Category Archives: News

Florida quietly shortened yellow light standards & lengths, resulting in more red light camera tickets for you

Tampa Bay’s News 10 reports that Florida’s traffic regulations were quietly changed to permit shorter yellow lights, likely leading to millions of dollars worth of tickets.

The 10 News Investigators found a number of communities shortened their already-safe intervals to the new minimums. In some cases, FDOT mandated longer yellow lights, but seemingly only at intersections that hadn’t been in compliance for years.  Around Greater Tampa Bay, the yellow interval reductions typically took place at RLC intersections and corridors filled with RLC cameras.

FDOT’s change in language may have been subtle, but the effects were quite significant. The removal of three little words meant the reduction of yellow light intervals of up to a second, meaning drastically more citations for drivers. A 10 News analysis indicates the rule change is likely costing Florida drivers millions of dollars a year.

Chemical And Gas Suppliers Battle Over LNG Exports

Is it cronyism for the government to prevent a company from exporting goods because it could lead to higher domestic prices? Apparently the Department of Energy has spent time and resources wondering if natural gas producers should be allowed to export their product. The hang-up appears to be that exports will lead to higher domestic prices that could effect chemical producers. From Chemical & Engineering News:

As DOE approved a permit for the Cheniere terminal, more applications streamed in; it didn’t take long for government officials to realize they were dealing not with a single plant but a potential economic movement. DOE decided to put a temporary halt to its process of examining LNG permit applications. A DOE official tells C&EN the agency thought it prudent to take a break and consider the cumulative impact of selling large amounts of the nation’s newfound surplus of natural gas abroad.

 

Some New Yorkers Demanding an End to Corporate Welfare

Christian Wade, a journalist for Newsday, details the vast amount of tax breaks that towns in New York are giving to corporations to entice them to relocate. Opponents note that these tax breaks are paid for by the small businesses and taxpayers who receive no net benefits from this process:

In an era of rising taxes, big government budget deficits and public-payroll layoffs, Westchester County cities and towns continue to give away millions of dollars in tax breaks to close development deals and boost local economies.

Milke: How corporate Canada is killing free enterprise

Mike Milke, a senior fellow at the Fraser Institute, writes an editorial for the Calgary Herald about the dangers of corporate welfare. The article is Canada-centric but the problems he describes are universal and universally damaging to free markets:

If business leaders ever wonder why a chunk of the public disdains business, and calls for higher corporate taxes or sector-specific increases (higher royalty rates for energy and mining, higher stumpage fees in forestry), or just increased business taxation in general, here’s a clue: too many companies are addicted to corporate welfare.

Five Accused of Diverting Stimulus Money From Tribe

The Washington Free Beacon Staff recently posted this article, concerning the latest case of corruption related to stimulus funds. This time the case concerns a former tribe leader of a Chippewa Cree tribe and a former state lawmaker, who appropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal stimulus money which was supposed to ‘stimulate the economy of the Montana tribe.’ More details here.

The Chippewa Cree Tribe received $33 million in federal funding between 2009 and 2010 for construction of a $361 million pipeline to supply fresh drinking water for the Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation and surrounding counties in northern Montana. Most of that $33 million came from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment act, also known as the stimulus.

The CEO of the tribal company that headed the pipeline project, Chippewa Cree Construction Corp., awarded contracts and authorized cash transfers in a complex web of transactions to embezzle and launder the money, according to the indictment unsealed Tuesday.

Ex-Im bank will not reduce financing as economy improves, bank’s president says

Andrew Evans from Free Beacon has recently covered the current state of policies that the Ex-Im bank is undertaking. The Export-Import Bank is a government agency that gives credit to companies, often companies with big political connections. This week the president of the Ex-Im bank announced that their effort to “support” the economy will not diminish if or when the U.S. economy improves, which means that they will still support their crony friends indefinitely.

Congress reauthorized the bank after a bitter fight in the House of Representatives last year. Part of the deal that won the bank reauthorization required the treasury secretary to initiate negotiations with other countries to reduce and ultimately eliminate export subsidies. The Treasury Department did not return a request for comment on the status of these negotiations.

Committee ranking member Mike Crapo (R., Idaho) raised several objections to the bank in his opening statement, including that the bank offers “corporate welfare” to businesses and some of its financing hurts domestic companies. The three Democrats who attended the hearing praised Hochberg’s work at the bank.

Hefty tax breaks for Westchester developers have foes demanding end to corporate welfare

Even as property taxes  are rising by eleven percent a year, New York’s Newsday reports that property developers are receiving tax breaks that last for decades.

In an era of rising taxes, big government budget deficits and public-payroll layoffs, Westchester County cities and towns continue to give away millions of dollars in tax breaks to close development deals and boost local economies.

Subsidies a cash crop for farmers

New York’s I-Team 10 reports on cash subsidies to farmers.

Even if there’s no drought or flood though, Linder and many farmers nationwide can count on getting a subsidy check from the federal government. It comes in the form of taxpayer-funded direct payments to cash-crop farmers. It’s been given to farmers annually since 1995 whether they need it or not.

Why the China Dream Might Be a Mirage

In a reminder that cronyism is not a uniquely American phenomenon, this Bloomberg piece highlights the ubiquity of cronyism, government intervention, and corruption in China.

Above all, the government needs to reduce the state’s outsized role in banking, finance and industry…

Average Chinese who call for leaders to disclose their assets are detained. Journalists who do lifestyle checks on key politicians to find out how their families amassed hundreds of millions of dollars are regarded as subversive.

Pete Sepp: It’s Not Economic Development, It’s Corporate Welfare

In this excellent Heartland Institute podcast, National Taxpayers’ Union Vice President Pete Sepp discusses the problem of the corporate welfare wolf in the clothing of economic development. They discuss everything from real estate development to subsidizing sports stadiums:

Local officials in thousands of communities around the country love to do “economic development” that doles out tax breaks, taxpayer-backed loans and other “incentives” to attract specific businesses. Pete Sepp of the National Taxpayers Union says it’s really corporate welfare that sends the message..