Free Republic

HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Business Dec. 1, 2005, 10:20AM U.S. home prices reportedly up 12 percentBy MARCY GORDONAssociated Press WASHINGTON  — Average U.S. home prices jumped 12.02 percent from the third quarter of 2004 to the same period this year, a slowing from the record pace of the previous quarter yet still a strong increase, federal regulators reported today. ADVERTISEMENT The figures released by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, the agency that oversees the big mortgage-finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, were the latest sign of a gradual cooling of the red-hot housing market. The Commerce Department reported...

Nov. 30, 2005, 2:56PM Reliant official steps down amid woes Deregulation squeezing retail power companiesBy TOM FOWLERCopyright 2005 Houston Chronicle The head of Reliant Energy's retail electricity business has stepped down from his post as the company and its Texas competitors find themselves sailing through rough waters. ADVERTISEMENT Jim Robb, a former consultant with McKinsey & Co. who joined the company in 2003, resigned on Nov. 23, according to the company. He will continue to be available as a consultant to Reliant until Jan. 1. No replacement has been named."Robb made a significant contribution to our business strategy and leading...

HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Business Nov. 19, 2005, 9:56PM Paying extra for the view New Hampshire town up in arms over property taxesBy KATHARINE WEBSTERAssociated Press ORFORD, N.H. - The one-room cabin David Bischoff built in a cow pasture three years ago has no electricity, no running water, no phone service and no driveway. ADVERTISEMENT What it does have is a wide-open view of nearby hills and distant mountains — which makes it seven times more valuable than if it had no view, according to the latest townwide property assessment. He expects his property taxes to shoot up accordingly.Bischoff and...

What happened to my browsing preferences?Is this the new, permanent format?

Los Angeles port complex to add 3,000 dockworkers By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business WriterLOS ANGELES (AP) - Shipping companies and union leaders agreed Thursday to add 3,000 new dockworkers to the Los Angeles port complex, the nation's largest, in a bid to stem a growing backlog of cargo traffic. The agreement comes after weeks of negotiations between the International Longshore & Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents shipping companies. The talks ultimately yielded a plan both sides hope will help alleviate delays at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach caused by a boom in...

HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Business July 29, 2004, 10:54PM Another serving of shrimp tariffs Administration proposes levies against four more countries Associated Press NEW ORLEANS - The Bush administration proposed tariffs Thursday on shrimp imports from four of the largest shrimp-producing nations in Asia and South America, accusing them of hurting domestic producers by dumping the shellfish on the U.S. market at artificially low prices. The proposed tariffs against Brazil, Ecuador, India and Thailand ranged from 4 percent to 68 percent — far smaller than what Southern shrimpers and processors had sought.Although the ruling was preliminary, it will probably stand....

Talking Ronald Reagan doll"Mr. Gorbachev...Tear down this wall." "Those doing all the criticizing had their chance. In the four years before we got to Washington they had it all. They had the whole enchilada. They controlled the Presidency, the United States Senate, the House of Representatives, all the committees of Congress and the Executive Branch and hundreds of agencies and departments. They virtually had a free hand, and all they could think to do with that free hand was stick it in your pocket." Plus 9 or 10 others.

June 5, 2004, 12:01AM Proposed income tax break for Texans gets new lifeBy GEBE MARTINEZCopyright 2004 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau Texas taxes may be worth a federal income tax break after all. Republican leaders in the U.S. House on Friday resurrected a plan that would benefit Texans, and residents of six other states, by allowing taxpayers to deduct state and local sales tax on their federal income tax returns. Majority Leader Tom DeLay,R-Sugar Land, and Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, helped get the bill slated for a vote on the House floor in about two weeks. The proposal, once considered...

TXU outsourcing strategy breaks with tradition 12:12 AM CDT on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 By SUDEEP REDDY / The Dallas Morning News GRAPEVINE – TXU Corp.'s $3.5 billion outsourcing deal, which would transfer more than a fifth of the company's U.S. employees to a new joint venture, marks a sharp departure from traditional practices in the nation's utility industry. Executives from TXU and Capgemini, the company's new outsourcing partner, said at an investor conference Tuesday that the 10-year agreement would improve customer service and offer the Dallas-based utility $175 million in annual operating cost savings. For Paris-based Capgemini, which will...

Texans grow less fond of governor Perry's not only GOP lawmaker slipping in public approval poll 11:09 PM CDT on Tuesday, May 18, 2004 By ROBERT T. GARRETT / The Dallas Morning News AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry's approval rating has tumbled to a new low. More than half of Texans disapprove of the job he's doing, according to a Texas Poll released Tuesday. That compares to Ann Richards' negative reviews in November 1994, when 48 percent gave a thumbs-down to the governor who had just been defeated. "He is in trouble," Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist...

i>April 28, 2004, 12:58AM House plan shifts Texans' tax burden Consumer taxes would rise, property taxes fall By JANET ELLIOTT Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau AUSTIN -- Texans would save about one-third on their property taxes but would pay higher sales taxes and face new taxes on services such as oil changes, haircuts and visits to the vet under a plan unveiled Tuesday before a House committee. The long-awaited plan of the House leadership was surprising in its breadth, offering a comprehensive way to lower property taxes and fund $1 billion in new education spending. The plan would raise...

April 22, 2004, 12:34AM Indictment names trio Criminal charges for former Duke executives By LAURA GOLDBERG Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle THE CASES Three former Duke Energy employees were indicted on: • one count of racketeering conspiracy • nine counts of wire fraud • three counts of mail fraud • one count of falsifying Duke's books. Two of the three were also charged with: • four counts of money laundering. Two former Duke Energy executives and a former Duke trader were hit with federal criminal charges Wednesday alleging they inflated certain trading results and, in turn, pumped up their bonuses. The...

Dallas facing employment gap Report suggests ways to get area back on economic track 11:32 PM CDT on Thursday, April 22, 2004 By ANGELA SHAH / The Dallas Morning News Dallas, long an employment powerhouse, has seen that advantage erode, according to a new report on North Texas economic and workforce development. The product of a six-month study by a task force of local business and civic leaders, the report paints a bleak picture for job creation unless business, civic and education leaders pull together to reverse the trend. DALLAS AT THE TIPPING POINT Read the special section Respond via...

April 15, 2004, 11:13PM Trucks use FAST lane to cross border Associated Press LAREDO -- A high-tech fast lane aimed at cutting border wait times for some trucks from hours to minutes opened Thursday at the United States' busiest southern border port. The Free and Secure Trade, or FAST, lane at Laredo's World Trade Bridge is the second along the U.S.-Mexico border. FAST lanes also are planned by the end of the year at Otay Mesa, Calif.; El Calexico, Calif.; Nogales, Ariz.; Hidalgo, and Brownsville. Trucks eligible for the lane are cleared in advance. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert...

April 10, 2004, 11:32PM Texas is fertile ground for bankruptcyBy PURVA PATELCopyright 2004 Houston Chronicle Three years ago Adrian Gaspar could easily supplement his $45,000 Houston police officer's salary by moonlighting as a security guard at local construction sites. At one point he made as much as $100,000.Last year the 39-year-old found himself fighting off creditors."I'm here from Romania, and I thought, 'Hey, this is the American Dream I'm living.' And then all of a sudden I was filing for bankruptcy," Gaspar said.The economic slump that worsened following the 2001 terrorist attacks dried up new construction and left Gaspar without...

April 10, 2004, 12:28AM Hispanic votes key for Bush, Kerry Both say the other ignores minorityBy BENNETT ROTHCopyright 2004 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau Angling for a piece of the nation's fastest-growing minority vote, both presidential campaigns charged the other was neglecting Hispanics. Former Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros, who is leading the Hispanic outreach effort for Democratic presidential contender John Kerry, said Friday that President Bush has done little to help this minority group. The criticism from the former mayor of San Antonio comes as the Bush campaign is set Monday to announce its national Hispanic steering committee at a rally...

April 9, 2004, 9:22PM Shortage predicted in state health fundsBy R.G. RATCLIFFECopyright 2004 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau AUSTIN -- The state's health care programs for low-income Texans will run a $582 million deficit by the end of the current budget, state officials told the Houston Chronicle on Friday. State officials say it is because of a higher than expected caseload, but the shortfall is close to the amount legislators shifted out of the Medicaid budget last spring while trying to balance a tight budget. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission is preparing a report explaining why there is a...

March 16, 2004, 9:09PM Powell reassures India on outsourcing By STEVEN R. WEISMAN New York Times NEW DELHI -- Secretary of State Colin Powell, encountering the other side of a tempestuous debate in the United States, sought to assure Indians on Tuesday that the Bush administration would not try to halt the "outsourcing" of high-technology jobs to their country. In a round of conversations with Indian leaders and college students, Powell found that the issue of the transfer of American jobs to India -- known as outsourcing -- by leading technology companies was as emotional in India as in the...

March 13, 2004, 12:03AM India defends job movement Prime minister says outsourcing will create work in U.S. Associated Press NEW DELHI — India's prime minister on Friday defended job outsourcing to India, saying that it would eventually create more employment in the United States, not less. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's mention of what he called the "strange controversies" generated over the issue came days after remarks critical of India by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick. On Tuesday, Zoellick told the U.S. Senate Finance Committee that India has no right to oppose U.S. curbs on outsourcing because it maintains "one...

March 3, 2004, 9:19AM Traffic stop yields $1 million stashed in truck By S.K. BARDWELL Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle Law officers seized about $1 million in cash found in a hidden compartment in a tractor-trailer rig pulled over for a routine traffic stop this morning. The truck was stopped about 4 a.m. on the southbound lanes of U.S. 59 near Bissonnet by Harris County Sheriff's Department deputies. The deputies said they became suspicious when the driver's description of where he had been and where he was going kept changing. Drug-sniffing dogs were brought to the scene and found a hidden...