Tag Archives: Crony Capitalism

Google, once disdainful of lobbying, now a master of Washington influence

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“Nine years ago, the company opened a one-man lobbying shop, disdainful of the capital’s pay-to-play culture.  Since then, Google has soared to near the top of the city’s lobbying ranks, placing second only to General Electric in corporate lobbying expenditures in 2012 and fifth place in 2013.  This summer, Google will move to a new Capitol Hill office, doubling its Washington space to 55,000 square feet — roughly the size of the White House.  Google’s increasingly muscular Washington presence matches its expanded needs and ambitions as it has fended off a series of executive- and legislative-branch threats to regulate its activities and well-funded challenges by its corporate rivals.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-google-is-transforming-power-and-politicsgoogle-once-disdainful-of-lobbying-now-a-master-of-washington-influence/2014/04/12/51648b92-b4d3-11e3-8cb6-284052554d74_story.html

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San Francisco Union Protests City’s Tax Exemptions for Tech Companies

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“San Francisco leaders said the incentives deprived the city of just under $2 million in taxes, while generating $8 million in new revenue.  Union leaders, on the other hand, said lost taxes total somewhere close to $56 million.  San Francisco’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development said the payroll tax breaks offered to Twitter, lured 17 other tech companies to mid-market. They also brought 17 small businesses, 13,000 jobs and more than 5,000 units of new housing under construction in the area.  ‘The 13,000 jobs support so many other jobs and economic activity in the city,’ said Todd Rufo, the mayor’s director of economic and workforce development.”

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/San-Francisco-Union-Workers-Protest-Citys-Tax-Exemptions-for-Tech-Companies–255424971.html

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Autism Nation: America’s Chemical Brain Drain

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“In 1981, the autism (ASD) rate in the United States was 1:10,000. In 2007, it was 1:150. In 2009, it was 1:100. In 2012, it was 1:88. In 2014, it is 1:68. At this rate of increase, by 2025 it will be 1:2, or 50 percent. For those of you tempted to think this is just greater awareness and expansion of the criteria for diagnosis, the CDC says that since the 2012 estimate of 1 in 88 children identified with ASD, the criteria used to diagnose, treat, and provide services have not changed, but the rate has increased another 30%.  Meanwhile, autism rates in Europe have remained virtually flat for the last decade. Recent estimates in European countries range from 1 in 5,000 in Germany to 1 in 700 in Portugal.”

http://truth-out.org/news/item/23267-autism-nation-americas-chemical-brain-drain

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Bill Bonner: Is Capitalism Doomed?

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Bill-Bonner2

“Capitalism has so few real aficionados they could all probably be rounded up and shot in an afternoon.  The poor don’t like it because they think it – rather than their own bad luck or bad habits – keeps them from getting rich. The rich don’t like it because it threatens to ruin them with crashes and bankruptcies. Businessmen don’t like it because its process of ‘creative destruction’ threatens to make their industries obsolete. Intellectuals don’t like it because it is inherently unpredictable and uncontrollable. The media doesn’t like it because it gives no press conferences and provides no ‘talking points’ for lazy journalists. Investors don’t like it because it punishes their mistakes.”

http://www.bonnerandpartners.com/is-capitalism-doomed/

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$90 million spent on now-abandoned Maryland Obamacare exchange

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“Maryland’s Obamacare exchange received millions in federal taxpayer dollars to build its Affordable Care Act website and was even awarded early innovator grants that earned it even more taxpayer funding. But the website crashed on the first day of open enrollment and officials have been unable to fix it.  The late decision won’t help anyone who hoped to sign up for health insurance on the exchange for 2014. The open enrollment period in Maryland closes Friday, with a special exception for more than 18,000 people who have already requested extra time to sign up due to the website’s problems.”

http://dailycaller.com/2014/04/18/maryland-obamacare-exchange-spent-90-million-on-technology-before-abandoning-website/

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Dairy industry opposes bills lifting restrictions on US raw milk sales

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“The two bills, the Milk Freedom Act of 2014 and the Interstate Milk Freedom Act of 2014, are the latest salvo in an ongoing controversy between those who say they want to be able to consume unprocessed milk, straight from the cow, both for its taste and health benefits, and those who say there is too much of a public health risk.Opposing the bills are dairy industry organizations and food safety agencies.  According to the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund website, 15 state prohibit the sale of raw milk to humans under any circumstances. The remaining 35 allow it, under a variety of circumstances. Some allow unrestricted retail sales, others only through co-ops or herd-sharing plans.”

http://digitaljournal.com/life/health/bipartisan-bills-would-lift-restrictions-on-us-raw-milk-sales/article/379795

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Locked Out: A Mississippi Success Story – Documentary

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“Melony Armstrong just wanted to earn an honest living. She didn’t realize she’d have to change the law to do that. After years of hurdling obstacles that were holding her back from providing for her family, Melony succeeded in breaking down the barriers to success. In the process, she became an inspiration to her community and changed hundreds of lives.  Locked Out is a modern day David vs. Goliath story. Watch Melony’s story and visit www.honestenterprise.tv for more information on the film and how you can take action to help the other ‘Melonys’ out there!”

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Wendy McElroy: Let a Thousand Home Businesses Bloom

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“Home industry is particularly important to the poor for at least four reasons. First, the business overhead is usually low. Second, it allows people to use their labor as equity to develop a business for which financial or capital equity is not available. Third, it does not require higher education. Fourth, people own the means of production, such as an equipped kitchen or a garage with tools. Home industry also has the advantage of not draining the public purse—that is, production does not draw on government subsidies or privileges, which benefits individuals as producers, taxpayers, and consumers.  But does it benefit governments?”

http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/let-a-thousand-home-businesses-bloom

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Cities to Carpoolers: Sharing Your Car is Illegal, We Will Seize Your Car

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“The U.S. isn’t exactly a ‘free market’, with outright bribery — condoned by the U.S. judicial system — or collusive public-private cartels leading to some products and services being banned from the market.  Just ask Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA) whose electric vehicles have been banned from sale in many states.  That debacle arose due to the fact that Tesla has no dealerships and fearful dealership lobbyists banded together to pay off state politicians to ban direct auto sales. Now the same principle is being applied to stymie the emergency of another set of companies in the transportation sector — cloud-driven ride-sharing services.”

http://www.dailytech.com/Cities+to+Carpoolers+Sharing+Your+Car+is+Illegal+We+Will+Seize+Your+Cars/article34659.htm

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$6 Billion Goes Missing at State Department

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“The State Department has no idea what happened to $6 billion used to pay its contractors.  In a special ‘management alert‘ made public Thursday, the State Department’s Inspector General Steve Linick warned ‘significant financial risk and a lack of internal control at the department has led to billions of unaccounted dollars over the last six years.’  For instance, a recent investigation of the closeout process for contracts supporting the mission in Iraq, showed that auditors couldn’t find 33 of the 115 contract files totaling about $2.1 billion. Of the remaining 82 files, auditors said 48 contained insufficient documents required by federal law.”

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2014/04/04/6-Billion-Goes-Missing-State-Department

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