Tag Archives: Crony Capitalism

White House leans on industry for bottled water push

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“First Lady Michelle Obama is launching her new Drink Up initiative at an event Thursday in Watertown, Wisconsin.  According to the White House, the American Beverage Association and International Bottled Water Association are both promoting the effort. The two associations are the major lobbying forces inside the Beltway for both the bottled water and beverage association.  According to the visitor’s logs, one of the American Beverage Association’s lobbyists, Susan Neely, visited the White House several times. The American Beverage Association is a lobbying heavyweight that has spent $680,000 so far in 2013. The bottled water association has spent $60,000 so far in 2013.”

http://www.politico.com/politico44/2013/09/white-house-leans-on-industry-for-water-push-172501.html

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Apple: iPhone Fingerprint Reader Means Government Business

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“In October 2012, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement – ICE, announced a major iPhone win for a high security government agency.  The contract was for iPhone services sourced through various carriers with a total award value of $2.1 million, covering 17,676 users. I expect to see more and more government iPhone contracts, especially if the new phone launch focuses on security. In February of this year Apple landed a major contract with the New Zealand police, for an estimated $159M over the next 10 years. The contract provides 6,000 users with an iPhone, and 3,900 with an iPad as well.  The TSA in May 2012 also released a contract for purchasing up to 1,000 handheld Apple devices.”

http://seekingalpha.com/article/1668562-apple-iphone-fingerprint-reader-means-government-business

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Prison Phone Call Industry Will Fight New FCC Rules Lowering Inmate Rates

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“After a decade of delay, the FCC voted 2-1 in August to set maximum rates for collect and prison debit card calls. The new maximum rate for a collect call will be 25 cents a minute — still far above the average for a traditional landline, but a serious reduction.  In an interview with The Huffington Post, the CEO of the second-largest company in the $1.2 billion a year industry said he will go to court to stop the still-unreleased rules if they are issued as described in an FCC press release. He also lashed out at the industry’s critics. After a decade-long period of consolidation and mergers in the industry, Securus and another company, Global-Tel-Link, control 80 percent of the prison phone call market.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/09/prison-phone-call-fcc_n_3894556.html

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Rite Aid joins promotion effort for Obamacare

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“Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius made the announcement Monday alongside Rite Aid CEO John Standley in New Jersey, where the feds will operate the health insurance exchange after Gov. Chris Christie rejected creating a state-run one. CVS Caremark in July announced plans to inform uninsured customers about the law. CVS pharmacies will host trained ‘navigators,’ who are funded by the health law to educate people about their coverage options. Walgreens also announced plans over the summer to team up with the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association to educate customers in its stores.”

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/rite-aid-health-care-obamacare-96504.html

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Donald Trump eyeing ‘building swap’ for FBI headquarters

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“Flamboyant New York property developer and reality TV star Donald Trump is casting his eye on what some Washingtonians consider an architectural eyesore in the US capital — FBI headquarters.  He told The Washington Post in an interview posted online Wednesday that he might take an opportunity to acquire the Brutalist-style premises on Pennsylvania Avenue in return for erecting a new and bigger home for the storied federal law enforcement agency. Inaugurated in the mid-1970s, the 11-floor J. Edgar Hoover Building houses more than half of the 10,000 employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the greater Washington area.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/09/11/donald-trump-eyeing-building-swap-for-fbi-headquarters/

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Bill Bonner: Where did the US$ 700 billion go?

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Bill-Bonner2

“You remember TARP? It was the feds’ $700 billion program to rescue the US economy from a correction. Neil Barofsky was in charge of it. So we decided to go down and ask him how it turned out:  ‘[..] What did they do with the money? They were supposed to increase lending so as to help bring about a recovery. None of them did that. Instead, they used it to repay each other’s loans. In other words, they used it to reduce the amount of credit available…not increase it. And they bought US agency bonds…just as you’d expect. And they paid out their bonuses. In other words, they looked out for themselves…just as you’d expect.'”

http://www.equitymaster.com/dailyreckoning/detail.asp?date=05/16/2013&story=1&title=Where-did-the-US-700-billion-go

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Treasury: $238b financial bailout ‘avoided catastrophe,’ only $3b outstanding

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“The US Treasury said Wednesday the government’s massive response to the economic crisis five years ago paid off, avoiding a catastrophic breakdown of the financial system. In a report marking the anniversary of the bankruptcy of investment bank Lehman Brothers — which snowballed into the worst crisis since the 1930s — the Treasury defended deploying hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to save other banks, major financial institutions and auto companies.  While the rescue effort required piling up government debt, it was necessary, said Treasury officials who briefed reporters.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/09/11/massive-238-billion-financial-bailout-5-years-ago-avoided-catastrophe-but-only-3-billion-has-been-paid-back-treasury/

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Warren Buffett’s Keystone Connection In One Chart

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“Buffett’s railroad interests have been doing quite well since the government’s suspension of Keystone Pipeline extension. His key railroad interest, Burlington Northern, is the preferred alternative petroleum shipping method to the Keystone Pipeline. This is interesting because Buffett bought his stake in Burlington Northern just before the government halted the Keystone project, and he allegedly influenced the government’s decision to suspend. And how much reward has Buffett reaped from the Burlington Northern/State Department deal? Keep in mind that demand for gasoline has been tanking while rail car loadings of petroleum have been going parabolic.”

http://www.ecominoes.com/2013/03/warren-buffets-railroad-cronyism-in-one.html

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The hustlers and parasites who make up Washington’s establishment

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“Washington has always had a permanent establishment of politicians, lobbyists and journalists. But this class has exploded in size in recent decades, and has become more introspective and self-serving. The news media have produced a hydra of talking heads who are forever yelling at each other (debate) or pontificating about who is up and who is down (analysis). The lobbying industry has spent billions greasing the revolving door: in 2009 alone, special interests spent $3.47 billion lobbying the federal government. In 1974 3% of retiring policymakers became lobbyists. Now 50% of senators and 42% of congressmen do.”

http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21583978-hustlers-and-parasites-who-make-up-washingtons-political-establishment-something

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California poised to implement first electronic license plates

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“The idea is that rather than have a static piece of printed metal adorned with stickers to display proper registration, the plate would be a screen that could wirelessly (likely over a mobile data network) receive updates from a central server to display that same information. In an example shown by a South Carolina vendor, messages such as ‘STOLEN,’ ‘EXPIRED,’ or something similar could also be displayed on a license plate.  A South Carolina company, Compliance Innovations, did not immediately respond to Ars’ request for comment.  Smart Plate Mobile’s founder, Michael Jordan, declined to speak to Ars.”

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/09/california-poised-to-implement-nations-first-electronic-license-plate-program/

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