Category Archives: Fiscal Freedom

Free Press readers 9:40 p.m. ET Feb. 17, 2017

President Donald Trump waves as he arrives on Air Force One at the Palm Beach International Airport to spend part of the weekend at Mar-a-Lago resort on Friday in West Palm Beach, Florida.(Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The person occupying the Office of the President has shown his distasteful attitude towards immigrants. To save millions of tax dollars over the next four years, all he has to do is close the National Monument of the Statue of Liberty and send it back to France. The quotation that is part of the monument can no longer be applied to those who want to come to America.

This country was founded by people from all different countries because the U.S. was a country that had freedoms unlike any other nation. With this so-called President, freedom is not a word he plans on using. You see, this nation is now the Government of Trump. His is the last and only word that means anything. It seems that he does not even plan to work with Congress to run the country and he has already told the nation what he thinks of the Federal Judges who took an oath to support and defend the U.S. Constitution. This is truly a sad situation the majority of people of America have inherited.

Tom Nanasy

Riverview

Dont pull kids out

of school to protest

Taking a child out of school to use as a pawn to protest is paramount to child neglect. Willingly denying a childs education, for even a day, hurts only them! Education is the best foil against injustice. The optics of doing that are terrible too, regardless of the reason.

Gary McDonald

Rochester Hills

Repealing state income tax would be a disaster

Reading of the efforts of the state House Republicans to repeal the state income tax, I was amazed on how shortsighted these legislators are when it comes to fiscal policy. Its all about appearance and getting re-elected.

Theyre going to blow a giant hole in the budget with no thought of how to replace the shortfall. Amazing. People in Flint still are afraid to drink their water. Schools are crumbling and our students are failing to keep up with neighboring states. Roads are a disaster, as is infrastructure as a whole. Instead of making this political grandstanding move for the good of the people why not really give some tax relief?

Back in 2011, Gov. Rick Snyder hit everyone with a massive tax break to businesses. Its never really created any jobs. The majority of jobs that have been created since have come from the auto industry revival. But business profits have flourished, so maybe its time to take some of that tax burden off the backs of everyday citizens and let businesses once again pay their fair share. And while theyre at it, lets give back to seniors that pension money that was promised to them and was stolen in the form of a pension tax.

Mike Frank

Chesterfield

U.S. should keep word in climate change fight

President Trump had made many promises to the American people throughout his campaign, including an influx of jobs. However, he did not consider how these economic changes would impact the environment. While a recent article in the Free Press quoted Trump as saying says auto jobs are pouring back into U.S., there are efforts under way to relax fuel efficiency targets for American vehicles which could help automakers, but hinder efforts towards reducing global carbon emissions.

Reducing fuel efficiency would likely put us at a disadvantage in the global market. Decreasing fuel efficiency standards could be considered a step in Trumps rejection of the Paris Climate Agreement, which includes over 200 other countries. Americans have the strength to thrive economically without damaging global climate change efforts, but our Senators must fight moves from our new commander in chief to rollback efforts to mitigate climate change, and keep our nation honorable.

Sarah Lynch

Whitmore Lake

Keep the door to

safety open in the U.S.

According to an Amnesty International report issued this past week, Syria extra-judicially hanged about 13,000 people at its Saydnaya prison between 2011 and the end of 2015 after unspeakably terrible torture. President Assad dismissed the allegation as fake news. Is it any wonder that millions have fled his country?

Numerous experts in all fields have said that the Trump administration ban, which he said would be rewritten, not only does not make America safer, it actually aids ISIS in recruitment. Further, there is no evidence that anyone whos entered the U.S. through the UN/US refugee program has caused any U.S. deaths. We are sad and angry at the wrong-headed, stiff-necked decision by the Trump administration to try to close the door to safety here.

Its also beyond imagining that the Trump administration would dishonor the words of the Statue of Liberty this week by deporting a Mexican mother of two who had been living in the U.S. peacefully and productively for over 20 years. She had been regularly and voluntarily checking in with authorities concerning her conviction for faking a Social Security number in order to get employment. How can this possibly make our country safer?

Ken and Geraldine

Grunow

Detroit

What lawmakers dont get about ACA repeal

The town halls hosted by Republicans to inquire about peoples feelings on Obamacare were shocking. It wasnt the crowds that were shocking. Why not yell and scream given that repeal will leave them with financial burdens, medical difficulties and possible death?

The shock was to see that the host politician hadnt learned much since the days when the ACA would be repealed 60 times, and when the death panel fantasy was asserted. They need to check the Congressional Budget Office regarding the 20 million people who would lose health insurance if Obamacare is repealed in reality.

Sherman Folland

Romeo

Cost of fuel standards is investment in jobs

In a recent guest column, titled Trump should roll back Obama fuel economy rules, Republican strategist Trent Wisecup says complying with these standards will cost automakers $200 billion. That cost is tens of billions in orders to the thousands of U.S. automotive suppliers who employ hundreds of thousands of Americans across the nation. That cost is billions going toward domestic innovation and advanced manufacturing and tens of billions toward enhanced upgrades to U.S. factories. That cost is enabling the industry to continue to produce globally competitive products right here in the U.S. This is not a cost. This is an investment that is securing American autoworkers and supplier jobs not only today, but tomorrow. Whats more, in addition to increasing investment, the rules save consumers money well in excess of the cost of new technology. The fuel economy standards are helping power todays manufacturing recovery, and we must stay the course if we are to sustain it.

Zoe Lipman

Washington, D.C.

A zinger from a Trump press conference

Thursday during his press conference, President Donald Trump described his administration as a well oiled machine.

Yes, a well oiled jackhammer.

Myrna Lueck

Ypsilanti

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Freedom seems to be missing from president's vocabulary - Detroit Free Press

The 1987 movie, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, featured a scene in which John Candys character is driving the wrong direction on an interstate while Steve Martins character sleeps in the passenger seat. A concerned motorist on the proper side of the highway pulls alongside the wayward vehicle and begins honking, then rolls down his window and hollers, Youre going the wrong way. To which Mr. Candy replies, How would he know where were going?

The scene comes to mind amid the release this week of the Heritage Foundations economic freedom index. Were going the wrong way.

The Hill reported Wednesday that the United States slipped six spots from last year, coming in at 17th among 180 countries. The nations 75.1 ranking out of 100 a dead-solid C is its worst ever showing and continues a trend in which the United States has moved backward in eight of the past nine years.

Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand topped the list, with respective scores of 89.8, 88.6 and 83.7. Switzerland (81.5) and Australia (81.0) were the only other countries to score 80 or more, the studys threshold to be considered economically free. Countries between 70 and 79.9 are considered mostly free.

The United States: Land of the mostly free. Pretty inspiring.

The index is weighted in 13 components, and the United States fared miserably in three of those areas: tax burden (65.3), government spending (55.9) and fiscal health (53.3). On the bright side, however, improvements in all three of those issues could be on the horizon.

President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress have already stated their intention to pass long-overdue tax reform. The president has also spoken in no uncertain terms about peeling back bloat in government spending and staffing, as the federal debt approaches $20 trillion.

Should Congress and the president successfully steer through saner tax policy and more sound spending legislation, Americas flat-lining F score of 53.3 in fiscal health will also almost certainly improve.

Its a simple formula. Now, Congress and President Trump need to slam the brakes on this careening car, do a quick U-turn and start accelerating in the right direction. Make America great again? An obvious place to start would be to make this country economically free again.

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EDITORIAL: The United States continues to drop on the Heritage Foundation's index of economic freedom - Las Vegas Review-Journal

Scott Pruitt arrives at Trump Tower for a meeting on December 7th. (Getty)

Scott Pruitt, Donald Trumps nominee to run the Environmental Protection agency, has been openly critical of the agency he would lead.

His confirmation vote is scheduled for February 17, even though, the night before, a judge in Oklahoma ordered him to turn over thousands of emails that critics say will show he has deep ties to the fossil fuel industry.

Hes also a climate change skeptic whos fought the EPA as Oklahomas attorney general.

The Hill reports hes expected to win confirmation, despite losing a Republican vote.

Heres what you need to know:

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, President Donald Trumps nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, arrives for the Inaugural Luncheon in the US Capitol January 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Getty)

According to CNBC, an Oklahoma County judge on February 16 ordered Pruitt to turn over thousands of communications to a watchdog group.

The Washington Times reported that the emails are related to his communications with the oil-and-gas industry.

The Center for Media and Democracy had sued, alleging Pruitt was in violation of the open records laws because he wouldnt release the documents, which the group requested in 2015, CNBC reported.

The judge ordered Pruitt to give about 3,000 emails to the group by Tuesday, February 21, according to CNBC. NBC reported that the liberal CMD organization asked for correspondence between Pruitts office and Koch Industries, mining and drill companies and the Republican Attorneys General Association.

Scott Pruitt. (AG file photo)

Pruitts Attorney General biography says that, before being elected AG in 2010, he served eight years in the Oklahoma State Senate where he was a leading voice for fiscal responsibility, religious freedom and pro-life issues.

Hes known for his dramatic quotes. Pruitt once said, The American People are tired of seeing billions of dollars drained from our economy due to unnecessary EPA regulations, and I intend to run this agency in a way that fosters both responsible protection of the environment and freedom for American businesses.

Scott Pruitt, Donald Trumps nominee for EPA Administrator, is pictured during a meeting with US Senator Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV) on Capitol Hill January 4, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Getty)

In his bio, Pruitt is open about how he sees the EPA. Pruitt is a leading advocate against the EPAs activist agenda, the bio says.

Susan Collins, a Republican Senator from Maine, announced she would not vote for Pruitt, writing in a news release that I have significant concerns that Mr. Pruitt actively opposed and sued EPA on numerous issues that are of great importance to the state of Maine, including mercury controls for coal-fired power plants and efforts to reduce cross-state air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

The Hill reported that Republican Sen. John McCain wont be there for the Pruitt vote but that Pruitt is expected to pick up two Democratic votes, meaning hes likely headed for confirmation.

According to the New York Times, Pruitts nomination to run the EPA has so troubled people who work in the agency that they have called U.S. Senators urging them to oppose the pick. The Times says that Pruitt has made a career out of fighting the EPA, noting that Trump has vowed to get rid of the agency.

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, President Donald Trumps choice to head the Environmental Protection Agency, testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on Capitol Hill January 18, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Getty)

Pruitt filed the first lawsuit challenging the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, his bio says. He also has served two terms as president of the Republican Attorneys General Association, according to the bio.

Think Progress reports he once referred to another Senator when saying of climate change, it is just a religious belief for him and for others. The site reports that Pruitt sued the EPA 14 times.

Appearing before Congress, though, Pruitt said he would not seek to overturn a 2009 finding allowing the EPA to regulate carbon dioxide, for instance, and acknowledged the reality of climate change but said the role of humans in that was open to debate, according to Think Progress.

Green Peace alleges that previously obtained emails showed Pruitt and other Republican attorneys general collaborating with corporations and lobbyists to file lawsuits and challenge federal regulations on everything from fracking to air pollution.

Green Peace says that Pruitt has received $318,496 in campaign contributions from the fossil fuel industry since 2002 and is a supporter of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Scott Pruitt has been married to his wife for 27 years. (Facebook)

According to his bio, Pruitt has been married to his wife, Marlyn, for more than 25 years. They have two children, McKenna and Cade.

You can read more about Pruitts wife and kids here:

Scott Pruitt, Donald Trump's nominee for administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, is married and has two children, McKenna and Cade.

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Scott Pruitt: 5 Fast Facts You need to Know - Heavy.com

Ad will collapse in seconds CLOSE February 16, 2017 02/16/2017 12:47 p.m. By Adam K. Raymond

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With a vote of 5149, the Senate confirmed South Carolina representative Mick Mulvaney to lead President Trumps Office of Management and Budget. Every Democrat in the Senate voted against Mulvaney and they were joined by Republican senator John McCain.

A co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus, Mulvaney is a hard-core fiscal hawk, who has yet to meet a federal spending cut he does not like. He supports cutting Social Security and Medicare, has repeatedly advocated shutting down the government to defund Planned Parenthood and kill Obamacare, and opposes increased military spending which is why he lost McCains vote.

My decision to oppose this nomination is not about one person. It is not about one cabinet position. This is not personal. This is not political. This is about principle, McCain said in a statement criticizing Mulvaneys attempts to cut defense spending. Mulvaneys position on defense spending is also at odds with Trumps. The president has promised new planes, new ships, new resources, and new tools for our men and women in uniform.

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A friend of retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward said he called the offer a sh*t sandwich.

During a crowded worship service.

Highlights from the presidents 77-minute tirade about how dishonest the media is and how racist he isnt.

Hes the least racist person youve ever seen.

Shermichael Singleton was preparing for confirmation by Ben Carson, whose campaign he had previously worked on.

In a remarkable 80-minute presser, Trump did not try to reach people with a message via the media; the message itself was to mistrust the media.

One official told CNN that you never want to have a barrier in place that will obstruct your vision.

With no time to spare and no margin for error, the new OMB director must somehow give Congress guidance after resolving his differences with Trump.

Last month in Russia, Trump received more media attention than Putin.

The president then asked a black reporter if she were friends with the black caucus and denied the existence of recent anti-Jewish hate crimes.

The first hearings for Scalias seat now vacant for more than a year will begin March 20.

After a tough week, Trump plays it safe on a nominee who has been confirmed by the Senate multiple times before.

The now-former congressman has yet to meet a budget cut he doesnt like.

Immigrants in several major cities are staying home from work or school today.

Americas top diplomat got off to a bit of a stilted start.

The Defense Secretary appeared to shoot down plans for the U.S. and Russia to align against ISIS.

The for-profit prison industry looks forward to a border boom thanks to Trumps executive order on stepping up immigrant detentions.

Were putting conundrums on top of hypotheticals on top of conjecture here.

Stephen Feinberg, a billionaire Trump ally, has reportedly been tapped to look into streamlining the agencies.

Liberals disliked Puzder for anti-labor policies and proud sexism. National Review disliked his immigration views. His many problems did him in.

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Senate Confirms Fiscal Hawk Mick Mulvaney As Trump's Budget Director - New York Magazine

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This is a big, big day for conservative Republicans, said Paul, who was flanked by members of the House Freedom Caucus.

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The senator, who has been a physician and eye surgeon for more than two decades, said that for the last six years, Republicans have promised voters that they would repeal and replace Obamacare.

In 2010, Republicans won the House of Representatives; and in 2014, Republicans won the Senate; and in 2016, Republicans won the White Houseall based on that promise to unwind President Barack Obamas landmark health care reform legislation, he said.We owe this to the conservatives across the country to repealto completely repeal Obamacare.

Former South Carolina governor Rep. Mark Sanford (R.-S.C.)said he was proud to offer the House companion bill to the 180-page Obamacare replacement bill written by Paul.

I have long admired his stance toward liberty and individual freedom, and to maximizing both, Sanford said.I particularly like the way hes taken his real life experience as a physician and applied them to bring liberty to ultimately patients and citizens alike across this country in terms of what comes next in health care.

Paul said it is true that there are problems caused by Obamacare, but there were real problems in the healthcare industry before Obamacare that still need to be addressed.

We are concerned about how to provide the most insurance at the least amount of cost, and that is what our replacement bill does, he said.

For Paul the three top improvements in the bill are that it legalizes the sale of inexpensive insurance, expands the Health Savings Accounts which allow individuals to set aside money in tax-protected accounts for medical expenses, and allows Americans to band together in health insurance associations to create large pools of buyers for the purposes of driving down costs, he said.

The 11 million people buying insurance in the individual markets would be empowered with the opportunity to join one of these associations, he said.

Chairman of the House Freedom Caucus Rep. Mark Meadows (R.-N.C.) told reporters that the HFC fully supports the Paul-Sanford bill along with immediate repeal along the same lines as the 2015 Obamacare repeal bill that passed the House and Senate in 2015.

Meadows said that the 2015 repeal, which was completed through the same budget reconciliation process the current repeal is now going through along with the Paul-Sanford bill withits two-year transition period will bring about the repeal and replace of Obamacare, freeing Congress to tackle other projects and problems.

Because the repeal bill is part of the fiscal year 2017 budget, Congress cannot begin work on the fiscal year 2018 budget with 2017 unresolved, he said.

It would be our preference to have a vote on this replacement within days of our repeal vote, he said.

In January, while Obama was still in office, both houses of Congress voted to begin the repeal process with the next step of having relevant committees produce pieces of each chambers version. Bills using the budget track are privileged and do not need a 60-vote majority to end debate. Republicans hold a 52-to-48 majority in the Senate, making it unlikely to pass repeal through the regular order track.

The disadvantage to the budget track is that it is restricted to the taxes, penalties, and subsidies in the PPACA legislation. This means there are going to be three steps to unwind Obamacare. After repealing the financial underpinnings of the legislation, Congress would still need to address the rules, regulations, and administrative infrastructure left untouched by the budget bill. Finally, Congress needs to decide if there will be a replacement program or will it just allow the healthcare system into freefall.

Meadows said that another replacement proposed by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R.-La.) and Sen. Susan Collins (R.-Maine) is not a serious replacement because it leaves too much of the PPACA intact.

The North Carolina congressman said he welcomes all bills and all ideas, but Capitol Hill conservatives cannot support Cassidy-Collins.

The speculation on what a replacement will look like has created an unnecessary climate of anxiety in this discussion, he said.I commend Senator Paul and Representative Sanford for releasing a plan so that we can move toward debating the issues at hand and ultimately keeping our promises to the people.

The former HFC Rep. Jim Jordan (R.-Ohio) said he is not worried about the political backlash from repealing Obamacare, because Republicans campaigned against it for the last three election cycles and won.

Americans expect Republicans to repeal Obamacare, he said. Everything they were told about this law turned out to be false.

The House Freedom Caucus has two official positions on Obamacare, he said. The first is what is in process now, the repeal through the budget reconciliation track, just as Congress passed it in 2015. Second, pass a replacement bill that empowers patients and doctors not Washington.

Sanford said the Affordable Care Act was well-intended, but it created some of its own problems.

It had the government deciding what was essential, whether you or your family members thought the same, he said. It had the government setting up non-insurance insurance, which worked against all the math.

A major fault in the Obamacare legislation is its failure to decouple health insurance from employment, he said.This coupling is a legacy of the wage and price controls from World War II, which were then codified in 1948.

During the war, employers were under pressure to pay higher wages for workers without pushing the workers into a higher tax bracket nor violating wage caps. Kaiser Shipyards, which built the Liberty Ships, got around these hurdles by offering subsidized health insurance, which functioned as tax-free income for the workers. Kaiser Permanente is a direct descendent of this innovation, which along with the Health Maintenance Organization, or HMO, became the routine practice in America.

The problem with this model, which Congress encouraged with tax deductions for company-based health plans, was that when a worker changed jobs, they changed insurance companies, and if the worker had a pre-existing condition, they either were locked into their current job or had to go without coverage for the pre-existing condition at the new job and its plan.

Sanford said individuals buying insurance through an association would be freed from job-lock and would be able to continue insurance with the same insurance company that covered a condition acquired with that company.

Given all the lessons learned from Obamacare, right now it the moment to fix the health care crisis, he said.

It is an inflection point, he said. This is about: Where do we go next?

Watch Wednesdays press conference with Sen. Rand Paul (R.-Ky.) andmembers of the House Freedom Caucus:

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Rand Paul Joins Freedom Caucus to Kick Off Conservative Obamacare Replacement Drive - Breitbart News

Elvert Barnes / FlickrWhen three men were arrested for robbing a drug dealer in Tallahassee, Florida, in 2013, prosecutors seemed to have a slam dunk case. As The Washington Post reported, Tadrae McKenzie and his friends used BB guns to rob a drug dealer, taking $130 worth of marijuana and his cellphone. A few days later the local police tracked them down and charged them with possession as well as armed robbery with a deadly weapon.

During the trial, the defense raised questions about how the police were able to locate the suspects so quickly, but the police and prosecution refused to answer. The judge ordered them to disclose the information, but instead of complying, the prosecution offered the defendants a plea bargain. McKenzie and his friends could have spent anywhere from three to 30 years in jail for their crime. Instead, the three men received probation with no jail time. As Cato Institute policy analyst Adam Bates pointed out during a panel discussion yesterday, the reason for the discrepancy was that the police and prosecution were unwilling to admit they had used a surveillance tool called a "Stingray" to find the criminals.

Stingrays mimic the signal of a cellular tower and lure nearby mobile phones to connect to their fake network. Through this connection, law enforcement can track the cellphone's location and even download its content. The device allowed cops in Tallahassee to locate the three robbers with ease by tracking the drug dealer's stolen phonebut when faced with the necessity of acknowledging the technology's existence and explaining in court how it was used, the government's lawyers opted to drop the case rather than speak candidly.

"Through the use of nondisclosure agreements, a refusal to honor freedom of information requests, and deceit toward courts and the public, the full capabilities of these devices, the extent of their use by law enforcement, and the existence of policies to govern their use remain secret," Bates writes in a report on law enforcement use of Stingrays.

The report explains that nondisclosure agreements between local law enforcement and the FBI and Harris Corp. (the manufacturer of the devices) keep the public in the dark about these cellular surveillance devices: "The government plainly views sacrificing individual prosecutions, even for serious crimes, as an acceptable price for concealing the nature of stingray surveillance," Bates argues. "The FBI's nondisclosure agreement is clear: in exchange for permission to use stingray devices, state and local officials must surrender prosecutorial discretion to the federal government."

Advocates such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have tried to increase transparency about the government's use of Stingrays, with varying degrees of success. In 2014, the Florida chapter of the ACLU filed a freedom of information request and was granted access to documents about the Sarasota Police Department's use of the devices. Before the department could hand over the information, the U.S. Marshals intervened, raiding the department and seizing the requested documents.

The ACLU has been able to gather some data, though. It found that at least 23 states and the District of Columbia have law enforcement deploying Stingrays.

A House Oversight Committee report, published in December, found that in from fiscal year 2010 to fiscal year 2014, the Department of Justice (DOJ) spent more than $71 million to acquire and use cell-site simulators, and has 310 devices agency-wide. In the same span, the Department of Homeland Security spent more than $24 million for 124 devices for that agency. Since January 2006, the Treasury Department has spent more than $1.3 million and possess three devices.

The lack of transparency and accountability has led to much concern about civil liberties violations. U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (RUtah) is planning to introduce two bills to demand more congressional oversight of how the federal government use Stingrays. Reason reporter Eric Boehm provides a more in-depth look at the proposed legislation here.

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Officials Continue to Dodge Attempts to Disclose Use of Stingrays - Reason (blog)

The Fiscal Times

10 Things to Know About Stephen Feinberg, Trump's Potential Intelligence Czar The Fiscal Times Not listed on the Cerberus website is its ownership of Freedom Group, a firearms holding company that controls such brands as Remington, Marlin and Bushmaster, maker of the AR-15 used by the Beltway snipers in 2002 and in the 2012 Sandy Hook ... Spies Keep Intelligence From Donald Trump on Leak ConcernsWall Street Journal White House Plans to Have Trump Ally Review Intelligence AgenciesNew York Times The New York Times (@nytimes) | TwitterTwitter all 186 news articles »

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10 Things to Know About Stephen Feinberg, Trump's Potential Intelligence Czar - The Fiscal Times

Much like their Maysville City counterparts, Mason County Commissioners gave the go-ahead for the Washington Volunteer Fire Department to become independent from the city.

The department currently operates under the MFD.

In doing so, the county agreed to provide support in the form of insurance on vehicles and, eventually, on buildings. That should total about $2,500 after the first three years, officials said.

The process of pulling city fire department support from the WVFD will be a three-year process, Maysville City Manager Matt Wallingford told county commissioners.

As an independent department, the WVFD will be eligible for federal grants and state aid, have control over its own budget and freedom to raise funds, Wallingford said. During the transition, the city will lease the current fire building to the volunteers for $1 annually for three years and pay utilities on the building, also for three years, he said.

Last fall, talks first began with plans to merge the WVFD with another county department. It was later decided the firefighters with WVFD would prefer to go it alone, Wallingford said.

Even though the department is located within the city limits, it is a county fire department, Wallingford said.

WVFD Chief Darrell Kalb said his department covers an area which serves 400-600 households and has mutual aid agreements with neighboring departments to share services and equipment and responds when requested. The department has recently added more firefighters to its roster and has started a junior firefighters program for teens ages 15-18, he said.

City officials are currently working to secure non profit status for the WVFD and acquire a tax ID number for the group. Before any official agreement is brought to a vote, the city needed a "green light" to continue the process and county officials gave the proposal a thumbs up.

Mason County Judge-Executive Joe Pfeffer said the WVFD is just another example of the city and county working together.

Also Tuesday, the county commissioners heard an update from Buffalo Trace Health Department Executive Director Allison Adams on the Community Health Needs Assessment and Health Improvement Plan.

"The staff of the Buffalo Trace District Health Department have a vision for a healthy community for everyone," Adams said in a letter opening a booklet outlining the assessment and community health improvement plan.

Adams said several things stood out in the assessment including smoking, diabetes, immunization, sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy rates. rates. There is also a large incidence of single parent households and grandparents raising grandchildren in the area. Those all contribute to lower life expectancy, she said.

"We want everyone to have the opportunity to be healthy," Adams said.

While the goal is to get the community healthy, that isn't going to happen overnight -- just as becoming less than healthy was a long process so too will changing attitudes and outcomes be a long-term process, she said.

In other business, commissioners:

-- Heard from Barry Fryman with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 9 office who outlined Rural Secondary Fund allotments for the county and recommendations for state road projects including Tuckahoe Road, Helena Road, Ewing Road and Salem Ridge Road.

-- Approved reports from the Road Department, Animal Shelter, Sheriff, Landfill and Recycling Center, Detention Center and Treasurer.

-- Approved the addition of Robert Scott and Larry Rice to the list of approved electrical inspectors.

-- Appointed Andrew Wood to an unexpired term on the Ethics Committee and reappointed John Larry Dodge to the same committee.

-- Learned Pfeffer named Barry Fields to fill the unexpired term of Juston Pate to the Maysville-Mason County Industrial Authority.

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Mason Fiscal gives WVFD go-ahead - Ledger Independent

Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) and Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) have both been very profitable plays for long-term shareholders. Shares of Baidu have risen 1,480% over the past ten years, while shares of Amazon have surged 2,050%.

Baidu and Amazon probably won't repeat those massive gains over the next decade, but both tech giants remain solid investments -- Baidu is the top search engine in China, and Amazon is the biggest e-commerce site and cloud platform provider in the world. Let's compare both company growth trajectories and valuations to see which is a better buy at current prices.

Image source: Getty Images.

Baidu's revenue grew 35% in fiscal 2015, but it's only expected to rise 6% in fiscal 2016 when it reports its full-year earnings on Feb. 23. That slowdown was mainly caused by a government crackdown on misleading ads (especially for healthcare products) across its sites, a swap of its stake in online travel agencyQunarwith its rival Ctrip, and the overall slowdown of the Chinese economy.

But once those headwinds fade, Baidu's top line is expected togrow 20% in fiscal 2017. That growth will likely be fueled by its investments in new and adjacent markets, like O2O (online-to-offline) services which integrate new services into its core mobile app, driverless vehicles, and artificial intelligence.

Amazon's revenue rose 20% in fiscal 2015, 27% in fiscal 2016, and is expected to rise another 22% this year. That consistent growth can be attributed to the rapid growth of its core marketplace businesses and the growth of AWS (Amazon Web Services), the biggest cloud platform in the world. During fiscal 2016, AWS revenues surged 55% and accounted for 9% of its top line -- compared to 7% in 2015.

Most of Baidu's revenues come from ads, which have much higher margins than Amazon's main marketplace business. However, Baidu's operating margins have gradually declined over the past few years, due to the ramp up in its spending on O2O services and other businesses. Meanwhile, Amazon's operating margins have gradually improved due to the growth of AWS, which has much higher margins than its marketplace business.

Source:YCharts.

Baidu's net income rose 155% in fiscal 2015, but much of that gain came from the aforementioned share swap with Qunar and Ctrip. For fiscal 2016, analysts expect Baidu's net earnings to fall nearly 10% on higher O2O investments in letting users order meals, hail cabs, make payments, and perform other tasks within its core app. Baidu needs these features to widen its moat against Tencent (NASDAQOTH:TCEHY), which squeezes similar features into its monolithic WeChat app. But looking forward, analysts expect Baidu's earnings to rebound 33% in 2018 as those ecosystem investments bear fruit.

Amazon's rising operating margins lifted its net income by 125% in 2015 and 298% in 2016. Analysts expect AWS' top line growth and its steady operating margins to boost its net earnings by 49% this year and 75% in fiscal 2018. That impressive bottom line growth will give Amazon more freedom to use loss leading and low-margin strategies (like additional Prime services, Echo, Fire TV, Dash buttons) to expand its e-commerce ecosystem. However, investors should be aware that an ongoing price battle in the cloud platform market has forced AWS to repeatedly lower its prices -- so the unit's bottom line growth could still hit a few speed bumps in the near future.

Baidu trades at 14 times trailing earnings, which is much lower than the industry average of 50 for internet information providers. But its forward P/E of 32 is higher due to its expected slowdown in earnings growth.

Amazon has a trailing P/E of 192, which initially looks lofty but isn't terribly high relative to its earnings growth in 2016. Its forward P/E of 65 also looks reasonable compared to earnings growth expectations for 2017 and 2018.

With high-growth internet companies like Baidu and Amazon, it's also important to check their enterprise value to free cash flow (EV/FCF) ratios. A lower figure indicates that the company is "cheaper" relative to its free cash flow -- which can be used to further expand their businesses. As seen in the following chart, Amazon looks much cheaper than Baidu by that key metric.

Source:YCharts.

I own shares of both Baidu and Amazon, and I still recommend buying both stocks as long-term tech investments. But if I can only buy one at current prices, I'd buy Amazon because it exhibits steadier top and bottom line growth with reasonable valuations. As for Baidu, investors should see if short-term concerns about its rising expenses punish the stock -- which could reveal better buying opportunities.

Leo Sun owns shares of Amazon, Baidu, and Tencent. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon and Baidu. The Motley Fool recommends Ctrip.com International. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Better Buy: Baidu Inc. vs. Amazon.com Inc. -- The Motley Fool - Motley Fool

Much like their Maysville City counterparts, Mason County Commissioners gave the go-ahead for the Washington Volunteer Fire Department to become independent from the city.

The department currently operates under the MFD.

In doing so, the county agreed to provide support in the form of insurance on vehicles and, eventually, on buildings. That should total about $2,500 after the first three years, officials said.

The process of pulling city fire department support from the WVFD will be a three-year process, Maysville City Manager Matt Wallingford told county commissioners.

As an independent department, the WVFD will be eligible for federal grants and state aid, have control over its own budget and freedom to raise funds, Wallingford said. During the transition, the city will lease the current fire building to the volunteers for $1 annually for three years and pay utilities on the building, also for three years, he said.

Last fall, talks first began with plans to merge the WVFD with another county department. It was later decided the firefighters with WVFD would prefer to go it alone, Wallingford said.

Even though the department is located within the city limits, it is a county fire department, Wallingford said.

WVFD Chief Darrell Kalb said his department covers an area which serves 400-600 households and has mutual aid agreements with neighboring departments to share services and equipment and responds when requested. The department has recently added more firefighters to its roster and has started a junior firefighters program for teens ages 15-18, he said.

City officials are currently working to secure non profit status for the WVFD and acquire a tax ID number for the group. Before any official agreement is brought to a vote, the city needed a "green light" to continue the process and county officials gave the proposal a thumbs up.

Mason County Judge-Executive Joe Pfeffer said the WVFD is just another example of the city and county working together.

Also Tuesday, the county commissioners heard an update from Buffalo Trace Health Department Executive Director Allison Adams on the Community Health Needs Assessment and Health Improvement Plan.

"The staff of the Buffalo Trace District Health Department have a vision for a healthy community for everyone," Adams said in a letter opening a booklet outlining the assessment and community health improvement plan.

Adams said several things stood out in the assessment including smoking, diabetes, immunization, sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy rates. rates. There is also a large incidence of single parent households and grandparents raising grandchildren in the area. Those all contribute to lower life expectancy, she said.

"We want everyone to have the opportunity to be healthy," Adams said.

While the goal is to get the community healthy, that isn't going to happen overnight -- just as becoming less than healthy was a long process so too will changing attitudes and outcomes be a long-term process, she said.

In other business, commissioners:

-- Heard from Barry Fryman with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 9 office who outlined Rural Secondary Fund allotments for the county and recommendations for state road projects including Tuckahoe Road, Helena Road, Ewing Road and Salem Ridge Road.

-- Approved reports from the Road Department, Animal Shelter, Sheriff, Landfill and Recycling Center, Detention Center and Treasurer.

-- Approved the addition of Robert Scott and Larry Rice to the list of approved electrical inspectors.

-- Appointed Andrew Wood to an unexpired term on the Ethics Committee and reappointed John Larry Dodge to the same committee.

-- Learned Pfeffer named Barry Fields to fill the unexpired term of Juston Pate to the Maysville-Mason County Industrial Authority.

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Mason Fiscal give WVFD go-ahead - Ledger Independent