Carrier’s Move to Mexico Was Entirely Predictable

Carrier Corporation garnered national attention last week with a gauche announcement that it would close down its Indianapolis manufacturing facility, lay off 1,400 workers, and move to Mexico -- all this despite receiving millions in federal support to create domestic green jobs.
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Obamacare Immigrants: $750 Million In Subsidies Paid To 500,000 Ineligible Immigrants (REPORT)

The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, has paid out more than $750 million in taxpayer subsidies to more than half a million illegal immigrants and immigrants whose legal status was not verified, according to a new Senate report seen by Fox News.
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Almost 3 Million Could Lose Their ObamaCare Subsidies Next Year

Remember the hue and cry when it looked like the Supreme Court could deny ObamaCare subsidies to millions of people? Looks like it could happen anyway, thanks to the law's tax complications.
Fully 40% of taxpayers who received ObamaCare subsidies last year haven't filed their taxes yet and are at risk of losing their subsidies for next year, according to the American Action Forum.
An update on ObamaCare that the IRS recently sent to Congress said that out of the 4.5 million taxpayers who got ObamaCare's "advance payment" subsidies last year, only 2.7 million had filed the required tax forms as of the end of this May.


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Feds Can’t Verify $2.8 Billion in Obamacare Subsidies

The federal government cannot verify nearly $3 billion in subsidies distributed through Obamacare, putting significant taxpayer funding “at risk,” according to a new audit report.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released an audit Tuesday finding that the agency did not have an internal system to ensure that subsidies went to the right enrollees, or in the correct amounts.


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Taxpayer Subsidies Keep Elon Musk's Companies Afloat

Well, somebody did it, and it was the mainstream media. Congratulations to the Los Angeles Times for taking the time to research and estimate the total amount of U.S. public (local, state, and federal) subsidies for companies owned or run by South African-born Canadian-American Elon Musk.
The total amount calculated by reporter Jerry Hirsch for taxpayer-backed incentives – of many different forms, including tax credits and rebates provided to customers – was $4.9 billion. The corporate beneficiaries have been Tesla Motors and SpaceX, where Musk is CEO, and SolarCity Corp., where he is chairman.


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Killing ObamaCare Subsidies Could Benefit Millions, Study Finds

Health Care: We keep hearing about how millions will lose insurance if the Supreme Court strikes down ObamaCare's federal exchange subsidies. But there's another side to this story that never gets discussed until now.


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How Five Republicans Let Congress Keep Its Fraudulent Obamacare Subsidies

Health-care experts call it D.C. insiderism at its worst.
The rumors began trickling in about a week before the scheduled vote on April 23: Republican leadership was quietly pushing senators to pull support for subpoenaing Congress’s fraudulent application to the District of Columbia’s health exchange — the document that facilitated Congress’s “exemption” from Obamacare by allowing lawmakers and staffers to keep their employer subsidies.


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Federal Judge Strikes Down ACA Exchange Subsidies

On Tuesday, Judge Ronald A. White of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma vacated the IRS rule that allows premium subsidies in states that refused to establish an exchange under the Affordable Care Act.  The court holds that the IRS Rule is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with law, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. §706(2)(A), in excess of statutory jurisdiction, authority, or limitations, or short of statutory right, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. §706(2)(C), or otherwise is an invalid implementation of the ACA, and is hereby vacated.

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Todd Wynn: European Lessons on Renewable Energy Subsidies

"Federal and state government officials in the U.S. would be well served to recognize the potential ramifications of overreliance on taxpayer support of green energy. It is time to finally restore sanity to the energy debate and reject budget busting, unreliable policies, lest we follow Europe’s path." Check out these snippets on how Europe is beginning to see the light on taxpayer support for renewable energy at American Legislator Read More......

EcoFlats: One More Unsustainable Green Icon for Portland

So-called “sustainable development” is a longtime political interest in the city of Portland. Although the term itself is never defined, the concept implies the use of “green” design and technologies in order to reduce energy consumption, water use, solid waste and automobile travel. The loftiest goal is “net zero,” whereby all electricity and water needs are met from on-site generation and no outside sources are necessary.

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What Do Ethanol Subsidies Have to Do with Tax Cuts?

HEARTLAND INSTITUTE, 12/15/2010 by Steve Stanek - EXERPTS: A vote to extend the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts could happen Monday, and the wheeling and dealing to win the necessary votes includes agreements to continue multi-billion-dollar boondoggles. One of the worst would be continuing subsidies to the ethanol industry.

[SNIP] The truth is there’s lots of science that says ethanol produces more of those emissions than straight gasoline. And, oh yes, ethanol has about one-third less energy than gasoline, so fuel with ethanol in it reduces gas mileage, which means we spend more to run our vehicles.

Ah, but ethanol in the U.S. is made primarily from corn, and what’s more American than corn?! It’s a mainstay crop of farmers across the country because of federal agriculture subsidies. Who could say ‘no’ to raising a crop the government pays you to grow even as it pays other people to turn the crop you were paid to grow into a lousy motor fuel? Read more at Heartland...

Call your legislators! --bc Read More......

Aetna's CEO Compensation

FUTURE OF CAPITALISM, 2/17/2010 - "Aetna is a well-managed company and I am confident that your shareholders are going to do well," President Obama said to Aetna CEO Ronald Williams at the White House before a nationwide television audience back in June. The Seton Hall University Law School Health Reform Watch blog reports that Mr. Williams's 2008 total compensation was $24,300,112. Not bad for a year in which Aetna's share price plummetted to $28.46 from $56.47, losing about half of its value. The Seton Hall blog says that by comparison, WellPoint CEO Angela Braly is underpaid. She earned $9,844,212 in 2008. To Mr. Obama, the bankers are fat cat suicide bombers earning obscene bonuses (or they were, at least until he changed his tune). But the health insurance companies, whose executives earn as much or more than the bankers, are "well managed." Or at least Aetna is. Mr. Obama wasn't criticizing the insurance companies, because they pretty much backed his plan to force Americans to become their customers and use tax dollars to subsidize their premiums. We're generally of the view that free markets should set compensation. But there aren't too many other businesses around where you can earn a free-market salary while using the force of government to corral customers and the taxing power of government to subsidize your premiums. And Mr. Obama says a health care overhaul failed because he didn't do a good enough job of explaining it? Read More......