Free Republic

An American worth less than $1.55 billion could not land on this year's "The Forbes 400," the annual ranking for the richest people in America. The cut-off increase from last year's $1.3 billion disqualified 113 poor billionaires for this year's list. Bill Gates once again lorded over his fellow wealthy Americans for the 21st consecutive year with a healthy $81 billion, up $9 billion from 2013. He outpaced Warren Buffet ($67 billion), Larry Ellison ($50 billion) and the Koch brothers' Charles and David (each worth $42 billion) to round out the top five. Michael Bloomberg ($35 billion) managed to slide...

Just as the global economy has all but recovered from debt-fueled crises in the United States and Europe, economists have a new worry: China. They see a lending bubble there that threatens global growth unless Beijing defuses it. That’s the view that emerges from an Associated Press survey this month of 30 economists. Still, the economists remain optimistic that Beijing’s high-stakes drive to reform its economy—the world’s second-largest—will bolster Chinese banks, ease the lending bubble and benefit U.S. exporters in the long run. […] The source of concern is a surge in lending by Chinese banks. The lending was initially...

Nothing is going right for Hangzhou at this moment. Walmart will be closing its Zhaohui store in that city on April 23 as a part of its overall plan to dump marginal locations—about 9% of the total—in China. Thanks to the world’s largest retailer, another large block of space in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, will go on the market at a time when there is generally too much supply. The problem is especially pronounced in the city’s premium office market. Hangzhou’s Grade A office buildings at the end of 2013 had, according to Jones Lang LaSalle, an average...

We often write about the generosity of philanthropists. But what about rich folks who are giving — but not really pulling their weight? Inside Philanthropy’s calls out some billionaires not because they’re not giving, but because they’re not giving ENOUGH based on how much cash they’ve got stuffed in the mattress. While The Chronicle of Philanthropy annually drops its list of the top 50 donors, Inside Philanthropy took a different approach. Instead of just looking at how much an individual is giving away, IP is using “relative generosity as our main criteria here, looking at what percentage of their wealth...

The vice president went to pick up sandwiches Thursday for himself and President Obama but didn’t have enough money to pay the bill. Luckily, the veep doesn’t travel alone — he called on an aide, who reached into his pocket for a 10-spot so that Biden and his boss wouldn’t go hungry.

The White House is threatening to veto the House version of a massive, five-year farm bill, saying food stamp cuts included in the legislation could leave some Americans hungry. The House is preparing to consider the bill this week. The legislation would cut $2 billion annually, or around 3 percent, from food stamps and make it harder for some people to qualify for the program. Food stamps, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, cost almost $80 billion last year, twice the amount it cost five years ago. The Senate passed its version of the farm bill last...

The total number of people in the United States now receiving federal disability benefits hit a record 10,962,532 million in April, which exceeds the 10,815,197 people who live in the nation of Greece. … April was the 195th straight month that the number of American workers collecting federal disability payments increased. The last time the number of Americans collecting disability decreased was in January 1997. …

Mayor Cory Booker is known for his social media savvy, having helped direct emergency services in Newark, New Jersey to stranded citizens during snowstorms and field questions during Hurricane Sandy. Now he's taking the talk offline as he bet a Twitter trash-talker that he could live healthfully on food stamps for a month. The Democratic politician got into a dispute with a woman on Twitter who took issue with his dispelling of some free advice via Plutarch. 'An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics,' Booker wrote on Sunday morning. User @MWadeNC...

The Federal Housing Administration is expected to report this week it could exhaust its reserves because of rising mortgage delinquencies, according to people familiar with the agency's finances, a development that could result in the agency needing to draw on taxpayer funding for the first time in its 78-year history. Such a report would likely set off a political fight over the government's role in housing, as it raises the prospect of billions of dollars being added to the U.S. government's effort to stabilize the hard-hit sector in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, which already includes $137 billion...

Though grudgingly provided and universally redacted, documents subpoenaed by Congress from the White House and the Office of Management and Budget now reveal that Barack Hussein Obama himself was responsible for manufacturing the loss of $535 million taxpayer dollars in the 2011 Solyndra bankruptcy. In 2010, solar panel manufacturer Solyndra Inc. received $535 million in loan guarantees for “innovative technology” under the terms of Barack Obama’s federal stimulus plan. The fact that a Price Waterhouse audit filed earlier that year with the SEC showed Solyndra had lost $558 million during its first 5 years in business, boasted negative cash flow,...

Remember that big-budget Hollywood movie about the powerful company that creates jobs, drives innovation, and gives millions to charity? Neither do I. From Gordon Gekko in “Wall Street” to Edward Lewis in “Pretty Woman,” Hollywood loves to hate corporate raiders. And now, we’ve learned, so do many of the Republican candidates for president not named Mitt Romney. “Winning our Future,” a super PAC that’s backing Newt Gingrich, just released a documentary called “When Mitt Romney Came to Town” that assails Romney’s record as head of Bain Capital. It’s the kind of withering attack on private equity that makes the Daily...

He didn’t break into song, but Rep. Jay Inslee otherwise sounded like a character in “West Side Story” as he excoriated young supporters during a Thursday fundraiser at Nabob on Queen Anne Hill.“It is time to get out on that field of battle with the Tea Party: It is time to stop rumbling with ourselves and start rumbling with the Tea Party,” said the gubernatorial hopeful.Inslee has sought to tie GOP Attorney General Rob McKenna, his all-but-certain 2012 opponent, to the Tea Party: Polls show rising public disapproval of the right-wing movement.Inslee was ready to rumble with a lot of...

Supervisor Sean Elsbernd asked his colleague Jane Kim a worthwhile question at Monday’s Rules Committee meeting: “What is more important to [our] communities? Having dollars available for services? Or standing on a principle that has been deemed unconstitutional?” Kim, for the record, prefers the latter, but we’ll get back to that. The U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down part of Arizona’s system of publicly financing candidates for office. And it just so happens that San Francisco’s local public financing system basically has that same unlawful provision. So, Supervisors Elsbernd and Mark Farrell have proposed a perfectly rational solution: remove the...

I love the smell of bloodlust in the evening. Not every evening. Just the evenings that have Republican presidential debates. There have been five such debates so far, but only the last two of them have been considered major because they have featured Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is leading in the polls. Except the debates haven’t really featured him. They have featured the audience. If you have ever asked yourself how crowds could have gathered to cheer public burnings and beheadings in times past, tune in to one of these debates, and you will stop asking. At a Politico/NBC...

The final stop on President Obama's three-state Midwest bus tour was at the Country Corner Farm Market in the small town of Alpha, Illinois. The president was roughly an hour behind schedule due mostly to a visit with the Galesburg High School football team, and although the crowd showed some signs of fatigue from waiting in the hot sun, most left the event saying it was worth the wait. Although his opening remarks didn't change too much, the president did field one interesting question about the future of the estate tax that is worth looking at. I think it's the...

The healthy growth of mankind depends on continuously decreasing the cost of water and energy everywhere.Nice thought. Why mention it?Its a mission statement.For who?Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett — and through them America’s billionaires. Why Bill Gates? Why Warren Buffett?As to Bill Gates, his passion; According to a recent interview Understanding science and pushing the boundaries of science is what makes me immensely satisfied. What I’m doing now involves understanding maths, risk-taking. The first half of my life was good preparation for the second half.’ Now in the context of the interview he was...

Washington's chronic overspending is just like a junkie's addiction to drugs. Unless the cycle of addiction is broken, our economic and unemployment situation will continue to suffer. Washington is out of time. To avoid hitting rock bottom, Washington must cut spending today.

DURHAM, N.C. — President Barack Obama promoted job creation in politically important North Carolina Monday, trying to assure Americans he's focused on their No. 1 concern — and his greatest political weakness — as his potential GOP presidential opponents prepared to target his economic policies in their first major debate. [snip] "I am optimistic about our future," the president said, even while acknowledging that "we can't be complacent." Obama announced details of a program to train 10,000 new American engineers every year, saying private companies will join the government to promote education in science, technology, engineering and math. They'll offer...

"The Associated Press reported that all train and ferry services were suspended, while a strike by air traffic controllers was expected to ground flights in the afternoon. Public transport workers in Athens also began walkouts... ...Radio and television programs were blacked out as Greek journalists joined the strike, The Wall Street Journal reported... ...European officials have been scrambling to address the renewed crisis. News reports on Tuesday said Greek officials expected an additional package of around €60 billion in aid through 2013. "

The new gallup poll out today has a chart on page 2 that breaks down the GOP candidates favs/unfav. Palin continues to be the most favorable candidate in the GOP field with a 69% favorable rating. She also continues to be the candidate with the highest strongly favorable ratings at 23%. This is good news as she continues to ramp up for a 2012 primary run.