By ,
Published January 26, 2017
DISCLAIMER: THE FOLLOWING "Cost of Freedom Recap" CONTAINS STRONG OPINIONS WHICH ARE NOT A REFLECTION OF THE OPINIONS OF FOX NEWS AND SHOULD NOT BE RELIED UPON AS INVESTMENT ADVICE WHEN MAKING PERSONAL INVESTMENT DECISIONS. IT IS FOX NEWS' POLICY THAT CONTRIBUTORS DISCLOSE POSITIONS THEY HOLD IN STOCKS THEY DISCUSS, THOUGH POSITIONS MAY CHANGE. READERS OF "Cost of Freedom Recap" MUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR OWN INVESTMENT DECISIONS.
Do we need more or fewer ‘free-market' lawmakers like Bruce Rauner?
JOHN TAMNY: It's very positive. Anytime a governor wants to come in and cut taxes and spending, that's something you want to multiply across the country. Government has no resources other than what they extract from us first. If politicians are looking to reduce that burden that is government, that means higher economic growth throughout the country.
RICK UNGAR: I don't see how this gentleman winning the nomination is a sign of anything.
ELIZABETH MACDONALD: The reason Illinois is in the tank is because of the tax and spending, the really bad regulatory policies in the state. It's union cronyism in that state. That's the problem.
MIKE OZANIAN: Maybe there is hope for Illinois. Chicago's mayor, Rahm Emanuel put some contracts out recently up for competitive bidding, that didn't make the unions happy, but it saved the city a lot of money. To Rick's point, yes this is extreme, but for unions, anything you run like a private business, is considered extreme. Given their fiscal plight, they need some extreme measures right now.
SABRINA SCHAEFFER: This is clearly a candidate that is modeling himself after Scott Walker which is a good idea. He doesn't have a heavy hand, says he isn't modeling himself after Chris Christie. A lot of the policies he is putting forward are good ones. He wants to expand educational options, rein in government spending, push back on unions. These are all good things. My concern is that because he has the right policies, that that is good enough. We need the right candidate, the right tactics, right messaging, and right strategy.
RICH KARLGAARD: It's not just Wisconsin that makes Illinois look bad, Indiana and other border states has had good governance over the past couple of years, they too make Illinois look bad. I can't remember when Illinois has been ranked in the top half of places to start a new business.
Should we pump out and sell natural gas, oil to create jobs and help our allies? Or keep it underground to protect our climate?
SABRINA SCHAEFFER: Right. Energy is a powerful political tool. We've seen Putin in the past try to limit natural gas to the Ukrainian people. He's threatened to do it in Moldova as well. This gives us strength in terms of foreign policy. Why I support this in terms of a free market perspective, it's not a silver bullet. There are things standing in the way from the Jones act, to the keystones. There are other things we can be doing as well.
RICK UNGAR: I'm really glad that you raised the point about the terminals. Something that's confusing people and we need to straighten out, where the government can do something, and I agree with you that they should, is fast track these terminals to move these out to other countries. What the government can't do though, we have to always remember -- we all think the government stops the oil companies from drilling. Right now over 50 percent of the leases that are granted are not being developed over 75 percent off shore not being developed. They make the call, not the government. Terminals, I'm with you.
ELIZABETH MACDONALD: That's true. Oil and gas in this country largely remains in the protective custody -- I'm being facetious -- it Obama administration. When you drive down the cost of energy worldwide you get rid of these dictators like Putin. You have Arab springs breaking out. Whoever controls energy, controls power of a government. What is happening now is I think you mentioned at the break, David, 25 export terminals are in the pipeline for LNG, but they're being held up. If we fast track them, wow, you could see a total ripple effect around the world of who's in power.
BILL BALDWIN: I'm all in favor of helping the European friends and hurting Putin, but I think there's a big problem. You think that any kind of export terminal is going to be developed in the next couple of years, even during Putin's lifetime; we're talking about a nimbly problem. Not in my back yard. If the neighbors don't want one of these big ugly terminals, it doesn't happen.
RICH KARLGAARD: The key player in all of this is Angela Merkel in Germany. She's by far and away the strongest leader in Europe and they depend on Russian gas right now and that means as Germany goes so goes the whole continent and we've got to help lessen the dependence on Russian gas.
JOHN TAMNY: The idea that there's such a thing as an oil or gas weapon is a myth. The notion that Russia can keep its oil and gas from reaching other countries in Europe defies basic economics. The only closed economy is the world economy. If Russia embargoes every single European state they'll still consume Russian oil and gas but they'll buy it from the Russians who don't embargo. This will not push Putin out of power.
Should we relinquish control over the internet and make it a global internet community?
ELIZABETH MACDONALD: It's important because it's about the management of the internet phone book addresses, meaning people get to set up their own accounts. There's already bad censorship going on with North Korea, Syria, Iran and yesterday Turkey stopping twitter. This means worse censorship. This is a bad move.
RICK UNGAR: They already can't. That's why I'm not quite sure this is so important. We control it now and they're still blocking twitters and messing with dissidents. We don't own the internet. It should have been overseen by a world organization, not a government affiliated one.
STEVE BERTONI: The internet should continue to be under American control. It's become more important in the future. I would rather have America continue to control it than have some untested organization we don't even know about yet.
RICH KARLGAARD: It's probably a short sign for Google, Twitter, Facebook and the rest which I would argue are overvalued anyway. The Obama administration is not making itself clear here. I think this is an overblown issue. Britain gave away Hong Kong. The world didn't collapse. I want to hear the Obama's administration's explanation and we're not getting it.
MIKE OZANIAN: I think it's another idiotic move by the Obama administration. We are giving away the technology to allow people to hook up to the internet from their mobile devices.
BILL BALDWIN: I'm not worried that the wrong governments are going to control the internet because I don't think any government has controlled the internet.
NO-FEAR STOCKS
Despite tensions around the world, the stock market is remaining steady. Give our viewers stocks that show no signs of fear!
ELIZABETH MACDONALD: PowerShares International BuyBack Achievers Portfolio ETF (Nasdaq: IPKW)
52-WEEK HIGH: $26.00
52-WEEK LOW: $24.10
BILL BALDWIN: Goldcorp (NYSE: GG)
52-WEEK HIGH: $ 33.80
52-WEEK LOW: $20.54
https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/why-big-labor-fears-bruce-rauner