Free Republic

Chains such as Rent-a-Wheel and Rimco are seeing business boom. Many consumers pay double or triple the cost of buying and face aggressive repossession policies. When the tires on their Dodge Caravan had worn so thin that the steel belts were showing through, Don and Florence Cherry couldn't afford to buy a new set. So they decided to rent instead. The Rich Square, N.C., couple last September agreed to pay Rent-N-Roll $54.60 a month for 18 months in exchange for four basic Hankook tires. Over the life of the deal, that works out to $982, almost triple what the radials...

I’m breaking my Saturday rule not to post anything not urgent, because this is so awesome. Click to enlarge… IMG_1305 2 Lynn Mills just sent that photo to me. The sign was posted by the pro-life businessman who bought late-term abortionist Reginald Sharpe’s mill in Livonia, Michigan. Isn’t it great?

Well, that didn't take long. Yesterday, just before 5 pm Eastern time, Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] released details of its new "lease-like" financing product. The general consensus in the media (we read a lot of Tesla coverage here, folks) has been that it's smart for Tesla to offer financing for its Model S electric luxury sport sedan. It will expand the pool of potential owners. But the press release, and a subsequent media call with CEO Elon Musk, mentioned a cost calculator on the company's website that purports to let users calculate the true net out-of-pocket cost for a 2013 Tesla...

This week the Department of the Interior grandly announced plans for its March oil and gas lease sale in the Central Gulf of Mexico, off Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The announcement might have been more fitting for Groundhog Day. DOI: 38 Million Acres in Gulf of Mexico Up for Grabs To follow through with President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to expand domestic energy production, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced that the upcoming Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 227 will offer 38.6 million acres offshore Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama for oil and gas exploration and development. … “The...

A Reuters' article earlier this week created quite a buzz when it suggested that General Motors was losing $49,000 on every Chevy Volt sold. While many continue to debate just how much money GM loses on the politically-motivated car, a more important story on the Volt was reported by Automotive.com last week which explained the increase in August sales numbers for the vehicle. The piece exposes how GM (along with taxpayers) is heavily subsidizing leases and even gets an embarrassing admission from GM on the struggling Volt that, "The whole idea is we're creating a market." And this blockbuster,...

Dear Carrie: I've been out of school for just under a year and have a nice steady job. I need a new car, but I don't know if I should buy or lease. I'm earning a decent income, but I don't have much saved. Your advice, please? --A Reader Dear Reader: This is a good question for someone in your situation -- or for anyone looking to buy a car. And actually there are three car-buying choices: buy outright, buy over time or lease. Buying a quality used car outright and driving it for many years is probably the most...

The US is negotiating the future borders of the Palestinian state with Israel, according to a report released by Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat on Friday. One option is reportedly that Israel would lease land in east Jerusalem from the Palestinian state for 40-99 years. Palestinian sources confirmed to the paper that the US and Israel are discussing borders and settlements, but PA President Mahmoud Abbas does not yet know the details. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's office refused to confirm or deny the reports, and State Department sources told the paper that Israel and the US are discussing matters "as a

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – An unprecedented special state oil and gas lease auction to handle a rush to drill for oil in eastern Wyoming has grossed a near-record $42 million. The Office of State Lands and Investments held Friday's auction in response to demand from oil companies to snap up leasing rights. Figures released Monday showed bids for the right to drill on state land ranged as high as $3,200 an acre. That's comparable to the high prices paid in May at a regular state lease auction that grossed a record $45.6 million for Wyoming. Friday's special sale was Wyoming's second...

Riding up to homes for sale on her bicycle, Pamela Winegardner allegedly would chat with listing agents about her new business ventures, her career as a six-figure human resources consultant, her dying grandmother, her boyfriend's injured daughter, and her need to move quickly out of her current rental because the owners have new people moving in soon. She'd like to buy this home, she reportedly said, but she first needed to lease it for a couple of months while she waited for some financial matters from a business deal to settle. She came across as poised, friendly, and likable, but...

Dan Fuchs is a local businessman who set up a graphic arts kiosk at The Johnson City, Tennessee mall. Business was slow until a customer suggested he try selling stickers with the NoBama message. Business picked up and he expanded his line of 'anti-Obama' stickers. Today, mall administration terminated Fuchs' lease after it began receiving complaints about the allegedly 'anti-Obama' merchandise. Fuchs said he also sold 'pro-Obama' stickers, but the mall administration felt he wasn't offering a fair balance between anti and pro Obama stickers. In the video story on Channel 11's website, the mall spokeswoman inexplicably says that the...

A man who sells conservative merchandise at a kiosk in a North Carolina mall says he hopes he'll be able to keep pushing "Impeach Obama" bumper stickers after his lease expires on Friday. Loren Spivack says his kiosk, Free Market Warrior, is being nudged out of the Concord Mills mall in Concord, N.C., beacause of political reasons. The hottest sellers at the kiosk, which has been in the mall for roughly three months, are items that are critical of President Obama, Spivack said. They include a “Work Harder, Obama Needs the Money” bumper sticker and a T-shirt that lists the...

The Obama camp has leased space for their Greenville, SC headquarters right next door to the Republican campaign headquarters. But were they honest about the transaction? Read about it here. greenvilleonline.com

OK, another vanity on my part. (You all are too smart for me to ever offer any political commentary.) What does anyone know about doing a lease/option to buy? It's looking like Mr. Lu is going to be transferred to The Netherlands, and we have a wonderful house. Neighbor has expressed interest, but I really don't want to spend thousands with an attorney. Can anyone point me in a good direction? As an aside, I click on FR first thing every morning. You folks are great!

A Spanish toll-road operator won the bidding war to operate the Pennsylvania Turnpike, offering $12.8 billion for a 75-year lease, Gov. Rendell said today. The proposal by Abertis Infraestructuras, of Barcelona, must be approved by the Pennsylvania legislature, and legislative leaders in Harrisburg have said the plan faces tough sledding with lawmakers. In making the largest bid ever for the private operation of a U.S. toll road, Abertis partnered with a subsidiary of U.S. investment bank Citigroup, and Spanish investment firm Criteria CaixaCorp. Abertis operates toll roads in Spain, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Argentina and Puerto Rico. The company...

FORT HUACHUCA — The terms of a proposed lease for the World War II Colored Officers Club on this Southeastern Arizona Army post have been approved by the Army Corps of Engineers, said one of the organizers trying to save the facility. It still has to be signed by all parties. “It’s another milestone. Now there is some light at the end of the tunnel, like a flashlight (beam),” said Tom Stoney Sr., president of the Southwest Association of Buffalo Soldiers. More than three years ago, the association signed a memorandum with the fort to halt the wrecking ball that...

The Mythical Indian SSN Goes to Sea July 6, 2006: The long rumored, but much denied, deal for Indian to lease one, or two, Russian Akula II class nuclear attack subs, is hot news once more. That's because one of the Akula II subs, the Nerpa, was recently launched at the Russian Pacific shipyards. The Nerpa will be completed and undergo sea trials next year. In 2002, the stories began to appear, that India was leasing one, or two, Russian nuclear attack submarines (SSN). Eventually, both India and Russia denied the deal, which was promptly renamed as "a secret deal."...

PORTAGE | Northwest Indiana Regional Planning Commission members quizzed three top Indiana transportation officials for two hours Thursday on the controversial Indiana Toll Road lease. They received firm answers to some questions that allayed some fears. But answers to others only heightened apprehensions. "Our concern is what happens to the next generation and the next generation," said NIRPC chairman Kevin Breitzke. "Will they be cussing at us?" For some questions, INDOT Director of Planning John Weaver admitted the answer simply won't be known until legislation is passed, public rule making is done or the lease signed. "It's a work in...

Doctors Give Iraqi Baby New Lease on Life Doctors at the Abu Ghraib hospital, and a very long-distance phone call, helped diagnose and treat a very sick four-month-old baby. By U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Carolanne DiggsMultinational Force-Iraq ABU GHRAIB, Iraq, Dec. 7, 2005 — Four-month-old Tabark Abdul Rahman, known as Tabitha to the Abu Ghraib medical staff, was given a grim prognosis on life. When she arrived at the Abu Ghraib hospital she was malnourished, dehydrated, in renal (kidney) distress, was suffering from diarrhea and had a bad cough. X-rays showed she had pneumonia. After two months in...

Blockbuster sale Western GOM sale 196 a total surprise, generating $285.2M in high bids Ray Tyson Petroleum News Houston Correspondent Big and small players alike came to Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 196 with open wallets, doling out a surprising $285.2 million in apparent high bids for 346 exploration blocks, topping last year’s successful $171.4 million Western Gulf offering by $110.5 million, or a whopping 60 percent. The results came as a huge surprise to the Minerals Management Service, the agency that conducts offshore lease sales for the federal government. With 80 percent of the bids opened and announced,...

COSTA MESA, Calif. (AP) - The California Coastal Commission voted unanimously Thursday against extending 36 undeveloped gas and oil leases in U.S. waters off the state's central coast, setting up a confrontation with the federal government over the panel's authority. Some commissioners said they expected the state to sue the federal government in an effort to prevent the extension of the leases, which could lead to additional offshore drilling. "It's amazing, the level of risk that the California coastline is being put to," Commissioner Steve Padilla said. "This is something I do not understand. The benefits of this economically are...