Free Republic

Illinois' only two harness horse racing tracks kept their promise to the Illinois Racing Board as they filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday to continue operations into 2015 and protect themselves against property seizure. Balmoral Racing Club Inc. and Maywood Park Trotting Association Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after a state court handed down a $78 million lawsuit judgment earlier this month for the tracks' ownership's role in an extortion scandal involving former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. **SNIP** The ruling stems from a federal racketeering suit that claims that John Johnston acquiesced to Blagojevich's request for a $100,000 campaign contribution in...

Pension debt in the Land of Lincoln is a big problem. So big, in fact, that it would take three years of a complete government shutdown, during which the entire general fund went toward pensions, just to break even. No funding for schools, no money for public safety and nothing for health care and human services. Illinois’ unfunded pension liability grew to more than $111 billion this year, according to official estimates. That’s a $48 billion increase just since 2009. ... That $111 billion pension shortfall means the state now has only 39 cents of every dollar it should have...

One Bankruptcy, Many Adversaries by James J. S. Johnson, J.D., Th.D. * Theistic evolution is like a mega-bankruptcy case containing an almost countless number of adversaries and contests, like piecemeal mini-lawsuits that in aggregate address smaller conflicts within a large-scale mess.1 Within this big picture it’s important to keep in mind that every small-scale “contested matter” and every “adversary” conflict is an important opportunity to advocate for truth.2 Imagine the component problems involved in these famous bankruptcies: Texaco, Chrysler, Enron, CIT Group, Worldcom, General Motors, Washington Mutual, and Lehman Brothers.1 Let’s quickly review some federal bankruptcy law.

The federal government paid $2,007,358,200,000 in benefits and entitlements in fiscal year 2013 from government programs, according to data from the Bureau of the Fiscal Service’s Monthly Treasury Statement. The treasury statement summarizes the financial activities of the federal government, including data on government receipts, outlays, and surplus and deficit totals. The September 2013 monthly treasury statement calculates these metrics for the entire fiscal year of 2013, which began on October 1, 2012 and ended on September 30, 2013. According to the statement, the federal government’s total outlays, otherwise known as spending, for means-tested and non-means tested government programs—not including...

There are many ways to look at the United States government debt, obligations, and assets. Liabilities include Treasury debt held by the public or more broadly total Treasury debt outstanding. ThereÂ’s unfunded liabilities like Medicare and Social Security. And then the assets of all the real estate, all the equities, all the bonds, all the depositsÂ…all at todayÂ’s valuations. But letÂ’s cut straight to the bottom line and add it all upÂ…$89.5 trillion in liabilities and $82 trillion in assets. There. ItÂ’s not a secret anymoreÂ…and although these are all government numbers, for some strange reason the government never adds...

A group dedicated to saving the planet by cutting runaway population increases is raising a new and shocking issue in Washington’s bitter fight over immigration reform: Most of the nation’s population growth is from immigrants, and they are consuming resources dangerously fast. According to Negative Population Growth Inc., 80 percent of the growth in U.S. population comes from immigration, legal, illegal and among American-born children of immigrants. “With increased population, we see a direct increase in the problems our nation faces on a daily basis: pollution, over-consumption, traffic gridlock, crowded schools and hospitals, overburdened social services, unemployment, crumbling infrastructure, urban

A newly released survey of 653 of California’s 1,058 school systems reports teachers were paid on average $84,489, while 33 administrators earned more than $250,000 in pay alone last year. The pay and compensation information was complied by The California Policy Center, a nonpartisan conservative public policy think tank that runs Transparent California, which posted the survey for the public to review at transparentcalifornia.com “We’re doing this because the public employs the public sector; and members of the public, as voters are being continually asked to approve tax increase and bond measures,” Policy Center Director Ed Ring said. “You can’t...

A recent report by JP Morgan’s Michael Cembalest provides a fresh look at the problem of state indebtedness. Cembalest, global head of investment strategy, is best known for his writings on housing and for flagging Bernard Madoff’s fund and refusing to invest in it, even while other divisions at JPMorgan gleefully did so. Cembalest looks at state governments’ annual payments towards bonded debt interest and retirement liabilities (defined-benefit and defined-contribution pensions as well as retiree healthcare benefits) expressed as percentage of total annual revenue. In addition to assessing states’ default risk, this approach quantifies exactly how much debt expenditures are...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of children unaccompanied by parents or relatives are flooding across the southern U.S. border illegally, forcing the Obama administration and Congress to grapple with both a humanitarian crisis and a budget dilemma. An estimated 60,000 such children will pour into the United States this year, according to the administration, up from about 6,000 in 2011. Now, Washington is trying to figure out how to pay for their food, housing and transportation once they are taken into custody. The flow is expected to grow. The number of unaccompanied, undocumented immigrants who are under 18 will...

The Motor City has a deal for you—classical homes with a starting price of just $1,000. The online auction for abandoned, but sturdy homes is the latest plan by city leaders to fight blight and boost property values as Detroit crawls its way out of bankruptcy. […] The city isn’t hiding the fact that nearly all of the homes up for auction will require a lot of work to repair. …

As more solar farms arise in the sunny corners of the U.S., it’s inevitable that solar developers will have to play ball with environmentalists. First Solar and SunPower announced an agreement with the environmental groups to add thousands of acres near their projects for wildlife protection. As more solar farms arise in the sunny corners of the U.S., it’s inevitable that solar developers will have to play ball with environmental groups. First Solar and SunPower announced an agreement on Tuesday with the Sierra Club and others to add thousands of acres near their proposed projects for wildlife protection. The agreement...

Bridgewater Associates did an analysis of pension funds recently and concluded 85% of them will fail if returns average 4%. Bridgewater notes that public pensions have just $3 trillion in assets to invest to cover future retirement payments of $10 trillion over the next many decades. It would take an investment return of roughly 9% a year to meet those obligations. With the 30-Year long bond yielding a mere 3.5% and with stock valuation through the roof, I expect negative returns for 7-10 years. Stretched out over 30 years, 4% seems about right. 9% is out of the question. CNBC...

A new report from WHEC in Rochester is painting a very bleak scenario for New Yorkers, some forced to choose between buying groceries or purchasing Obamacare plans, some concerned about going bankrupt after falling ill. So why are New Yorkers concerned about going bankrupt due to Obamacare? Especially when the President has continually made such statements as, “I am as proud as I’ve ever been by the work we did to make sure that in this country, if you get sick you don’t go bankrupt and that you can get the health care that you need”? And why are they...

I wish that this were just another bad April Fools' Day joke, but sadly, this story is all too real. Since President Barack Hussein Obama was inaugurated into office a little over five years ago, Obama, Pelosi, and Reid have doubled America's publicly held debt, an increase of more than 6.3 trillion dollars: Date                   Debt Held by the Public         Intragovernmental Holdings   Total Public Debt Outstanding 03/31/2014        6,307,310,739,681.66          4,319,566,309,231.42          10,626,877,048,913.08 8/19/2011          12,619,319,113,193.99 ...

DETROIT, MI -- Wayne State administrators are using Detroit's financial calamity to teach. A new course, "Detroit: Metropolis in Transition," will be offered by the the Department of Urban Studies and Planning beginning this summer. **SNIP** The lecture will cover Detroit's history up to present day and "issues such as the city's frustrated attempts at regionalism and its persistence as the largest metro are in the United States without a comprehensive, rail-based public transit system."

“What the hell is this, a joke?” Speaker of the House John Boehner said in reaction to news this week that yet another “deadline” in the Affordable Care Act had been unilaterally delayed by the Obama administration. Unfortunately, the answer to that question is yes, and it’s becoming increasingly clear that the joke is on the American taxpayer. Late Tuesday, the Department of Health and Human Services – which has taken to bragging about “enrollment” numbers that fall millions short of their original goals – announced that the March 31st deadline for open enrollment had become more of a guideline....

Detroit's looming bankruptcy is making news again, this time focusing on current restructuring plans aimed to wipe out $18 billion in debt by axing pension checks of city retirees, including police and fire. Massive long-term retirement and healthcare promises were by no means solely responsible for the city's fall, but these massive pensions coupled with a tax base weakened by high unemployment and housing vacancies caused the budget to bleed out quicker. The Michigan city may be the most recent victim of bankruptcy, but many of the 61 largest U.S. cities have adopted the same retirement legacy leading to $118...

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has posted a request to purchase “assorted small arms ammunition,” reports political analyst Michael Lotfi. The solicitation by the USPS was posted on FBO.gov, the federal government’s federal business opportunities website. The process is now underway to arrange for the purchase of guns and ammo for some undisclosed use by the post office. As Lotfi points out, it is curious that the postal service can afford to arm itself given their precarious financial position: The USPS has been posting $1-5 billion quarterly losses for years. In fiscal year (FY) 2012 alone the USPS lost a...

Federal spending and debt are out of control If America does not change course, the future will be dramatically worse. Now more than ever, it is crucial that Americans understand what our nation's spending, taxes, and debt mean for them and their families. The Heritage Foundation's Federal Budget in Pictures offers a unique tool to learn about the federal budget in a clear and compelling way.

Republicans in the Senate are struggling to come up with the five votes they'd need to ensure passage on Wednesday of a House bill raising the debt ceiling. The measure is likely to win support from the upper chamber's 53 Democrats and the two Independents that caucus with Democrats. But only one Republican, Sen. Mark Kirk (Ill.), has so far said he would back the bill. The measure needs 60 votes because Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is filibustering the bill over the lack of spending reforms attached to it. Kirk told The Hill the vote would be close. “I think...