Free Republic

A Palestinian Authority refugee receives a budget four times larger than a Syrian, Iraqi or African refugee, according to a study conducted by the Abba Eban Institute for Diplomacy at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya, ahead of Sunday's visit to Israel by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Yediot Ahronot reported on Sunday. At the end of last week, the UN Refugee Agency (UNRWA), which deals only with Palestinians, released its annual financial report, which in 2016 generated an average of $246 for each of the 5.3 million Palestinians it defines as a refugee, while the United Nations High Commissioner...

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday the nation’s debt ceiling will be raised in September and that after talks with congressional leaders from both parties everyone is “on the same page.” “My strong preference is that we have a clean debt ceiling (increase), but the most important issue is the debt ceiling will be raised in September,” Mnuchin told reporters at the White House, indicating an interest in legislation that did not stray into unrelated territory. “I have had discussions with the leaders in both parties in the House and Senate and we are all on the same...

MADISON -- The state Department of Transportation has scrapped new bids on the massive Zoo Interchange project as lawmakers put the long-delayed state budget on the back burner and focus on Foxconn incentives instead.A special session will start at 11 a.m. Tuesday, August 1st on a bill that would extend $3 billion in tax breaks to the Taiwanese electronics company Foxconn, which has pledged to build a multi-billion dollar plant in southeastern Wisconsin and hire thousands of workers. A public hearing could happen this week.Meanwhile, Wisconsin's budget is a month late. Without funding, the state DOT has withdrawn three proposals...

Connecticut, home to hedge fund billionaires alongside cities mired in poverty, is racing against the clock to pass a budget or face further spending cuts to education and municipal aid across the state. Nearly two months without a budget, Connecticut is getting crushed by a burdensome debt load that has squeezed spending and amplified legislative discord. State lawmakers must agree on a biennial budget soon or else Governor Dannel Malloy’s executive order to slash state aid to municipalities and eliminate school funding for some districts will go into effect in October. The state faces a $3.5 billion deficit over the...

The unusual spate of collisions, two of them fatal, has called into question the US Navy’s level of preparedness, analysts say, and point to potential problems with training, maintenance, or sailors’ workload. WASHINGTON—A recent spate of collisions involving US Navy ships from the Seventh Fleet, two of them fatal, has led the Navy to relieve that fleet’s commander, Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, reportedly after his superiors lost confidence in his leadership. The latest collision, Monday off the coast of Singapore, was between the guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain and a Liberian-flagged tanker. Ten sailors were reported missing, and the...

Illinois is broke and continues to flirt with junk bond status. But the state’s financial woes aren’t stopping 63,000 government employees from bringing home six-figure salaries and higher. Whenever we open the books, Illinois is consistently one of the worst offenders. Recently, we found auto pound supervisors in Chicago making $144,453; nurses at state corrections earning up to $254,781; junior college presidents making $465,420; university doctors earning $1.6 million; and 84 small-town “managers” out-earning every U.S. governor. Using our interactive mapping tool, quickly review (by ZIP code) the 63,000 Illinois public employees who earn more than $100,000 and cost taxpayers...

Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said Wednesday the Congressional Budget Office sabotaged scoring of the Republican health care bill. (Photo/AARON P. BERNSTEIN/REUTERS) July 14, 2017 OAN Newsroom The Congressional Budget Office says President Trump’s proposed budget would slash the deficit and greatly help the economy. Analysis by the CBO claims the 2018 budget would reduce the deficit by $160 billion, while increasing the GDP. Additionally, cuts to health care spending would save the economy over one trillion dollars over the next decade. The White House says it is thrilled by the CBO’s analysis, and claims the president’s...

Illinois started its third straight fiscal year without a state budget on Saturday, territory that could mean some universities won't be able to offer federal financial aid, road construction and Powerball ticket sales will halt, and the state's credit rating will be downgraded to "junk." While a spending plan got early approval in the House on Friday, the chamber later adjourned for the day, with House Speaker Michael Madigan saying they would return Saturday — the first day of the new fiscal year.

New Jerseyans were feeling the impact as a state government shutdown took effect Saturday, shuttering parks and other public sites and disrupting ferry service to Liberty and Ellis islands. Among those affected were a group of Cub Scouts forced to leave a state park campsite and people trying to obtain or renew documents from the state motor vehicle commission, among the agencies closed by the shutdown. Meanwhile, Republican Gov. Chris Christie and the Democrat-led Legislature planned to return to work Saturday to try to resolve the shutdown, the state’s first since 2006 and the first under Christie. It came about...

Our columnist Jazz Shaw wrote earlier in the week about the dreadful financial crisis in the state of Illinois. The deadline for a budget deal is July 1st which makes tomorrow the last day for lawmakers to try to arrive at the state’s first budget agreement in three years. From CNN Money: After decades of historic mismanagement, Illinois is now grappling with $15 billion of unpaid bills and an unthinkable quarter-trillion dollars owed to public employees when they retire.The budget crisis has forced Illinois to jack up property taxes so high that people are leaving in droves. Illinois may...

In Illinois, people are moving out as political leaders are locked in an impasse over the state budget. (Sound familiar?) The bond rating for the Land of Lincoln is close to junk status because of the standoff. There is an ugly lesson here for Connecticut's General Assembly: Don't be like basket-case Illinois. Connecticut is headed there, however, if the legislature doesn't end its budget deadlock and address the problems that are putting the state deep in the hole - a $5 billion budget hole over two years. Aetna drove that point home Thursday morning with the message that it's moving...

TRENTON -- State parks could close ahead of the July 4 holiday because of budget gridlock at the Statehouse, Gov. Chris Christie warned Thursday evening. In a hastily called news conference, the governor mentioned that many families are planning to go to state parks this weekend as he railed against Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto, who he accused of reneging on a bipartisan budget agreement. The impasse threatens to shut down the government for the first time since 2006 unless a budget is signed by midnight on Friday. "If Speaker Prieto wants to close the government, this is going to be...

It's possible Illinois is about to come down with a statewide case of Seasonal Affected Disorder. The season is construction, which an old joke says is one of two in Illinois. The disorder is the continuing one in Springfield, where the ongoing budget crisis is about to shut down road projects during the height of that season. And the affected are everyone from officials who work to put needed projects together, to the drivers who have to negotiate construction zones and torn up streets. In Aurora, workers last week got the barriers and cones out to reduce Farnsworth Avenue, near...

Illinois is the reason people hate government. The state is in the middle of a terrible financial crisis and two political titans are battling over bragging rights to the political carnage. Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, who is likely to spend more than $100 million on his political campaign if he runs for re-election next year, claims to be on the side of reform. Rauner wants to freeze property taxes, cut worker’s compensation and undermine collective bargaining rights. He would also like term limits for state officials and reduce the gerrymandering of legislative districts. On the other side there is Michael...

The popular Powerball lottery and Mega Millions games will drop Illinois at the end of June without a budget agreement, Illinois Lottery officials said Thursday. Concern over the state’s fiscal condition prompted the Multi-State Lottery Association to drop Powerball in Illinois, according to internal Illinois Lottery communications obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times. Mega Millions also plans to drop the state unless a budget agreement comes together, state officials confirmed. Without a budget in place, the state isn’t authorized to make payments to Mega Millions or the association. Those decisions were reached at national lottery meetings held this week, Illinois Lottery...

The Trump administration announced on Thursday it would be eliminating an obscure rule requiring federal agencies to provide updates on how they will prepare for a bug that infected computers in 2000. In addition to eliminating the Y2K bug rule, agencies will also be eradicating dozens of other paperwork requirements. For example, the Pentagon will not have to file a report each time a small business vendor is paid, which consumes approximately 1,200 man hours, according to Bloomberg. "We're looking for stuff everyone agrees is a complete waste of time," Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney told reporters...

CHICAGO — A published report says the multi-state lottery association overseeing Powerball and Mega Millions games will dump Illinois by the end of June if the state doesn’t end its budget impasse. Illinois Lottery spokesman Jason Schaumburg tells The Chicago Sun-Times it’s another example of why Illinois needs a budget. The newspaper also cites internal lottery communications showing concern about Illinois’ finances. The budget stalemate could enter a third year if lawmakers don’t reach agreement by July 1. Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democrats controlling the Legislature have been deadlocked since 2015. The Sun-Times says Illinois reported $99 million in...

Now that the long Memorial Day holiday is over and legislators and the governor have returned from their road trips, we hope they have a better sense of the condition of highways around the state and a renewed sense of urgency on the need for upgrades and repairs. The first order of business, it would seem to us, is to come to some agreement on a state transportation budget for the next two years. Hopefully, hopefully, when that is done they will also take a longer-term view of Wisconsin’s highway construction needs and how best they should be met —...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Repairing the nation's crumbling roads and bridges was supposed to be an area ripe for bipartisan compromise between congressional Democrats and President Donald Trump. Instead, Democrats are panning Trump's proposed $1 trillion overhaul and even Republicans are balking at some aspects of the emerging plan. The White House's self-proclaimed "Infrastructure Week" began with Trump appearing Monday with aviation officials and some prominent GOP lawmakers to announce plans to privatize the nation's air traffic control system and separate operations from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday slammed a comment from former Vice President Joe Biden about how budgets reflect priorities. "Don't tell me what you value; show me your budget and I'll tell you what you value," Biden had said. Sen. Chris Coons (D., Del.) mentioned Biden's quote during Tuesday's Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing with Tillerson. Coons used the quote to reference the Trump administration's proposed funding cuts to the State Department's budget. Tillerson said that results gauged values more than funding. "Having the funds are certainly appreciated and needed, but then we have to be able to...