The House Financial Services Committee voted Thursday to add Rep. Ron Paul’s broadly supported proposal to audit the Federal Reserve to a larger banking reform package.
Economy
Audit the Fed moves forward in House
Posted: November 19, 2009 10:55 pm
Updated: November 19, 2009 11:14 pm
Gay newspaper network shut down
Posted: November 17, 2009 1:29 am
On Monday, the Washington Blade and several other gay newspapers were shut down after the Small Business Administration, which had put them in receivership, was unable to sell them.
Do newspapers need government bailouts?
Posted: November 12, 2009 4:43 pm
New Hampshire’s guarantee of a $250,000 line of credit for a local newspaper freshly emerged from bankruptcy is raising fresh questions about whether media outlets which receive government assistance can remain independent, and whether government should offer such assistance at all.
Atlantic Yards, Shadow Government, and Albany Frozen in Amber
Posted: October 29, 2009 1:01 am
October 14th. The big chill was early, even for Albany. A press conference was being held in the park across from the New York Court of Appeals. The highest court in the state was set to hear Goldstein et al v. New York State Urban Development Corporation. The press conference speakers and their supporters were primarily Brooklynites up from The City. Veterans of the Atlantic Yards wars. Folks who’ve attended numerous court proceedings, marched in myriad demonstrations, and organized countless fund-raisers in a six year effort to keep their homes, businesses, and neighborhoods from being crushed by Atlantic Yards, the dream baby of mega developer Forest City Ratner. Eminent domain abuse is the heart of the matter.
Overdraft protection practices draw ire, legislation
Posted: September 30, 2009 10:25 pm
Your bank balance is running low, but you use your debit card around town to make a few small purchases — say, a coffee at Starbucks, a couple of movie tickets, and some screws at the hardware store. When you get home you find out you have actually overdrawn your account and your bank has charged you $30 overdraft fees on each of those small purchases. Complaining to the bank gets you nowhere. What do you do?
Life, Inc: Tripping the Corporatism Fantastic with Douglas Rushkoff
Posted: September 1, 2009 11:30 am
Updated: September 2, 2009 5:38 pm
When reading the account of the Expo I had to put Life, Inc. down and check the cover. Had Random House sent me an advance copy of the wrong book? Was this Bonfire of the Vanities Redux? Or had Mark Twain or Jim Thompson risen from the dead to re-skewer American grift? Nope. There was the short sweet title Life, Inc. Followed by . . .
You’re still alive, no thanks to government
Posted: August 26, 2009 9:32 pm
A five year old e-mail forward purporting to describe a “Day in the Life of Joe Middle-Class Republican” is making the rounds again this week. The e-mail, originally published at Michael Moore’s web site, is a fictional account of Joe the Republican, who supposedly derives numerous benefits from “liberals” who have interfered in his life using government in ways he never saw or understood, ostensibly in order to make him safer, healthier and happier.
Civil unrest grips U.S.
Posted: August 10, 2009 10:09 am
The debate over health care reform has turned violent in the last week as protesters on both sides of the issue clashed in cities across the country, revealing a long-simmering civil unrest.
Congress raised your credit card costs
Posted: July 6, 2009 10:34 pm
If you have a credit card, you’ve almost certainly just received, or are about to receive, a notice that your rates, fees and minimum payments are going up. For this you can thank Congress.
Independence Day
Posted: July 4, 2009 11:59 pm
Updated: July 5, 2009 12:26 am
It has become clear to even the least astute observer that the United States is in decline and has been so for some time now. Despite the hollow promises of the government’s talking heads, however, worse is yet to come. What is to become of the United States of America? Will the beacon of liberty, already dangerously dim, be finally extinguished?
Homeland Security profiles conservatives, libertarians as “right-wing extremists”
Posted: April 14, 2009 7:20 pm
Did you buy extra ammunition after Barack Obama was elected President, and are you still concerned that he might ban your guns? Are you concerned that the economic crisis could devolve into a depression, or worse? Do you think the federal government has overstepped its authority under the Constitution? If so, the government thinks you’re a right-wing extremist and a potential terrorist threat.
Great Depression II
Posted: April 3, 2009 9:46 pm
Updated: April 3, 2009 11:02 pm
To those of you who are facing layoffs, foreclosure, or worse, help can’t come fast enough. But so far all you’ve been offered is a measly $400 tax rebate and vague promises about how the bailouts and the stimulus package will create more jobs and get the economy moving again. And of course, you’re doubtful. You’re right to be.
Glen Jacobs: Why Liberty is Inevitable
Posted: March 25, 2009 2:42 pm
Updated: April 5, 2009 2:28 pm
If you’ve ever seen professional wrestler Glen Jacobs at his day job, you may be quite surprised to hear him speak when he’s not at work.
Securing the homeland, one liberty at a time
Posted: December 18, 2008 9:03 pm
Updated: December 18, 2008 11:19 pm
It’s that time again, time for outgoing government bureaucrats to make room for fresh new faces and to say goodbye. Today, outgoing Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff said goodbye to the country in a video. Of course, the government can’t seem to do anything right, and now we can add making simple videos to that list.
Radio host jailed over couch
Posted: November 14, 2008 6:39 pm
Updated: November 14, 2008 11:51 pm
Nationally syndicated radio talk show host Ian Freeman will spend 100 days in jail because he questioned the legitimacy of a system which would penalize him for having a couch in his yard and conduct his trial in secret.
Nightmare on Election Street
Posted: October 31, 2008 1:21 pm
Updated: October 31, 2008 4:43 pm
Hit the road Halloween. For those who loathe politicians (count me in) there’s no more horrific time than the final days of a presidential race. Our flesh creeps as the last candidates standing (sort of) do the Transylvania Twist faster and faster, spinning their true (sort of) beliefs on a dime and contorting themselves into whatever position seems ripe for the moment.
Obama McCain: A Man For This Season
Posted: October 17, 2008 4:28 pm
Evil omens re the economy hath melded Obama and McCain into one man, living in the cramped quarters of one craven political soul. Something/someone has to give. President-wannabe Obama McCain steps forth to issue a decree. Let the bailouts begin! Up the oligarchy! State capitalism we are here!
I.O.U.S.A.: One Nation. Under Stress. In Debt.
Posted: September 29, 2008 12:01 am
Updated: September 29, 2008 12:20 am
We’ve all heard the real economic news by now, or worse, experienced it. You’ve gone to the bank to find it closed, or you’ve gotten laid off, or you’re just feeling the pinch in your wallet as money grows ever tighter. You need to understand how and why it happened if you’re going to get yourself out of this economic mess, because surely you’ve figured out by now that your so-called leaders in Washington aren’t going to do it; they seem hell-bent on making things even worse for you.
The Big Bailout Circus
Posted: September 28, 2008 8:22 pm
The Big Bailout Circus has the nation in stitches. Taxpayers are being sewn into a skin-tight forever suit by an amazingly bipartisan group of government clowns. But despite the agreement about the need for a slap dash redo of the U.S. financial system — and by extension our political system — the designing bozos disagree about details. And none can resist an occasional hit of the rubber chicken . . .
Secret bailouts coming?
Posted: September 26, 2008 2:58 pm
Updated: September 26, 2008 7:37 pm
It’s bad enough that the federal government wants to spend trillions of dollars of your children’s money to bail out financial institutions that should be allowed to collapse for the good of the economy. But under the terms of the proposed bailout plan, the government will be able to rescue bad banks in secret.
Toward a Department of Bailouts
Posted: September 22, 2008 11:45 am
Last week the world of finance was rocked hard as the policies of the Federal Reserve and the U.S. government finally came home to roost, with one major investment bank going under and many more in dire straits and being bought up at fire-sale prices.
Explicit Fannie & Freddie: Taxpayers Tote Load, China Heaves Sigh of Relief
Posted: September 12, 2008 9:07 pm
Neither straight-up businesses nor flat-out government agencies, Fannie and Freddie have enjoyed the best of both worlds. With their privatized profits pumped by the implicit guarantee of socialized losses — in case of disaster break glass and soak taxpayer. That implicit guarantee has now become an explicit government takeover by the U.S. Treasury.
The blogger’s energy tax
Posted: August 31, 2008 6:21 pm
There’s just too much information on the Internet these days, and it’s killing the poor old newspaper. That’s why we need a tax on information technology to reduce the flow of information, according to one proposal.
I.O.U.S.A.
Posted: August 22, 2008 3:31 am
Updated: August 22, 2008 4:12 am
Americans should be marching on D.C. by the millions with pitchforks in hand in protest of what the government has done to the economy and the nothing it plans to do about it. Yet they aren’t, primarily because they don’t understand the problem.
Obama Parts the Sea, Cuomo Heeds the Community, Cynics March on DC
Posted: August 12, 2008 1:23 pm
Cynicism is a sin in the Age Of Hope. But cynics won’t go gently into the goody good night. . . .
Illegal immigrants, please go away
Posted: August 4, 2008 8:27 pm
The federal government has tried almost everything in its various bids to get undocumented immigrants out of the country. Now it’s trying something simple and unusual: just asking them to please leave.
Why the global financial system is about to collapse
Posted: July 8, 2008 11:39 pm
The global financial system is about to collapse because the U.S. dollar is about to collapse. The U.S. dollar is about to collapse because of a simple economic fact that no one has the power to change or conceal.
Independence Day
Posted: July 6, 2008 8:57 pm
On July 4 I woke up in Pennsylvania, in a mansion which had served as a station on the Underground Railroad, that network of people and places which helped slaves escape their bondage before and during the Civil War. And I thought that, with the replacement of yesterday’s chattel slavery with today’s universal bondage, it may be time for a new Underground Railroad.
Obama: Bad for the environment and your wallet
Posted: June 23, 2008 8:33 pm
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama not only wants to raise the price of your gas, he wants to raise the price of your food. Not to mention tax you to death for the privilege.
Bush: Federal contractors’ employees need permission to work
Posted: June 10, 2008 4:44 pm
President George W. Bush on Friday signed an executive order requiring federal contractors to verify the employment eligibility status of federal contractors and subcontractors.
Hillary’s White Wedding/Mortgage Fraud Rescue Wrap/Why Are We in Iraq
Posted: June 8, 2008 11:02 am
Back in April (it seems like an eon of Clinton ago!) FBI Director Robert Mueller gave a speech to the American Bar Association titled “Corporate Fraud and Public Corruption: Are We Becoming More Crooked?” The question was left open. Mueller wrapped up with a Teddy Roosevelt quote: “Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual, and of nations alike.”
Protected infrastructure: Ramblin Express casino shuttle
Posted: May 31, 2008 11:51 am
It’s May again, that time of year when the Department of Homeland Security hands out millions of dollars of your hard-earned money to whoever it wants for the strangest of reasons, or none at all, in the name of “infrastructure protection.” Today’s stupid spending: $184,415 for a casino shuttle.
The Revolution: A Manifesto
Posted: May 26, 2008 5:05 pm
If “Truth is treason in the empire of lies,” as Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) writes in his new book, The Revolution: A Manifesto, then Paul has certainly committed treason by laying out the truth of the precarious state of the United States in 2008.
Fort Trumbull Circa 2008: Waist Deep in the Big Muddy
Posted: May 7, 2008 12:42 am
Updated: May 14, 2008 5:27 pm
After the last few resistors departed in 2006, Corcoran Jennison, the preferred developer for the Fort Trumbull project, got cracking on a tony utopia. A thousand condos bloomed. Crowds of affluent young professionals now sip lattes and tap laptops in cafes overlooking the Long Island Sound. Revenues are rolling in. Property taxes have been slashed and children are learning to read and write as well as kids did a half century ago.
The real squeal:
TSA rules led to pilot’s gun firing in flight
Posted: April 12, 2008 7:41 am
Transportation Security Administration rules are to blame for the conditions leading up to an accidental discharge of a U.S. Airways pilot’s pistol during landing, say airline pilots familiar with the program.
Government employees misuse purchase cards
Posted: April 9, 2008 5:49 pm
Federal government employees spent millions of dollars of taxpayer money using their government purchase cards to pay for questionable items such as Internet dating services, Brooks Brothers suits, expensive steak dinners, personalized iPods, computers, and more, and much of the expensive electronic equipment has been lost or stolen, according to Congressional investigators.
Hillary’s Housing Fix in a New York Nutshell
Posted: March 30, 2008 11:57 am
“What are you working on today, Madam President?” asked Doctor Murchison.
“My plan to fix the housing crisis,” said Hillary, without looking up.
Ben Bernanke Walks into a Bar, Andrew Cuomo Appraises the Nation
Posted: March 9, 2008 9:34 pm
Jeez. The Clinton Obama show is killing comedy. Great jokes are getting lost in the sauce. Did you hear the one about Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke? Ben walks into a bar. A pair of antlers on his head. “Been cuckolded, mister?” asks a chippy, trying for a pickup. The bartender (a squirrelly guy with no chin) answers for Ben. “Nah — he’s just worried about stagflation.”
Not.
Obama and Ron Paul Take New York State, Tastee-Freeze Opens in Hell!
Posted: February 10, 2008 7:39 pm
Albany. The capital of New York. The heart of state government. Can’t you feel the rhythm of the beat? Lub dub lub dub. Pols who make it there, don’t need to go anywhere — they can stay in Albany forever and ever and ever. The governor’s mansion is akin to the hotel in “The Shining.” After taking over, the new guy always goes barmy. He doesn’t even have to live in it. Just throw an occasional reception.
Stimulus Package Store, GSE Jumbo Out Back
Posted: January 30, 2008 12:59 am
Hot damn. The government is going to stimulate the economy. Not with a lap dance or lubricated love glove, but with taxpayer dollars. Come summer, Mister and Miz America will get a rebate from Uncle Sam. What a man! Some people will get more than a thou of their own money back. Consumers will rush out and pump the economy. Wal-Mart here we come. Simultaneously, just like in romance novels.
New Hampshire Liberty Forum wrap-up
Posted: January 8, 2008 6:58 pm
The 2008 New Hampshire Liberty Forum, for me, was three action-packed, fun-filled days of meeting great people, hearing some of the best speakers anywhere, and partying hard late into the nights.
Death to fiat money
Posted: January 6, 2008 10:14 am
Updated: January 6, 2008 11:24 am
Bernard von NotHaus remains undaunted after a federal raid on his Liberty Dollar business in which his means of production and inventory were seized along with tons of precious metal owned by thousands of individual Americans.
The Market for Liberty
Posted: December 31, 2007 5:30 am
Economics isn’t merely a dry, boring study of money. It is, boiled down to its essence, a study of human nature: how people interact and trade with each other. Since this obviously involves money, there is no shortage of people who want some of that money for themselves, when they haven’t earned it. And the chief ways in which they take that money are to confuse people and to establish governments.
The Appalachian Summer of Eliot Spitzer
Posted: August 23, 2007 3:42 pm
You won’t believe how much fun the New York State political scene has been this Summer! Like Uncle Ira says, ain’t nothing more persistent than chicken thieves who’ve gotten used to easy pickins.
Jersey Ham ala Sharpe James, Redevelopment Scams on the Side
Posted: July 30, 2007 2:05 am
Listen up kiddies, summer doesn’t mean down time when it comes to corruption in Jersey.
What has government done to you?
Posted: July 23, 2007 5:07 pm
How has government violated your rights to life, liberty and property? Tell us your story.
Independence Day
Posted: July 4, 2007 11:59 pm
Updated: July 5, 2007 1:39 pm
This day the rain moved in early in the afternoon, and continued well into the night, and yet people still set off their fireworks here in a city where it’s, as far as I know, perfectly legal to do so. But while the star-spangled banner yet waves, the freedom it represents is a distant memory.
I support Ed and Elaine Brown
Posted: June 14, 2007 3:47 am
You may have noticed a significant drop in the frequency and number of postings in the last week or so. While I attempt to resume normal activity around here I wanted to let everyone know what’s been keeping me away. And yes, it has to do with the federal government.
Government opposes mad cow testing
Posted: June 4, 2007 5:29 am
The U.S. government is trying to prevent a Kansas meat company from testing all of its cows for mad cow disease.
Internet sales tax proposed again
Posted: May 29, 2007 2:02 am
The Internet sales tax is back.
Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) has introduced a bill to require Internet-based businesses to charge state sales taxes on out-of-state purchases.
WIC: Killing children with kindness
Posted: May 21, 2007 3:20 am
The United States Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, commonly known as WIC, distributes vouchers for food for low-income families. Among the food distributed is about half the infant formula in the entire U.S. According to a study from the University of Hawai’i, WIC’s distribution of infant formula not only distorts the market for infant formula, it puts these infants at risk of illness and death.
Social Security card to be national ID
Posted: May 16, 2007 9:34 pm
Two proposals being floated around Capitol Hill call for the Social Security card to be updated with biometric information and for U.S. employers to be required to verify it with the Department of Homeland Security when hiring.
Ron Paul gains support in second GOP debate
Posted: May 16, 2007 4:09 am
Updated: May 16, 2007 4:39 am
For those who doubted that Rep. Ron Paul was a serious contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, the debate Tuesday night in South Carolina put all doubts to rest. Paul stirred up a firestorm of controversy for suggesting that the Department of Homeland Security made national security even more inefficient after September 11 than before, and especially for his assertion that U.S. foreign policy over the past several decades contributed to the rise of Islamic terrorism.
But viewers at home responded, putting Ron Paul in second place in FOX’s own tamper-proof viewer poll.
Bureaucrat Appreciation Week
Posted: May 11, 2007 3:56 am
“Federal, State, and local governments are responsive, innovative, and effective because of the outstanding work of public servants.”
If you believe that, I’ve got some critical infrastructure to sell you. But Congress certainly seems to believe it, unless they’ve recently taken to passing satire off as Congressional resolutions.
Is that homeless guy a terrorist?
Posted: May 2, 2007 2:28 am
Updated: May 2, 2007 4:23 am
It’s said in the Bible that the poor will always be among us. In Springfield, Ill., as in most cities across the U.S., the homeless are at the public library. They use the restroom in the stairwell of the parking garage on top of which the library sits and they store their meager tarp-covered possessions next to the building. And mayor Tim Davlin is apparently at his wit’s end trying to deal with the homeless problem.
But a local alderman has come up with a novel idea to clean up downtown Springfield: Suggest a terrorist threat from homeless people.
Ten years left for Social Security
Posted: April 26, 2007 3:01 am
By 2017 Social Security will begin paying out more in benefits than it collects in taxes and will have to begin redeeming bonds from the Social Security Trust Fund. Worse, Medicare is expected to cross the same line later this year, resulting in a massive fiscal crisis.
Astroglide denies responsibility for customer information slip
Posted: April 25, 2007 11:18 pm
Updated: April 30, 2007 1:31 am
The saga of Astroglide customer information being leaked onto the Internet appears to be coming to a close. The company has finally managed to remove all of the data from its Web site, as well as from Google’s cache, and someone finally managed to reach a company spokesperson to get a statement.
Waste in FEMA trailer maintenace contracts
Posted: April 25, 2007 4:48 am
The Federal Emergency Management Agency wasted billions of dollars by awarding contracts for services to maintain and remove emergency trailers for people displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to politically well-connected and financially risky companies, according to an inspector general’s report released Monday.
Astroglide tries to plug 260,000 customer data leak
Posted: April 23, 2007 8:13 pm
Astroglide, which was notified last week of a data breach compromising more than 260,000 records of people who ordered free samples of its products, has taken down its page for ordering the free samples and removed the last of the records from its Web site.
Government wants your money AND your life
Posted: April 23, 2007 2:50 pm
Democrats in Congress are desperate to do something about the so-called tax gap, but they know that if they raise taxes, they’ll be out on their asses in 2008. So they’re going to try to squeeze ordinary Americans a little differently.
Astroglide data breach exposes customer information
Posted: April 21, 2007 9:41 am
If you’ve ever tried Astroglide, you know it’s some of the slipperiest stuff ever made. I could tell you stories, but that sort of story isn’t appropriate on a site where children might be reading. Instead, I’ll tell you another story, a story about people who use Astroglide.
Astroglide suffered a data breach this week. People who ordered free samples of the company’s products from their Web site from 2003 to the present may have had their names and email and shipping addresses published on the Internet.
When government has your identity, you aren’t safe
Posted: April 19, 2007 10:49 am
Trust the government with your identity and you just might lose it. Even if the identity thief is already in prison.
The expanding welfare state
Posted: April 17, 2007 11:26 am
The era of big government didn’t end with Ronald Reagan, and it didn’t end with Bill Clinton.
Over half of all Americans receive government handouts of some sort, according to an economic analysis published this week.
Oh Alphonso! FHA Modern is So Subprime!
Posted: April 16, 2007 10:58 am
HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson is asking Congress to pass a proposal for a “modernization” of FHA mortgage loan programs.
Waste and fraud are HUD’s long suit. Like other HUD heads Alphonso Jackson wears it well. But according to Alphonso, the FHA needs letting out in order to cover the subprime mortgage slump.
Cops bust yet another tomato grower
Posted: April 13, 2007 8:12 am
Police in Pullman, Wash., got a tip from a “concerned citizen” that a grow operation was going on in an apartment that he’d just visited. Two hours later, police had their search warrant, and eight police officers went in, guns drawn.
It was indeed a grow operation. The residents were growing tomatoes.
Lost or stolen identities
Posted: April 11, 2007 5:53 am
The biggest threat to your personal identity, as you should know by now, is the government. It has the largest databases, the most information about you, and the most corrupt people. So it’s no surprise that government data about you is a prime target for identity thieves. Here are a few more examples.
National Pork Service
Posted: April 6, 2007 3:29 am
Pork. You know, wasteful, pointless government spending on ridiculous boondoggles like a bridge to nowhere or the world’s most expensive bus stop ($1.5 million). In case you haven’t heard, the government has declared a war on pork, and it’s going about as well as the war on drugs, the war on poverty, the war on terror…
Too busy to be April fooled
Posted: April 2, 2007 5:18 am
In case you haven’t noticed, there haven’t been any posts here in several days. This is primarily because I’ve been wrapped up with another project which has taken up virtually all of my time since the last post. To make it up to you, I’m just going to give you links to several interesting items in my unread list for you to enjoy.
Government creatively losing your personal information
Posted: March 28, 2007 12:19 pm
Governments can’t always find new and creative ways to lose your personal information, try as they might. So when they can’t, they resort to the tried and true. Here are three incidents where government displayed at least some creativity while putting you at risk.
No-buy list snags innocent Americans
Posted: March 28, 2007 7:13 am
The federal government expects you to do your part to help catch terrorists, by screening everyone you do business with against a public blacklist of suspected terrorists and drug traffickers maintained by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. Worse, people are actually starting to do this, and the national credit reporting agencies are now putting the government’s black marks on the wrong people’s credit reports.
Hillary and Rudy Sitting In a Tree
Posted: March 25, 2007 9:00 pm
With each presidential election the candidates seem more proscribed and the selection process more truncated. Inner party poopers, talking heads and big money try to seal the deal before the ink is dry on the last guy. This time the dumb beats loudest for Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani. Hillary and Rudy are more alike than they’re different.
Hacker of Indiana state web site targeted other states
Posted: March 24, 2007 8:58 pm
A hacker who broke into an Indiana government web site and compromised the identities of 71,000 health care workers and 5,600 people who purchased government services online has also targeted other state government web sites.
Because, of course, that’s where the money is.
Auditors: Senate Restaurants hemorrhaging money
Posted: March 23, 2007 3:47 am
It’s official: Congress can’t even run a restaurant.
According to an independent audit released last week, the Senate Restaurants Revolving Fund, which includes the exclusive Senate Dining Room, operated at a loss during fiscal years 2005 and 2006, and to cover the losses, Congress just threw in some of your money.
Not-so-free digital TV converters for everyone
Posted: March 12, 2007 9:41 pm
In less than two years, on February 17, 2009, your local analog television station will sign off for the last time, forever, going entirely digital, and the frequencies on which they broadcast will be reassigned for government use. That means, unless you already have a digital television set, or purchase a converter box, your TV, whether it’s new or a family heirloom, is about to become a doorstop.
And the government is going to help you buy a converter box, whether you need help or not.
This data breach brought to you by the government
Posted: March 11, 2007 6:01 pm
Why is it that we keep giving information to government agencies, when we know that nothing good can come of it? Several examples from the last week show just how good government is at protecting personal information you provided to them.
Hot Rats in Connecticut/Reform in China
Posted: March 10, 2007 1:36 am
On March 3rd, the City of New London, Connecticut, and the quasi-public New London Development Corporation finally did what they’ve been hot to do since 1998: Bulldoze the family home of Michael Cristofaro.
Daylight Saving Time begins this weekend
Posted: March 8, 2007 5:32 pm
This year, Daylight Saving Time begins in the United States this weekend. You’re probably ready, now that you know about it, but your computer probably isn’t.
The coming economic collapse of the United States
Posted: March 7, 2007 11:58 pm
The Great Depression will look like a small blip compared to the economic collapse the United States is about to suffer, according to several experts. But Congress refuses to listen and do what’s necessary to stave off disaster.
Underinflated tires, overinflated regulation
Posted: March 6, 2007 1:02 am
One-quarter of you are driving around on underinflated tires. Not only are you losing gas mileage (and money) by doing so, you’re putting yourself at risk of blowing out your tires, losing control in inclement weather, and possibly even killing yourself. But, as always, the government is here to make matters worse.
“Universal health care” has failed again
Posted: March 2, 2007 12:03 am
Most Americans, not knowing any better, think “universal health care” is a really good idea. Unfortunately, there is no such thing. To see exactly what American universal health care will look like, one needs look no farther than the smaller version of universal health care which already exists.
IRS asked to burden online auction sites
Posted: February 27, 2007 5:11 am
The so-called taxpayer advocate of the Internal Revenue Service, who is supposed to tell the government what concerns taxpayers, has called instead for the IRS to require online auction sites such as eBay to report sellers’ activities.
The government employee identity threat
Posted: February 26, 2007 7:49 pm
When it comes to your personal information, threats are everywhere. But the biggest threat to your personal information might just be from your local government employees.
Ron Paul grassroots support proved
Posted: February 25, 2007 8:26 pm
Updated: February 26, 2007 2:55 pm
Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) drew a crowd of 150 supporters to Pembroke, N.H., late Saturday night to support his potential bid for the Republican Presidential nomination.
The fundraising reception, organized by a supporter and held at a private home, raised over $14,000 for Paul’s campaign.
Badnarik answers charge of abandoning party
Posted: February 25, 2007 5:36 pm
It’s been said that a definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results. This charge could certainly be levied at the Libertarian Party, many of whom want to keep doing the same things that fail to get them elected.
Don’t give the government your identity
Posted: February 17, 2007 10:15 pm
Your most private personal information is not truly safe anywhere except in your own head. Several examples this week show that it’s certainly not safe with the government.
FEMA goes on hiring spree
Posted: February 14, 2007 9:21 pm
The chronically understaffed Federal Emergency Management Agency is going all-out to try to fill vacant positions and reach its long-sought goal of being at 90% staffing level.
Your identity, lost and found
Posted: February 11, 2007 8:56 pm
Updated: February 12, 2007 12:22 pm
“We’re being warned on television about people going through your identity documents and so forth,” Bevan Bullock, a British pensioner, told the BBC. “The government are now giving them out willy-nilly.”
Global warming, where are you?
Posted: February 5, 2007 1:43 pm
Updated: February 5, 2007 3:23 pm
We interrupt your regularly scheduled stupidity for a weather report, sponsored by Socialist Scientists for the Prevention of Climate Change by Any Means Necessary.
Say goodbye to your identity
Posted: January 31, 2007 9:02 am
You still think your personal information is safe in the hands of the government? Think again. Every time they come up with a way to keep your information secure, they also come up with a more creative — or more stupid — way to lose it. And now, the government can lose your personal information even if you never gave it to them.
Why identity thieves love the government
Posted: January 29, 2007 5:32 am
There are actually a few things the government is good at. Misusing, abusing and especially losing your personal information rank high on the list. Sometimes they don’t even bother losing it; they just put it up on the Internet for anyone to download. Here are a few incidents from last week in which government lost, had stolen and gave away your personal information.
Mass deportations a drop in the bucket
Posted: January 25, 2007 4:45 am
The Department of Homeland Security can’t make more than the slightest dent in the illegal immigration “problem,” so officials have decided to focus their efforts on what they call the “worst of the worst,” those who had been deported previously or committed crimes while in the U.S.
2007 State of the Union Address
Posted: January 24, 2007 12:32 am
The rite of custom brings us together at a defining hour — when decisions are hard and courage is needed. We enter the year 2007 with large endeavors underway, and others that are ours to begin. In all of this, much is asked of us. We must have the will to face difficult challenges and determined enemies — and the wisdom to face them together.
Springfield Laughs Its Asselins Off
Posted: January 23, 2007 3:52 am
In the bulging roster of corrupt pols who serve the people on the Eastern Seaboard, few provide as many black laughs as the Asselin clan of Springfield, Massachusetts. Even the klown kings of Jersey can’t hold a candle.
Kansas City loses tax record tapes
Posted: January 21, 2007 11:46 pm
If you live or work in Kansas City, Mo., your most sensitive personal information has gone missing: your tax records.
Anti-marijuana state rep learns something
Posted: January 20, 2007 10:59 pm
A New Hampshire state representative who last week said he would vote against a marijuana decriminalization bill and suggested in an e-mail that a constituent should “snitch” on his friends for smoking marijuana now says he’s open to discussing the issue, after the e-mail received nationwide attention.
IRS can’t even collect taxes from government employees
Posted: January 19, 2007 4:00 am
Internal Revenue Service documents show that the government is still trying to recover nearly $2.8 billion in back taxes from over 450,000 active and retired federal government employees who failed to file tax returns or pay taxes, or some 3.3 percent of the federal bureaucracy.
How not to be a state representative
Posted: January 17, 2007 7:54 am
Updated: January 17, 2007 8:14 am
In New Hampshire, when you call your state representative, you don’t speak to some staffer; you speak to the rep himself. If you e-mail your representative, he’s the one who writes the response. It’s very personal. And it’s very easy to keep a close watch on whether these reps are doing.
Now we all know that politicians hold We the People in contempt, but it’s very rare that one admits it. Such an admission is political suicide. Indeed, it was with shock that I witnessed New Hampshire Rep. Delmar Burridge (D-Keene) commit political suicide in responding to a constituent’s e-mail.
Terminator aims to destroy California health care
Posted: January 15, 2007 12:07 am
Last year, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill which would have created single-payer health care in that state. But the universal coverage proposal he’s offered in its place may be almost as bad.
Minimum wage hike passes House
Posted: January 10, 2007 11:11 pm
In case you haven’t noticed, the new Democrat-led Congress has begun a 100-hour legislative orgy, passing package after package of laws to screw the American people. Over the next few days we’ll look at some of these. But tonight, it’s the minimum wage. The House of Representatives voted 315 to 116 to raise the minimum wage to $7.25 per hour.
War on Drugs targets asparagus?
Posted: January 10, 2007 2:53 pm
Updated: January 10, 2007 3:46 pm
Over the past few years the failed War on Drugs has eradicated thousands of acres of American asparagus.
And, love it or hate it, asparagus isn’t even an illegal drug.
