Free Republic

Industrial policy that uses tariffs and subsidies to pick economic winners is once again in vogue among intellectuals. The rationale is to prevent China from "dominating" the global market with its subsidies while boosting American jobs and manufacturing. While I believe it's unwise to mimic China's policies to tamp down the danger of its authoritarianism, I'm amazed at cynics who support such policies but make no effort to adopt a serious strategic plan to achieve this goal. To see why, look no further than their sudden conviction that the New Deal-era U.S. Export-Import Bank, Uncle Sam's official export credit agency,...

The Export-Import Bank – the poster child for corporate welfare – was due to expire at the end of September. But it has been given a temporary reprieve while congressional leaders plot to renew it on the sly by attaching it to a must-pass spending bill, meaning the bank will never get the scrutiny taxpayers deserve. Ex-Im subsidizes export transactions using sweetheart terms – including below-market-rate loans – that are backed by the American taxpayer. According to the bank’s website, the agency provides financing when “private sector lenders are unable or unwilling to” and “assumes credit and country risks that...

Last week, Boeing confirmed the purchase by China of 300 planes for the listed price of $37 billion. This deal occurred without any backing from the infamous Export-Import Bank of the United States -- an outfit that lowers the cost of borrowing for foreign companies when they buy some American goods, such as Boeing aircraft. This is interesting because anyone listening to many lawmakers and the special interests that used to benefit from the Ex-Im Bank (e.g., Boeing, General Electric and the National Associations of Manufacturers) wouldn't know that such trade is possible in an era when the agency has...

The soon-to-be White House chief strategist laid out a global vision in a rare 2014 talk, one where he said racism in the far right gets “washed out” and called Vladimir Putin a kleptocrat. BuzzFeed News publishes the complete transcript for the first time.

Former Senator Al D’Amato (R-NY) dropped a bomb on Sunday Morning Futures this AM. D’Amato told Maria Bartiromo that Hillary allowed Russia to take ownership of US uranium so they could sell it to Iran. Hillary made it possible for the Russians to take control of one of our huge uranium producers and allow them to own the company, export the uranium and who do they sell the uranium to? Iran! Now if people knew that and that the foundation as a result of that got $135 million. I think people would start saying, “What?” Former Senator Al D’Amato (R-NY)...

A former top Clinton administration diplomat who used his political sway to garner support for the Iran nuclear deal apparently was being bankrolled the entire time by Boeing -- which is set to make billions off a jet deal with Tehran now that sanctions have been lifted. ADVERTISEMENT Thomas Pickering, who also served as co-chairman of the board examining the Benghazi attack response, publicly pushed for the nuclear deal before its approval last year. He did so by penning op-eds, writing to high-level officials and even testifying before Congress. With the deal in place, Boeing has since moved forward on...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05) released the following statement in response to reports that Boeing has reached a multibillion-dollar deal to sell commercial passenger planes to Iran. Boeing is one of the largest beneficiaries of the Export-Import (Ex-Im) bank which perpetuates corporate welfare to mega corporations by handing out taxpayer-backed loans. "This agreement between Boeing and the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism is extremely troubling and shows that crony capitalism remains alive and well in Washington. Not only has Boeing lobbied for years to keep the taxpayer-backed Export Import bank alive, it now has also used its...

Elizabeth “Fauxcahontas” Warren is constantly mentioned as a top choice for Hillary Clinton’s ticket as vice president, but few have bothered to examine whether she would be a disastrous for an already troubled candidate. A Clinton-Warren ticket could actually make winning over the Democratic far-left harder for Clinton. Some argue that Warren, a popular progressive, could boost Clinton’s appeal to former supporters of Bernie Sanders, but a closer examination suggests a Clinton-Warren ticket could actually make winning over the Democratic far-left much harder for Clinton. [SNIP] Moreover, many Sanders supporters are angry at Warren for not endorsing him — shocked...

Despite China signaling moves to cut its excess steel production capacity, industry chiefs say the country has declared a metals "war" that has had a "devastating" impact for the rest of the world's industry.

<p>Reminds me of something Mike Murphy said about Trump in the aftermath of Jeb’s collapse. The logic in favor of nominating another Bush was always, er, complicated, but the logic against nominating a loose cannon is straightforward.</p> <p>I’ll bet even Murphy didn’t think Trump would advertise the possibility that America’s creditors might not receive payment in full in a Trump administration. Choose your own preferred term for what he’s recommending here — renegotiation, bankruptcy, default.</p>

The Big Short: As The Big Short is short on reality, Big Government is short on accountability If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. If it stops moving, subsidize it.—Ronald Reagan Enter Dodd Frank: legislation named after Democrats’ Christopher Dodd and Barney Frank, which enacted 2,300 pages of banking regulations. What could have possibly gone wrong with 2,300 pages of new government regulations on banks? This:

Last week, President Obama and Vice President Biden held a hastily arranged secret meeting with Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen. According to the one paragraph statement released by the White House following the meeting, Yellen, Obama, and Biden simply "exchanged notes" about the economy and the progress of financial reform. Because the meeting was held behind closed doors, the American people have no way of knowing what else the three might have discussed. Yellen's secret meeting at the White House followed an emergency secret Federal Reserve Board meeting. The Fed then held another secret meeting to discuss bank reform. These...

Say what you want about Donald Trump, but he has an instinctive knack for zeroing in on an opponent's inherent weakness. With Jeb, it was "low energy." That term exploited a key perception problem of Jeb, and one he couldn't shake. So to did "Little Marco," which may have ended not only Marco Rubio's presidential campaign, but his political career . . . More heavyweights are jumping in to stomp Trump, including Elizabeth Warren. Asked about her jabs, he pounced: "I think it's wonderful because the Indians can now partake in the future of the country. She's got about as...

Echoing the recent sentiments of Steve Forbes, this week Republican presidential contender Ted Cruz told a group in New Hampshire: "Money is ... a unit of measurement. So, the reason why we see these rapid oscillations in commodities markets, it's because of unstable currencies. And it's why I think we should look at going toward rules-based money supply, ideally tied to gold, so you have stability." Perhaps this will trigger another flood of disagreement in the mainstream press, such as the recent New York Times item which reported that 40 out of 40 "leading economists" said that a gold standard...

The president has nominated attorney J. Mark McWatters for the bank board. However, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), chairman of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, has said he's "in no hurry" to hold a hearing or a vote on the nomination. Other pending confirmations take precedence, he said.The last of the 2015 lobbying reports are in, and the top corporate spender turns out to have been the Boeing Company, at $21.9 million. Not coincidentally, the aerospace giant also outranks thousands of other firms in profiting from the subsidies doled out by the Export-Import Bank. Last year, Boeing benefitted...

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., charged the Obama administration with quietly signing the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement in New Zealand, and said the White House tried to minimize it because it knows the public isn't pleased with the deal.

----------Original Message---------- From: "Elizabeth Warren" Date: Jan 11, 2016 Subject: Thank you for contacting me To: Dear Pabianice, Thank you for contacting me about the Stop Sanctuary Policies and Protect Americans Act. On October 20, 2015, the Senate voted to reject consideration of the Sanctuary Policies and Protect Americans Act. I voted against the bill because I share many of the concerns of the law enforcement organizations, faith communities, labor groups, and human rights and domestic violence prevention organizations who oppose it. This bill would do nothing to fix our broken immigration system. Instead, it would demonize immigrants, create new...

A strong statement from Sen. Cruz who voted against the bill: What we’ve seen in Congress today is profoundly disappointing. This spending bill does not honor the promises we made to the men and women who elected us. It funds Obamacare. It funds Planned Parenthood. It funds executive amnesty. It fails to protect our national security and stop Syrian refugees from coming to this country. It fails to do anything to stop the Iranian Nuclear Deal. And what does it do? It jacks up yet more low-skilled immigration, which will only drag down wages, kill American jobs, and hurt working...

Sens. Ted Cruz and Jeff Sessions introduced a bill Friday in the Senate that would rein in the H1B “guest worker” program that has allowed Disney and other major corporations to replace their American tech workers with foreign "guest workers." The American Jobs First Act of 2015 (S. 2394) would reform the H-1B visa program to stop abuse of the legal immigration system and ensure American workers are better served, Sessions said. Sessions, R-Ala., notes, this bill is the "exact opposite in every way of the wage-crushing I-squared bill." I-squared, championed by the billionaire tech lobby, is designed to make...

Posted Dec. 12, 2015 As profoundly disturbing as Donald Trump is, we are far and away more troubled by the legion of those who support him. We've seen their posts to Facebook and their Tweets. We've received their email chains and heard their defense of Donald Trump’s horrifying lies, racist, sexist, and culturally and religiously intolerant claims at social gatherings. Enough. ...snip We understand from a Washington Post/ABC News poll that the majority of Trump's Republican supporters are white, less educated and working class. It’s easy to see a correlation between this poll and a report released last month by...