Free Republic

".......... After the tour and speech, he signed an executive order directing Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew to establish the savings bonds. Named and modeled after existing Individual Retirement Accounts or IRAs, the bonds offer tax benefits that regular savings accounts do not, don't lose value and can be withdrawn tax-free any time. “It's safe. These balances will never go down in value,” Obama said. Lew, whose agency will set up the bonds, accompanied the president, whose directive is one in a series of executive orders Obama said he's using to circumvent a divided Congress that's on pace to be the...

I have an old acquaintance named Sam who has a hell of a deal for you. Sam is actually a pretty famous guy with a big reputation. Unfortunately he has been a bit down and out on his luck lately… but he’s trying to make a comeback. And Sam is prepared to float you a really great investment opportunity. Here’s the deal he’s offering: you give Sam your hard-earned retirement savings. Sam will invest your funds, and pay you a rate of return. Granted, the rate of return he’s promising doesn’t quite keep up with inflation. So you will be...

WASHINGTON/BOSTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's new "myRA" retirement savings program will be run by a private-sector money management firm chosen by the U.S. Treasury Department from a field of up to 30 firms, a senior administration official said on Wednesday. In a competitive bidding process to begin in the next few weeks, the Treasury Department will select a firm with experience in handling Roth individual retirement accounts (IRAs), the official said on a conference call with reporters. The time frame was not clear, with the official saying only that selection would take place in months ahead. With millions of...

President Obama on Tuesday offered up a new kind of "starter" retirement accounts aimed at employees of companies that don't offer such plans. Obama is calling them the "MyRA" and said he would, by executive order, direct the Treasury Department to create them. Details were scarce Tuesday night, but employees will be able to contribute part of their wages to the savings accounts, which would be backed by the U.S. government.

President Obama on Tuesday unleashed a torrent of new executive actions, using his State of the Union address to underline his willingness to govern without Congress.Obama promised a dozen actions in the next year —including the creation of new “starter” savings accounts and a hike in the minimum wage for federal contractors — intended to embolden Democrats ahead of this year’s midterm elections.The prime time speech from the podium of the House immediately drew Republican condemnation as an effort to create an imperial presidency, but was staunchly defended by Democrats as a legitimate and necessary use of executive authority in the...

The Real St. Nicholas – How Did a Cantankerous but Holy Bishop Become Jolly Ole St. Nick?By: Msgr. Charles Pope  Today is the Feast of St. Nicholas. The real St. Nicholas was nothing close to the St. Nick  (Santa Claus) of the modern age. He was a thin curmudgeonly man with a zeal for the Lord that caused flairs of anger. Compromise was unknown to him. The slow transformation of him into “Jolly ole’ Saint Nicholas is a remarkable recasting of him centuries in the making. Some years ago the Washington Post featured an article entitled Poles Apart: Nicholas...

Today (Dec 6) is the Feast of St. Nicholas. The real St. Nicholas was nothing close to the St. Nick (Santa Claus) of the modern age. He was a thin curmudgeonly man with a zeal for the Lord that caused flairs of anger. Compromise was unknown to him. The slow transformation of him into “Jolly ole’ Saint Nicholas is a remarkable recasting of him centuries in the making. Some years ago the Washington Post featured an article entitled Poles Apart: Nicholas of Myra; How a 4th-Century Bishop Achieved Fame 1,500 Years Later, With a Whole New Attitude.On this feast of...

The ecumenical patriarch Bartholomew I, after years of insistence, was finally given the possibility to celebrate mass inside of what is, according to the State, only a museum. A saint which is unknown in Turkey, but is origin of Santa Claus. Istanbul (AsiaNews) – Since 99 % of Turkey is Muslim, Christmas is not an official holiday, though it is not prohibited. For the few Christians, December 25th is a regular day in which they go to school or to work and are then left with no choice but to celebrate either in private or in the few available churches....

From Myra