Free Republic

Amid a feared takeover bid from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Twitter’s board of directors threatened to fight back with a “poison pill” strategy, allowing it to flood the market with new shares if Musk buys more than 15 percent of the company. Fending off Musk’s $43 billion offer by creating more shares could dilute the value of shareholders’ stock — but Twitter’s 10 board members own just a tiny portion, Musk noted in an April 16 tweet: “The Twitter board collectively owns almost no shares! Objectively, their economic interests are simply not aligned with shareholders.” That same day, even Twitter...

The drumbeat quickens. Economic titans from Robert Zoellick, head of the World Bank, to George Soros….the beast that broke the Bank of England…..are saying the run through 2012 will be a repeat of 2008 only much worse. I won’t repeat what got us here. The history and the how are available on both this website and hundreds of others. Whether the working of a divine plan or the mere machinations of evil men, the world’s economic order is about to fold. We are in the mother of all bubbles. It is a toxic mix of fiat currency, inflated asset values,...

World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Wednesday he will step down in June, raising questions as to whether the United States will for the first time throw open the job it has always claimed as its own. "I'm honored to have led such a world class institution with so many talented and exceptional people," Zoellick said in a statement announcing his plans. Earlier, he had met with the World Bank's 25-member board to inform them of his decision. Speculation has been rife in recent months over who might take the job when Zoellick departs. Possible U.S. candidates include Secretary...

Leadership: For the musty World Bank, president designee Robert Zoellick already seems like fresh air. He's not only standing up for the bank's real purpose — economic development — he's even challenging tyrants. Last Sunday, while visiting Mexico City, Zoellick threw a first punch at, of all people, Venezuela's bullying dictator, Hugo Chavez. Chavez has tried to cow the World Bank into taking a softer stance on his dictatorship after the bank's leadership crisis last spring. Although Venezuela paid off its debts to the bank in April, Chavez denounced the bank as "imperialist" and threatened to drop his country's membership....

Republicans, H-1B Work Visas, Immigration and Charlie Brown Diane Alden Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2006 Of course, hope springs eternal. Pinning my hopes on future Republicans, younger guys, I came away feeling like Charlie Brown recently. Remember Charlie getting the football yanked from under him by Lucy? I discovered that immigration reformist and concealed-carry proponent Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is promoting the H-1B work visa. This benefits the corporations, not all of them American owned, whether they be in Minnesota or Michigan or California. Once again, power corrupts. For Tim Pawlenty, the support of the Republican Establishment in a future bid...

Besides driving whole industries and millions of jobs offshore, U.S. trade agreements are threatening our national independence and freedom. The Jolly Green Giant has been a landmark around Dayton, Washington, for generations. But he does not seem so jolly these days. In fact, the fading outline of the 300-foot tall brand name icon is barely visible now on the hillside above town. This June, Dayton’s asparagus cannery, the world’s largest, will see its last season. Seneca Foods, which cans about half of the state’s $30 million asparagus crop for General Mills’ Green Giant label, is closing the Dayton plant and...

ARLINGTON -- Bush-Cheney '04 today announced the members of its Debate Negotiations Team.  The team, lead by James A. Baker, III, will represent Bush-Cheney '04 in negotiations of the terms of the presidential debates between President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry and between Vice President Dick Cheney and Senator John Edwards.     "We are honored that Secretary Baker will lead negotiations on behalf of our campaign.  I am confident that he and the other seasoned members of our team will conduct negotiations in a thoughtful manner to ensure a robust debate of the critical issues facing our country," said...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. This week´s hemisphere-wide trade talks are most unlikely to produce significant progress, and one reason just has to be the manifestly delirious ideas with which U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick is approaching the meeting. Here´s how Zoellick expects the Miami talks to proceed – at least, based on his November 17 op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal. Most of America´s hemispheric neighbors will begin the talks with trade barriers that are “much higher” than U.S. barriers. Some of them even enjoy “one-way trade preferences offered by Congress.” These countries will...

WASHINGTON: The Indian government and businesses have won a major assurance from the Bush Administration on the issue of outsourcing. A senior US official has said Washington is against any attempt by state governments to legislate a ban on outsourcing on the lines of what is being considered in New Jersey and other states.The official, US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, gave this assurance in course of three hours of intensive talks with Indian Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley, during which they discussed subjects ranging from the movement of people to the export of Indian mangoes to the US. The length of...