The dire fiscal circumstances facing the country are enough to drive Americans to drink. But when it comes to the billions of dollars that could be saved for taxpayers, currency modernization represents a much-needed tonic, as well as a partial cure for the spending-like-drunken-sailors hangover that seriously threatens the country’s well-being.
Second Hand Smoke
The California Assembly proposed Senate Bill 1400, introduced by Sen. Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont), which would have limited the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products to specified “tobacco stores,” that prohibit customers under the age of 21 and generate more than 60 percent of their annual revenue from tobacco. Sen. Wieckowski has said that the […]
Net Metering: Get Subsidies or Die Tryin’
The pro-solar energy activists have been on full alert since the Nevada State Legislature passed a solar bill last May that failed to raise the net metering cap for rooftop solar customers.
More of the Same
Presidential candidate and former-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton proposed several worn-out initiatives this Tuesday that would supposedly lower drug prices but, if implemented, would seriously damage research and development in the United States while harming patients well into the future. Many promising drugs would either never be discovered or be severely delayed in reaching the market. The announcement was necessary […]
Newt’s Very Bad Idea
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich often comes up with ideas to change how the government works. One of his most recent suggestions has made a lot of people who care about property rights scratch their head. At a December 2, 2014 meeting of Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy executives, Speaker Gingrich was asked about the […]
Innovation = Jobs
Innovation creates jobs. That is the central premise of Jay Walker’s keynote address, “Making Innovation Work for America and Americans,” at the first meeting of the IP Dealmakers Forum on November 6, 2014. The forum linked investors together with intellectual property (IP) information and opportunities. Walker’s speech is particularly timely given the release on November […]
Obstruction Junction, What’s Your Function?
In 2009, U.S. officials discovered that Mexican cartels had become the leading gun-traffickers responsible for high levels of crime throughout the Southwest U.S.
The CFPB’s Auto Loan Financing Fight
In March 2013, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued guidance stating that auto finance sources would be held accountable for discriminatory pricing resulting from the indirect financing practice known as dealer reserve. This attack on a longstanding and previously unquestioned industry standard was amped up on September 17, 2014, when the CFPB proposed expanding its oversight to non-bank auto lenders, such as Ford Motor Credit Co. and Toyota Financial Services. Although the agency contends that its regulations are necessary to fight discrimination in lending practices and protect consumers, the CFPB has not produced reliable evidence to support its claims.
The Consumer Financial Protection Racket – er, Bureau
The Cambridge Dictionary defines a “protection racket” as “a situation in which a criminal group demands money from a store owner, company, etc. in exchange for agreeing not to harm them: run a protection racket [:] These thugs ran a vast protection racket with which all property-owners had to co-operate if they hoped to survive.”
End Ex-Im Once and For All
This fall, Congress will have an opportunity to shut off a massive spigot of corporate welfare that costs taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars each year. All that senators and representatives have to do is what they do best: absolutely nothing. When the authorization for the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) expires on September 30, 2014, Congress should not renew its charter.