Free Republic

Most folks probably think of the State Transportation Infrastructure Bank as just that – a bank that finances major highway and bridge projects. S.C. Rep. Chip Limehouse, R-Charleston and a member of the Infrastructure Bank (STIB) Board of Directors, described the bank, created by the Legislature in 1997, as a “funding arm” in a recent (Charleston) Post & Courier story. But in addition to providing funding to the state Department of Transportation and local governments, STIB in recent years also has assumed the role of a general contractor or project manager, paying millions of dollars directly to certain companies for...

The move to a cashless society won’t happen overnight. Instead, it is being implemented very slowly and systematically in a series of incremental steps. All over the planet, governments are starting to place restrictions on the use of cash for security reasons. As citizens, we are being told that this is being done to thwart criminals, terrorists, drug runners, money launderers and tax evaders. Other forms of payment are much easier for governments to track, and so they very much prefer them. But we are rapidly getting to the point where the use of cash is considered to be a...

My friend’s succinct reaction to the amazing headline was, “How do you lose $6.6 billion?” How indeed! Despite a full decade of audits and investigations, Pentagon officials still cannot say what happened to $6.6 billion in cash that was intended for the Development Fund for Iraq. Apparently, it just “disappeared.” Was it just misplaced in an accounting error, or was it “stolen”? Who knows? Apparently, the Pentagon has no idea. Ah, the perils of the fog of war that covers up all sorts of foul play. It’s little wonder the money disappeared. After the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the...

Hundreds of thousands of dollars in alleged payments by Drug Enforcement Administration personnel to an Amtrak employee are being investigated by the Justice Department inspector general's office. The announcement by Jay Lerner, a spokesman for the IG's office, follows the disclosure by Amtrak's inspector general that DEA paid an Amtrak secretary $854,460 over nearly 20 years to obtain confidential information about train passengers that the drug-fighting agency could have lawfully obtained for free through a law enforcement network. The Amtrak IG's report says that under a joint drug enforcement task force that includes the DEA and Amtrak's own police agency,...

If you're tooling down the road in your Renault Zoe Z.E. only to have it stop dead in traffic, don't immediately start cussing your mechanic. Better make sure you're current with the payments. The French car maker has added a new twist to the repossession tango between car buyers and creditors.

Kadner: Union tells retirees to repay pension Phil Kadner October 30, 2013 Imagine a retired man going to his mailbox one morning and finding a letter informing him that a mistake has been made in his pension payments and he owes more than $100,000. No joke. And it’s not some scam. “I darn near had a heart attack,” recalled Ron Kosinski, 79, a former sheet metal worker who was notified that he owes $105,500. His union, Sheet Metal Workers Local 73, miscalculated his pension payments when he retired 17 years ago. In fact, dating to 1974, the union’s pension fund...

PayPal is rolling out a new trial for British consumers to see if they really can leave their wallets at home. Recently kicking off in London borough Richmond upon Thames, the test includes 12 different merchants set up to accept PayPal payments, according to the company. Using the PayPal app for iOS, Android, or Windows Phone, shoppers can see nearby participating merchants highlighted on their mobile phones. They can then "check into" a certain store by clicking on its name and pay for an item by sliding an animated pin down the screen. The person's name and photo then pops...

**SNIP** His age and his tenure in Congress — almost 17 years — are short of the mark for a standard retirement annuity from the Federal Employees Retirement System, or FERS. Members of Congress can collect a pension from FERS starting at age 50 if they have completed 20 years of service, or at any age after 25 years of service, according to the Congressional Research Service. But Jackson appears eligible for another FERS program that pays out "disability retirement" payments. Under program rules, potential payments in the first year would total $8,700 a month — or $104,400 a year....

The United States has paid $50,000 in compensation for each Afghan killed in the shooting spree attributed to a U.S. soldier in southern Afghanistan, an Afghan official and a community elder said Sunday. The families of the dead received the money Saturday at the governor's office, said Kandahar provincial council member Agha Lalai. Each wounded person received $11,000, Lalai said. Community elder Jan Agha confirmed the same figures. They were told that the money came from U.S. President Barack Obama, Lalai said. [Snip] The families had previously received smaller compensation payments from Afghan officials -- $2,000 for each death...

Saving money on college loans: President changing programs to help millionsMichael Gorsegner - Staff reporter 6:44 a.m. EDT, October 26, 2011 SPRING GARDEN TOWNSHIP, YORK COUNTY— College is known as an investment in the future. But that investment is becoming a burden for many students. The President will announce some changes today that could lower the amount students pay for student loans. **SNIP** Graduates qualifying for the "Pay as You Earn" program will have to pay 10 percent of their discretionary income for up to 20 years. If there is still a balance after that time frame, the remaining due...

Comrade Chairman You Lie Obama has a section in his current buy-the-union-vote "Jobs" bill to send US Federal money, ( borrowed 60 % from our grandchildren and 40 % from China and other countries ), to various financially irresponsible States, Cities and Labor Unions. Talk-the-talk-but-couldn't-walk-the-walk G. W. Bush in 2008 sent a TARP full of Federal money to all big banks, whether they were financially irresponsible or not. This Jack-booted style was seized upon by You Lie Obama to send even more Federal money to financially irresponsible businesses such as General Motors, and many financially irresponsible State and local governments....

Most Americans still don’t believe the government should help those who can’t afford to make their mortgage payments. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 65% of American Adults think if someone can’t afford to make increased mortgage payments, they should sell their home and find a less expensive one. Twenty-two percent (22%) feel the government should assist them in making their payments, while another 13% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.) These findings have changed little in surveys for several years. The percentage of U.S. homeowners whose home is worth less than what...

According to a Treasury Inspector General audit, Individuals Who Are Not Authorized to Work in the United States Were Paid $4.2 Billion in Refundable CreditsRedaction Legend: 1. Tax Return/Return Information 2(f). Risk circumvention of agency Regulations or Statutes IMPACT ON TAXPAYERS Many individuals who are not authorized to work in the United States, and thus not eligible to obtain a Social Security Number (SSN) for employment, earn income in the United States. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provides such individuals with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to facilitate their filing of tax returns. Although the law prohibits aliens residing...

Rome - Diplomatic cables showed the United States confronted Italy about claims it paid Taliban not to attack its troops in Afghanistan, noting it suffered fewer casualties than other forces, media reported on Friday. Italy has already denied claims that it paid protection money to Taliban and other militants in an area where 10 French soldiers were killed in an ambush in February 2008 soon after taking over from Italian forces. (Snip) "Unfortunately, the significance of this contribution has been undermined by Italy's growing reputation for avoiding combat and paying ransom and protection money.

FHA gives jobless homeowners one-year breakQualified appicants would not have to make mortgage payments during that time By DEREK KRAVITZ The Associated Press updated 7/7/2011 5:25:11 PM ET WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is making it easier for out-of-work homeowners to stay in their homes, as it tries to revamp its troubled foreclosure-prevention program. Starting Aug. 1, the Federal Housing Administration will extend the period for unemployed homeowners to miss mortgage payments to a full year from three or four months. That will allow qualified homeowners to go without making a monthly payment for 12 months before the foreclosure process...

In a scathing report, a former chief executive of the California public employee pension fund was accused of pressuring subordinates to invest billions of dollars of pension money with politically connected firms. A 17-month investigation also found that Federico Buenrostro Jr. -- along with former pension fund board members Charles Valdes and Kurato Shimada -- strong-armed a benefits firm to pay more than $4 million in fees to consultant Alfred J.R. Villalobos, who later hired Buenrostro. ... The findings of insider dealings at CalPERS could provide fresh ammunition to Republican lawmakers here who want Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown to convert...

A US charity has paid 26 female drug addicts in Britain to have contraceptive coils or implants fitted, it was reported today. Project Prevention said it had made initial payments of £60 and a UK-based charity is hoping to launch a similar scheme. Barbara Harris, who founded the US charity, triggered an ethical storm in October after offering to pay British addicts £200 if they were sterilised.

Retirees Shocked By Lower Pension PaymentsPERF: Shortage Tied To Expiration Of Tax Cut UPDATED: 6:19 pm EST January 17, 2011 INDIANAPOLIS -- Thousands of retired state and local government workers were shocked on Friday when they discovered that their monthly pension checks were substantially reduced. Workers were especially unhappy that they got no advance warning they would be receiving less money, 6News' Norman Cox reported. The Public Employees Retirement Fund said the shortage happened because one of the tax cuts in the federal stimulus package expired. A notification sent to retirees didn't get to them until after payments had arrived....

Under the new health care law, consumers using workplace pre-tax health savings accounts will soon need a doctor's note to pay for Tylenol and an estimated 15,000 other over-the-counter drugs. Starting Jan. 1, employees who use flexible spending accounts, health saving accounts, or health reimbursement arrangements to pay for common medications such as pain relievers, cold medicines, antacids and allergy medications will need prescriptions. The new rules will prohibit the use of such debit cards becsuse the IRS says there's no way to prove the drugs are prescribed. The IRS says any money removed from HSA accounts to pay for...

School choice, lower taxes, job creation: These, and not welfare payments, are what would really help the poor. In his autobiography, former British prime minister Tony Blair recounts the political epiphany that caused him to break with the old-style class-warfare–based Labour Party that he had grown up with. “In a sense they wanted to celebrate the working class,” he writes, “not make them middle class.” In many ways, the Obama administration and congressional Democrats appear to have the same attitude about the American poor. They talk frequently about the poor. They lavish programs upon them. (Last year the Obama administration...