Free Republic

STAFFORD, Va. — Just outside the gates of the storied Quantico Marine Base, George Allen, the Republican nominee for a Senate seat from Virginia, sat down in the offices of a moving van company with more than a dozen defense contractors from his state last Monday to listen to them fret over government spending cuts. Scott Hirons’s small software firm will probably have to shrink to five employees from 15 by the end of October if nothing is done to head off automatic, across-the-board defense cuts, he said. The cuts will not begin until January, if ever, but the threat...

With the Big Three seeking a bailout from Washington, the Big Ten are following suit. Earlier this week the Carnegie Corporation of New York took out a two-page ad in the New York Times, signed by executives of 36 public universities, state university systems and higher-education associations, urging Congress and President-elect Obama to rescue them. Mr. Obama has already promised to expand federal subsidies to higher education by increasing Pell grants and making student-loan terms more permissive. The university chiefs seek an additional "federal infusion of capital" -- as much as $45 billion -- to build new facilities, especially "green"...

Dutch insurer Aegon said it may buy a small U.S. thrift company to qualify for potentially more than $1 billion in U.S. government support, sending its shares down more than 8 percent. "This is part of our strategy to ensure Aegon has the strongest capital position possible," said Aegon spokesman Greg Tucker. "If Aegon is eligible, we would seek the minimum range of funding possible." The range was 1 to 3 percent of its $125 billion in U.S. assets, he said, and the application was for the so-called Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) which the U.S. government has used to...

– Three major American cities buffeted by the global financial crisis are requesting at least $50 billion in federal funds to help pay for infrastructure improvements, pensions and short-term borrowing. Philadelphia, Phoenix and Atlanta are asking U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to release funds from the $700 billion financial bailout authorized by Congress last month. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter will hand-deliver the request to Paulson on Friday, spokesman Luke Butler said. Five or six other cities, including Chicago, may also sign on, Butler added.

In the two months after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Louisiana legislators received more than $100,000 in extra income for attending briefings and other meetings related to the storms. A review of legislative files revealed legislators received another $50,000-plus in travel expenses to attend the meetings. Lawmakers get so-called per-diem payments for attending committee meetings and conducting other state business between legislative sessions. Lawmakers received $113 a day for September meetings they attended. The payment went up to $115 a day in October. Records also show that the hurricanes derailed the out-of-state travel plans of some legislators. But others went anyway,...