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Calif bullet train faces funding, legal challenges | Fox News: "$2.6 billion in bonds for construction of the initial 130-mile segment of the bullet train in the Central Valley. The move allows the state to tap $3.2 billion in federal funds for the project."
$44 million dollars/mile!
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Texas honor student jailed for truancy likely spent night with 'hard-core' criminals | Fox News
Texas honor student jailed for truancy likely spent night with 'hard-core' criminals | Fox News: "Diane Tran, an 11th-grade honor student at Willis High School near Houston, was sent to jail for 24 hours last Wednesday by Judge Lanny Moriarty and ordered to pay a $100 fine for excessive truancy."
"Tran, who works full-time at a dry-cleaning business and part-time for a wedding planner, has been supporting her brother and sister since her parents separated and her mother moved away."
"the girl likely spent her 24-hour jail sentence at Montgomery County Jail surrounded by suspected murderers, drug addicts and prostitutes.
"It's hard-core," he said of the jail, noting that past clients whom he has defended described it as "the worst experience of their life." "
""If you let one run loose, what are you going to do with the rest of them? Let them go, too?" [Judge] Moriarty told the station."
Perish the thought that people will work hard to support their family! We can't have that!
"I think the public policy of making kids attend school is necessary and 24 hours in jail would be pretty minimal and should get the point across," "
The policy is to ensure that children get a good education so it doesn't make sense to punish someone who is doing well in school!
"Tran, who works full-time at a dry-cleaning business and part-time for a wedding planner, has been supporting her brother and sister since her parents separated and her mother moved away."
"the girl likely spent her 24-hour jail sentence at Montgomery County Jail surrounded by suspected murderers, drug addicts and prostitutes.
"It's hard-core," he said of the jail, noting that past clients whom he has defended described it as "the worst experience of their life." "
""If you let one run loose, what are you going to do with the rest of them? Let them go, too?" [Judge] Moriarty told the station."
Perish the thought that people will work hard to support their family! We can't have that!
"I think the public policy of making kids attend school is necessary and 24 hours in jail would be pretty minimal and should get the point across," "
The policy is to ensure that children get a good education so it doesn't make sense to punish someone who is doing well in school!
RI MD admits guilt in NY rare-coin case with twist | Fox News
RI MD admits guilt in NY rare-coin case with twist | Fox News: "Still, Weiss was criminally implicated because he believed what he had were illegally obtained coins."
If ignorance of the law isn't a valid reason for breaking the law, why is someone guilty if they incorrectly thought they were breaking the law?
If ignorance of the law isn't a valid reason for breaking the law, why is someone guilty if they incorrectly thought they were breaking the law?
Energy Companies Are Not Sitting on "Inactive" Oil Leases, President Obama | Robert L. Bradley Jr. | Cato Institute: Commentary
Energy Companies Are Not Sitting on "Inactive" Oil Leases, President Obama | Robert L. Bradley Jr. | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Obtaining a lease is just the first step in producing energy, after which companies must obtain exploration and drilling permits. Leases may appear idle — but only because planned exploration and development are being held up by other federal agencies, such as the Bureau of Ocean, Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement.
Throughout the pre-leasing, leasing, exploration, drilling, and production processes, companies have to apply for more than 15 permits and comply with more than 90 sets of federal regulations. A permit just approved in Utah, for example, was four and half years in the making. In an earlier report on lease activity, this land would have been considered inactive.
The more the government stalls, the more oil and gas companies pay. Annual rental fees for leased land can now exceed $100,000 annually — and can increase as the lease goes on. This hardly suggests that companies are somehow incited to postpone drilling and production.
Not to worry, leases also include a "use it or lose it" provision to ensure that oil companies promptly return acreage unworthy of development to the government."
Throughout the pre-leasing, leasing, exploration, drilling, and production processes, companies have to apply for more than 15 permits and comply with more than 90 sets of federal regulations. A permit just approved in Utah, for example, was four and half years in the making. In an earlier report on lease activity, this land would have been considered inactive.
The more the government stalls, the more oil and gas companies pay. Annual rental fees for leased land can now exceed $100,000 annually — and can increase as the lease goes on. This hardly suggests that companies are somehow incited to postpone drilling and production.
Not to worry, leases also include a "use it or lose it" provision to ensure that oil companies promptly return acreage unworthy of development to the government."
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Report: 2M jobs lost if automatic cuts kick in | Fox News
Report: 2M jobs lost if automatic cuts kick in | Fox News: "The study, obtained by The Associated Press, was conducted for the Aerospace Industries Association, but it examined the shared pain for defense and domestic programs from the across-the-board reductions slated to kick in Jan. 2. The cuts would reduce the nation's gross domestic product by $215 billion next year while consumer confidence would plummet, said the report by Dr. Stephen Fuller of George Mason University and Chmura Economics and Analytics."
Sweet! There are no costs to the government spending money! That makes so much sense!
And of course the Aerospace Industries Association has no incentive to say that we should keep government spending -- they don't get any extra benefits from government spending so they can be trusted!
Sweet! There are no costs to the government spending money! That makes so much sense!
And of course the Aerospace Industries Association has no incentive to say that we should keep government spending -- they don't get any extra benefits from government spending so they can be trusted!
Monday, July 16, 2012
Calif. cities eye plan to seize mortgages | Fox News
Calif. cities eye plan to seize mortgages | Fox News: "The idea was broached by a group of West Coast financiers who suggest using the power of eminent domain, which lets the government seize private property for public use. In this case, they would condemn troubled mortgages so they could seize them from the investors who own them. Then the mortgages would be rewritten so the borrowers would have significantly lower monthly payments."
"In this case, supporters say, the public purpose is served because communities battered by foreclosures have seen tax rolls decimated and services gutted and have suffered economic blight."
"Here's how it would work for a hypothetical city:
— The city goes to court and argues that the public purpose is served by having the county own, and ultimately refinance, the mortgage.
— The city pays fair market value to the owner of the mortgage. That is usually a securitization trust, an otherwise passive financial entity used to bundle mortgages and sell pieces to investors that became a bigger part of the mortgage market during the 2000s housing boom.
— The city, the new owner of the mortgage, encourages and helps the homeowner to find refinancing. Now the principal is lower, and interest rates are at historic lows, so the homeowner winds up with easier monthly payments.
— Mortgage Resolution Partners collects a flat fee, $4,500 per loan, for helping the city find homeowners who can be helped and for handling the other mechanics of the process."
The problem is that people owe more than the house is worth, so a company thinks the government should take the loan an refinance it to lower the payments. So it doesn't solve the problem and the company makes *only* $4,500 per house!
"In this case, supporters say, the public purpose is served because communities battered by foreclosures have seen tax rolls decimated and services gutted and have suffered economic blight."
"Here's how it would work for a hypothetical city:
— The city goes to court and argues that the public purpose is served by having the county own, and ultimately refinance, the mortgage.
— The city pays fair market value to the owner of the mortgage. That is usually a securitization trust, an otherwise passive financial entity used to bundle mortgages and sell pieces to investors that became a bigger part of the mortgage market during the 2000s housing boom.
— The city, the new owner of the mortgage, encourages and helps the homeowner to find refinancing. Now the principal is lower, and interest rates are at historic lows, so the homeowner winds up with easier monthly payments.
— Mortgage Resolution Partners collects a flat fee, $4,500 per loan, for helping the city find homeowners who can be helped and for handling the other mechanics of the process."
The problem is that people owe more than the house is worth, so a company thinks the government should take the loan an refinance it to lower the payments. So it doesn't solve the problem and the company makes *only* $4,500 per house!
Friday, July 13, 2012
Obama Policy Is Positive Step, But Could Delay Real Reform | Alex Nowrasteh | Cato Institute: Commentary
Obama Policy Is Positive Step, But Could Delay Real Reform | Alex Nowrasteh | Cato Institute: Commentary: "The last time Obama used his prosecutorial discretion to review deportation cases, his administration promised to stop the deportations of unauthorized immigrants with strong American family ties and no criminal records. Since that policy went into effect in November 2011, Department of Homeland Security officials stopped deportations in a bare 2 percent of the 411,000 cases reviewed. Last week's memo could be just a repeat of that."
Obama's Executive Unilateralism | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary
Obama's Executive Unilateralism | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary: "In an interview with a panel of Latino journalists last fall, the president had a different take: "This notion that somehow I can just change the laws unilaterally is just not true. We live in a democracy," he insisted. "You have to pass bills through the legislature and then I can sign it." That's why, despite the urging of immigration activists, he could not implement the Dream Act via executive diktat."
"The University of Chicago's Richard Epstein warns that "government by waiver" is "among the most serious challenges to the rule of law in our time." The growth of the administrative state has concentrated enormous discretionary power in the president's hands, and he can use that power to reward political allies and legislate by decree without the inconvenience of democratic deliberation.
Consider the conditional waivers the administration has granted to 10 states, freeing them from the strictures of the No Child Left Behind Act — but only if they adopt certain reforms, nowhere to be found in the law."
"the president's union allies were suspiciously overrepresented in Obamacare waivers granted by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, loosening administrative cost limits in employer health plans."
"The University of Chicago's Richard Epstein warns that "government by waiver" is "among the most serious challenges to the rule of law in our time." The growth of the administrative state has concentrated enormous discretionary power in the president's hands, and he can use that power to reward political allies and legislate by decree without the inconvenience of democratic deliberation.
Consider the conditional waivers the administration has granted to 10 states, freeing them from the strictures of the No Child Left Behind Act — but only if they adopt certain reforms, nowhere to be found in the law."
"the president's union allies were suspiciously overrepresented in Obamacare waivers granted by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, loosening administrative cost limits in employer health plans."
Wanted: Servants, Not Celebrities | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary
Wanted: Servants, Not Celebrities | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary: "The empirical evidence supports the stereotype that the Republicans are somewhat more restrained when it comes to spending than their Democratic colleagues, but that is a low standard. "
"History shows that both Republicans and Democrats usually end up voting for more spending (and taxing) than they promise during their election campaigns. The basic problem is that they are heavily lobbied by those who want specific spending programs, and rewarded with campaign contributions for voting in favor of those programs."
"By 1988, he garnered 71 percent of the vote — the all-time record for any Long Island congressman. He was a model of how a lawmaker can be fiscally responsible, yet get re-elected time and time again in a swing district (after defeating a well-known Democrat)."
"Mr. Lent once told me that he thought the reform that would have the biggest single effect would be to no longer allow the sponsor of a bill or party leadership to name the legislation. "
"History shows that both Republicans and Democrats usually end up voting for more spending (and taxing) than they promise during their election campaigns. The basic problem is that they are heavily lobbied by those who want specific spending programs, and rewarded with campaign contributions for voting in favor of those programs."
"By 1988, he garnered 71 percent of the vote — the all-time record for any Long Island congressman. He was a model of how a lawmaker can be fiscally responsible, yet get re-elected time and time again in a swing district (after defeating a well-known Democrat)."
"Mr. Lent once told me that he thought the reform that would have the biggest single effect would be to no longer allow the sponsor of a bill or party leadership to name the legislation. "
Obama, Romney short on specifics for voters | Fox News
Obama, Romney short on specifics for voters | Fox News: "Romney, for example, has pledged to cap total federal spending at 20 percent of the gross domestic product by the end of his first term, increase defense spending and put the federal budget on track to be balanced within eight to 10 years. But he's offered scant detail about the painful spending cuts that would be necessary to pull off such a trifecta."
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