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“Gangster government gave Chrysler to the UAW”
So reads the Washington Examiner’s editorial today about how Obama effectively gave ownership of Chrysler to the United Auto Workers Union (which spent…
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Obama Breaks Yet Another Promise
Obama promised to end the military’s ban on gays, but his Administration has not done so. In fact, it recently kicked out a West Point…
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Destabilizing Afghanistan: the Quagmire Expands
The anti-American Taliban extremists are resurgent not only in Afghanistan, where they once sheltered Osama Bin Laden, but also in neighboring Pakistan (which has nuclear…
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Bye Bye, Justice Souter
Liberal Supreme Court Justice David Souter is retiring. On social issues, this makes little difference: whoever replaces him will satisfy liberal litmus tests,…
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Censoring Critical Blogs as “Harassment” Would Violate the First Amendment
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Civil Rights Commission Members Urge “NO” Vote on Federal Hate Crimes Bill
Four members of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission urged Congress not to pass the federal hate crimes bill (LLEHCPA) . . . pointing out that…
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Specter Switches Parties, Cementing Liberals’ Filibuster-Proof Control of Senate
Contradicting earlier claims, Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter has switched to the Democratic Party, cementing the liberals' filibuster-proof majority on most issues in the Senate.
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Strange Priorities: Government Fights “Indecency,” But Not Shoplifting
The prosecutor in Contra Costa County, California won’t prosecute shoplifters anymore, citing budget cuts. It’s open season on retailers in that large suburban…
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Federal Hate Crimes Bill Will Erode Civil Liberties and Undermine Constitutional Safeguards Against Double Jeopardy
On April 23, the House Judiciary Committee voted 15-to-12 to approve a dramatic expansion of the federal hate-crimes law. The bill, H.R. 1913, would…
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Enron-like Fraud by Government in Bailouts
The federal government is perpetrating Enron-style fraud against investors in its bailouts of Merrill Lynch and Freddie Mac. The Treasury Secretary and Chairman of…
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Obama: 100 Days of Lies and Broken Promises
Obama has asked the big three networks to give him a free hour of air time on his hundredth day in office. They have…
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Torture Prosecutions for Thee, But Not for Me
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants Bush Administration officials prosecuted for facilitating torture. Fair enough. But if they get prosecuted, she should get prosecuted,…
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Mortgage Executive Kills Himself, After Obama Makes Mortgage Giant Freddie Mac Lose Money to Bail Out Irresponsible Borrowers
The chief financial officer of mortgage giant Freddie Mac committed suicide today in his basement. The Obama Administration forced Freddie Mac to run up…
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Obama to Sign $6 Billion National Service Boondoggle; Mandatory Service Mulled
President Obama will sign into law a $6 billion “national service” boondoggle. In the March 31 Washington Examiner, I described how the “Americorps…
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Nationalizing the Banks? Stock Conversion May Backfire
The Obama Administration wants to convert the preferred shares the government got from banks in the bank bailout into common shares. In theory, it…
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Tea Party Protesters Are Right
Tea party protests questioned the constitutionality of some of the massive bailouts over the past year, which amount to trillions of dollars. That drew…
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Slandering the Tea Parties
The “tea party” protests against out-of-control government spending have been very clear in identifying what wasteful spending they object to. One example is…
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The Liberal War on Science
Christina Hoff Sommers writes about a looming liberal war on science. Based on a campaign promise Obama made to feminist groups in October…
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Federalism and Opposition to Illegal Immigration Are Signs of Subversion, Obama Administration Claims
The Obama Administration’s Department of Homeland Security has developed new profiles of potential terrorists. Its definition of “right-wing extremism” is so ridiculously broad that…
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Sacrificing Safety and Freedom for “International Law”
Piracy has flourished in the crucial shipping lanes off the coast of Somalia partly due to a treaty that the U.S. has not…
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Supreme Inconsistency on Foreign Law
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says that American courts should look more to foreign court rulings in interpreting our Constitution. But she herself does so…
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Federal Budget Deficit Skyrockets; $163,000 More in Taxes
“The budget deficit increased by $192.3 billion in March, and is near $1 trillion just halfway through the budget year.” It’s going to…
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Liberal Bootlicking
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus recently visited Cuba and licked Casto’s boots, calling him an “inspiring” visionary and an “amazing human being.”…
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Trojan Horse “Food Safety” Law
A misguided bill, the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009, may shut down farmer’s markets and “drive out of business local farmers and artisanal,…
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Baptist-Bootlegger Alliance on Tobacco
In today’s Washington Examiner, Tim Carney has an excellent column on how the bill to place tobacco under FDA regulation would reduce competition in…
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Ideologies Are Like Cults
Herbert Hoover ran up big budget deficits in response to the 1929 stock market crash, in an unsuccessful effort to stave off the Great…
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A Bounty on Your 401(K)
The Obama Administration’s mortgage bailout for irresponsible borrowers (including wealthy borrowers with modest mortgage payments) provides a bounty for reckless sub-prime mortgage lenders…
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Crucial Military Votes Excluded in New York Special Election
The outcome of a special Congressional election in New York’s 20th Congressional District will likely turn on the illegal exclusion of up to 1,000…
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Regulation of Local, Non-Interstate, Non-Commercial Conduct OK’d
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Markets Rally on Hopes of Regulatory Relief
The stock market has gone up by 280 points so far today, fueled by FASB’s vote to relax rigid mark-to-market accounting rules,…
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Obama Follows in Hoover’s Footsteps
During the Great Depression, Herbert Hoover damaged the economy, and impoverished the American people, with costly, artificial attempts to stimulate the economy through…
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Bill Giving D.C. a Congressman Is Unconstitutional
A bill that would give residents of Washington, D.C. a Congressman is unconstitutional, lawyers in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel concluded. But…
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“Robbery of the American People”
“Nobel Prize-winning liberal economist Joseph Stiglitz points out that the Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s plan to have the government subsidize investments in ‘toxic assets’ creates…
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AIG Chief Loves Vicious Left-Wing Terrorist?
AIG Financial Products CEO Gerry Pasciucco wears a T-shirt emblazoned with the face of Che Guevara — the Cuban “revolutionary” and henchman of Fidel…
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The EEOC: “The Fox Guarding the Henhouse”
“The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, responsible for ensuring that the nation’s workers are treated fairly, has itself willfully violated the Fair Labor Standards Act…
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Billions More for Failed Bailouts
Ironically, by getting rid of General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner, the Obama Administration has made it even harder for it to demand the painful…
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Torture Caused Bogus Orange Alerts
Many of those bogus orange alerts that inconvenienced and alarmed travelers since 9/11 had an unsavory source: torture. The Bush Administration, with the tacit…
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Feds Make Freddie Mac Even Worse, Ripping Off Taxpayers
After federal regulators took over failing mortgage giant Freddie Mac, they didn’t stop its risky lending practices. Instead, they ramped up its risk-taking, making it…
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Geithner Seeks More Power to Ruin Our Economy
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner wants a “vast expansion” of his power over the financial system. This is the same guy whose bungled…
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Obama’s Policies Are “A Road to Hell,” European Leader Says
“The president of the European Union on Wednesday slammed U.S. plans to spend its way out of recession as ‘a road to hell.’…
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$2 Trillion Tax from Obama: Hidden Costs of “Cap-and-Trade” Scheme
Obama’s proposed “cap-and-trade” carbon tax on energy use and utility bills is expected to raise up to $2 trillion, more than the $646 billion…
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Toxic-Asset Buy-Up: “Pure Plunder”?
People who have actually read the fine print of the Administration’s trillion-dollar toxic asset buy-up program don’t like it. One calls it “pure plunder.”…
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Toxic Asset Rip-Off
Obama is proposing that the Treasury provide loans up front and insurance against potential losses on the back end. It’s what Paul Krugman called "heads…
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“Heads I win, Tails the Taxpayers Lose”: Toxic Asset Rip-Off
That’s how analysts describe the trillion-dollar toxic-asset buy-up program proposed this weekend by the Obama Administration: “the president is putting forth his idea to…
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Blind to Obama’s Broken Promises
In 2008, Obama promised a “net spending cut” (although he never did come up with cuts to offset his proposed spending increases). Obama…
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Obama Budget Explodes Debt, Taxes, CBO Admits
Obama’s budget would explode the national debt while increasing taxes. That’s the conclusion of the Congressional Budget Office, controlled by lawmakers who support…
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Herbert W. Obama
In the Great Depression, President Herbert Hoover raised marginal tax rates to 63%, and went on a deficit spending binge. He also signed…
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A Cynical Poison-Pill Bill
Yesterday, liberal lawmakers, after publicly blasting the multi-million dollar AIG bonuses as undeserved and excessive, privately voted down GOP proposals to limit them.
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AIG Lies; Bonuses for Fannie & Freddie; Fed Explodes Money Supply, Risks Stagflation
It’s not just AIG, being bailed out for $170 billion, that’s using taxpayer money to give fat bonuses to its employees. The same thing is…
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Hypocritical Posturing By Obama Over AIG Bonuses
In response to public outrage, Obama is belatedly criticizing the millions of dollars in bonuses that AIG, which is being bailed by taxpayers at a…
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Left-Wing Attorney General Ashamed of End to Discrimination
A federal appeals court recently upheld an injunction barring a county official from continuing to prevent people from voting based on their race. The unanimous…
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Bailouts for Liars, Illegal Aliens, and Undeserved Bonuses
Insurance giant AIG, bailed out by taxpayers for $170 billion, is using taxpayer money to pay executives in the division that brought…
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An Explosion of Litigation
Already burdened by $8 trillion in new federal spending commitments and the likelihood of higher taxes to pay for bailouts,…
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Economists Give Obama Failing Grade; New Bailouts Demanded As Obama Breaks Promises
Obama gets a failing grade from economists. “U.S. President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner received failing grades for their efforts to…
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Stimulus Subsidizes Corruption, Waste, Racism
The $800 billion stimulus package signed by Obama not only will make the economy shrink over the long-run, it will pay $88.6 million…
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Obama Insults America’s Allies, Endangers Economy
Not content with endangering the economy by pushing through $8 trillion in bailouts and welfare, Obama has now insulted the…
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$8 Trillion in Bailouts; Undeserving Rich Benefit
Federal bailouts and related spending proposed by the Obama Administration now total 8 trillion dollars, according to the American Institute for Economic Research.
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90 Percent Tax Rate Proposed
Congressman Jerry McNerney (D-California) has advocated raising marginal tax rates to 90 percent. Such a tax increase on the wealthy would be necessary, but…
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Obama Bails Out Rich, Irresponsible People With LOW Mortgage Payments
Yesterday, I wrote about how high-income people with $700,000 homes, who are in no danger of becoming homeless, would benefit from the Obama Administration’s…
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Bailing Out the Reckless Rich, Harming Our Economy
Well-to-do people will receive an unnecessary mortgage bailout, under a new federal program that will cut their payments to just 31 percent of their income…
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Distorting the News, to Obama’s Advantage: Ledbetter v. Goodyear and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
Distorted press coverage of a Supreme Court decision gave a big boost to the Obama campaign, which made the decision a major campaign…
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Your Loss Is My Gain, Sucker!
I am being enriched by a vast expansion of government that will impoverish you and your family, and shrink the size of the economy in…
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Stimulus Guts Welfare Reform, Is Deceptive
The stimulus package will gut welfare reform even more than previously feared. That’s the conclusion of Mickey Kaus, a moderate Democrat who now…
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Stimulus Package Shrinks Economy, Expands Welfare Rolls
The Stimulus Package passed by the Senate will encourage people to stop working and go on welfare, undermining the 1996 welfare reform…
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Stimulus Plan Harms Economy, Congressional Budget Office Admits
The bloated $800 billion “stimulus” package would not only create a mountain of debt, it would harm the economy in the long run.
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Stimulus Bill Is Full of Pork
The $800 billion stimulus bill contains billions of dollars in pork and wasteful spending on items that have nothing to do with stimulating the…
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Stimulus Plan Repeats Mistakes That Spawned Great Depression
The European Union is threatening a trade war over provisions in the $800 billion “stimulus” package backed by Obama and Congressional leaders. The Great…
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Opposition to “Stimulus” Package Rises
Opposition to the $800 billion stimulus package continues to rise, and polls show support for it has fallen to 42%. Independent swing-voters oppose…
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Obama Distorts Ledbetter v. Goodyear Case, In Signing Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
In signing his first bill into law, Obama didn’t let facts get in the way of a good story, or milking a political wedge issue.
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Stimulus Bill Triggers Legislative Logjams, Perpetuates Credit Crisis
Obama’s stimulus package is the problem, not the solution. No one wants to make any hard decisions until they see what goodies they may get…
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White House Distorts Ledbetter v. Goodyear Ruling, in Backing Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
The White House is making false claims about the Supreme Court’s Ledbetter v. Goodyear decision. In that case, the Supreme Court enforced the…
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No Consensus for “Stimulus” Among Economists
Contrary to claims by the Obama administration, there is no consensus among economists for a “stimulus” package, much less the trillion-dollar pork-filled “…
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Consumer Product Safety Law Backfires, Killing Thousands of Jobs
A consumer-product safety law recently passed by Congress will drive up the price of children’s clothes and toys and put thousands of small toymakers…
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Incoming Attorney General Eric Holder Is Hostile to Civil Liberties
Eric Holder, Obama’s choice for attorney general, is hostile to civil liberties. He has previously expressed veiled support for using the misnamed…
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Obama’s Trillion Dollar “Stimulus” Fantasy, at $300,000 per Job
Barack Obama claims his trillion-dollar stimulus package, financed through new deficit spending, will “create or save” 3 million jobs. That’s pure fantasy —…
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The Paycheck Fairness Act: Equal Pay Baloney From the Press
“News” stories on legislation often read like lazy summaries of press releases put out by the bill’s sponsors. That’s particularly true for so-called “equal pay”…
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Change Is Coming, To Benefit Trial Lawyers
Obama promised change, and it’s already happening, at the expense of the poor, consumers, and small business. “Regulations set to take effect next month could…
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Thousands Die After Zimbabwe Dictator Nationalizes Water Systems
Thousands of people have died of cholera in Zimbabwe after the country’s left-wing dictator Robert Mugabe nationalized municipal water systems to seize their revenue,…
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Irrational Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines
Massachusetts has long had some of the most excessive child support guidelines in the nation: for just one child, the father is ordered to…
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A Silver Lining in the Terrible Madoff Ponzi Scheme?
Point of Law carries a news item called “Left-Wing Legal Groups Reeling from Madoff Affair.” Bernard Madoff, the architect of a $50 billion ponzi…
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Bailouts Aggravate Financial Crisis
In the New York Times, economist Tyler Cowen of George Mason University argues that the $700 billion financial-system bailout is impeding an economic recovery. Because…
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Stimulus Plans: Economic Failures, But Sometimes Political Successes
So-called “stimulus packages” don’t revive the economy, but that hasn’t stopped President-elect Obama from pushing a budget-busting $850 billion stimulus package. Japan…
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More Criticism for Unconstitutional Auto Bailout
Andrew Sullivan, George Will, Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich, the Heritage Foundation, and many others have joined CEI in calling the auto bailout Unconstitutional.
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Fewer Toys for Christmas
Small toy manufacturers may go out of business thanks to the “Consumer Product Safety Act of 2008,” which Congress hastily passed in response to…
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Bush Auto Bailout Illegal, Bailout Supporter Admits
Clinton Administration Labor Secretary Robert Reich, who supports bailing out the Detroit automakers (whose unionized workers are paid $70 an hour), nevertheless points out…
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Drew Edmondson’s Prosecution of Paul Jacob Is Unconstitutional
The federal Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has declared unconstitutional an Oklahoma law banning non-residents from helping to collect signatures for ballot initiatives…
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An Insult to the American People
Thumbing its nose at the American people, who have opposed a bailout for automakers by a two-to-one margin in public opinion polls, the Bush…
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Minnesota Vote Manipulation Likely Overturns Key Senate Election
The Minnesota Senate election was very close: GOP incumbent Norm Coleman led liberal ex-comedian Al Franken by just 725 votes. As a result, Franken demanded a recount. …
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What’s $50 Billion Among Friends?
Bernard Madoff defrauded investors out of an unprecedented $50 billion, in a massive Ponzi scheme that was perhaps the vilest swindle of the century. But a…
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Fed Chairman Uses Incompetent Ratings Firms for Bailout
“Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke is basing hundreds of billions in emergency lending on credit ratings from companies that gave AAA grades to toxic…
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The Value of a Dollar
Yesterday the dollar reach a 13-year low against the Euro as the Federal Reserve continues to pump new money into the system. All of this…
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Bailouts Unconstitutional Failures
Jacob Sullum’s recent column argues that Bush’s auto bailout plan is an unconstitutional violation of separation of powers. We earlier argued that it was…
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Paulson’s Bailout Was a Scam
National Review editor Rich Lowry, who mistakenly supported the financial system bailout because he trusted the Bush Administration, now realizes that he was deceived by…
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Fed Cuts Rates, Punishing Thrift, and Impoverishing Savers
The Federal Reserve has just cut the federal funds rate for loans to banks to an unprecedentedly low rate — ranging from 0.0% to…
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Auto Bailout Would Kill Jobs, Impoverish Taxpayers
A bailout would be worse for the auto industry than automakers filing for bankruptcy, explains banking and bankruptcy expert Todd Zywicki, a law professor,…
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Bush’s Auto Bailout: Illegal or Unconstitutional
The Bush Administration is planning to bailout the Big Three. It's using part of the $700 bill financial sector bailout package by seizing on TARP's…
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Jimmy Carter Disowns the Dictator Mugabe, His Frankenstein
After years of criticizing supposedly “unilateral” American military intervention in places like Iraq (where the U.S. was actually acting in concert with other countries, like…
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Auto Bailout Smoke and Mirrors
Mickey Kaus, a moderate Democrat, explains how the proposed auto bailout contains little leverage for the proposed “auto czar” to really cut the excessive…
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Bailout for Bloated Union Contracts
The auto bailout being fashioned by liberal lawmakers with Bush's apparent acquiescence contains no meaningful limits on the bloated union contracts that have helped make…
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Sheila Bair’s Coddling of Mortgage Deadbeats Fails, Costing Taxpayers
Sheila Bair, the head of the FDIC, has been busy rewarding irresponsibility and punishing thrift by giving special breaks to deadbeat mortgage borrowers from…