Illinois County Official Proposes “Violence Tax” on Guns and Ammo
Branded as the “violence tax,” Cook County officials in Illinois are proposing a tax increase on guns and ammo, with the intent to curb violent crime and help close...
About: Brian Koenig
Posts by Brian Koenig
73 in Congress Supported Legislation Benefitting Them
A lengthy and rather damning new report released by the Washington Post has revealed that 73 members of Congress have in some capacity backed legislation that stands to benefit businesses or industries in...
California Gas Prices Reach All-Time High of $4.67 Per Gallon
Gasoline prices in California have escalated to record highs, spiking 50 cents a gallon in a week and prompting Governor Jerry Brown to advocate laxer smog rules so oil...
GAO: 35% of Federal Contract Dollars Went to Minority-Owned Businesses
According to a new GAO audit, 35 percent of federal contracting dollars have been awarded to businesses owned by minorities. Â ...
Nearly 2,400 Millionaires Collected Unemployment Benefits in 2009
Almost 2,400 Americans who collected unemployment benefits in 2009 resided in households with annual incomes of at least $1 million, according to a recent report compiled by the Congressional...
USDA Urges Parents to Use School Lunches as a Model For Family Meals
The federal government’s new “healthy” school lunch program, which is now stirring controversy in public schools across the country, should act as a model for nutrition in the private...
VA Department Wastes Over $700,000 on Lavish Employee Conference
Adding to the growing list of taxpayer-funded boondoggles, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is under heavy congressional scrutiny after wastefully spending more than $700,000 on two employee conferences...
Hillary Clinton Advocates Less Govt. Regulation in Libya, Egypt
In a speech to Arab leaders at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York on Friday, September 28, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton highlighted the economic casualties of intrusive...
FCC Chairman Defends “Net Neutrality” Regulations
Nullifying his former position that Internet providers should have the freedom to pursue new and innovative business models, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski advocated his agency’s role...
Report: Over 30 Cases of Absentee Voter Fraud in Florida, New York
A national watchdog group called True the Vote announced Tuesday that it has unearthed more than 30 cases of absentee ballot fraud in Florida and New York. ...
USDA Offers $1.3B Discrimination Settlement to Hispanic and Women Farmers
In an effort to atone for so-called “civil rights abuses,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Monday that women and Hispanic farmers who have fallen victim to USDA...
Business Economists Want Higher Taxes, Spending Cuts
To hurdle the federal government’s looming “fiscal cliff,” Congress and the president must enact a combination of higher taxes and spending cuts, says a group of business economists.  ...
California Businesses Protest Forthcoming Cap-and-Trade Program
Countering heated opposition from industry groups on Thursday, California’s top air regulator posed an unwavering defense of the state’s pending cap-and-trade system, which intends to limit greenhouse gas emissions...
State-Owned Chinese Oil Giant to Purchase Canadian Oil Company
Shareholders of Canadian oil firm Nexen voted Thursday to favor a $15.1-billion takeover that would place the company into the hands of the Chinese state-owned CNOOC (China National Offshore...
Coal Company Closes Eight Mines; Cites Obama’s “Regulatory Regime”
Underscoring the inimical aftereffects of President Obama’s “war on coal,” Alpha Natural Resources announced September 18 it will be shuttering eight coal mines in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia,...
Report: 25 Percent of Disability Benefits Improperly Awarded
While record numbers of Americans are migrating to the disability rolls, new data show that more than a quarter of the cases observed between 2006 and 2010 were improperly...
Whistleblower Protests Illegal NSA Data-Mining
A former employee of the National Security Agency (NSA) has released information revealing that the U.S. government has been extracting vast amounts of personal data from its citizens. While...
HHS Secretary Violates Hatch Act With Political Speech
The Office of the Special Counsel announced Wednesday that Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius violated the Hatch Act by campaigning for President Obama while in her...
Former UBS Banker Receives $104M Whistleblower Award
A former banker with the Swiss global financial services company UBS has received a $104-million whistleblower award from the Internal Revenue Service for detailing to the IRS how UBS...
Pentagon to Buy 1,500 Chevy Volts
General Motors, the financially-strained U.S. automaker that absorbed billions of taxpayer dollars through the auto bailout, has secured a new deep-pocketed customer for its purportedly failed electric Chevy Volt:...