Free Republic

The world pledged some $12 billion after the earthquake. Two years later, little has been used to actually rebuild PORT-AU-PRINCE — To see where the enormous sums of humanitarian aid directed to Haiti after its catastrophic earthquake in 2010 went, a good place to start is the ocean harbor. That’s where the island’s shore meets the rest of the world. And the best place for that is here at the seaport in the nation’s capital: Port-au-Prince, near the earthquake’s epicenter. There, at this moment, a gigantic “supermaritime” cargo ship called the Sarine is off-loading more than five metric tons of...

Candidate Cain boasts of his skill as a businessman, but while he sat on the board of Aquila, a Midwest energy corporation, the company fell apart, even as Cain helped dole out millions in bonuses to its directors. ...Green maxed out, giving $2,500 to Cain’s campaign committee. Green was the longtime CEO of two related Missouri energy companies whose boards Cain served on for nearly two decades, Utilicorp United and Aquila. And when Green wasn’t running the companies, his brother Robert was. Since 2003, when Cain launched an unsuccessful Senate campaign, the Greens have donated $10,500 to various Cain campaign...

snip... Customers of the bankrupt firm are starting to complain about getting checks that bounced, having requests to transfer funds denied and receiving inaccurate account statements. The growing litany of woes is adding to the tasks for the receiver assigned to liquidate MF Global and causing some investors to voice concern about the basic plumbing of the financial services system. Steve Meyers, an independent futures trader in Florida, said he asked for $500,000 from his MF Global account to be wired back to him on October 28 because he was concerned about the firm filing for bankruptcy. The money never...

Vice President Joe Biden Rallies for Jobs Bill on Capitol HillOct 19, 2011 6:15pm Vice President Joe Biden and a group of Senate Democrats rallied on Capitol Hill today with firefighters, teachers, nurses and police officers for passage of the $35 billion piece of the jobs bill that is on the Senate floor this week. “This is an emergency,” Biden told the crowd. “I say to the American people: Watch your senator. Watch him or her choose. Are you going to put 400,000 school teachers back in classrooms? Are you going to put 18,000 cops back in the street and...

They couldn't have spent this much on lobbying - someone help me out here

I've been watching coverage of Hurricane Irene. Being a resident of Tampa, Florida, I have been through Hurricane Frances and Jean and the close call of Charley. So, like all Floridians I'm personally aware of what a hurricane or tropical storm can do. As I'm typing this I'm listening to reports that Irene is outperforming its category. I've also been perusing websites and that includes Drudge Report. I've had other concerns of late with Mr. Drudge's site recently, but I am alarmed with links that are downplaying expectations. There are a wide variety of links,but this link to Dr. Simon...

Despite hard times for many in the country, the personal wealth of many congressional leaders charged with guiding the country has grown at rates that are not even being matched by the most aggressive investment firms such as Goldman Sachs. http://www.usbcnews.com/Personal-Wealth-for-Congressmen-Explodes.html

Meet The Virginia Woman Who Mistakenly Received Paychecks For More Than A Decade After She Was Fired Robert Johnson Jul. 23, 2011, 8:15 AM Image: WAVY TV Jill McGlone was fired for the second time from her job in 1998 and a bookkeeping error kept her on the company's payroll for the last 12 years. WAVY TV in Norfolk discovered the woman's identity and that she's been receiving up to $40,000 with annual raises every year -- with full benefits -- though she never reported to a day of work. McGlone was suspended from Norfolk Community Services Board the first...

Through a nonprofit, private donors are expected to cover the $3,000-a-month rent, along with utilities and other expenses, on Gov. Jerry Brown's loft in Sacramento. Brown's office referred questions to George Kieffer, who is president of the nonprofit, known as the Governor's Residence Foundation. Kieffer said his group would release the names of donors and the amount they have contributed in January 2012. He said the group was raising money to pay Brown's rent, as well as his utility bills. "We're budgeting some additional money assuming that, from time to time, there'll be entertainment

My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in LOVE, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, Colossians 2:2 Ah the corruption and disgrace of the US House just continues to roll. Just when we thought House members couldn’t get lower than Rangle and Frank they reach new lows when another one of their own gets caught with their pants down exposing their corruption, entitlement and a complete abuse of their office and power, but enough about Pelosi. While everybody...

The Davis–Bacon Act (DBA) requires the government to pay construction wages that average 22 percent above market rates. This shields unions from competition on federal construction projects. It will also add $10.9 billion to the deficit in 2011. Given that the federal government is already running historic and unsustainable deficits, federal policy should not unnecessarily inflate the cost of federal construction projects. Congress should repeal the DBA. Unsustainable Spending . DBA Restrictions Increase Costs . Repeal the Davis–Bacon Act . America can no longer afford such special-interest handouts. If Congress is serious about reducing spending or lowering unemployment, it should...

Until alerted to the problem, city of Minneapolis posted a list of suggested tornado-repair contractors that included 22 that were unlicensed. After warning North Side tornado victims to avoid "unlicensed, unscrupulous contractors," Minneapolis officials failed to take their own advice and circulated a list that included 22 companies that were not licensed to perform home repairs

…because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the LOVE for all the saints… Col 1:4 Nazi Pelosi told us we had to pass DeathCare to see the absolute corruption inside. We are veiwing the very tip of her iceberg of personal corruption as she is trading ObamaCare waivers for campaign funds. This is how all communist dictatorships work as those inside the Inner Circle have all the benefits while those outside the circle have to pay bribes. We now see what the real purpose of their Ponzi scheme which is another program to use as a...

One of the main sources of increasing tension between private-sector and public-sector workers in this country are the fat, guaranteed pensions that many public-sector workers get. The frustration only increases when public-sector workers "game the system" to further pad their pensions, in some cases allowing them to make more in retirement than even well-paid private-sector workers will ever earn in their lives. There are few worse examples of public pensions run amok than in Yonkers, New York. Yonkers Police and Fire personnel enjoy a peculiar pension system that is based on the total income received during the last year on...

PHOENIX (AP) -- An examination in Arizona's Maricopa County has found that the sheriff's office, widely known for efforts against illegal immigrants, inappropriately spent $99 million from two jail funds over the last eight years to pay for other law enforcement operations - including immigration patrols. The $99 million figure released Wednesday is an update to an estimate made in September by budget officials who said the sheriff's office was believed to have used $60 million and $80 million over four or five years from a jail tax on other purposes.

The Obama Administration has designated the Northeast Corridor as a federally-recognized high speed corridor. This allows states in the area to apply for $2.4 billion in federal grants, which were made available after the governor of Florida turned them down. It will also allow Amtrak to be in on the planning process. In order to be eligible for the money, states must show an ability to reduce energy use, improve the efficiency of their transportation network, and generate sustained economic growth. Local lawmakers applauded the move, calling it an engine for job creation. Applications are due on April 4.

A day later, on Friday, the National Labor Relations Board posted what appears to be its first-ever “Fact Check” that stated the following: Fact Check This feature encourages accuracy in the media by correcting common misperceptions and errors of fact when they are brought to our attention. Google Ads It has been reported that the NLRB spent Agency funds on Google ads. An initial review indicates that the ads were provided at no charge beginning in 2008 by Google. The Agency has decided to discontinue them. Now that the NLRB has taken it upon itself to correct the record by...

...effects of decades of neglect were all too visible at the nine far-flung campuses. Roofs leaked...Seismic protections were outdated. In 2001, leaders of the Los Angeles Community College District decided to take action. With support from construction companies and labor unions, they persuaded voters to pass a series of bond measures over the next seven years that raised $5.7 billion to rebuild every campus. ...money would ease classroom crowding...make college buildings safer....technology would enhance learning...financial oversight would be stringent. That is what was promised to Los Angeles voters. ....But costly blunders by college officials, contractors and the district's elected Board...

Political corruption and Chicago have been synonymous since the middle of the 19th century and goes on unabated today.

Politico reports: Sen. John Thrasher, former state GOP chairman, looks like he has filed a bill (SB830) to starve unions like the Florida Education Association, SEIU, AFL-CIO, firefighters, police unions or AFSCME by banning the Democratic-leaning organizations from using salary deductions for political purposes. The legislation also says any "public employer may not deduct or collect" union dues, etc. Lastly, it says that any public employee who didn't specifically authorize the use of his money could be entitled to a partial refund. The Florida Times Union reported last January: The University of North Florida's College of Education and Human Services...

..Bell officials who hired him did not dig deeply into his past. They needed someone fast, and Rizzo, then 39, came cheap. His starting salary was $78,000, which was $7,000 less than his predecessor had made. "He was willing to work for the least amount of money," said then-Councilman Rolf Janssen. "That was what attracted me and several other council members." Now Rizzo and seven other Bell leaders past and present are charged with looting more than $5.5 million from one of the county's poorest municipalities. It is a hydra-headed scandal that has spawned seven federal, state and county investigations...

Cities across the nation are raising property taxes, largely citing rising pension and health-care costs for their employees and retirees. In Pennsylvania, the township of Upper Moreland is bumping up property taxes for residents by 13.6% in 2011. Next door the city of Philadelphia this year increased the tax 9.9%. In New York, Saratoga Springs will collect 4.4% more in property taxes in 2011; Troy will increase taxes by 1.9%. Property-tax increases aren't unusual, in part because the taxes are among the main sources of local revenue. But officials say more and larger increases are taking hold. "This year we...

NORFOLK Months before signing legal documents assuring federal officials they could build light rail for $232 million, Hampton Roads Transit leaders knew it would actually cost tens of millions of dollars more, a new state investigation reveals. In fact, HRT senior officials maintained a separate, internal accounting of light rail costs that was intentionally kept “secret” from government entities footing the bills, documents show.

Buried in the details of the deal to close California's $19-billion budget deficit is a roughly $30-million tax break crafted to benefit a company owned by members of one of the state's richest and most politically influential families, according to a legislative analysis obtained by The Times. The provision, which will allow the Humboldt Redwood Co. to deduct $20 million in old losses from future taxes, is also expected to cover penalties and interest for the firm co-owned by three sons of Donald G. Fisher, founder of the Gap and Banana Republic, said company Chairman Sandy Dean. The tax break...

There’s something about usually-safe incumbents that makes cutting corners and ethical shortcuts that much more tempting; I suppose it’s more alluring when you know the voters are ever going to hold you accountable. Junkets are one of those temptations. Is there a legitimate use for members of Congress visiting foreign countries and meeting foreign leaders? Of course. But as usual, with little oversight or consequence for abusing the privilege, the trips become more frequent, the destinations less relevant to American geopolitical concerns, the connection to U.S foreign policy ever more tenuous. Ask any U.S. embassy employee and they’ll probably have...

Washington - The U.S. is planning a concerted campaign against lower-level corruption in Afghanistan thought to be directly feeding the insurgency and is ceding more control to Afghans of the higher-level investigations that soured relations with President Hamid Karzai. The Obama administration has made the battle against government corruption a key part of its Afghanistan war strategy for the past year, arguing that graft and fraud within Mr. Karzai's inner circle fuel public support for the Taliban. Now some top officials say corruption further down the food chain has a bigger impact on the insurgency's strength. (Snip) Officials said the

The Wall Street Journal reports today that Rep. Solomon Ortiz has been contacted by House investigators who are looking into the use of overseas travel stipends, according to lawmakers who were also contacted. This follows the newspaper's reporting in March that stipends had been used for unauthorized purposes, and that some lawmakers were apparently ignorant of the rules governing use of the money. Congressional rules say the daily travel funds, called a per diem, must be spent on meals, cabs and other travel expenses. But when lawmakers travel, many of their meals and expenses are picked up by other people,...

At a series of meetings over the next two days, Minneapolis officials and community leaders expect to get a crash course in a Chicago program that bills itself as an innovative way to reduce shootings. Known as "Ceasefire," the program hires civilians to go into tough neighborhoods and meet face-to-face with young people considered to be the most likely victims or perpetrators of gun violence. "We really only have one goal," said Amanda Geppert, who works for Ceasefire in Chicago. "Our primary goal is to stop shootings and killings."

"Coverage of teachers unions needs to emerge from its current position as an afterthought on the education beat, and assume its place alongside national fiscal and political reporting. Only then will the public see that Big Oil and Big Tobacco have a brother called Big Education." Mike Antonucci is the director of the Education Intelligence Agency, which specializes in education labor issues.

One of the main reasons that little Todd Stroger lost his comfy job as president of the Cook County Board -- the office left him by his deceased father -- is because of the graft and payoffs to his friends and family members that he constantly perpetrated. It was so bad even Democrats were ashamed of him and voted him out of office in the last primary. But thanks to the fact that Illinois Democrats moved the primary to February President Stroger has eight months to continue giving his friends and family members cushy jobs paid for by the County...

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) provides a full listing of all Federal programs available to State and local governments (including the District of Columbia); federally-recognized Indian tribal governments; Territories (and possessions) of the United States; domestic public, quasi- public, and private profit and nonprofit organizations and institutions; specialized groups; and individuals.

I don't think I can recall ever being more disgusted in public... and certainly not at an investment conference. [Last] Wednesday, I attended the famed Ira Sohn Investment Research Conference in New York City, which benefits pediatric cancer. The conference was good and I'm glad I went... but one presentation made me want to vomit. It was Steve Rattner – the New York financier turned OBAMA! "car czar." Listening to him tell one lie after another about the bankruptcy of General Motors was bad enough. (And believe me... I know a little bit about GM's balance sheet, having been the...

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Darrell Issa, who has been pressing this issue for months, called for a special prosecutor in April. He alleges that the White House may have violated anti-bribery provisions of the federal criminal code as well as prohibitions on government officials interfering in elections and using federal jobs for a political purpose if it made the offer.

Though federal regulations require offshore drilling locations to be inspected by the Department of the Interior's Minerals Mining Service every 30 days, those inspections have repeatedly not happened since the Deepwater Horizon site was permitted by MMS in 2001 – including one out of every four months since President Obama's inauguration. ABC News has learned that in the 16 months from January 2009 through April 2010 MMS failed to inspect Deepwater Horizon four times – in May 2009, August 2009, December 2009, and January 2010. The reasons for the lack of inspections, sources said, were logistic.

The ghost of John P. Murtha looms large over this congressional district: from the hundreds of millions of dollars the late Democratic legislator famously funneled to western Pennsylvania to the many eponymous buildings, highways and even an airport that memorialize him. And now he is the elephant in the room in an increasingly contentious congressional race to succeed him. This once safely Democratic district where Murtha reigned for 35 years is now a toss-up. Longtime Murtha aide Mark Critz, 48, vows to carry on his former boss's legacy, while Republican businessman Tim Burns, 42, tries to leverage anti-Washington passion by...

Convicted Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is asking for donations to help retire legal obligations and penalties incurred during his obstruction of justice trial. He is making this request from his new 1 million dollar home he moved into shortly after leaving prison. The link includes a Paypal button which accepts donations as small as 1 cent. Be advised the transaction charges the Kwame account 30 cents. http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/convicted-detroit-mayor-kwame-kilpatrick-seeks-help-paying-debts/19467998 http://friendsofkwame.com/

In Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, there is a police impound lot where dozens of brand-new vehicles sit gleaming in the sun, sporting the logos of aid groups that poured into the city to help in the wake of a devastating earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people and left 1 million homeless. Haitian police are holding the vehicles for ransom, American aid workers say, demanding exorbitant sums for registration technicalities. The relief workers call it a brazen display — even for a country known to be rife with corruption. When many of the vehicles were brought into Haiti, as cries rang out...

One of the state's largest unions has reached out to police after getting what it considers threatening voicemails at its main office Tuesday night. The public service employees' union says it doesn't get too many phone calls from the public until it starts airing television ads. It says its latest "Tax the Rich" ad has prompted more than 1,000 phone calls. For every 10 supportive ones, AFSCME says one is negative. They also say one caller crossed the line.

THE jet-fighter for a fiver was a scam too far even for Russia. An official has resigned after a state agency sold four MiG 31 warplanes to a fictitious company for $US5 each, then bought them back for $US100,000. Corruption is so casual and endemic in Russia that the tricksters clearly felt little need to hide their actions behind an elaborate front. But the exposure of the case also illustrates a renewed drive by President Dmitry Medvedev to change a culture of graft that is threatening Russia's future. Motorists run a daily gauntlet of traffic police extorting bribes, parents and...

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Congressman Bart Stupak (D-Menominee) announced three airports in northern Michigan have received grants totaling $726,409 for airport maintenance and improvements. The funding was provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration. “This federal funding will help these airports better provide critical services to communities in northern Michigan,” Stupak said. “I am pleased the FAA has made this investment in our local airports and the individuals and businesses they serve.” Alpena County Regional Airport received a grant of $85,500 to acquire friction measuring equipment, specifically a decelermeter and tow vehicle, to replace equipment that has...

TAMPA - The questions no longer are if or when Tampa will get high-speed trains to Lakeland and Orlando. What's now important is how the Bay area can make the rail system pay off. The Obama Administration on Wednesday announced that Florida will receive a "down payment" of $1.25 billion toward the eventual $2.56 billion required to build the project....

A walking path along the Naugatuck River. A better public safety communications system in Enfield. More than $28 million to support local homeless assistance programs in Connecticut. Those are just some of the projects for which U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd recently helped win federal funding. And that laundry list of goodies doesn't even include the possibility of $100 million for a new University of Connecticut hospital that was slipped into the health care overhaul bill last weekend. The politically vulnerable Democrat has been criticized for using the promise of federal money to bolster his chances of winning re-election in 2010....

At least 10 states are now raising questions about the legality of the deal that Senator Ben Nelson, a Democrat, cut for his home state of Nebraska during the health care negotiations. Under the agreement, which is on the verge of being approved Thursday by the Senate, Nebraska is permanently exempt from paying for its expansion of Medicaid, shoving that cost onto taxpayers in every other state. Mr. Nelson was able to exercise such leverage because in exchange, he was providing the magical 60th vote that Democrats needed to advance their health care bill. The deal has enraged other Senators,...

Taking advantage of a lull in the healthcare debate, the Senate Thursday began considering a nearly $450 billion fiscal 2010 spending omnibus package in an effort to complete most of the fiscal year's appropriations business in the next few days. Senate action on the measure -- which includes six fiscal 2010 appropriations bills but not the Defense bill -- came after the House passed the package 221-202 earlier Thursday. The Senate will consider the legislation this weekend because Republicans are blocking a consent agreement to complete the measure early next week. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Thursday evening filed...

Responding to calls among rank-and-file Democrats for more infrastructure spending, House leaders Tuesday unveiled a plan to add almost $50 billion in spending on highways, housing, and school repair as part of a year-end plan to create jobs. The measure is aimed at keeping the fragile economic recovery on track with money for teachers, the unemployed and small businesses. A vote is planned for Wednesday. The Senate, however, won't act until next month at the earliest and has less of an appetite for another costly round of economic stimulus measures. All told the measure tops $150 billion once additional help...

The nation's pre-eminent seniors group, AARP, has put the weight of its 40 million members behind health care reform, saying many of the proposals will lower costs and increase the quality of care for older Americans. But not advertised in this lobbying campaign have been the group's substantial earnings from insurance royalties and the potential benefits that could come its way from many of the reform proposals. The group and its subsidiaries collected more than $650 million in royalties and other fees last year from the sale of insurance policies, credit cards and other products that carry the AARP name,...

Here is a video, released today by the Washington State DOT, of a computer simulation of what is expected to happen if a magnitude 7.0 quake hits the area near downtown Seattle..... YouTube video This video focuses on the effects such a quake would have on the Alaskan Way Viaduct and the seawall on the waterfront. Make no mistake about it...this video is designed to scare the heck out of anyone who uses the viaduct. Why release it? According the the WSDOT, a private citizen, name withheld, made a public disclosure request through the FOIA.

The House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee dispensed $636 billion this year to the Pentagon. Its members must look on the $103 million they earmarked for favored projects as mere crumbs from the table. Outside the defense budget, however, $100 million a year is a tidy sum, and getting a piece of the action is a regular part of Washington's political culture. At the center is a mutually beneficial connection between members of Congress, their former staff members turned lobbyists, and corporations or non-profits seeking federal money -- what some social scientists call "relationship circles." In this instance, it's better described as...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Mayor Larry Langford, who could be tossed out of office and go to prison if convicted of federal bribery charges, recently offered some advice to a new Birmingham City Council member. "The illusion of power is the most dangerous drug on the planet," Langford said. "A little bit of power — nothing intoxicates like it." Last week's comment may sound a lot like the government's opening argument against Langford, 61, the most recent in a long line of prominent names in the state Democratic Party to face corruption charges. Jury selection begins Monday. Prosecutors claim a...

While Michelle Obama fruitlessly pimped (oh ok, shilled, promoted) her corrupt, broke and now nationally known violent, native town, as a site for the 2016 Olympics, for the first time in her life she was seemingly proud of it. Her neighborhood "of working families -- families with modest homes and strong values.Sports were what brought our community together. They strengthen our ties to one another." It was also, and still is, a relatively high crime neighborhood. It is a testimony to Michelle and her parents that she emerged relatively unscathed except with a huge, but somewhat understandable, chip on her...