Free Republic

The Huffington Post is beside itself with indignant rage over companies moving their headquarters overseas to avoid paying the highest corporate income tax in the industrialized world. Feeling that Secretary Jack Lew was onto something when he accused companies of being economic traitors for reducing their tax burden, the HuffPo let loose a string of economic illiterate ramblings about the indecency of corporate profits.Early last week, the drug firm Mylan stomped on the Stars and Stripes as it ditched America for the Netherlands. Then, on Friday, the drug company AbbVie similarly renounced America. For 30 pieces of silver, it will...

America’s most effective extortion racket, the Department of Justice, just bullied another big bank into surrendering billions of dollars in fines. Citigroup has agreed to pay an astounding $7 billion settlement to the DOJ for apparent wrongdoing leading up to the financial crisis. Why am I suddenly reminded of Al Capone’s observation about government coercion?"A crook is a crook, and there's something healthy about his frankness in the matter. But any guy who pretends he is enforcing the law and steals on his authority is a swell snake. The worst type of these punks is the big politician.” – Al...

Well… I’m starting to run out of places to shop. Target Corporation (TGT) made the announcement on Wednesday that they have acquiesced to the Bloomberg fanatics who believe no-one should be armed while shopping. The company (politely) asked customers to keep their guns at home the next time they wander in for a DVD or Cuisinart. Of course, it’s not all bad news. After all, a Target store in San Antonio recently booted anti-gun activists from its store. The Bloomberg inspired group, Moms Demand Action (moms I know carry .380 automatics), was asked to leave the premises as they petitioned...

Google is taking a Bloomberg inspired step toward “curbing gun violence”. Once again demonstrating the level of ignorance that is prevalent in liberal corporate settings, the software company has decided to expand their ban on firearm-related content. Breitbart reported:According to Google Support's "Dangerous Products or Services" page, the company "[wants] to keep people safe both online and offline, so [they] won't allow the promotion of some products or services that cause damage, harm, or injury." Right. Google (ya know, the company that tracks your every move online) is trying to keep us safe. God bless those left coast liberals who...

One of economic professor David Brat’s central criticisms of Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor was that the House majority leader was too cozy with big business, leaving him more concerned about his relationships with K Street lobbyists than with his constituents. Although there are many reasons for Cantor’s shocking defeat last week, Brat’s attacks on the appearance of “crony capitalism” do seem to have resonated with voters in Virginia’s 7th District. Cantor’s ouster forced House Republicans to choose a new leader, and all signs suggest that they will choose House Whip Kevin McCarthy, who has launched an aggressive campaign for the...

The primary election defeat of House majority leader Eric Cantor by the little-known Tea Party conservative David Brat has shocked business and financial elites as well as politicians and pundits. Conservative intellectuals such as Tim Carney have been arguing for a while that the right should adopt a new populism that targets “crony capitalism” and the collaboration of public and private elites at the expense of workers and small businesses. Brat is the first conservative candidate to have achieved a major electoral success by taking this line. He denounced Cantor for being too close to Wall Street and K Street,...

Big Business does some things that are utterly necessary in modern society. They build airplanes and cars. They run airlines, phone companies, credit card companies and banks. But there is not a person among us, including employees of big businesses, that has not withered with frustration from confronting these businesses with a problem and then receiving little or no results. Even though big businesses get the most attention, the vast majority of people in the U.S. work for small businesses. Small businesses by nature are more reactive and responsive to their customers. They are closer to the customer and more...

Big Business Launches Pro-Common Core Propaganda Blitz 24 March 2014 Big Business and powerful corporate lobbyists are dropping millions of dollars on a massive propaganda campaign aimed at defending Common Core from the intensifying public uproar.... Full Story:http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/education/item/17909-big-business-launches-pro-common-core-propaganda-blitz Related Articles:Common Core: A Scheme to Rewrite EducationOrwellian Nightmare: Data-mining Your KidsGOP Blasts Obama-backed National Education StandardsEducators Expose Dangers of Common Core National Education

Does the government reimburse your business when they lose money? Did the government make your business a protected monopoly? Sorry, that's how 'capitalism' works, ol' son.   For some time now I've been attempting to convey the reality that Corporate America, or otherwise casually referred to as 'Big Business', broadly speaking - is not practicing what many of us who consider ourselves conservatives would classify as legitimate capitalism. Corporatism, Corporatocracy, Corruption, Rent Seeking?, yes. Classic capitalism? - no. The obstacle in exposing it is that there is a very vocal sub-strata of so-called 'conservative' personalities – mostly radio hosts,...

Crony capitalism — the highly profitable alliance between Big Business, K Street, and the federal government — is a frequent topic of scorn for Republican critics of President Obama. But while crony capitalism has certainly flourished under the Obama administration, the GOP hasn’t exactly gone out of its way to combat the trend. Many have argued that taking on crony capitalism, and perhaps adopting a more populist tone that emphasizes the needs of working-class Americans, should be an important aspect of the GOP’s rebranded agenda. By advancing a message and a policy agenda that combat the stereotype of Republicans as...

The traditional view of American political parties and their special interest groups is that the Republican Party represents big business and social conservatives while the Democratic Party represents labor unions and the poor. However, evidence suggests that this situation has changed. Labor unions and the poor are still linked with the Democratic Party. Small business is strongly with the Republicans at the moment, thanks to Obamacare, and social conservatives still lean Republican (and certainly not toward the Democrats). However, big business has now aligned itself with the Democratic Party. Big business is working with the Democrats in favor of immigration...

As a columnist I am supposed to dispassionately convey a viewpoint to educate my readers about the topic du jour. But I am hopping mad. Not at Obama or Queen Kathleen because I lost faith and confidence in those two long ago. After the escapades of the last week, my anger is totally focused on the leaders of the businesses who are in cahoots with Obamacare -- either through providing insurance or working on the website. Once again big business allowed their greed to cause them to be exposed to politicians defaming them. After more than three years of working...

We're not out of the woods yet on Immigration 'Reform' (Amnesty) - not by a long shot. Dodged all the bullets so far? Yes, but there's more on the way. United States Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue is either bluffing about the hand of cards he's got, or he's been promised something by the pack of traitors we have yet to purge on the GOP side of the aisle. However, I have identified some trends, not just here, but internationally, that if persistent, may render further attempts at flooding sovereign nations with new waves of wage destroying migrants, null...

Even before Democrat Terry McAuliffe narrowly defeated Republican Ken Cuccinelli in the Virginia governor’s race, lobbyists representing the business community were rethinking their relationship with the GOP and planning to challenge conservative incumbents in next year’s primaries. Their goal: to replace principled conservatives with candidates who will be more protective of Big Business interests. As U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue put it, his group will get involved in primary races to produce a “more governable Republican party.” Which is why the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which says it’s strictly in “the wins business,” is threatening more electoral intervention....

The recent fiscal crisis has opened a major rift between the tea party wing of the Republican Party and business groups that traditionally have backed Republicans, with many business leaders now vowing to get involved more in GOP primaries to try to counter insurgent candidates. Tea party leaders are defiant, saying they will not change course despite criticism from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable and other top business groups. But business leaders argue that the scorched-earth tactics used by tea party Republicans during the 16-day shutdown and debate over raising the federal government’s borrowing limit marked the fourth...

Whether you realize it or not, that is what is taking place. One set of rules for the elite, but a different set for average Joe Americans - they get no one-year exemption, or a Congressional exemption. With all of this in mind, is it no wonder that Obama, Reid, Pelosi and cowardly Republicans are causing Americans to say to h e double l with it all, and leading some like Cruz, Paul, Lee, Palin and others to take a stand and fight for us?

More than a thousand conservative lawmakers and business executives are gathering this week for conference that could shape a new wave of Republican legislation in state capitols pushing for deeper tax cuts, limits on union powers and a private-sector makeover for government Medicaid programs. Attendees at the American Legislative Exchange Council were countered Thursday by a roughly equal number of protesters upset by the close ties between big businesses and lawmakers. … The conservative organization’s 40th annual meeting comes as it is experiencing increased influence due to a growth in Republican-led legislatures and enhanced opposition from liberal-leaning groups that have...

Why, when there is no question that nothing has created more wealth and eradicated more poverty than capitalism, do left wing politicians hate it so much? After all, it’s supposed to be the left that cares about the poor. The latest chapter in this ongoing saga of economic perversity is action being taken in Washington, DC, to prevent Walmart from opening stores there. The District’s city council has passed a bill, awaiting signature of the Mayor, specifically targeted to block Walmart. It raises the District’s minimum wage 50 percent to $12.50 per hour only for stores with more than $1...

Do 20- and 30-somethings prefer a womb-to-tomb quasi-communist corporate culture like Japan, or do they prefer a less secure, more competitive, corporate culture of modern America? There was a time when Americans worked for a ...

"Conservative" does not mean the same thing as "pro-business," as Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has demonstrated. McDonnell -- whose three-year record is mostly characterized by conservative policies -- this week won the largest tax hike in state history and a package of new spending on transportation. Cheering him on was Virginia's business lobby. The tax-hike-and-roads package fits well into a pattern of McDonnell veering from his conservative principles when the business lobby wants more government. McDonnell, for instance, has subsidized favored businesses and industries through tax credits and special incentives. Also, Virginia's dependence on the military-industrial complex and the "Beltway...