Free Republic

Remember, the allegations made by various legal folks in the practice (and apparently validated by the case law thus far) is that not one note has been able to be produced that contains all of the required conveyances and endorsements. What's going to happen when (or if) these folks gain access to the files and find that they're missing - that is, that the custodian doesn't have them? Well now that would be interesting, no? "Mortgage-backed securities" that in fact have no mortgages in them? Why that would be a wee problem, no?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama will name Warren Buffet as one of fifteen winners of the 2010 Medal of Freedom, a White House official said on Wednesday. Buffet, one of the world's most successful investors who has donated a vast chunk of his multibillion dollar fortune to charity, will receive the medal at a White House ceremony early next year. .. Buffet is one of Obama's closest defenders in the business community..

Breaking: Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski wins re-election to Senate as write-in candidate

KRISTINE KAISER: We must stop the corporate takeover of AmericaHigh Point Enterprise 18 hrs ago Corporations are making their move and will soon rule American politics. They are giving big money to the GOP, with the hopes of grabbing American electoral power. You see, they operate with one disadvantage; they are not people and cannot vote. So, they need front groups, regular people to carry their banners. Some people want to rub elbows with power. Others delight in the contrariness of being for the other fellow and negating their own interests. Some people are against aiding neighbors. But all, I...

***SNIP*** So I'm delighted the Democrats are finally hitting back at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other Republican front groups for dumping millions of dollars of untraceable corporate contributions into the election, with the total likely to exceed $300 million. But since Democrats haven't exactly been innocent of taking special interest money in the past, we, ordinary citizens, need to be the ones driving this issue. We need to make the buying of our democracy the salient issue of the coming election and beyond, because it affects everything else that we need to change. ***SNIP*** We also need to...

At a time when the Michigan Economic Development Corporation is saying it is being unfairly criticized, its staffers are among the best paid in the state. According to information from a Freedom of Information Act request, the MEDC has 31 employees making $100,000 or more. The MEDC has 351 positions. Greg Main, president and CEO of the MEDC, had the top salary, at $200,000. Debra Dansby, the chief operating officer, had the second-highest salary, at $150,000. "The MEDC was structured to incorporate the best and brightest from the private sector and the state's most experienced civil servants in order to...

Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. on Tuesday announced it will close 30 of its 514 stores, and cut 120 jobs in its corporate and field support staffs as it deals with a continued weak economy. The Jacksonville-based supermarket chain wouldn't say which stores are closing until company officials can inform the employees involved, which should happen by the end of Wednesday. The stores being closed "can't operate efficiently or profitably" in this economy, CEO Peter Lynch said. "We just don't see a lot of good things down the road," he said. "These steps are being taken to position the company for another...

The operators of another Michigan electric car battery plant, A123 Systems, will receive a $100 million cash subsidy from the state for a 75-acre facility the company has leased in Romulus. The subsidy will be in the form of cash because the plant has been granted "renaissance zone" status by the Michigan Economic Development Corp. Declaring the facility a renaissance zone has the effect of converting a previously authorized $100 million "refundable" tax credit for the firm into an outright cash subsidy (rather than some-subsidy and some-tax break). The legislation authorizing the conversion was signed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm in...

After getting frustrated out of the lemons his problems gave him, David Miller made his own corporate lemonade. Due to the frustration of always having to call technical support to solve his own frequent hardware problems, he started taking the initiative to educate himself.

To qualify for an award the nominee must be government run, backed or financed, and fail a "Yellow Book" test, meaning that if a private company found in the Yellow Pages can do the work, the government should get out. The nominees are, in reverse order: Veterans Hospitals, Post Office, General Motors, Public Schools and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac For an explanation of why, please click to read.

Two brothers sign up for very long walk against corporate personhoodThe Times-Standard Posted: 05/16/2010 01:21:11 AM PDT Brothers George “Laird” Monahan, 69, and Robin Monahan, 67, have a long walk ahead of them. After a visit in Humboldt County last week, the pair is setting off from San Francisco's Golden Gate Park today to walk across the country, expecting to arrive at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. sometime before Election Day. But this is far from a casual stroll, as the brothers are walking across the country to bring attention to the recent controversial U.S. Supreme Court ruling in...

Corporate America is gambling on the minority in its political giving this year, assuming that Republicans will win big in the November midterm elections, an analysis of campaign finance reports shows. The pattern represents a distinct change from a year ago, when Barack Obama was sworn into office and Democrats took control of Congress. Back then, corporate political action committees made a shift to the Democrats, giving 58 percent of their donations to the party. So far this year, only 48 percent of the contributions from big business are going to the Democrats. The shift in political giving represents a...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democratic lawmakers on Thursday introduced legislation to blunt the impact of a recent Supreme Court ruling that allows corporations, unions and other groups to spend unlimited funds on political campaigns. Unveiled by Senator Charles Schumer on the steps of the court, the White House-backed initiative calls for the unprecedented disclosure of money in politics three months after the court ruled 5-4 that long-standing campaign finance limits violated the free speech rights of corporations. The court ruling is expected to unleash a flood of money from the traditionally pro-Republican business community to campaigns designed to favor or oppose...

Ford finance arm to cut 200 jobs in Franklin

In the banking industry in 2009, the rich got richer -- which has, of course, infuriated much of the nation. But that same basic idea, mostly minus the public infuriation factor, is playing out across the business world. The Great Recession has killed untold numbers of small firms, many of which were unable to line up financing to keep their operations afloat. But money is no problem at all for corporate America. And the biggest businesses don't need banks, at least not for loans. As the credit crisis has eased, they've been able to turn to the welcoming arms of...

Ross DeVol of the Milken Institute on the best ways to create long-term job growth.

U.S. Cannot Encourage Job Creation with Second-Highest Corporate Tax Rate Among Industrialized Nations, Scott Hodge Says...

The repatriation of the Timbit was held up by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Tim Hortons executives Wednesday as a shining example of low corporate tax rates luring business to Canada. The homegrown coffee giant has not technically been a Canadian company for years, but Tim Hortons Inc. is reorganizing as a Canadian public company after 99 per cent of shareholders voted Tuesday in favour of bringing the iconic coffee company back home from the U.S. The chain so ubiquitous north of the border had been registered in Delaware for nearly 15 years as a result of its purchase by...

Wichita Suffers From Bizjet Downturn AVIATION WEEK Joseph C. Anselmo janselmo@aviationweek.com William Garvey william_garvey@aviationweek.com Wichita, Kan. A severe downturn in the aviation industry has led to the loss of 30,000 jobs in Wichita as the impact from mass layoffs at companies such as Cessna, Hawker Beechcraft and Bombardier Learjet has rippled through small suppliers and the economy, according to Mayor Carl Brewer. Unemployment in this aviation-dependent city of 364,000 has hit 9.7% as business jet and general aviation manufacturers have throttled back on production after mass cancellations of existing orders and a dramatic reduction in new orders. "That type of...

Tax receipts decline as U.S. deficit to set recordPublished: Tuesday, August 4, 2009 Associated Press WASHINGTON — The recession is starving the government of tax revenue, just as the president and Congress are piling a major expansion of health care and other programs on the nation’s plate and struggling to find money to pay the tab. The numbers could hardly be more stark: Tax receipts are on pace to drop 18 percent this year, the biggest single-year decline since the Great Depression, while the federal deficit balloons to a record $1.8 trillion. Other figures in an Associated Press analysis underscore...