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As Easter and Fiesta approach, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is reminding that border crossers are allowed only 10 cascarones each. The confetti-filled eggshells also must be clean and dry and for personal use, CBP said this week in a news release. Fines for importing undeclared cascarones can run as high as $1,000 per person and up to more than $50,000 for commercial use. Cascarones are closely regulated to prevent the spread of Exotic Newcastle Disease, a highly contagious, usually fatal viral disease that affects every species of bird, the news release said. END is so virulent many birds die...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- House Speaker John Boehner will hold a press conference at 4 p.m. Eastern to discuss the across-the-board budget cuts known as the sequester, his office said. Without a deal, $85 billion in gradual budget cuts will begin on Friday,

A growing number of firearm and firearm-related companies have stated they will no longer sell items to states, counties, cities and municipalities that restrict their citizens' rights to own them. According to The Police Loophole, 34 companies have joined in publicly stating that governments who seek to restrict 2nd Amendment rights will themselves be restricted from purchasing the items they seek to limit or ban. Extreme Firepower Inc., located in Inwood, WV has had a longstanding policy that states: "The Federal Government and several states have enacted gun control laws that restrict the public from owning and possessing certain types...

The president spins his accomplishments on jobs, health care and deficit reduction in annual address. President Obama put a rosy spin on several accomplishments of his administration in his 2013 State of the Union address. The president claimed that "both parties have worked together to reduce the deficit by more than $2.5 trillion." But that's only an estimate of deficit reduction through fiscal year 2022, and it would be lower if the White House used a different starting point. Obama touted the growth of 500,000 manufacturing jobs over the past three years, but there has been a net loss of...

Remember the "Got Milk?" Campaign? And every parody that spun off from it? I propose a new "Govt ilk?" Campaign with slogans like "Govt Life?" Or "Govt Liberty?" Or "Govt Cheese?" Or "Govt Tax?" Or "Govt Share?" Freepers come up with variations and submit your thoughts and artwork here.

The chairman of the House transportation committee is calling for a hearing following a report that an obscure federal agency blew $820,000 on a conference near Las Vegas. Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, called the expenses "outrageous" but said it's "just the tip of the iceberg." "We have been trying to get the administrative costs from the agency and now we see why they have been stonewalling," he said in a statement. Mica's official said the committee has questions about increases in the agency's budget in recent years. He's planning to hold a hearing...

The United States government had more than two million reasons to celebrate Saturday. A longtime Coral Gables resident designated $1 million and his historic home to the federal government in his will to help wipe away the nation’s $15 trillion public debt. Uncle Sam put the home on 1248 Coral Way on the auction block Saturday. The winning bid: $1.175 million. The 1929, Spanish-style home belonged to James H. Davidson Jr., who lived in the home since his teenage days in 1938 and died childless last December at 87. The home was officially designated a historic landmark in November by...

(CNSNews.com) – Federal employees at several financial regulatory agencies – including the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) – are earning six-figure salaries and taking home bonuses up to $5,000, according to federal records obtained by Judicial Watch. At least 228 such regulators make $225,000 a year. In comparison, members of Congress make $174,000 a year; the Speaker of the House makes $223,500; and the majority and minority leaders pull in $193,400 a year. The records, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), show the number of employees at five of the six major financial regulatory agencies. In addition...

Blue Dog Democrat Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) said that most Americans do not understand that federal entitlements are not “bank account” programs that hold their money, adding that Social Security is not even a legal guarantee -- "Legally, they're not even promises." Cooper, asked about potential reforms to Medicare and Medicaid, said that the core problem was that the public does not understand the true nature of entitlements. “Many Americans don’t really realize that Medicare is a government program,” Cooper said at a press conference with fellow Blue Dogs on Wednesday.

One of the features of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the health-care reform bill colloquially known as Obamacare, is the creation of insurance exchanges that will offer heavily subsidized policies and coverage for people who cannot get insurance through their employers. In projecting the program's costs, the Congressional Budget Office figures that about 7 percent of the workforce currently covered by employer-provided insurance will drop those policies and sign up for the subsidized insurance. That estimate - and hence, the cost structure of the program - has been challenged by sources such as McKinsey & Company, the consulting...

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Moody's Investors Service said late Wednesday it placed the U.S. government's triple-A bond rating on review for possible downgrade due to rising risk of default. "The review of the U.S. government's bond rating is prompted by the possibility that the debt limit will not be raised in time to prevent a missed payment of interest or principal on outstanding bonds and notes. As such, there is a small but rising risk of a short-lived default," Moody's said. The rating agency stressed that it considers the probability of a default to be low but no longer minimal.

Wasteful health chiefs have been paying almost £50 for a £2 packet of pasta, it has emerged. While many shoppers have been watching every penny they spend, it would appear some health service bosses have been acting far less frugally with taxpayer cash. Now one NHS Trust has finally come to its senses and is getting patients to buy the packets in supermarkets for £2. Everyone who previously had gluten-free pasta on prescription from the Eastern and Coastal Kent NHS Trust has now been advised to buy it themselves.

Washington – The Obama administration said Wednesday that the government will lose about $14 billion in taxpayer funds from the bailout of the U.S. auto industry. In a report from the president's National Economic Council, officials said that figure is down from the 60 percent the Treasury Department originally estimated the government would lose following its $80 billion bailout of Chrysler and General Motors in 2009. The report's release coincides with the administration's efforts to tout the bailout's role in the revitalization of the U.S. auto industry after last week's announcement that Chrysler is repaying $5.9 billion in U.S.

Government Shutdown. That’s the topic du jour in the Newsiverse. But is a government shutdown as terrifying as these talking heads are leading us to believe? Maybe it is a very bad thing if you are one of the people about to be furloughed, then again, maybe not.There are some 800,000 government employees who are considered ‘non essential’ and they are all being told of their status today, just in case a last-minute deal is not struck.Who qualifies as essential and gets to stay on the job? Our troops, air traffic controllers and postal workers are considered to be ‘essential’ and...

Ministerial team approves new apartments in West Bank blocs; Danny Dayan: It's a pity that parents, children need to be murdered for building to take place; calls for new Itamar neighborhood in name of victims. The ministerial team for settlements approved hundreds of new apartments in the settlements of Ma'ale Adumim, Ariel, Kiryat Sefer and in Gush Etzion in a special meeting on Saturday. The move comes in the wake of a terrorist attack on Friday in which five members of one family were stabbed to death in the West Bank settlement of Itamar. Among the participants in the specially...

RUSH: From Sunday morning ABC's This Week Needs David Brinkley. This is during the panel discussion, George Will with Christiane Amanpour. Amanpour said, "We talk about symbolism, what the president needs to do. Politically he's moved to the center." Typical. He hasn't, Christiane, he won't move to the center. Anyway, "He's heeded the call of the people, so to speak," she says. "But when it comes to real solutions how do you kick-start and how do you make a dent in that 9.4% unemployment figure?" And this is what George Will said to Christiane Amanpour. WILL: I had lunch this...

A surprising number of people on Wall Street will tell you not to worry too much about inflation. After all, they'll say, just look at the numbers. The inflation picture is incredibly benign. In the past 12 months the Consumer Price Index has risen just 1.5%—a remarkably low rate. And when you strip out volatile food and energy costs, they'll say, it's even lower—a meager 0.8%. It doesn't stop there. Many economists will point out that wages are also rising by less than 2% a year. With so many people still out of work, goes the line, labor costs are...

Criminal investigations "are being frustrated" because no law currently exists to force Internet providers to keep track of what their customers are doing, the U.S. Department of Justice will announce tomorrow. CNET obtained a copy of the department's position on mandatory data retention--saying Congress should strike a "more appropriate balance" between privacy and police concerns--that will be announced at a House of Representatives hearing tomorrow.

Many people do not know that the Federal Reserve is a private company and not a government agency. In fact, the Fed is not part of the government in any way. We believe that abolishing the Fed needs to be our number 1 national priority. We intend to beat the Fed in court similar to the way the Big Tobacco companies were defeated. Nearly all of the country’s economic problems will be solved when the Fed is abolished. Our Mission Statement Our Mission is to lead, organize, fund and manage an ongoing series of class action lawsuits directed against the...

For their ****ups? All we've got so far is Congresspeople threatening to introduce more laws that won't be enforced, just like the laws that weren't enforced this time. One example One of the fiercest gun-control advocates in Congress, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), pounced on the shooting massacre in Tucson Sunday, promising to introduce legislation as soon as Monday. How about a bill to lock up that Sheriff out there in Arizona - or an indictment for criminal negligence under existing law? You think I'm kidding? I'm not. It now appears that the suspect in this shooting posted death threats against...

At least 50 cities in California have adopted so-called crash-tax laws allowing local governments to seek reimbursement from insurance companies for the costs of sending public emergency crews to accident scenes. The fees can amount to hundreds or even thousands of dollars. If insurers don't pay, cities can hire collection agents to seek payment from the motorists involved, reports LaTi. And it's spreading, says LaTi: It's gaining momentum nationwide as cash-strapped communities seek a way to offset budget cuts This month, New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg proposed charging drivers there as much as $490 when firefighters respond to an...

Sen. Benjamin Cardin, D-Md has introduced a bill that would require the government and the private sector to require minimum cybsersecurity standards for devices that connect to the Internet. the Internet and Cybersecurity Safety Standards Act would require top government officials to determine the cost-effectiveness of requiring Internet service providers and others to develop and enforce cybersecurity safety standards, according to a press statement from Cardin's office. Cardin is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee. The bill also requires officials -- including Department of Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano, attorney general Eric Holder, and Commerce secretary...

Recently, I read up on how Iceland is doing—surprisingly well, actually. Unemployment is down, the Krona is going back up. Good balance of trade, good fiscal balance sheet. Quite the turnaround, after its troubles over the last couple of years— —so then if Iceland is doing OK, why then are we in the hole that we’re in? Why is the American economy slogging along? Why is Europe circling the drain? Why are the bond markets queasy as a patient with a low-grade malarial fever? Why is Ben Bernanke’s chin quivering and his voice quaking on 60 Minutes? (And by the...

(WSB Radio) -- Despite the freezing temperatures, hundreds fought for a place in line in Marietta to apply for federal aid to help pay their heat and power bills this winter. Only 30 people were being let in at a time at the assistance center in Marietta. "It was freezing," applicant Linda Benefield told WSB-TV. "I was in line for three hours and 15 minutes, but I needed the help." Some needed even more help just to deal with the cold. Ambulances were cold in and took at least two people to the hospital because of the freezing temperatures ....

WASHINGTON — Cabinet secretaries, top congressional leaders and an exclusive group of senior U.S. officials are exempt from toughened new airport screening procedures when they fly commercially with government-sanctioned security details. New heightened security procedures by the Transportation Security Administration, which require either a scan by a full-body detector or an intimate personal pat-down, have spurred passenger outrage in the lead-up to the Thanksgiving holiday airport crush. The senior government officials can opt out of such measures if they fly accompanied by government security guards approved by the TSA. The agency would not explain why it makes these exceptions, but...

The Lansing State Journal reported last week that the federal stimulus has been working. The White House projects the spending act created or saved between 2.5 and 3.6 million jobs. Experts at some limited government public policy think tanks give their opinions of the White House report. Brian Riedl: Research Fellow for Federal Budget Policy at the Heritage Foundation Of course the stimulus is a failure. Since it has been passed we have lost 3 million more jobs. If that is success, what does failure look like? 'Jobs saved' is impossible to measure. We can point out that the White...

I'm from the government and I'm here to help you! Yeah!!!! Wal-Mart 1. Americans spend $36,000,000 at Wal-Mart Every hour of every day. 2. This works out to $20,928 profit every minute! 3. Wal-Mart will sell more from January 1 to St. Patrick's Day (March 17th) than Target sells all year. 4. Wal-Mart is bigger than Home Depot + Kroger + Target +Sears + Costco + K-Mart combined. 5. Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people, is the world's largest private employer, and most speak English. 6. Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the world. 7. Wal-Mart now sells...

What are the worst government programs? 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 Freddie Mae/Fannie Mac To see why, please click the article.

A letter was sent to Reuters chief Tom Glocer on Monday expressing the "grave concern of the government of Israel" over the cropping of photographs taken from the Turkish Mavi Marmara ship last week by Minister of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs MK Yuli Edelstein. The photos, which were published on Sunday in the Turkish Hurriyet daily, showed images of the commandos, their fatigues stained with blood, subdued by passengers aboard the Mavi Marmara ship but excluded the knives held by the aid activists.

Hague promises to act speedily on matter, says Conservative party finds it "completely unacceptable that someone such as Livni feels she cannot visit the UK." LONDON - British Foreign Minister William Hague said on Thursday that it is absolutely his intention to act speedily to change the universal jurisdiction law and that this is agreed and understood in the coalition government. Speaking at a briefing at the Foreign Office on Thursday, Hague was asked by The Jerusalem Post if he has a timetable for a change to the law, which allows private complaints of war crimes to be lodged against...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration is warning the health insurance industry that it will block mergers that threaten to stifle competition. Justice Department antitrust chief Christine Varney said Monday that vigorous enforcement of anti-monopoly laws is essential to the success of the new health care law, particularly when it comes to reining in premiums. Big insurers have been getting bigger, and in many states one or two large carriers dominate the market.

Says Iranian deal is a maneuver to prevent agreement on sanctions. The Israeli government described the latest Iranian nuclear deal as a trick designed to prevent the imposition of UN Security Council sanctions. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met with the "Septet" of seven key ministers on Tuesday, to discuss Israel's response to the Iranian nuclear fuel reprocessing agreement, brokered by Brazil and Turkey. Netanyahu instructed ministers not to make any public pronouncements before they had agreed a united response. Ministers concluded that the latest agreement is a maneuver to prevent the UN Security Council from agreeing on sanctions. They concluded...

WASHINGTON — The number of homeowners dropping out of the Obama administration's main mortgage assistance plan is growing, and is now almost equal to the number who have received permanent relief. The Treasury Department's report on Monday was the latest evidence of problems in the administration's $75 billion program. While officials insist the program is helping the housing market turn around, critics say it is merely delaying an inevitable surge in foreclosures. More than 299,000 homeowners had received permanent loan modifications as of last month, Treasury said. That's about 25 percent of the 1.2 million who started the program since...

Jose Alvarez first asked about a bricklaying job with M&D Masonry at the Atlanta airport in March, and the foreman assured him that being an illegal immigrant wouldn’t be a problem. Enlarge photo John Spink, jspink@ajc.com Workers continue their steady pace on the Maynard Jackson International Terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport Tuesday, April 27, 2010. Enlarge photo John Spink, AJC Dave Weldon, co-owner of M&D Masonry, and foreman Bob Beaty say that their hiring practice is to have workers that are properly documented at the construction site of the Maynard Jackson International Terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. Related Hartsfield-Jackson eyes growth Hartsfield-Jackson...

he average state employee compensation package costs approximately $93,039. Inflation-adjusted wages and benefits have increased 25 percent since fiscal 1999. The figures include the value of all benefits from state-paid retirement contributions to dry cleaning allowances. The largest cost increases came from retirement benefits (which increased from $309 million in fiscal 1999 to $772 million in fiscal 2008) and health insurance (which increased from $273 million in fiscal 1999 to $554 million in fiscal 1999). The wages and benefits of Michigan's over 50,000 state employees cost taxpayers $4.7 billion in fiscal 2008. This is up from $3.2 billion in fiscal...

My party challenges the whole basis of the Progressivist vision of this country's future. We challenge their attack on American exceptionalism. We challenge their claim that bureaucratic centralization is the only way the US can meet the economic and social challenges of our time.

The Environmental Protection Agency recently concluded that man-made greenhouse gas emissions — including carbon dioxide — are harmful pollutants and must be regulated. The lawsuit I filed challenging that finding does not address the disputed science surrounding global warming. Instead, it focuses on the indisputable fact that the EPA relied on information that has been discredited,

The average federal salary (including benefits) is set to grow from $72,800 in 2008 to $75,419 in 2010, CBS reported. But the real action isn’t in what government employees are being paid today; it’s in what they’re being promised for tomorrow. Public pensions have swollen to unrecognizable proportions during the last decade. In June 2005, BusinessWeek reported that “more than 14 million public servants and 6 million retirees are owed $2.37 trillion by more than 2,000 different states, cities and agencies,” numbers that have risen since then. State and local pension payouts, the magazine found, had increased 50 percent in...

PHOENIX -- The state sold more than 20 properties Thursday, including prisons, the state Capitol and both legislative chambers, for $735.4 million at a targeted interest rate at just over 4 percent.

I have become aware of a county program that is totally disfunctional and I want something done about it! This has to do with a county misappropriating federal funds. The county is Snohomish in Washington state. Supposedly the feds leave it up to the local govt's to audit their own programs. Can someone help me find out what department I can contact to try to get some interest in my story (I won't share it here...yet). Thanks for any help!!

n the just-so story of the evolution of our economy, our old manufacturing based economy has been replaced by an innovative knowledge economy. That's not quite true. In fact, the decline of the jobs in goods producing sectors of the economy--construction, manufacturing, mining and agriculture--has largely been met with an increase in jobs on the government payroll. We've gone from providing jobs in profit-making private industry to providing jobs in profit-eating government work. Toward the end of 2007, the total number of government jobs exceeded the total number of goods producing jobs. Welcome to the government payroll economy.

Good news for homebuyers... bad news for taxpayers. As everyone knows there has been a massive government effort to support house prices. Some of this has been aimed at limiting supply (modification programs, various foreclosure moratoria), and some has been aimed at increasing demand (tax credit, lower mortgage rates, loose lending standards). Here is a quote from Secretary Geithner from a recent Newsweek interview by Daniel Gross: "We were very careful from the beginning ... to say that we are going to focus the bulk of the financial force on bringing interest rates and mortgage rates down to cushion the...

There has always been speculation among economists who apply a verbal deductive methodology to the science of economics as to why econometricians adopt a worshipful posture towards using equations when attempting to explain the economy. One theory holds that it provides cover to bring about more intervention in the economy. A current proposal by Yale economist Robert Shiller provides an object lesson in how phony equations are created to advance government intervention. In today's NYT, Shiller writes: Corporations raise money by issuing both debt and equity, the latter giving investors an implicit share in future profits. Governments should do something...

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Students aren't the only ones benefiting from the billions of new dollars Washington is spending on college aid for the poor. An Associated Press analysis shows surging proportions of both low-income students and the recently boosted government money that follows them are ending up at for-profit schools, from local career colleges to giant publicly traded chains such as the University of Phoenix, Kaplan and Devry.

Beginning January 1, 2010, agencies must seek prior approval from OPM before they can appoint a current or recent political appointee to a competitive or non-political excepted service position at any level under the provisions of title 5, United States Code. OPM will review these proposed appointments to ensure they comply with merit system principles and applicable civil service laws. I have delegated decisionmaking authority over these matters to career Senior Executives at OPM to avoid any hint of political influence. In no case may an agency make an appointment of the type described below without written authorization from OPM:...

The financial crisis has many Treasury officials burning the midnight oil — a situation that’s sometimes uncomfortable for secretaries assisting key aides to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Some secretaries say they aren’t being allowed to take a day off or leave their desks -– not even to use the bathroom, eat lunch or take a day off. “Apparently some supervisors require that their phones are never to be allowed to go to voicemail or the operator, which means the secretary is never able to leave her desk,” an email sent to more than a dozen Treasury officials reads.

BELGRADE, Serbia – Serbia will have to lay off about one-fifth of its government employees — 14,000 people — to meet conditions set by the International Monetary Fund to receive more financial aid, the country's finance minister said Monday. Finance Minister Diana Dragutinovic said Serbia aims to cut spending before the government resumes its talks with the IMF on Oct. 20. The IMF has postponed giving the Balkan country access to additional funds from a euro2.8 billion ($4 billion) standby loan granted in March, demanding details on how Serbia plans to finance its growing budget deficit amid the global financial...

The passing of the 'great' senator from Massachusetts has prompted me to compose the following chart. Please feel free to suggest additions: THINGS DEMOCRATS CAN GET AWAY WITH Vehicular homicide -- Sen Edward Kennedy Tax evasion -- most Democrats in Congress, most of Bambi's cabinet Perjury, sex in the oval office, Filegate, Travelgate, Memogate, "suicide" of Vince Foster (to name a few) -- the Clintons Burning people alive because of quirky religious beliefs -- AG Janet Reno Stealing from the National Archives -- Sandy Berger Firing Justice Dept attorneys -- AG Eric Holder THINGS REPUBLICANS CANNOT GET AWAY WITH Saying...

BURLINGTON, Ontario, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- The Greyhound Canada bus line announced Thursday it is ceasing operations in Manitoba and northwestern Ontario because of government policies. In a release from its Burlington, Ontario, headquarters, Senior Vice President Stuart Kendrick said operating losses were mounting and talks with various governments weren't showing any progress. "We have repeatedly asked the federal and provincial governments to change the existing legislative and regulatory regimes that govern intercity bus operations," Kendrick said. "Our financial situation is dire and we are no longer in a position to absorb losses that are almost solely attributable to government...

Written by Jason Bellows on 29 July 2009 Marvin Heemeyer of Granby, Colorado was a profoundly frustrated muffler repair man. In the late 1990s–after years of protests, petitions, and town meetings–it became obvious to the 52-year-old that he was entwined in a gross miscarriage of justice. His business was ruined by some shady zoning changes, and Heemeyer contended that mayor and city council were corrupt. Even as he was forced to give up his legal fight and sell his land, he hatched one last plan to secretly retool his muffler shop to serve a single malevolent purpose: to construct a...