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In a March 29, 2009 Detroit Free Press column, film industry proponent and popular author Mitch Albom said that if legislators were to put a cap on the state’s refundable, unlimited film incentives, you might as well “kill” them altogether. He said that a cap “…effectively chases films away. No successful tax-incentive state has a cap like this, because no studio wants to be the last film in, then find out the money is gone. They can't plan that way. They just won't come.” Film industry supporters insisted in numerous media outlets that mere ‘talk’ of capping the film incentives...

It isn’t too hard to imagine this becoming problematic for Sarah Palin on the campaign trail, as noted by the Tax Foundation: In case you missed it, small government crusader and Tea Party favorite Sarah Palin’s TLC reality show “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” received a $1.2 million subsidy from the state of Alaska. The show spent $3.6 million on production in the state, meaning that Alaskan taxpayers covered a third of the cost of the show. The show will apparently not have a second season. Because Palin is no longer a public official, she does not have to disclose her income; if she...

An analyst for the US Department of Labor is blaming bad weather for a jump in applications for unemployment benefits. “Holding down a job and dealing with the daily hassle of commuting to and from work is bad enough when the weather is good,” said the analyst in a “not for attribution” interview. “When it’s cold and there’s snow coming down and ice on the roads staying home and getting a government check looks pretty good to a lot of people. So, we shouldn’t be surprised to see more of them signing up for benefits.” The requirement that recipients of...

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Those who want to see better public policy in America owe a high five to LeBron James. His highly publicized decision to sign with the Miami Heat brought forth a torrent of articles noting that the star basketball player stood to save a lot on state and local taxes by moving to Florida. Although conservative media noted the incentive early, eventually it hit the New York Times and other mainstream media outlets. It was a great teaching moment, in which the costs of a public policy – in this case high state and local taxes – could be clearly seen....

The following text SNIPPET is a quote: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-10-1084A1.pdf PUBLIC NOTICE Federal Communications Commission 445 12thSt., S.W. Washington, D.C.20554 News Media Information 202 / 418-0500 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov TTY: 1-888-835-5322 DA 10-1084 Released: June 16, 2010 MEDIA BUREAU ANNOUNCES THE RELEASE OF REQUESTS FOR QUOTATION FOR MEDIA OWNERSHIP STUDIES AND SEEKS SUGGESTIONS FOR ADDITIONAL STUDIES IN MEDIA OWNERSHIP PROCEEDING MB Docket No. 09-182 Suggestions for Additional Studies Deadline:July 7, 2010 Requests for Quotation for Media Ownership Studies. As part of the Commission’s 2010 Quadrennial Media Ownership proceeding,1the Commission is commissioning nine economic studies to evaluate the current marketplace and the state of...

The recent recall of fresh-cut romaine lettuce processed in an Ohio facility...has given a new rallying cry to activists trying to spur quick Senate passage of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a self-proclaimed consumer advocacy group, made this statement: "While consumers wait for Congress to pass food safety legislation, the plants that process and bag lettuce and the farms that grow it are operating under an industry honor system which clearly failed in this case. The FDA can’t tell us when it last had inspectors in the plant where this...

From 1992 to 2004, Barack Obama lectured at the University of Chicago's Law School. By all accounts, our future president was popular with students. He was known to be polite and accommodating to those who disagreed with him. His reputation at Chicago was that of a teacher who broadened your horizons. It's a pity our president didn't take full advantage of his time at Chicago and broaden his own horizons. For on the same campus was Gary Becker, the economist and original thinker who married economics and sociology into a hybrid that became known as behavioral economics. Becker won the...

KABUL, Dec. 9, 2009 – Better pay for Afghan national security forces and a government-led emphasis on national service appear to be paying off in stronger recruiting, the commander responsible for recruiting and training them told reporters here today. Army Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, who heads up Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan, cited signs of promise since the Afghan government announced major changes in its pay system in late November. In addition to increasing base pay, the new pay structure includes combat pay for troops operating in the most dangerous provinces. In Helmand, Ghazni and Kuduz provinces, for...

Can Barney Frank Dunk on Lebron? No, he cannot. Nor can anyone else in Washington. Nor can they catch passes from Ben Rothlisberger in the Super Bowl or strike out Derek Jeter in the World Series. They are not equipped to do so. So what? This ridiculous visual image speaks to the business malaise infecting the economy since Obama took office. The point is that politicians are equally ill equipped to run the auto industry or the health industry or the lending industry or the insurance industry -- and their determination to do so is sucking all the dynamism from...

The moon belongs to everyone The best things in life are free, The stars belong to everyone They gleam there for you and me. --From the 1927 musical Good News Star-gazing may be free, but the Human Space Flight Plans Committee, a panel of luminaries and experts appointed by President Obama to assess the future of America's manned space efforts, has found that space exploration is not. The gist of the committee's imminent report: Our current levels of expenditure will not support a return to the moon, a journey to Mars, or much beyond keeping the space station operating. This...

It is almost irresistible for conservatives to snicker as Democrats in Massachusetts hold hearings and seek ways to justify an attempt to change the law in Massachusetts to allow the Democratic governor of the Commonwealth to appoint a Democratic senator--presumably available to vote for President Obama's initiatives. It was just a few years ago when Senator John Kerry was running for president and the governor was a Republican that the Democratic state legislature thought it imperative to change the law to prevent governors from appointing senators. It is just too delicious, the hypocrisy too obvious, for conservatives to ignore. Yet...

"There's a clear distinction between the two" Peter Spencer SSA Spokesperson explained. "They (the AIG Corporation) received specific bailout funds, we did not..." Posted by Tina Our government and citizenry experienced a major meltdown when bailed out AIG spent $440,000. in the midst of the financial mess sending employees on lavish exotic resort get aways. Now in the midst of our failing and flailing economic troubles, the SSA is indulging in a perk at the Biltmore in Arizona for new employees that smacks of reckless disregard for America's recovery and health, not to mention irresponsible fiduciary oversight...a smack in the...

NORFOLK Police have recovered more than 2,000 government checks totaling $103,000 and arrested three men after a hotel mix-up led to what police on Wednesday called a quickly formed conspiracy and theft. Police said a contractor with the U.S. Department of Transportation checked into the Doubletree Hotel Norfolk Airport at 880 N. Military Hwy. on Monday and went out. Meanwhile, the hotel mistakenly checked a second guest into the same room. Acquaintances of the second guest went through the contractor’s luggage, police said, and found and took a laptop and the checks. The checks, in various amounts, were to be...

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2009 – The Army, Navy and Air Force nurse corps are highly trained, capable and critical to the wartime mission of each service, the corps’ leaders told a congressional committee this week. The Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense subcommittee heard testimony March 18 from the services’ nursing chiefs. Each reported a healthy force that plays a vital role in maintaining the health of America’s servicemembers and saving lives on the battlefield. Despite a nationwide nursing shortage, all three services have had success in recruiting and retaining nurses, the leaders said. New incentive and training programs will help boost...

Leave it to mini-Marxists George W. Bush, Henry Paulson, and Ben Bernanke to saddle American taxpayers with $8.35 trillion in bailout commitments, yet not spend one thin dime on incentives to revive the U.S. economy. In fact, the faintest echo of an incentive these days is not a Reaganite act of commission, but a Reagan-lite act of omission. Barack Obama — rated in January as the Senate’s most liberal member — seems to have side-stepped his statist ways long enough to scuttle his speedy end to Bush’s first-term tax cuts on upper incomes. Obama reportedly will let them expire naturally...

“Incentives matter.” That sentence encapsulates the free-market approach to economic growth. Unfortunately, these two words exceed the attention spans of easily distracted Washington politicians. Rather than encourage work, savings, investment, and production, federal authorities treat America’s current economic woes with a hyperactive parade of universal welfare checks (approved in February, yet still undelivered), corporate bailouts, currency debauchery, tax-hike threats, Congressional witch hunts against oil executives, innumerable earmarks, and a spending-growth curve as strong as an Olympic wrestler’s back. What this wheezing economy desperately needs is revitalized productive potential. Congress and the Bush Administration should implement these simple steps to return...

Ever wish you weren't right? In 1997, the notion of selling off publicly owned infrastructure to private sector operators was coming into its own. After the city hired a consultant to determine the value of the publicly owned CPS Energy, it raised red flags. CPS consistently charges some of Texas' lowest utility rates while providing a significant chunk of the city's revenue, I argued. Profit motives can produce wondrous results. But uncontrolled, they can also produce costly disasters. Some things — especially those that efficiently deliver services that are essential — are best kept in the public sector to assure...

Brownback suggests plan for Greensburg Sen. Sam Brownback suggested Thursday that a pilot program based on the Homestead Act could bring revitalization and relief to Greensburg. Through a series of tax incentives, Brownback told media in a conference call that he hopes the program would stimulate the town's economy and encourage it to grow. The program would have four main components: • a $5,000 tax credit for all first-time homebuyers; • help paying down student loans for people to move in and stay in Greensburg; • tax credits for investing in the rural community; • a venture capital fund. Similar...

BRITAIN, France and Germany are expected to offer Iran a light-water nuclear reactor if Tehran agrees to suspend its controversial uranium enrichment programme. In the latest attempt to resolve the deadlock over the nuclear ambitions of Iran, the three European nations will propose a revised deal at a meeting in London on Friday with diplomats from the US, China and Russia. Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, said that Iran would be offered the “most sophisticated” technology to help it to meet its energy needs. But the reactor would mean that Tehran would have to suspend all enrichment work,...