It’s Time for a Moratorium on Chinese Investment

(Hat tip: KimR) - The Shanghai Chinese Tower, in the center of the financial district in Lujiazui, stands 2000 feet above a city of 24 million people and counting. Fittingly, an American firm designed that tower, now the tallest building in China, and itself a symbol of the country’s rise to greatness. As the drive to position Shanghai as one of the world’s leading financial center continues, one wonders why both the U.S. government and American businesses are actively working towards helping China become a global powerhouse that could eclipse the U.S. and undermine Washington’s own global influence. Read more at American Thinker Read More......

Blue Heron goes down, so does a $13.75 million public investment

4/21/2011 by Jacob Szeto - "In 2005, Blue Heron embarked on a project to upgrade its recycling and plant equipment to reduce energy consumption and expand its recycling capabilities. Blue Heron did not go to a bank for a loan. Instead, the state of Oregon stepped in and offered to give the company the money it needed through a combination of cash and loans.

The state claimed the project was exactly the kind of investment it was looking for." Read more at Oregon Capitol News... Read More......

Class Warfare's Next Target: 401(k) Savings

INVESTORS BUSINESS DAILY, 2/17/2010 by Newt Gingrich and Peter Ferrara - You did the responsible thing. You saved in your IRA or 401(k) to support your retirement, when you could have spent that money on another vacation, or an upscale car, or fancier clothes and jewelry. But now Washington is developing plans for your retirement savings. ∴ BusinessWeek reports that the Treasury and Labor departments are asking for public comment on "the conversion of 401(k) savings and Individual Retirement Accounts into annuities or other steady payment streams." ∴ In plain English, the idea is for the government to take your retirement savings in return for a promise to pay you some monthly benefit in your retirement years. ∴ They will tell you that you are "investing" your money in U.S. Treasury bonds. But they will use your money immediately to pay for their unprecedented trillion-dollar budget deficits, leaving nothing to back up their political promises, just as they have raided the Social Security trust funds. Read more at IBD...
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Hewlett Packard Opens New Mexico Support Center

CRM DAILY, 12/4/2009 (Hat tip: Jeff Kubler) - The expected economic boost of having HP in New Mexico came with a price. New Mexico invested millions of dollars in the form of tax incentives, job training and capital outlay funds to attract the Fortune 500 company to the state. In return, HP promised to employ more than 1,300 high-wage workers by the end of 2012. Read more at CRM... Read More......