam Stellatella, a three-position player in the 1950s for Penn State, is trying to raise funds for Jerry Sandusky's legal defense. Stellatella has donated money and has urged other former players to do the same. "I told him he's going to need a million dollars to defend himself," the 73-year-old Stellatella told the Associated Press. "He called me back and said, `What am I going to do with this money?' I said, `Use it for your lawyer because you're going to need it.'"

Herman Cain may be the front-runner in the polls but he is way, way behind in the funds. Last night on Erin Burnett's show Cain revealed he only has a several hundred thousand dollars in the bank. Yes, several hundred thousand. "For the quarter, we will report, first of all, no debt. You see, I run this very tight, like a start-up business, because that's my nature as a businessman. And we are going to have -- we will report at the end of the quarter several hundred thousand dollars in cash on handled. Within the last week or so,...

Feinstein campaign sues bank, ex-treasurer over missing fundsBy Mary Slosson LOS ANGELES | Fri Sep 23, 2011 9:59pm EDT LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Senator Dianne Feinstein's campaign sued its former treasurer and the First California Bank on Friday, seeking the return of millions of dollars in missing funds the campaign believes were embezzled. Campaign officials said the action came after the bank failed to provide the campaign access to its own account records when a tangle of unauthorized money transfers and co-mingling of funds was unearthed. The irregularities were spread across 400 bank accounts and dozens of organizations over a...

Peshawar, 18 September 2011, Saudi government through Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) has donated $1.8 million to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to support the agency’s efforts in building one-room permanent shelters for vulnerable families of Orakzai Agency. Under the agreement, UNHCR will construct 1,000 one-room permanent shelters for families returning of Orakzai Agency, says a press release. The UN refugee agency, through its partner Children First, carried out an assessment survey to identify vulnerable families that will benefit from the project. The shelters will be built in Stori Khel, Utman Kallay, Bezot Feroz Khel, Misti Khel and...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Securities and Exchange Commission may have destroyed documents and compromised enforcement cases involving activity at large banks and hedge funds during the height of the financial crisis, according to allegations made by a lawmaker on Wednesday.

(Reuters) - The recovery of Citigroup and Bank of America provided famed hedge fund managers like Lee Ainslie and Jeff Altman some of their biggest gains last year, but now the smart money is getting out while the getting is good. With Ainslie's Maverick Capital, Altman's Owl Creek Asset Management and other major funds backing away from the banking sector in the first quarter, financials suffered the biggest decrease in sector holdings among the Smart Money 30, a group of some of the largest stock-picking hedge funds. Ainslie, Altman and Stephen Cucchiaro's Windhaven Investment Management dumped their entire holdings in...

Peshawar May 31, 2011, provincial government of Khyber Pukhtoon khawa has demand in foreign funds from Federal Government. Awami National Party currently in government in KPK province. ANP coordinate with Pakistan people’s party in Federal government. According to sources KPK government sent the letter to prime minister of Pakistan and finance minister, that federal government allocated only 25 percent of foreign funds to KPk Province. The funds come for reconstruction of war and terror effected area. In letter that sent to PM of Pakistan, KPK government informed the federal government that mostly affected province of war & terror is KPK....

Public pensions are $660 billion in the hole. Investment middleman Glen Sergeon illustrates how millions more are being lost to dubious dealings.

Public pensions are $660 billion in the hole. Investment middleman Glen Sergeon illustrates how millions more are being lost to dubious dealings.

Backlash after Barringtom state rep says he wants fewer funds for 'crazy people'By Scott E. Kinney Saturday, March 12, 2011 BARRINGTON — A public backlash has followed the comments of a 91-year-old freshman state representative who said Thursday that funding for the mentally ill should be cut because he doesn't support state funding for "the crazy people" who should be sent to "Siberia." State Rep. Martin Harty, R-Barrington, told Sharon Omand, a program manager at Community Partners, which provides behavioral health and developmental services for Strafford County, that he believed in eugenics and disagreed with her about the need for...

Ethics shift may cut Dem convention fundsPublished: March. 9, 2011 at 10:56 AM WASHINGTON, March 9 (UPI) -- Next year's Democratic convention in Charlotte, N.C., is likely to be scaled down since President Barack Obama banned corporate funding, planners say. Mike Stratton, a lead fundraiser for the 2008 convention in Denver, told Politico fundraising for Charlotte will be "exponentially more difficult and more challenging." "Clearly, the White House goal here is to send a message this is not a lobbyist-fest ... not an event for the highest bidder," he said. The party is asking the Charlotte host committee to raise...

NPR, PBS campaigns to keep federal funds called unlawfulBy Seth McLaughlin and Stephen Dinan The Washington Times 8:47 p.m., Monday, March 7, 2011 NPR and PBS stations nationwide are rallying their audiences to contact Congress to fight against Republicans’ proposed spending cuts, but some affiliates’ pleas may violate laws preventing nonprofits or government-funded groups from lobbying. Interrupting popular programs, the stations air warnings that cuts could end beloved children’s television shows such as “Sesame Street.” Some stations urge their audience to call and let Congress know their feelings, while others go further, instructing viewers to “stop the Senate” or “defend...

Switzerland today froze the Swiss assets of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, and his group, barring the sale of any holdings to avert any potential misuse of state funds. The decision took effect immediately, and, the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs said, amounts to a three-year freeze. Switzerland has been moving aggressively against the despots of the region. Last week, the government froze assets of the Mubarak family and former officials of his Egyptian regime, and reports this weeks put a renewed focus on the riches built up by Col. Gadhafi and Tunisia’s ex-president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. The Financial Times...

I've ben hearing bits and pieces, and it's coming across to me, that this Friday is arequiorement date as far as keeping the Wisc budhet paid for, and if Dems don't show, than the Guv will be requred to make budget cuts to keep in line with his requirements. So what makes it impossinle for hum to cannabilize all the Dems favorite Vote Buying legislations of all their funding to get rge money needed, and then, let the Dem minority just try and get it back, when they come back?

Bernard L. Madoff said he never thought the collapse of his Ponzi scheme would cause the sort of destruction that has befallen his family. In his first interview for publication since his arrest in December 2008, Mr. Madoff — looking noticeably thinner and rumpled in khaki prison garb — maintained that family members knew nothing about his crimes. But during a private two-hour interview in a visitor room here on Tuesday, and in earlier e-mail exchanges, he asserted that unidentified banks and hedge funds were somehow “complicit” in his elaborate fraud, an about-face from earlier claims that he was the...

This week, state Sen. Michael Rubio will introduce legislation that would prohibit food stamps from being used to purchase "junk food" or prepared meals at fast-food restaurants. "The question is what should we be using taxpayer funds to purchase," the Bakersfield Democrat said Tuesday. "In my opinion, we should be focusing on what people need, not what they want." Those needs include foods found in the traditional food pyramid, he said, including breads and cereals, meats, beans, nuts, dairy products and other protein sources, and lots of fruits and vegetables. Rubio's idea is not yet an official Senate bill. But...

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.), ranking member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee filed an amendment to an appropriations bill aimed at preventing the Federal Communications Commission from adopting net neutrality regulation. Hutchison's amendment, co-signed by John Ensign (R-Nev.) and six other Republican lawmakers, would "prohibit the FCC from using any appropriated funds to adopt, implement or otherwise litigate any network neutrality based rules, protocols or standards." An FCC spokeswoman declined comment on the amendment.

Which do you think is less expensive, not to mention preferable: a cure for cancer, Alzheimer's disease and diabetes, or caring for people with these diseases? Wouldn't it be better medical and public policy to direct more resources toward finding a cure for diseases that cost a lot to treat than to rely on a government insurance program, such as Obamacare, which seeks mainly to help pay the bills for people after they become ill? Isn't the answer obvious? Apparently not to many politicians trapped in an old paradigm that focuses too much on hospitals, doctors and medicines and too...

Latest on Embryonic Stem Cell Research Battles Court to Hear Lawsuit on Obama's Embryonic Stem Cell Funds http://LifeNews.com/bio-3223 Bill to Expand Obama's Embryonic Stem Cell Funds Appears Dead http://LifeNews.com/bio-3222

According to MIRS Capitol Capsule (subscription required), the Michigan Lodging and Tourism Association (MLTA) is "hoping to send a clear message to lame duck legislative leaders — don't you leave town without funding Pure Michigan." The private trade group wants public funds to advance their industry, and to this end they've launched a billboard campaign: "Hey Legislature...Fund Pure Michigan NOW! Businesses advocating for government funds is nothing new, but it is interesting that the MLTA will use private funds (donated by the Outdoor Advertising Association) in order to pressure lawmakers to get them taxpayer dollars for advertising. The industry goes...

Court won't let Calif. cut child care fundsBy SARAH ROHRS/MediaNews Group Created: 10/31/2010 02:31:06 AM PDT With child care for tens of thousands of children at stake, an Alameda County Superior Court on Friday issued a temporary restraining order to prevent state cuts from going into effect. The move comes in the wake of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's veto of $256 million in child care funds before signing the new state budget into law. Child care funding to assist working parents coming off welfare rolls would have expired Monday. Advocates have worried that parents, unable to afford child care, would either...

SCROLL DOWN FOR THE FUN AND GAMES) "September 19, 2007 Rudolph Giuliani is raising campaign cash in London. Only U.S. citizens and green-card holders can legally give to U.S. campaigns. But Giuliani, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton are all holding events for Americans living in the British Isles. ROBERT SIEGEL, host: Today, Republican Rudolf Giuliani campaigned for the White House in England. Tonight he's got a lecture and dinner with former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. But in this cash-craze race for the White House, he also did something no other presidential candidate has ever done: He held a fundraiser on...

WILMINGTON, N.C. — A former Marine turned Republican congressional candidate is raising campaign money by challenging all comers to a shooting contest.

One of the most extraordinary and consequential races to be decided Nov. 2 is one you've probably never heard of – the challenge to powerful 12-term "progressive" Rep. Peter DeFazio by renowned scientist Art Robinson in Oregon's 4th Congressional District. There's been little press on this race. Dick Morris and Karl Rove, during their nightly election-race analyses on "Hannity," don't mention it. And the Republican National Committee hasn't even given a cent to the Republican challenger. Why? Because they've all considered Robinson's race against DeFazio unwinnable. Until now. Art Robinson, Ph.D. As WND reported Friday, an eye-opening independent poll shows...

At a Reno event earlier this summer, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he was surprised “to finally find someone named Elvira,” referring to the woman being honored there for her community work. “I’ll tell you why,” Reid told the room full of supporters. “Everyone knows my dad was a miner. And one of the mines that I went underground with was the Elvira – the Elvira Mine. “I own that now,” he said — and the audience erupted in applause. Indeed, Reid’s personal wealth, estimated in 2009 at $3.1 million to $6.7 million, has been built largely on his...

Barack Obama is being politically crushed in a vise. From above, by elite opinion about his competence. From below, by mass anger and anxiety over unemployment. And it is too late for him to do anything about this predicament until after November's elections. With the exception of core Obama Administration loyalists, most politically engaged elites have reached the same conclusions: the White House is in over its head, isolated, insular, arrogant and clueless about how to get along with or persuade members of Congress, the media, the business community or working-class voters. This view is held by Fox News pundits,...

Approximately $18 million worth of stimulus funds went to Americans who are dead, according to report released by the Social Security Administration's inspector general released Thursday. More than 89,000 payments worth $250 each, taken from the $787 billion stimulus package, were doled out to either dead people or prison inmates. Seventeen thousand incarcerated Americans received an aggregate $4.3 million from the economic relief package. According to the report, the prisoners received the government money because they had been eligible for Social Security benefits before being sent to jail. Overall, the stimulus — which has become a hot-button political issue heading...

Investor Fund Flows Have Never Been This Bearish Since Lehman Collapsed Vincent Fernando, CFA Jun. 6, 2010, 8:45 AM It's a bit of a surprise that stocks didn't fall further. The last four weeks were actually the worst 1-month outflows since Lehman collapsed in 2008, as shown below in red: From a fund flow perspective, investors in mutual funds have now pulled money out of U.S. stocks during 2008, 2009, and now year-to-date in 2010. To us this should be read as a substantial contrarian indicator. The investor panic was enormous during the last four weeks, and on a multi-year...

BAGHDAD – The U.S. Defense Department is unable to properly account for over 95 percent of $9.1 billion in Iraqi oil money tapped by the U.S. for rebuilding the war ravaged nation, according to an audit released Tuesday. The report by the U.S. Special Investigator for Iraq Reconstruction offers a compelling look at continued laxness in how such funds are being spent in a country where people complain basic services like electricity and clean water are sharply lacking seven years after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

After getting frustrated out of the lemons his problems gave him, David Miller made his own corporate lemonade. Due to the frustration of always having to call technical support to solve his own frequent hardware problems, he started taking the initiative to educate himself.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Recession-hit New York could raise an extra $50 million a year by collecting income taxes from people who work for hedge funds in the state but live elsewhere, according to a legislative plan to raise revenue. The new plan would tax so-called carried interest. A spokesman for Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said by telephone on Monday that it means hedge fund managers would be treated the same way as other commuters. Congress also has considered taxing carried interest -- profits gleaned by managing assets -- at ordinary income rates -- much to the dismay of...

In the latest of many scandals involving President Obama’s stimulus, a famously corrupt U.S Senator helped a wealthy Indian tribe casino that employs his former aide get $54 million in federal funds meant to help struggling communities.Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd, an honorary two-time member of Judicial Watch’s Most Corrupt Politicians list, helped the politically-connected Mohegan Sun Casino—operated by the Mohegan Tribal Council—hit the jackpot even though it hardly needs to. Situated halfway between New York City and Boston, Mohegan is one of the nation’s highest grossing casinos and last year it earned a whopping $1.3 billion, according to the news...

Pakistan's Punjab province government gave about $1m (£674,000) last year to institutions linked to a charity on a UN terror blacklist, it has emerged. The charity, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, denies accusations that it is a front for the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group. Punjab officials say the funds were humanitarian in nature and were not given directly to the charity.

Is America About To Start Bailing Out Private Pensions? Damien Hoffman May 28, 2010, 3:25 PM As if authentic capitalism hasn’t been mauled enough, Congress is now considering a bailout of private pensions. Excuse me for asking such a simple For those unaware: every investment — even US Treasuries — possesses risk. Hell, there is no guarantee the Earth will exist tomorrow. So when exactly did people become disillusioned that their pensions would pay out 100% on the dollar? Social security — the largest Ponzi Scheme in history — may not even pay out in full. We have a problem...

Why state pension funds may need a $1 trillion bailoutBy Hibah Yousuf, staff reporter May 20, 2010: 12:31 PM ET NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Ready for another government bailout? Taxpayers could be on the hook within the decade if current state pension system isn't reformed. Even if they continue to rake in the projected 8% in annual returns, pension funds in at least seven states -- Illinois, Louisiana, New Jersey, Connecticut, Indiana, Oklahoma, and Hawaii -- could dry up by 2020, and 31 states could be in trouble by 2030, according to a recent study by Northwestern University economist Joshua...

Bill requires diversity in Calif. pension fundsBy Cathy Bussewitz, Associated Press Writer – Thu May 20, 9:44 pm ET SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California's public pension funds would have to report the ethnicity and gender of some of the outside investment managers they hire under a bill that passed the state Assembly on Thursday. The bill states that businesses owned by women and minorities are not adequately represented in the state's pension fund portfolios, compared to their proportion of California's population. It passed on a 41-22 vote and now moves to the state Senate. California's Public Employees' Retirement System, which is...

Quietly, Democratic lawmakers have already moved to make it harder for Attorney General Rob McKenna to spend money suing the federal government over health care. The reaction to the Republican lawman joining a 13-state attack on President Obama's health care bill has come swiftly. Not only are Democrats considering a budget proviso blocking the lawsuit, but McKenna already faces new controls on his spending. Office of Financial Management Director Victor Moore sent a letter Tuesday revoking McKenna's blanket exemption to a freeze on state contracts. The exemption, which Moore had granted days earlier, allowed the attorney general's office to pay...

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will hold a fundraiser for Rep. Michele Bachmann next month, the Minnesota Republican’s campaign announced Thursday. Palin will co-host the April 7 fundraiser with Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) and Minnesota GOP Reps. John Kline and Erik Paulsen. Donors to Bachmann’s reelection campaign can give more to attend a private reception with Palin prior to a dinner at the Minneapolis Hilton.

Friday Feb 5th, Judge Gonzalez of the Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York, in the Chrysler Bankruptcy case denied a Motion brought on behalf of over 70 of the former Chrysler Dealers to overturn the Rejection Order which stripped them of their franchises in the spring of 2009. Led by Island Jeep’s James Anderer of New York, the dealers Motion would have reversed the decision which stripped 789 dealers, including Timberline Chrysler Dodge of Portland Or., of their franchise contracts during the bankruptcy and sale of Chrysler to Fiat. Anderer's argument rests primarily upon the fact that...

The City of Philadelphia will receive nearly $44 million in stimulus funds, with the city of Camden raking in another $26 million for job creation and housing programs, the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Thursday. The grants were part of the $2 billion in Recovery Act funding detailed by HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan that went directly to cities, states and non-profit housing development organizations. "Philadelphia is famous as a city of neighborhoods and today’s announcement is a huge boost for communities across this city,” Mayor Nutter said in a press release. “We have fought for every dollar...

To the Editor: Every church depends by faith on God to supply its needs through the collection of tithes and offerings from its members for its operation. However, churches and ministries should be careful to not abuse that supply or to bring dishonor to God. In this current economic turn-down almost every church and ministry has suffered some loss of income due to the suffering of its members. Yet, it seems that some churches and ministries are deemed to be too big to fail. (Where have we heard that before?) One large church has spent $900,000 more than it took...

On top of regular donations how much would you kick in to be able to filter things out when you browse FR? There are certain subjects I'd rather not bother with and there are certain posters I'd rather not bother with. I'd kick in a few bucks for the extra functionality. How much would you kick in for this ability? I'll kick in $50

Mark Finelli is hoping to turn a 100-mile journey into thousands of dollars for injured troops. He and three fellow war veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are hiking 100 miles in their combat boots this week to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project, a national charity that supports injured service members and their families. The hikers, all graduate students at the University of Arizona, set out Monday on their Phoenix-to-Tucson trek. They expect to be back at the UA on Saturday. Finelli is a one-time Marine corporal who served in Iraq from mid-2006 to early 2007. A...

Congressman Eric Massa paid himself and his wife a total of $33,000 from his campaign funds during last year race for the 28th Congressional District.... federal records show Massa took a salary of $15,000 while his wife was paid $18,000 working as the campaign's treasurer. Massa raised $2.1-Million dollars for the 2008 campaign against former Congressman John Randy Kuhl.

Where did the swine flu vaccinations go? They went the way of the “stimulus money” – that is to say, they were sent here, and shipped there. And, of course, they were “administered” and “disbursed” and “distributed” by high ranking officials who work in very important positions in vital departments of our U.S. Government. But nobody in our government – no one, specific individual – can say with certainty how many flu shots there are, or where they are, or where they might be headed. And the same is true for the billions of dollars that were entailed in President...

Help me out here. What’s crazier – the abysmal failure the stimulus has been in Los Angeles County (like everywhere else) or how outrageously wasteful the plan was to begin with? Los Angeles County’s take of stimulus funds is by far the largest in California, which has received $18.5 billion in ARRA funds, intended to create 110,219.36 jobs statewide — a pricey rate of $168,264.08 per job. But Hollywood is a different story entirely. Hollywood — the geographic Hollywood as found on Thomas Guide map page 593 — has received $23,338,327 in grants, loans and contracting. This money has created...