Free Republic

KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 1, 2008 – A new organization is improving the Afghan National Army’s ability to move capable forces from its training center to the operational commands. U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jesse Edwards, senior mentor and team chief for the Afghan National Army’s Consolidated Fielding Center, stands with ANA leaders during a graduation ceremony at Pol-e-Charki Garrison, Kabul, Afghanistan, Sept. 20, 2008. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The sense of urgency for this new concept has increased following the announcement of plans to grow the Afghan National Army past the initial authorization of 82,000...

Commentary: BRIC is broke, and emerging markets are discouraging By John Prestbo Last update: 7:29 p.m. EDT Sept. 17, 2008 NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Many investors turned to emerging markets last year because those economies kept sizzling even as developed economies began cooling. Some pundits opined that emerging markets were the new global growth engine and that their momentum could save developed economies from sliding into recession. Indeed, that view held up for a while. In 2007, the Dow Jones Wilshire Emerging Markets Index rocketed up 45.4% on a total-return basis, while the DJ Wilshire Developed Markets Index gained 9.5%....

While the Democrats had their week of unchallenged propaganda about their party – how perfect it is and how terrible the Republicans are – the latest good news about the economy and the average adjusted gross income went unnoticed. Once again, when Democrats don’t like the facts, they just ignore them with the help of the mainstream media. On August 26, Investor’s Business Daily reported data from the Internal Revenue Service showing that the average U.S. income had increased every year for five straight years through 2006. In fact, the $58,029 average was $739 higher than the peak year of...

SACRAMENTO – California is on the verge of initiating a historic rewrite of local planning laws, fusing for the first time the issues of urban growth and global warming. Unprecedented nationally, the complex legislation would steer communities toward land-use policies to contain sprawl, using as much as $12 billion a year in state-controlled transportation funds as an incentive. “This bill will change the way California grows,” said state Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, its author. Under the measure, the state Air Resources Board would establish targets for 17 regions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as part of a broader campaign to...

In its preliminary 2Q08 GDP estimates, the Commerce Department said on Thursday, the countryÂ’s gross domestic product was revised up at an annual rate of 3.3% for the April-June period, exceeding analystsÂ’ initial estimates of a 1.9% increase as well as economistsÂ’ forecast of a 2.7% gain. Constant dollar GDP is now up 2.2% versus a year ago. The acceleration in real GDP growth in 2Q08 reflects a larger decrease in imports of 7.6% compared with a decrease of 0.8% in the 1Q08, and an acceleration in exports of 13.2% in the second quarter, compared with an increase of 5.1%...

Foxnews Alert! McCain is having a growth removed from his face today Developing...

As Summer Temperatures Rise, Dark-Pool Volume Climbs Higher By Nina Mehta July 18, 2008 Dark pools are on a hot streak. They're tearing through volume records and turning into big-league market centers in their own right. Goldman Sach's Sigma X dark pool yesterday executed 406 million shares, making it the seventh-largest market center for U.S. equities. That put Sigma X in line behind Nasdaq, NYSE Arca, the New York Stock Exchange, BATS Trading, Direct Edge ECN and the National Stock Exchange. And ahead of all other venues. Sigma X's volume is up 100 percent over the last seven weeks, according...

GENEVA (Reuters) - Record growth in the world's poorest countries has failed to prevent an increase in their total numbers of poor people, the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said on Thursday. Recent rising food costs threaten to undercut what modest progress has been achieved, while three quarters of people living in least developed countries (LDCs) still survive on less than $2 a day, it said in a report. Income under $2 a day does not allow most people to meet basic needs for food, water, shelter, health or education, the Least Developed Countries Report 2008 noted. The...

Census Bureau says New Orleans is the fastest-growing large city in the nation, recovering from being wiped out by Hurricane Katrina. NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- After being pummeled by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, New Orleans is showing signs of recovery - ranking as the fastest-growing large city in the nation, according to a government report released Thursday. The Census Bureau said New Orleans' population rose 13.8%, to 239,124, in the year ended July 1, 2007. That was a faster growth rate than any other city with a population of 100,000 or more.

"It's been described as the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression. And it brings with it grave dangers for all American families ... ," said Martin Bashir on "Nightline." "Recession looms .... " On the "Today" show June 20, David Faber referred to "the recession ... these tough economic times." Yet that very day first-quarter GDP was revised upward again to 1 percent. America is not in recession, and who knows -- maybe we'll be less likely to have one if my compatriots would just chill. A recession is defined as two quarters of negative economic growth. We...

Stimulus Response by: Brooke Rieder, June 18, 2008 With the burst of the housing bubble, skyrocketing oil prices, and ample media coverage of it all, hysteria is in the air over a potentially looming recession, and all eyes are on the economy. Enter the Bush 2008 Economic Stimulus package. A truly ingenious solution from a political standpoint, constituents’ worries are assuaged when they see concrete government intervention—especially when that intervention puts a $600 check in their pocket. The hope is that more money in the hands of consumers will lead to increased spending, and consequently stimulate greater production and investment....

Responding to concerns that a superhighway project running from East Texas to the border with Mexico could cut through private lands, state transportation officials said Tuesday that they will only consider putting it along existing roads. State officials have held almost 50 public meetings and received about 28,000 responses from residents about the proposed Interstate 69 project, which would be part of the so-called Trans-Texas Corridor network of toll roads. The "overwhelming sentiment" of the comments from the public was that the state should focus on using existing roads instead of carving new ones out of the countryside, said Amadeo...

Virginia’s unemployment rate fell 0.6 percentage point, from 3.9 percent in March to 3.3 percent in April. Employment increased mostly because of the increase in tourism jobs, construction work and the end of the strike...

County commissioners reaffirmed their stance against the Trans-Texas Corridor, and they took another step toward keeping county government transparent when they met Tuesday. First up on the court's agenda, commissioners heard a presentation by Connie Fogle on behalf of the newly formed Pineywoods Sub-Regional Planning Commission. According to Fogle, the Texas Local Government Code, Chapter 391, requires state agencies to coordinate with local commissions to "ensure effective and orderly implementation of state programs at the regional level." "Critical in the code is the word 'coordinate,'" she said. "This does not mean the commission has to cooperate. The intent is to...

Minutes south of Interstate 10 and Sealy, the pastures along FM 1458 are their own silent world in the morning. Mists lift to reveal black cattle, brown and spotted horses, snow-white egrets underfoot in lush green grass. Then a concrete mixer comes churning down the blacktop. Just up the road is a small subdivision. More are sure to come as city dwellers, including weekenders and retirees, move out in search of a quieter, simpler life — and relief from city traffic. Although the gradual influx may bring greater changes in the long run, what disturbs residents most is the planned...

McCain's speech reads like an attempt to unify a divided party by offering every faction something to make them happy. For the GOP's supply-siders and business interests, there are promises to extend the Bush tax cuts and slash corporate rates. For moderate Republicans clinging to seats in Democratic states, there's a pledge to cut the Alternative Minimum Tax, which hits upper-middle class Blue Staters hardest. For free traders, there's a shout-out to the Colombian Free Trade Agreement; for flat-tax obsessives, there's a call for an alternative tax-filing option, featuring just two brackets instead of four or five. For deficit hawks...

For Peyton Gilbert, the battle over the Trans-Texas Corridor is reminiscent of the moment in 1836 when Lt. Col. William Travis drew a line in the sand at the Alamo and invited those willing to fight thousands of Mexican soldiers to step across. "That line in the sand is the Trans-Texas Corridor, and it's a threat to our sovereignty again, just like at the Alamo," said Gilbert, 14, who is from Whitehouse, near Tyler. Gilbert was among a large crowd of people who marched down Congress Avenue to the Capitol on Saturday afternoon to demonstrate against the proposed highway-rail-utility corridor...

There's been a lot of talk about the new Trans-Texas Corridor — the next-generation "super-highway" — and opinions are varying. Now the debate is coming to Lufkin's doorstep. On Monday, the American Land Foundation, Stewards of the Range and TURF will hold a workshop at Lufkin's Pitser Garrison Civic Center on how to stop the Trans-Texas Corridor 69. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. A portion of Texas citizens have voiced their opposition to the TTC-69 in public meetings held by the Texas Department of Transportation, but believing they are not being heard, four cities and their...

WASHINGTON, March 5, 2008 – The numbers of U.S. special operations forces are expected to grow in the years ahead as the United States continues its fight against global terrorism, a senior U.S. military officer told a Senate panel here yesterday. By direction of the president, U.S. Special Operations Command is the lead combatant command for synchronizing Defense Department planning for the global war against terrorism, Navy Adm. Eric T. Olson, commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Today, special operators are posted in 58 countries, mostly in small numbers, Olson said. More...

TYLER - Heated debates are cropping up in rural East Texas communities as the Texas Department of Transportation hold hearings on the proposed the Trans-Texas Corridor. It's the first construction project of it's kind in the country. The Texas Department of Transportation says they want it to make room for a growing state. "A thousand people a day move to texas," says spokesman Larry Krantz,"where are these people going to drive? The population in Texas is going to explode by 60% in the year 2030." Their plans involve moving commercial trucks off existing interstate highways and onto one of two...

AUSTIN - When it comes to road improvement and maintenance, by most accounts, the South Plains and Panhandle are fortunate. Despite a $1.1 billion accounting error, the Texas Department of Transportation recently reported no projects in the region have been canceled or delayed while cities like Dallas, Houston and Laredo had at least a half dozen highway projects delayed. But the $1.1 billion-error, which occurred because TxDOT inadvertently counted some bond money twice and consequently allocated more funding than it had, is just the latest problem plaguing the beleaguered agency. For months, TxDOT executive director Amadeo Saenz and other transportation...

THE COMEBACK OF THE GERMAN DINOSAURS Industry Returns as Economic Engine By Christian Reiermann The comeback of German manufacturing contradicts the notion that the future belongs to the service industry. Manufacturing firms are currently the engines of growth in the German economy, even for the service sector. These days Michael Walter, 43, often finds himself committing what would normally be considered sacrilege in the business world: He's turning customers away before they can even place an order with him. "I simply have to tell them that I won't be able to help them until later, says Walter, the CEO of...

Trucks hauling everything from cars to produce use Southeast Texas roads to deliver their goods, and when a proposed Interstate 69/Trans Texas Corridor is completed, local drivers could see even more of them, local transportation officials said. The proposed I-69 corridor stretches from Michigan down to Texas. Once in Texas, the corridor goes about 650 miles from Texarkana to Brownsville and Laredo and includes separate lanes for cars and semis and areas for trains and utilities. It doesn't cut through Beaumont, but local arteries like U.S. 69 and Interstate 10 would connect to it. Travelers and truckers just need to...

Sources of Growth in Tax Revenues ....The bulk of the revenue increase was associated with corporate income taxes: Revenues from corporate income taxes rose from 1.2 percent of GDP in 2003 (their lowest level since 1983) to 2.7 percent in 2006 (their highest level since 1978). ....Revenues from individual income taxes increased 0.6 percentage points, from 7.3 percent of GDP in 2003 to 8.0 percent in 2006. Corporate Income Tax Revenues. Roughly two-thirds of the increase of 1.5 percentage points in corporate income taxes relative to GDP can be attributed to increases in corporate profits, according to current measures in...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24, 2008 – “Tremendous” growth in the Iraqi air force last year in terms of capability as well as capacity is expected to continue in 2008 as Iraq builds its air force from the ground up, a senior U.S. officer assisting that effort reported today. During 2007, the Iraqis stood up four air force training schools and graduated their first military pilots’ class since 2003, Air Force Col. Lyman “Lewie” Edwards, who also serves as chief of staff and deputy commander for the Coalition Air Force Transition Team, told retired military analysts via teleconference from Baghdad. Last year...

It's not often that an individual makes such a significant and undoubtedly lasting impact on a state as big as Texas, but my long-time friend and Chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission, Ric Williamson, certainly did. As most of you know, Ric died suddenly last month at age 55. It is true that as the state's transportation policymaker, he was a controversial figure. But, it has been my experience that people with visionary instincts and those who prefer to think outside the box are often considered different and unconventional. The world has a long legacy of resisting new ideas, even...

Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal see increasing odds of a recession this year along with mounting inflationary pressures, an uncomfortable mix that could play a role in shaping the 2008 presidential campaign and complicate life for the Federal Reserve. In the latest monthly survey, economists put the chance of recession at 42%, up from 38% in December and 23% just six months ago. On average, the 54 forecasters who participated see the economy expanding at less than a 2% annual rate in the first and second quarters. Last month's survey estimated 2007 growth at 2.5%. "The U.S. economy...

Anyone whose feet are set in concrete against toll roads is going to get run over. Toll roads are here. They are coming. The need is undeniable, as is the rationale in many cases. But you can’t defend toll roads in every instance, and the proposed I-35 toll lanes through Waco sound indefensible. Two concerns present themselves immediately — one about Waco’s self-interest and one about fairness to motorists. First, the provincial concern: The proposed self-contained toll lanes would deliver a lot of travelers through Waco without access and egress to take advantage of what the city offers, even if...

The Club for Growth, an anti-tax advocacy group, will launch Monday a national advertising campaign depicting Mike Huckabee (R) as an eager proponent of tax increases while he was governor of Arkansas. The first round of advertising, costing $175,000, will run on broadcast and statewide cable television in Iowa, where Huckabee is leading the GOP presidential pack by a narrow margin. They will also run on statewide cable TV in South Carolina and nationwide on Fox News Channel. The ad shows a younger, portly Huckabee as governor in 2003 addressing a special session of the Arkansas legislature, which he convened...

If things are so bad, why are they so good? With all the gloom coming out of Wall Street, the Democrats on the campaign trail, and the mainstream media, a remarkable thing just happened: Real gross domestic product, the best summary report of the American economy, came in at a breathtaking 3.9 percent annual rate for the third quarter. In fact, following the 3.8 percent growth rate for the second quarter, the U.S. economy has posted its strongest quarterly growth in four years. The economy actually appears to be speeding up, following the relatively sluggish performance of the prior 18...

[...] November 2, 2007, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released new jobs figures – 166,000 jobs created in October. Since August 2003, 8.31 million jobs have been created, with 1.68 million jobs created over the 12 months that ended in October. Our economy has now added jobs for 50 straight months – the longest period of uninterrupted job growth on record. The unemployment rate remains low at 4.7 percent. The U.S. Economy Remains Strong, Flexible, And Dynamic - Real GDP grew at a strong 3.9 percent in the third quarter of 2007. The economy has now experienced six years of...

Coin trays in Texas cars may actually get to see the faces of dead presidents. The much-discussed and controversial Trans-Texas Corridor, or TTC, has breathed life into the debate of toll roads in Texas. Plans for the Trans-Texas Corridor include TTC-Instate 35, which starts in Laredo and extends north to Gainesville, running along the eastern part of Texas; and Interstate 69/TCC, which has three openings in Laredo, McAllen and Brownsville and follows the coast to Texarkana. Much of the TTC will be privately operated toll roads, run by the Spanish firm Cintra. The TTC will not run through San Antonio,...

(2007 Grocery Manufacturers Association/Food Products Association Fall Conference) Renaissance Hotel Washington, D.C THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for coming. Thank you all. Please be seated. Billy, thank you. I asked Billy where he works. He said, well, I run Sunny Delight beverage company. I said, well, Billy, I quit drinking. (Laughter.) He said, that's not that kind of alcohol. I thank you all for having me. Billy, thank you for your kind words. He's from Cincinnati. I was in Cincinnati the other day, stopped off and got some ribs, and he tried to ask me to compare Texas ribs with Cincinnati ribs....

Wednesday, Oct 17, 2007 Governor Mitt Romney Excerpts Of Remarks At The Club For Growth (Live Via Video) Washington, D.C. Governor Romney On The Line-Item Veto: Governor Romney: "I should also note that perhaps the best way to get our spending down was to be able to use the line-item veto. I used that 844 times as Governor of Massachusetts. I'm glad I had it." Governor Romney On His Conservative Blueprint To Lower Taxes: Governor Romney: "Let me tell you what I'd do, as opposed to what Hillary Clinton would do with regard to our tax and spending policies. First...

Still Made In America by: Nirmala Punnusami, October 09, 2007 There are the “Jeremiahs,” the prophets of doom, who assert that the manufacturing industry in the United States of America is declining, but panelists Bill Lane, Lloyd Wood, Robert Scott, and Dan Ikenson argued at the Cato Institute on Tuesday, September 25, 2007, that the manufacturing industry is, indeed, “thriving,” as “the revenues, profits, profit rates, return on investments , and exports and imports are all on the rise.” It was Daniel Ikenson who, in his informative paper “Thriving in a Global Economy: The Truth About United States Manufacturing...

Fact Sheet: September 2007 Marks Record 49th Consecutive Month Of Job Growth More Than 8.1 Million Jobs Created Since August 2003 In Longest Continuous Months Of Job Growth On Record"[L]ast month our economy added 110,000 new jobs. And that's good news for people here in our country. It's an indicator that this economy is a vibrant and strong economy. ... If you want this economy to continue to grow, and if you want to reinforce the fact that … entrepreneurship is strong and people are working, don’t raise taxes. And I'm looking forward to working with the Congress to set...

Orange County on steroids or Phoenix raised to an exponential power? That was one reaction to Wednesday's two-year study on job creation and retention by the Milken Institute that rated the Ontario-San Bernardino-Riverside area No. 3 among 200 large U.S. metropolitan areas. The Inland Empire trailed only Ocala, Fla., and Wilmington, N.C., two metro areas in low-tax, high-growth states, and was the only California entity in the top 15. "This study shows that this area is an economic powerhouse and will remain one for the next several decades," Ontario City Manager Greg Devereaux said. "This area is Orange County from...

"Senator Thompson’s eight-year record in the U.S. Senate demonstrates an admirable commitment to limited government and free-market principles. His record on entitlement reform and school choice is excellent, while his support for lower taxes and free trade is very good." What did the Club for Growth, a leading driver of free market reform in the US, have to say about the others? (Here is a quick rundown)

The U.S. economy bounced back in the second quarter, growing at a 4% annual real growth rate, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. The upward revision to second-quarter gross domestic product is likely to have a minimal impact on financial markets, however, which are preoccupied by the credit crunch.

<p>PARIS -- French libraries are said to file their nation's constitutions -- there have been more than a dozen since 1789; the current one is a relatively ancient 49 years old -- under periodicals. Now Nicolas Sarkozy, France's peripatetic new president, has created a commission on constitutional reform. The commission includes Jack Lang who, as minister of culture in 1983 under President Francois Mitterrand, staged a sublimely unserious conference on the (supposed) world economic crisis, featuring the likes of Sophia Loren, Susan Sontag and Norman Mailer.</p>

A site for christians to have community together... growth, etc..

WASHINGTON -- Pessimism is a contagious affliction, born by fears of some cataclysmic result that is based on little or no compelling evidence -- usually in the face of a pile of facts to the contrary. That's the illness that spread through Wall Street last week, triggered by the continuing turbulence in the housing and credit markets amid fears that the situation is only going to get worse and drag the rest of the economy down with it. Some of the gloomiest traders on Wall Street have begun, once again, to talk about a recession, the dreaded r-word that rears...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2007 – Recent surge operations and a continued commitment to ownership by the Iraqi government are contributing to increased economic progress in Iraq, a senior officer responsible for economic development there said yesterday. During a conference call with online journalists and “bloggers,” Army Col. Tracy O. Smith, chief of the Economic Development Branch of Multinational Force Iraq, provided an operational update on economic progress being made in Iraq’s provinces. He explained that the recent surge of forces and operations has improved the ability of coalition forces to conduct non-traditional military operations in a number of areas simultaneously,...

I remember, back when I first became a Christian, hearing a Pentecostal TV preacher talking about how the Assemblies of God were the fastest-growing denomination in America. I remember, back when I first became a member of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), the local campus minister telling me that the PCA was the fastest-growing denomination in America. I remember, back when I was first having Mormon missionaries over in order to evangelize them, them telling me that Mormonism is the fastest-growing denomination in America. As a result, I learned to be skeptical of "fastest-growing" claims, and to this...

Christianity, and Catholicism in particular, are booming in the global South. The rise is so great, in fact, that Christendom's so-called center of gravity - the point on the globe where roughly the same number of believers live to the north, south, east, and west - is shifting ever further from Rome, not to mention Jerusalem, where Christianity started. Today, according to a trajectory mapped by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity, based in South Hamilton, Mass., the demographic heart of the Christian world has shifted to Timbuktu, in the mostly Muslim African nation of Mali. It...

Energy security relies not on independence, but a variety of domestic and international cooperative initiatives, a report from the National Petroleum Council says. The 400-page document, "Facing the Hard Truths About Energy," reviews the status of global oil and natural gas until 2030 and presents a list of possible solutions for avoiding an energy crisis as well as recommendations for increased energy security in the United States. These steps take the focus away from physical independence and shine the spotlight on healthy global energy activity: moderate demand, expand and diversify energy supplies, and strengthen global energy trade and investment. "Energy...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The economy snapped out of a lethargic spell and grew at a 3.4 percent pace in the second quarter, the strongest showing in more than a year. A revival in business spending was a main force behind the energized performance. The new reading on gross domestic product, released by the Commerce Department on Friday, marked a big improvement from the first three months of this year, when economic growth skidded to a near halt at just a 0.6 percent pace, the slowest in more than four years. Stronger spending by businesses and government powered the rebound in...

Anyone interested in the marvel of modern-day China and India routinely encounters a host of "gee whiz" factoids that illustrate each country's high-octane growth. Shanghai, for example, had 15 skyscrapers in 1978; by last year it had about 3,800, more than Los Angeles and Chicago combined. India, meanwhile, is home to three of the world's 10 biggest information-technology firms, and IBM employs 53,000 people there--an increase since 1992 of . . .53,000. Yet it's just as easy to uncover bad news. Sixteen of the world's 20 most polluted cities are in China. And even if the country survives an environmental...

Job Creation Continues - More Than 8.2 Million Jobs Created Since August 2003 On July 6, 2007, The Bureau Of Labor Statistics Released New Jobs Figures – 132,000 Jobs Created In June. Since August 2003, more than 8.2 million jobs have been created, with more than 2 million jobs created over the twelve months ending in June. Our economy has now added jobs for 46 straight months, and the unemployment rate remains low at 4.5 percent. Americans Are Working And Taking Home More PayReal After-Tax Per Capita Personal Income Has Risen By 9.9 Percent – Nearly $3,000 Per Person –...