�Solyndra�s power solutions offer strong return on investment and make great business sense.� That is a rather strange claim for the website of Solyndra Inc., accessed on August 29, 2012 no less. Some history is in order. Solyndra was the first renewable energy firm to get federal stimulus money and bagged $535 million in…
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The Wall Street Journal reports in “Ethanol vs. the World: The corn fuel mandate is raising food prices and hurting the poor,” that the massive federal corporate welfare subsidies to corn farmers and mandates for ethanol production are “a man-made disaster that could be stopped if the EPA or others in Washington cared for…
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At the Pentagon yesterday, President Obama released a press statement concerning his new military strategy. The document was clear with regard to Iran, stating “U.S. policy will emphasize Gulf security, in collaboration with the Gulf Co-operation Council countries when appropriate, to prevent Iran’s development of a nuclear weapon capability and counter its destabilizing policies.”…
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In his article, “New report cites ‘regulatory tsunami’ under Obama,” Byron York reports in the Washington Examiner that a new report from the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee reveals that instead of his claim to oppose job-killing regulations, President Barack Obama has radically expanded federal regulations, producing a “regulatory tsunami that has stifled…
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In a very timely new article in The Weekly Standard, “The Ultimate Stimulus? World War Two and Economic Growth,” Arthur Herman refutes the Keynesian economics myth that Big Government spending during World War II ended the Great Depression. In so doing, he bases his analysis on the path-breaking work of Independent Institute Senior Fellow…
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With the official unemployment rate having now risen to 9.2%, Patrick Buchanan notes in his new column, “An Establishment in Panic,” that another 7% are underemployed and economic growth is a very weak 1.8%. Obama’s predictable answer is higher taxes and to raise the federal debt ceiling so that even more spending and debt…
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The Daily Mail in London reports that the “U.S. military spends a cool $20 billion on air conditioning annually in Iraq and Afghanistan”. The U.S. military forks out a whopping $20.2billion a year on keeping troops in Iraq and Afghanistan cool, it has emerged. The alarming figure is more than NASA’s entire annual budget…
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In the Washington Post, Lori Montgomery and Paul Kane report that with strong public support and White House opposition, the “House rejects proposal to raise debt ceiling” by voting down a measure that would raise the national debt ceiling by 16.8% from the current $14.3 trillion to a whopping $16.7 trillion. With an August…
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Independent Institute Research Fellow Emily Skarbek is interviewed here by Nick Gillespie of Reason TV regarding the Institute�s very timely and far-reaching Government Cost Calculator. The Calculator enables any American to clearly understand three aspects of federal government spending. First, the Calculator helps you determine how much a person will pay for various federal…
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In The Hill, Pete Kasperowicz reports in “Obama administration floats draft plan to tax cars by the mile” that: The Obama administration has floated a transportation authorization bill that would require the study and implementation of a plan to tax automobile drivers based on how many miles they drive. The plan is a part…
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