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14 Aug 2011 21:25

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U.S.: Andrew Cuomo sure flies around a lot using taxpayer money

  • bad A little while back, cost-cutting New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie got a lot of crap over taking a helicopter to his son’s softball game. He ended up repaying the costs of the plane ride, but he didn’t apologize, claiming that it was important for him to be a good father.
  • worse Now, his neighbor directly to the north, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is facing similar scrutiny, but in his case, he used state aircraft to fly 19 times between his girlfriend’s place in Westchester and his job in Albany. Should we judge him for this? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Jul 2011 10:30

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Politics: Nancy Pelosi stuck defending trip to Detroit Auto Show

  • $35,000 to see the shiny new cars source
  • » That’s taxpayer money, by the way: While it’s a drop in the bucket, it’s understandable why Pelosi might get guff for this — because the Detroit Auto Show is a gaudy showcase event if there ever was one, and she used taxpayer money to send a dozen congressmen to the event back in 2010, when she was speaker. Pelosi’s spokesperson, Drew Hammill, defended her actions: “Congress made an historic commitment to the auto industry to drive innovation and modernization, and to save hundreds of thousands of jobs,” he said. “It was critical that taxpayer dollars received proper oversight, and the bipartisan visit was critical to that process.”
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Sep 2010 11:04

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Biz: Bailout bonanza: AIG brokers a payback deal with the U.S.

  • 92.1%taxpayers’ upcoming stake in AIG
  • what The U.S. government will receive $62 billion in common shares of AIG stock to replace the $49 billion in preferred shares it currently has floating around.
  • why Because, over time, the government will be able to sell these shares and hopefully make back some of the billions it paid AIG during bailout-o-rama. source
  • » But wait, there’s more: AIG also plans to pay back $20 billion that it received from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York credit facility. An end result of all of this is that taxpayers will see an instant paper profit of $10 billion along with the long-term profits from the sale. Who wants to say “screw all those future generations” and grab a piece?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Sep 2009 10:12

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U.S., World: Did taxpayer money used for Afghan War aid go to the Taliban?

  • It’s a real hard thing to prove. Who is going to survive to testify about that? That is our challenge. But that doesn’t mean we stop trying. We want to get to the bottom of it.
  • USAID Office of Inspector General representative Dona Dinkler • Regarding reports that some taxpayer money meant to go to rebuilding infrastructure, such as bridges and roads, in Afghanistan (currently at $7.5 billion between 2002 and now) has instead been funneled to the Taliban. Which should probably make a lot of taxpayers angry if it’s true. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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