Author: The Freedom Watch Staff

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Treasury Surpasses Debt Limit on First Day of Ceiling’s Suspension

"That didn’t take long. The U.S. Treasury quickly surpassed the old debt ceiling as it unwound measures it had used to stay under the legal limit. The daily Treasury statement for Monday, released with the typical one-day lag, shows U.S. debt subject to the statutory limit at $16.435 trillion. That’s over the $16.394 trillion limit that was suspended when President Barack Obama signed new legislation Monday. Treasury had stayed just under that old cap since Dec. 31. A Treasury official Tuesday said the increase reflects the department unwinding measures it took to stay below the limit in the interim. That includes $31 billion getting repaid to federal retirement funds." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTreasury Surpasses Debt Limit on First Day of Ceiling’s Suspension

‘Hotel Hell’ manager now a Guantanamo prison supervisor

"The man in charge of the Pentagon office that runs the military tribunal at the Guantanamo Bay prison was once featured on a Fox reality show that highlighted his mismanagement of an upstate New York hotel. According to The Huffington Post, John Imhof, current head of the Office of Military Commissions, was the subject of a 2012 episode of 'Hotel Hell' in which he revealed that he had run his hotel, the Cambridge Inn, into $750,000 worth of debt since buying it in 2007. Imhof was also called out by the show’s host, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, for a slew of errors, including botching the recipe for the hotel’s famous apple pie." Continue reading →

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Ex-Treasury Secretary Geithner to Join Council on Foreign Relations

"The Council on Foreign Relations has just announced that former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will join the Council on Foreign Relations later this month as a distinguished fellow. 'We are thrilled to welcome Tim back to the Council on Foreign Relations,' said CFR President Richard N. Haass. 'Both at Treasury and at the New York Federal Reserve, Tim was a tireless, creative, and responsible custodian of the public trust. His coming to CFR only strengthens our capacity to produce thoughtful analysis of issues at the intersection of economic, political, and strategic developments.'" Continue reading →

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Bus Station Erupts With Heckling At Argentine Finance Minister And His Family

"Things are looking bad for Argentina's economy — central bank reserves are at 2007 lows due to capital flight, inflation is heading up, and the IMF is ready to punish the country for manipulating economic statistics. This is not the time when, as a Minister of the Economy, you want to get caught coming back from vacation in Uruguay with your family. But that's just what happened to Vice Finance Minister Axel Kicillof, a young father, and his wife as they were taking the Buquebus shuttle home from beach spot Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay, La Nacion reports." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBus Station Erupts With Heckling At Argentine Finance Minister And His Family

Greek Finance Minister Gets Bullet In The Mail

"Greece's finance minister was sent a bullet and a death threat from a group protesting home foreclosures, police officials said on Monday, in the latest incident to raise fears of growing political violence. The package was sent by a little-known group called 'Cretan Revolution', which warned the minister against any efforts to seize homes and evict homeowners, police sources said. The group sent similar letters to tax offices in Crete last week." Continue reading →

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Karl Rove: ‘God bless President Obama’ for killing U.S. citizen al-Awlaki

"Republican strategist Karl Rove ripped the media on Tuesday for attacking Bush administration officials who justified the use of torture. He also praised President Barack Obama for using drone strikes to kill suspected terrorists, including U.S. citizens. The former Bush adviser said that officials like Alberto Gonzales, John Yoo, Jay Bybee and others were 'excoriated' and 'hounded' by liberals and the media. Yet the Obama administration has faced little criticism for justifying the use of drone strikes against U.S. citizens. Though Rove believed the 'cowardly' media was 'hypocritical' and 'callow,' he said he supported the President’s use of drones." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingKarl Rove: ‘God bless President Obama’ for killing U.S. citizen al-Awlaki

Minnesota’s Snowbird Tax

"Income earned in the state is already taxed regardless of residence status, but many retirees or vacationers own a home in the state and live there only for the summer. The new tax would hit income not earned in Minnesota by those who don't currently spend the requisite six months and a day in the state to qualify as a taxable resident. So, for example, if you returned to the land of 10,000 taxes only for July and August, you'd suddenly have to pay the taxman in St. Paul on dividend checks sent to your main residence in St. Pete. The state Revenue Department predicts the tax would raise $30 million over two years." Continue reading →

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Obama’s Tax Crackdown to Target Foreigners’ Accounts in US Banks

"The Obama administration may soon ask Congress for the power to require more disclosure by U.S. banks of information about foreign clients' accounts to those clients' home governments, as part of a crackdown on tax evasion, sources said. The information-sharing effort stems from a fight by the Treasury Department against offshore tax evasion under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA, adopted in 2010 and set to begin taking effect at the end of 2013. At the heart of FATCA is a law requiring more disclosure by non-U.S. banks of information about Americans' accounts to the Internal Revenue Service." Continue reading →

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Charlottesville, Virginia Becomes First City to Pass Anti-Drone Legislation

"Charlottesville, Va., has become the first city in the United States to formally pass an anti-drone resolution. The resolution passed by a 3-2 vote and was brought to the city council by activist David Swanson and the Rutherford Institute, a civil liberties group based in the city. The measure also endorses a proposed two-year moratorium on drones in Virginia. Councilmember Dede Smith, who voted in favor of the bill, says that drones are 'pretty clearly a threat to our constitutional right to privacy'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCharlottesville, Virginia Becomes First City to Pass Anti-Drone Legislation

To Kill an American

"There were not too many surprises in the newly disclosed 'white paper' offering a legal reasoning behind the claim that President Obama has the power to order the killing of American citizens who are believed to be part of Al Qaeda. We knew Mr. Obama and his lawyers believed he has that power under the Constitution and federal law. We also knew that he utterly rejects the idea that Congress or the courts have any right to review such a decision in advance, or even after the fact. Still, it was disturbing to see the twisted logic laid out in black and white. It had the air of a legal justification written after the fact for a policy decision that had already been made." Continue reading →

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