Free Republic

Since announcing his presidential candidacy in June, Jeb Bush has made clear his distaste for officials who trade on their connections. He has assailed the revolving-door culture of Washington, calling for “a little bit of a recession” there to thin the ranks of the permanent political class. He has proposed a strict six-year ban on lobbying for departing members of the House and the Senate.Snip...Yet a review of Mr. Bush’s finances shows that he has built his personal wealth with the help of companies that had business interests with Florida while he was governor, and that singled out his political...

Eighty-one major corporations with operations in the U.S.—including Google, Facebook, Apple, Coca Cola and General Motors—have taken a White House pledge “to demonstrate their support for action on climate change and the conclusion of a climate change agreement in Paris that takes a strong step forward toward a low-carbon, sustainable future.” Signing the White House’s American Business Act on Climate Change Pledge shows a continuing commitment to action preventing global warming and is intended to set an example for other companies to pursue similar policies, according to a statement released by the White House. It also shows the signatories’ support...

The TPP, like many treaties before it, embraces the Investor-State Dispute Settlement process (ISDS), which allows corporate actors to sue sovereign nations to seek compensation for rules or regulations that impede the corporation’s ability to maximize profits. Unlike national courts that commonly allow corporations to sue to recoup actual investments, ISDS insists that corporations be compensated for expected profits, sometimes profits they anticipate decades into the future. The ISDS process is one-sided and undemocratic. Corporate claims against sovereign states are heard in special courts overseen by a handful of judges, most of whom are corporate lawyers. Once the ISDS panel...

Washington corrupts, and Congressman Stephen Fincher is proof... It would be an understatement to say Fincher has come to terms with boondoggles and special interests. Fincher, once an opponent of the Export-Import Bank —a federal agency that subsidizes foreign buyers of U.S.-made goods — now is trying to undermine his party's leadership by teaming up with Nancy Pelosi and her party in order to reauthorize Ex-Im Bank.... Fincher has raised a quarter-million for his re-election, according to his most recent campaign finance filing...... More than 99 percent of the money powering Fincher's re-election bid comes from political action committees (almost...

Last week Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley hit back against Obama’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after the agency pushed through, during a congressional recess, a major immigration item that has long been on the technology lobby’s wish list. According to a new “policy memorandum,” Obama’s immigration authorities will now be redefining the term “specialized knowledge” as it applies to the L-1B visa, a program previously aimed at bringing over highly sought-after “intracompany transferees” from American firms’ affiliated companies abroad. No doubt burned by Congress’s “stubborn” refusal to raise the cap on annual cap on H-1B visas (which are...

President Barack Obama urged Congress on Wednesday to avoid another contentious budget showdown and warned that the economy would take a hit if the government shuts down again. Obama blamed Republicans for the shutdown two years ago and made clear he would so again if it comes to that. “You’ll recall two years ago Republicans shut down the government because they didn’t like Obamacare. Today, some are suggesting the government should be shut down because they don’t like Planned Parenthood,” Obama said. “That’s not good sense, and it’s not good business.” A partial shutdown will occur Oct. 1 unless lawmakers...

The Justice Department issued new guidance to its prosecutors on Wednesday, aimed at encouraging more white-collar criminal cases against corporate executives. The new policies come amid persistent criticism that the Justice Department, even while negotiating multi-billion-dollar settlements with large banks, has not been aggressive in prosecuting individuals for financial misconduct—including after the mortgage crisis that devastated the U.S. economy. The policy changes were outlined in a memo issued to Justice Department attorneys and to the FBI, and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates was expected to discuss the issue in a speech Thursday at New York University’s law school. Though it’s...

167 Monday at an AFL-CIO Labor Day event in Pittsburgh, Vice President Joe Biden ranted about the economy as it pertains to the American labor force. Biden said, “We can’t let the changes that have taken place and crept in for the last twenty years— but they have been devastating for workers. I hope everybody in America has a chance to become millionaire and we need billionaires. But let me tell you something, man, The tax code’s not fair. It’s simply not fair. The wealthy aren’t paying their fair share. It used to be one America everybody was in on...

Charles Koch is no Ben Franklin. But he has a right to speak, write, and purchase advertising that espouses his views. If the president can’t accept — and champion — that concept, he’s running afoul of 240 years of American history. And if he wants to live in a country that doesn’t allow it, there’s always Russia. They don’t do that in Russia.

In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News, GOP front runner Donald Trump is firing back at the Club for Growth. “They’re a pack of thieves,” Trump told Breitbart News as he was leaving Nashville’s Rocketown facility. He had just finished delivering a high-energy speech to an overflow crowd of more than 1,000 people. Trump was attending the annual convention of the National Federation of Republican Assemblies, which describes itself as “the grassroots Republican wing of the Republican Party.” “They [the Club for Growth] came to my office looking for money. I turned them down. That’s why they’re after me,” Trump...

Local doctors are in the eye of a storm swirling for the past three years over whether corn that’s been genetically modified to resist pesticides is a source of prosperity, as companies claim, or of birth defects and illnesses Pediatrician Carla Nelson remembers catching sight of the unusually pale newborn, then hearing an abnormal heartbeat through the stethoscope and thinking that something was terribly wrong. The baby was born minutes before with a severe heart malformation that would require complex surgery. What worried her as she waited for the ambulance plane to take the infant from Waimea, on the island...

For Florida taxpayers, the move by the administration of then-Gov. Jeb Bush to forge a relationship with Lehman Brothers would ultimately prove disastrous. Transactions in 2005 and 2006 put the Wall Street investment bank in charge of some $250 million worth of pension funds for Florida cops, teachers and firefighters. Lehman would capture more than $5 million in fees on these deals, while gaining additional contracts to manage another $1.2 billion of Florida's money. Then, in the fall of 2008, Lehman collapsed into bankruptcy, leaving Florida facing up to $1 billion in losses.But for Jeb Bush personally, his enduring relationship...

For those that are thinking Fiorina is a good choice to get behind, that she is a good debater, goes hard after hitlery, etc., it's incumbent on all of us to know who she REALLY is: A few tidbits: When the police in Baltimore were arrested she said 'we all breathed a sigh of relief' (all over the interwebs) In 2008, Fiorina supported the Wall Street Bailout known as TARP and even advocated that it was insufficient. (Fox News) Fiorina supported portions of the Obama stimulus, particularly broadband subsidies. ....(Information Week) Fiorina called on more government intervention into the housing...

Former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina said Monday that adult illegal immigrants should not receive a path to citizenship under an immigration fix, but said she is open to giving their children citizenship. Mrs. Fiorina, who is running for the GOP presidential nomination, also said she could support giving those who “have come here illegally and stayed here illegally” legal status. “I think legal status is a possibility for sure,” Mrs. Fiorina said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “I think their children maybe can become citizens.”

Crony Capitalism: Not content with the billions it gets in government help, Tesla Motors now wants tougher fuel economy standards that would cripple its competitors. Is this what passes for entrepreneurship today? In 2012, President Obama announced a new "Corporate Average Fuel Economy" standard that will require all the cars each automaker sells to get an average 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. Given the lead time that automakers need to design and test new cars, they now have only a few years to figure out how to achieve that goal. And since there are only a couple non-plug-in cars...

When House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy headlined a fundraiser in early June the room was packed with defense industry lobbyists, but reps from one megacontractor were missing — Boeing. Not only was Boeing absent at that fundraiser, the contractor has cut off all political contributions to the No. 2 House Republican over his support for killing the Export-Import Bank, which facilitates billions of dollars in low-interest loans to U.S. exporters like Boeing. General Electric, also a major supporter of renewing Ex-Im and a benefactor of the agency, has followed suit and has not contributed to the California Republican this year....

...A 2014 study conducted by Princeton and Northwestern University concluded that the U.S. government does not represent the majority of American citizens. Instead, the study found that the government is ruled by the rich and powerful, or the so-called “economic elite.” Moreover, the researchers concluded that policies enacted by this governmental elite nearly always favor special interests and lobbying groups. In other words, we are being ruled by an oligarchy disguised as a democracy, and arguably on our way towards fascism—a form of government where private corporate interests rule, money calls the shots, and the people are seen as mere...

The Export-Import Bank is the height of crony capitalism. The bank uses taxpayer subsidies to make it possible for some American companies to sell their manufactured wares overseas at a lower price. It leads to absurd results like Boeing being able to sell its planes to foreign airliners at a cheaper rate than American aviation companies can buy them. There have been indictments and charges of corruption galore related to the Export-Import Bank. It disrupts the free market, wastes taxpayer dollars and is overwhelmingly unpopular with Republicans and even some Democrats. But Washington lobbyists love it, and they have been...

Senate leadership colludes with Washington Cartel of big business and career politicians against the American taxpayer WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) today gave a powerful floor speech shining a light on the corrupt deal struck by Senate Republican leadership to allow the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank.Some key quotes are below, followed by a complete transcript and of Sen. Cruz’s remarks. Video above.“There is a profound disappointment among the American people because we keep winning elections and then we keep getting leaders who don't do anything they promised...”“We've had a Republican majority in both houses of Congress now for about six months. What has that...

In a rare and fiery weekend session, the Senate voted on Sunday to resurrect the federal Export-Import Bank, handing the Republican Party’s most conservative wing a major defeat and setting up a showdown this week with House leaders divided over the moribund export credit agency. The bipartisan vote — 67 to 26 — broke a filibuster and allowed supporters to attach a measure to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank to a three-year highway and infrastructure bill, which is expected to pass the Senate early this week. The agency’s authorization expired June 30, halting all new loan guarantees and other assistance to...