Tag Archives: Crony Capitalism

Texas repeals regulations on hair braiding

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“Three decades into her career as a hair braider, Isis Brantley has struggled with lawsuits and regulatory hurdles. Once, she was even arrested, she says.  But on Monday she moved over to the right side of the law. Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill lifting regulations on hair braiding in Texas. And Brantley was honored at the signing ceremony as a key reason for the change.  The legislation, House Bill 2717, would exempt hair braiders like Brantley from obtaining a cosmetology license to run a braiding business. Prior to its passage, state law required that braiders meet the same training and facilities requirements as barbers and cosmetologists — even though braiders don’t use any chemicals or tools.”

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/texas-repeals-regulations-on-hair-braiding/

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War: Still a Racket

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“President Obama has been spending American blood and treasure in and around Syria for a full year now.  Whether attacking the Islamic State is necessary or advisable is beside the point. The War Powers Resolution clearly requires the president to withdraw from hostilities within 60 days unless Congress consents. It has not.  Keep in mind, this same Congress claims Obama has overstepped his authority in other areas and has taken many symbolic votes to prove it. They have filed lawsuits against him on matters far less serious than an illegal war. Yet in this case, they are happy to let him keep bombing. Why?  The real answer is that war is very profitable.”

http://www.thedailybell.com/news-analysis/36474/War-Still-a-Racket/

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$147,000 in Speaking Fees from a Company He Gave Gov. Contracts

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“Among [former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley’s] most lucrative speeches was a $50,000 appearance at a conference in Baltimore sponsored by Center Maryland, an organization whose leaders include a former O’Malley communications director, the finance director of his presidential campaign and the director of a super PAC formed to support O’Malley’s presidential bid.  O’Malley also lists $147,812 for a series of speeches to Environmental Systems Research Institute, a company that makes mapping software that O’Malley heavily employed as governor as part of an initiative to use data and technology to guide policy decisions.”

http://fee.org/anythingpeaceful/detail/martin-omalley-got-147000-in-speaking-fees-from-a-company-he-gave-lucrative-government-contracts

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What Uber Can Teach Us About American Government

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“Uber’s clash with government is uniquely popular among apolitical folks but its struggles are all too common. I applaud readers for following these developments and supporting Uber. But I encourage them to also pay attention when this happens to firms without huge national followings; to support the rights of all businesspeople to freely conduct their affairs and engage in mutually-agreeable transactions with other consenting adults.  It’s easy to stand up to abuses when a company is widely known and loved. But the universal applicability of the rights we want Uber to have is crucial for two reasons.”

https://brianruddock.wordpress.com/2015/07/18/what-uber-can-teach-us-about-american-government/

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Federal Court: Government Doesn’t Need a Reason to Ban Competition

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“Could the government prohibit LeBron James from playing professional basketball simply to put more money in the pockets of less talented athletes?  Absolutely, said the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, in a surprising — and appalling — decision last week, upholding a nakedly anticompetitive restriction on non-dentist teeth-whiteners in Connecticut. In 2011, the Connecticut Dental Commission issued a ruling that only licensed dentists were permitted to provide certain teeth-whitening procedures. Non-dentist teeth-whiteners were threatened with up to $25,000 in fines and five years in jail per customer.”

http://fee.org/anythingpeaceful/detail/federal-court-rules-naked-government-favoritism-is-constitutional

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“Green Banks” Will Drown in the Red

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“A state solvency report released by the Mercatus Center has each of these five states ranked in the bottom third of the country, with their solvency described as either ‘low’ or ‘poor.’  This all raises the question of whether these governments are able to find sound investment opportunities in the first place. Recently, though, there have been calls to extend the struggling green banking system to the federal level. Mark Muro and Reed Hundt at the Brookings Institute assert that demand for green banking institutions and the types of companies they finance is so strong that the existing state-based green banks cannot muster enough capital to meet demand.”

http://fee.org/anythingpeaceful/detail/green-banks-are-destined-to-drown-in-the-red

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Obama renewing call to reauthorize Export-Import Bank

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“President Barack Obama is ramping up pressure on Congress to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank.  The obscure federal agency’s charter expired last month after lawmakers refused to reauthorize it. The bank underwrites loans to foreign companies purchasing American products, but conservatives call it corporate welfare.  Obama on Wednesday plans to meet at the White House with owners of small- and medium-size businesses that have benefited from the bank. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has floated the possibility of attaching the bank’s reauthorization to a six-year highway and transit bill.”

http://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2015/07/22/obama-renewing-call-to-reauthorize-export-import-bank

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The Ex-Im Bank Is Dead (For Now)

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“After 81 years of funneling taxpayer dollars to favored companies, projects, and geopolitical outcomes under the guise of advancing some vague conception of the ‘U.S. economic interest,’ the Export-Import Bank of the United States will end its financing operations at midnight tonight. Proponents of the Bank have been regrouping and strategizing to move legislation to reauthorize the Bank at the soonest possible chance. In fact the White House is hosting a conference call for the purpose of advancing that outcome. The battle may be over but the war continues.”

http://fee.org/anythingpeaceful/detail/the-ex-im-bank-is-dead-but-watch-out-for-subsidy-zombie

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Trump Tried to Bulldoze an Elderly Widow’s Home to Build a Limo Parking Lot

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“Donald Trump is leading the GOP primary polls with 24 percent.  In 1994, Trump got Atlantic City to condemn Vera Coking’s home so that he could build limo parking for his Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino. The Institute for Justice took on Trump in one of its first big eminent domain cases:  She was able to beat Trump and the city government and win the right to keep her property.  Coking moved to a retirement home in 2010, having lived almost 50 years in her Atlantic City home. Coking’s grandson finally sold the house in July 2014; less than two months later, the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino closed for lack of business.”

http://fee.org/anythingpeaceful/detail/remember-when-donald-trump-tried-to-bulldoze-an-elderly-widows-home-to-build-a-limo-parking-lot

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Pulp Fiction: The Broken Promises of Biofuels

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“Despite optimistic federal mandates that required the addition of advanced biofuels to the fuel supply, commercialization has been slow to develop. Ethanol produced from cellulose was initially envisioned as a likely candidate for making a major contribution to the mandates, but project delays, overruns, and bankruptcy in the case of the first company to produce a qualifying batch of cellulosic ethanol have all tempered the initial enthusiasm. A different pathway called fast pyrolysis that results in drop-in fuels as the final product after upgrading has emerged as a contender, but this pathway has also struggled to gain a foothold.”

http://www.investingdaily.com/21069/pulp-fiction-the-broken-promises-of-biofuels-2/

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