Free Republic

In 1929, almost a century ago, the great economist Ludwig von Mises published “A Critique of Interventionism.”It’s written in plain language and is free online. He described how government intervention in the free market is not socialism, but eventually “leads to socialism because government intervention is not only superfluous and useless, but also harmful. ... It lowers labor productivity and redirects production along lines of political command, rather than consumer satisfaction.”He died in 1973 at the good old age of 92 and was the teacher of Friedrich von Hayek, who won the Nobel economics prize in 1974.I bring up Mises...

President Donald Trump was greeted by large crowds of Trump supporters and boaters during his visit to the deep blue state of California. Trump arrived in Newport Beach, California, on Saturday for a rally hosted by a health insurance entrepreneur, John Word, and his wife, Kimberly, according to CBS News. Tickets for the event reportedly ranged from $3,300 for the lunch reception, and $6,600 for each couple. For a photo opportunity, it was $35,000 or raising $75,000. For members of the roundtable host committee, it was $100,000 per person, according to the website for the Republican Party of Orange County....

Let's not beat around the bush, and instead just get down to brass tacks. San Francisco has opened its first $5.5 million free food “market” in an area where many grocery stores have left due to high crime. Approved residents simply show a benefits eligibility card, load their carts with whatever they want, check out — to keep track of outgoing inventory — and leave without paying a dime.

NEWPORT BEACH, CA — Former President Donald Trump will make an Orange County visit on Saturday, June 8, and residents can expect road closures and traffic delays on Newport Beach's Harbor Island as a result. Bayside Drive, from Jamboree Road to Pacific Coast Highway, will be closed to motorists from 7 a.m. to around 3 p.m. on Saturday, according to city officials.

Joe Biden took 94 executive actions in his first 100 days in office to destroy the border. Now he’s acting like the savior with his new ‘asylum restrictions’ – only asylum is STILL AVAILABLE to thousands of illegal aliens every single day released into the US.

A 71-year-old woman who was found dead inside her home had been fatally mauled by a black bear... Patrice Miller’s body was discovered inside her Downieville home in November last year by police who had been called to carry out a welfare check. Officers discovered a grisly scene with evidence that a bear had been inside, likely for several days, feeding on the woman’s remains. ... Initially, investigators thought she had died before to the bear’s entry. However, an autopsy report completed last month revealed Miller was killed when the animal swiped or bit her neck, Sierra County Sheriff Mike...

Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., proposed slashing budgets regarding public safety, such as prisons and law enforcement, as the state simultaneously grapples with a crippling deficit and doubles down on climate goals relating to equity. The California Democrat's proposed budget, released in May, notes that "difficult decisions" are necessary to address the estimated $27.6 billion deficit, which is projected to continue for years to come. It includes a $97 million cut to trial court operations, $10 million to the Department of Justice's Division of Law Enforcement and more than $80 million to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. A Newsom spokesperson...

Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Friday on CNN’s “Inside Politics” that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “absolutely” should not have been invited to address Congress. Host Dana Bash said, “If you were still speaker, would you have invited him?” Pelosi said, “No. Absolutely not, absolutely not. I think this is wrong. Frankly, I didn’t approve of his being invited the last time. But the speaker, just on his own, invited him without consulting with the rest of the leadership. And he came and he criticized, President Obama for the masterful work that he had done with the nuclear agreement regarding...

California has the highest income tax rate in the country (top tier of 14.4 percent). It has the highest statewide sales tax rate (7.25 percent, plus local sales taxes). It has the highest gas tax rate ($0.78 per gallon). Yet, it ranks third to last in the country in terms of road quality.The old joke is that California would tax the air we breathe if it could. Well, California’s latest tax proposal comes close. The state is recruiting drivers for a pilot program to track and tax the miles they drive.The plan is borne from the fact that Californians have...

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif. - Newly released surveillance video shows a man randomly firing a gun at passing cars as he walks down the street. The incident happened on June 3 around 7 a.m. in the area of West Seventh Street and South San Jacinto Street in the Riverside County city of San Jacinto. Deputies from the San Jacinto Sheriff’s Station said multiple cars were struck by gunfire and two people suffered gunshot wounds. One of the two victims unfortunately died. They were identified as 42-year-old Victor Hugo Leon, a father of four. According to a GoFundMe account, Leon was on...

CHICAGO — A California man is charged with attempted murder, accused of attacking a 71-year-old woman with a knife outside Union Station on Wednesday afternoon. Wilson Barreno, 25, of Oakland, will appear before a judge for a detention hearing at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse on Friday. Chicago police said Barreno is the man who attacked the woman from behind as she walked her dog in the 200 block of South Canal just before 2 p.m. Police said he stabbed her with a sharp object, leaving her in critical condition. The woman suffered stab wounds to her neck and back, officials...

You won't believe this, folks, but California's new $20 minimum wage for fast-food workers has caused fast-food restaurants in that state to cut nearly 10,000 jobs.

Two relatively minor quakes hit Southern California in Newport Beach Thursday evening. The first quake, magnitude 3.6, hit 1 mile ENE of Newport Beach at 4:52 pm local time. A second quake, magnitude 3.4, hit 2 miles ENE of Newport Beach at 5:05 pm local time. Shaking was felt in Orange County, parts of the Inland Empire and Los Angeles County. Good afternoon Southern CA. Did you feel the magnitude 3.6 quake about 1 mile northeast of Newport Beach at 4:52 pm? The #ShakeAlert system was activated. See: https://t.co/F7JgX4qbAv @Cal_OES @CAGeoSurvey pic.twitter.com/EIs5b003kB — USGS ShakeAlert (@USGS_ShakeAlert) June 7, 2024 A...

As the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation commemorates the 20th anniversary of the former president's death, both the pressing challenges facing Americans in 2024 and the milestone 80th anniversary of D-Day are front of mind for foundation leaders. "It's valuable to reflect on the tremendous successes of the Reagan presidency and to draw lessons for today," foundation President David Trulio told Fox News Digital in an interview. "So, it's important to recall that President Reagan won the Cold War. He unleashed an enormous economic boom. He helped restore America's pride in itself, and he restored and earned the respect that other...

An investigation has been launched after a veterans memorial was vandalized in California, shocking locals who celebrate at the site every year. The memorial is located in Morgan Hill, a small city near San Francisco. It's a popular downtown gathering place, hosting services on Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Early on Sunday morning, locals discovered that the US flag hanging at the site had been burned and a plaque had been defaced. The perpetrator remains unknown but the Morgan Hill Police Department suspects that the attack occured overnight on Saturday and said that officers are continuing their investigation, according to...

Democrats in the California State legislature are getting pushback for a proposal that could benefit illegal aliens. The assembly bill could direct the University of California (UC) system to hire illegal immigrants for taxpayer-funded state jobs. Reform California Chairman Carl DeMaio is heaping heavy criticism on the lawmakers, Fox News reported Tuesday. According to the California Globe, California has 44,000 undocumented college students, and approximately 4,000 of them are enrolled in UC’s system, the outlet reported Wednesday.

One neighborhood in East Oakland is so dangerous that construction workers apparently feel unsafe. A construction crew left a residential street unpaved and refused to return because the workers did not feel safe being in the neighborhood. The situation has left Sobrante Park residents with their street torn up and reduced to gravel with gaping potholes. Resident Shari Angarano said the unfinished road work made bumpy driving conditions on Colorados Drive go from bad to worse. “The ground is uneven and a lot of the gravel used to fill pot holes is being kicked up,” Angarano said. The unfortunate situation...

A 39-year-old man was arrested Monday morning for allegedly firing randomly at passing cars in Riverside County, killing a husband and father of four, authorities said. Deputies from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department responded at 7:05 a.m. to the area of West Seventh Street and South San Jacinto Avenue to a report of a man shooting at passing vehicles, according to a sheriff’s department news release. Two people were found shot and multiple cars had been hit by gunfire; both victims were hospitalized and one died from his injuries, according to authorities. Julio Cesar Rodarte, a 39-year-old San Jacinto resident,...

California owes the federal government tens of millions of dollars for incorrectly claiming medical care reimbursements for noncitizens, a federal audit found. The Golden State must repay nearly $53 million to the federal government after it “improperly” claimed reimbursements from the Medicaid program for illegal immigrants and other noncitizens, according to a recent report by the Office of the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The findings emerge as California grapples with a massive budget deficit in the tens of billions of dollars. ... The issue surrounds how California officials calculated federal reimbursements for noncitizen...

Stanford University police arrested 13 pro-Palestinian protesters Wednesday who entered the president’s office early in the morning and, the university said, caused extensive damage in the building and injured one of the officers trying to clear the building. Outside, protesters graffitied the stone walls with swear words and death threats against police, America and Israel. On the last day of spring instruction at Stanford, university officials then wasted no time in dismantling a pro-Palestinian encampment on nearby White Plaza, removing tents that had been up since April. They also removed an adjacent pro-Israel display featuring chairs with the names of...