Free Republic

Senator Elizabeth Warren proposes a ban on stock ownership by members of Congress. “They can put their savings in conflict-free investments like mutual funds,” she explained last week, “or they can pick a different line of work.” Given that a greater number of Americans own stocks than homes, the proposal seems like a difficult one to implement. The fact that lawmakers generally hail from the stock-owning class, a group about as large as the middle class, complicates the matter further. “I don’t think the solution is an outright ban,” Secret Empires author Peter Schweizer, journalism’s foremost scourge of political corruption,...

"Are you on the take?" When I tried to get Edgewater, New Jersey, politicians to answer that question, the mayor wouldn't discuss it, ultimately telling me, "You may sit down." The town of Edgewater is right across the Hudson River from Manhattan. Anyone fortunate enough to live there gets a spectacular view of New York City's skyline. But the Edgewater city government wants to seize a choice piece of waterfront land for itself. The spot in question is owned by a developer, the Maxal Group. Maxal bought the property for about $26 million and then spent millions more to clean...

Here's a bet: Congress will end up "cracking down" on Facebook with "tough" regulations that Facebook will probably protest quite vigorously. And then Facebook profits will go up. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Facebook, withstood two days of questioning in Congress this week. You could tell Zuckerberg took it very seriously, not least because he shed his traditional T-shirt and hoodie in favor of a grown-up suit. Again and again, he was asked whether he was opposed to regulation. "You embrace regulation?" asked Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). "I think the real question, as the internet becomes more important...

There’s a common misconception that businesses support Republicans and oppose Democrats because Democrats want the government to interfere with the free market, and businesses just want the government to leave them alone. Reality is exactly the opposite. When I first moved to Washington I thought the same thing, then I worked in and around it. The dirty little secret is most businesses love government interfering with their industries. It seems counterintuitive, but it’s true. A large percentage of the regulations that govern most industries are written, at least in part, not to protect consumers but to protect those businesses from...

In the eight years since he left the Florida governor’s mansion, Jeb Bush has raked in nearly $30 million. Who paid him and for what? And what “services” did Bush perform for those who gave him millions?

U.S. adults disregard potential negative impact of Amazon's presence Time is running out for cities to submit their bids to become Amazon.com Inc.’s second home. The tech giant announced plans last month to open up a second headquarters — and its hunt for a host city. Bids from metropolitan areas are due Thursday. There are plenty of willing contestants: Mayors across the country have launched viral-worthy campaigns enticing Amazon to choose their cities, with the winner set to be announced sometime in 2018. A Sept. 29-Oct. 1 Morning Consult survey found that 72 percent of a national sample of 2,201...

Widening earlier claims of immigration fraud at the Tesla factory, a recently unsealed whistleblower suit says several other major automakers, including Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen, illegally used foreign construction workers to build their U.S. factories. The charges expand on an investigation by this news organization last year into foreign construction workers building Tesla’s paint shop in Fremont. The federal suit charges that the carmakers used hundreds of Eastern European workers on suspect visas hired through subcontractors for the German company Eisenmann. The investigation, “The Hidden Workforce Expanding Tesla’s Factory,” and court documents revealed at least 140 foreign workers on questionable...

Elon Musk is a very creative guy. We all know it, and often admire it. He’s the guy who’s going to colonize Mars, the guy who’s going to roof your house with solar shingle and pave highways with solar pavers. He’s also the guy who is now bringing us the Tesla 3 electric motor car, his new, more compact and sporty model for which he claims to have already received 500,000 orders. It’s all so wonderful, and his giant PR operation issues about 27 press releases a week bragging about his every move. Well, ok, not quote every move. Here’s...

Top Democrats in Washington hate President Donald Trump and are determined to stop him. That is, until their corporate lobbying clients — like the major airlines — need to pressure Trump to get rid of “unfair competition” in their industry. Then, all of a sudden, they become populist nationalists.

LONDON — The rest of the planet bears a warning for President Trump’s plan to lean heavily on private business in conjuring a trillion dollars’ worth of American infrastructure: Handing profit-making companies responsibility for public works can produce trouble. In India, politically connected firms have captured contracts on the strength of relationships with officialdom, yielding defective engineering at bloated prices. When Britain handed control to private companies to upgrade London’s subway system more than a decade ago, the result was substandard, budget-busting work, prompting the government to step back in. Canada has suffered a string of excessive costs on public...

Cronyism is alive and well in the Swamp. “We The People” who resoundingly voted to “Drain the Swamp” will lose if the status quo is allowed to win. “Status quo, you know, is Latin for ‘the mess we’re in’.”—Ronald Reagan Crony capitalism is defined as an economic system characterized by close, mutually advantageous relationships between business leaders and government officials. Many of our nation’s biggest companies come to the Washington Swamp, to hire lobbyists to preserve tax breaks, to use the power of government for competitive reasons or to secure government money for corporate projects. And Elizabeth Warren is happy...

The toxic dollar is bringing hell in a handbasket. Along with the student loan debt bubble and other major financial factors, the looming pensions crisis is bound to be the death of us all. Because it’s based on a future promise to pay, it has long been a benefit dangled to solve strikes and union disputes – because, in the end, it is just more debt, whether private or public. With tens of trillions in unfunded liabilities, the weight of an avalanche remains dangling over our heads. An aging population is cashing in on needed retirement benefits while the younger...

As soon as President Trump signed his executive order calling for two regulations to be eliminated for every new one enacted, the usual suspects started to complain. Union of Concerned Scientists President Ken Kimmell called it "absurd, imposing a Sophie's Choice on federal agencies." William Gale of the left-of-center Brookings Institution complained that "there's no logic to this." Public Citizen head Robert Weissman called Trump's order "unworkable," "harmful," "unprecedented and untested," and "horrifying." "Americans will once again have to pay the price for the consequences of corporate recklessness, greed and lawbreaking," Weissman added for good measure. Trump's executive order, signed...

When President-Elect Donald Trump helped convince Carrier Corp. to keep 1,069 jobs in the Indianapolis region, you would have thought he had all employed all manner of socialism to achieve this success — judging from the criticism lobbed by political adversaries. The opposition to the Carrier deal came mostly from the Right — but in some cases, came from the Left, too. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, an early Trump supporter, called it “special-interest crony capitalism.” The Weekly Standard founder and the father of “NeverTrump,” William Kristol, said it violated the rule of law and was arbitrary government bullying (although Trump is...

Six weeks from taking office, Donald Trump says he wants the government to cut some costs by canceling its order for a new Air Force One, the plane that carries presidents around the globe. The government has contracted with Boeing to build two or more new planes, which would go into service around 2024. That means Trump wouldn’t fly on the new planes unless he pursued and won a second term. But the Air Force has pressed for a faster schedule, saying the current planes are becoming too expensive to repair and keep in good flying shape. The contract for...

I am ecstatic for Carrier employees! Their bosses just decided to keep shop onshore. What a relief for hundreds of workers. Merry Christmas Indiana! We don't yet know terms of the public/private deal that was cut to make the company stay, but let's hope every business is equally incentivized to keep Americans working in America. Foundational to our exceptional nation's sacred private property rights, a business must have freedom to locate where it wishes. In a free market, if a business makes a mistake (including a marketing mistake that perhaps Carrier executives made), threatening to move elsewhere claiming efficiency's sake,...

Former Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin, who is reportedly under consideration for a spot in President-elect Donald Trump’s administration, criticized Trump’s recent deal with Carrier to keep jobs in the United States. Trump visited the Carrier plant in Indianapolis on Thursday and touted the deal during a speech after the visit in front of a Carrier banner. Carrier will keep about 1,000 jobs in Indiana, instead of moving them to Mexico. In exchange, the state of Indiana is giving the company about $7 million in incentives. Vice president-elect Mike Pence in the current governor of Indiana. “When government steps in...

Does she not know that Trump assured Carrier that he'll reduce the regulatory climate and lower taxes across the board, which will help not only Carrier but all American businesses overall. How is this crony capitalism? As far as tax credits or subsidies are concerned, those came from the state of IN. The point is, is that now's not the time to be engaging in this self-defeating crap. Trump already got his hands full by fighting off Hillary from stealing the election from him and walking on eggshells while Obola is still in the WH. Discuss this privately with Trump...

Sarah Palin is criticizing President-elect Donald Trump’s deal with Carrier, even as she is reportedly under consideration to serve as Trump's secretary of Veterans Affairs. In a op-ed in Young Conservatives published Friday, the former Alaska governor first expresses excitement for the Carrier employees whose jobs are staying in Indiana. “What a relief for hundreds of workers,” she wrote. “Merry Christmas Indiana!” But she goes onto to blast the deal as “crony capitalism" and an example of the "hallmark of corruption" and "socialism." “When government steps in arbitrarily with individual subsidies, favoring one business over others, it sets inconsistent, unfair,...

When government steps in arbitrarily with individual subsidies, favoring one business over others, it sets inconsistent, unfair, illogical precedent. Meanwhile, the invisible hand that best orchestrates a free people’s free enterprise system gets amputated. Then, special interests creep in and manipulate markets. Republicans oppose this, remember? Instead, we support competition on a level playing field, remember? Because we know special interest crony capitalism is one big fail.