Free Republic

We, the American people, promise to defend and advance a simple ideal: liberty and justice . . . for all. Americans who are willing to work hard and play by the rules should be able to find a decent job, get a good home in a strong community, retire with dignity, and give their kids a better life. Every one of us – rich, poor, or in-between, regardless of skin color or birthplace, no matter their sexual orientation or gender – has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That is our covenant, our compact, our contract...

Van Jones was President Obama's special adviser for "green" jobs when he was hit with a wave of criticism from conservative pundits about his past associations. The controversy forced him to leave his post in September 2009, but it wasn't the last we'd hear of him. That same conservative wave went on to make a major splash in Congress through the Tea Party. Jones decided to fight back, founding a group called the "American Dream Movement." Some people call Jones' group a liberal version of the Tea Party. His inspiration, he tells weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz,...

The days an average American could expect to work, save and leave his kids a bit of wealth have gone into history; middle class Americans have little to pass on but their debts. Neither will the American Dream return for their children nor for their grandchildren. America has voted F.A. Hayek’s Road to Serfdom for itself and that’s a one-way road. Here’s the picture: 1. Government taxes away 28% of the average taxpayer’s income. 2. Federal regulation costs consumers $1.187 trillion per year on top of taxes. 3. Real inflation costs us about 6% of our purchasing power annually. Add:...

Last fall, leftist ideological groups of socialists and communists teamed up with American labor unions to march together for “One Nation.” Now, as labor leaders struggle to maintain a stranglehold on collective bargaining privileges in Wisconsin, the same groups are once again marching together under a banner claiming unions are the heart of the American dream.As we’ve reported, former White House green jobs czar Van Jones this week issued a rallying call for the progressive movement to “renew itself and become again a national force with which to be reckoned.” On Saturday, progressive groups and labor unions are reportedly planning...

SEIU, AFL-CIO, Progressive States, Democracy for America... a few of the many. http://hearus-now.org/?p=1636

In a world of moral confusion, and of arbitrary and unlimited government, America's founding principles are our best access to permanent truths and the best ground from which to question the current direction of our nation. Join Matt Spalding, author of We Still Hold These Truths and an authority on American political thought and religious liberty at The Heritage Foundation, as he highlights some everyday Americans on a journey to reclaim our future. Click the URL for the link.

A major topic of conversation within the corridors of power in Europe and Asia is the decline and potential end of the United States as a major global economic power. This is in part a reaction to the desperate and foolhardy monetary policies of the Federal Reserve, trying as they are to mitigate the effect of enormous national debt and a restructured economy bequeathed to the American people by the "progressives" in the governing class over the past fifty years. But it is also a realization of what will happen to the global economic structure if the United States does...

So President Obama really is a socialist after all. According to Stanley Kurtz in Radical-in-Chief the young Obama went to socialist conferences in the 1980s and then became participant in the extensive socialist community in Chicago. In the aftermath of the historic midterm elections it's safe to say that, whether the president really is a socialist or not, Americans don't care. Whether or not he walks and talks like a socialist, they just don't hold with a president in the White House that governs like a socialist. You can judge the depth of their displeasure for yourself by comparing the...

The American Dream is essentially Dead and Barry Hussein Soetoro killed it on purpose. The American Dream essentially was the promise of upward social and economic mobility irrespective of one’s station in life or bloodline. In other words, the dream was that one could achieve anything, based on ones intellect, ingenuity and the sweat of one’s brow. In the president’s weekend CNBC staged town hall meeting, he attempted to defer all blame from himself and his Party and place that blame squarely on his political foes. However if one remembers Sen. Soetoro campaigned for the presidency on the theme of...

$11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year by state governments. Verify http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=iic_immigrationissuecenters7fd8

When the housing boom went bust and mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac failed, forcing taxpayers to cough up $150 billion and counting, Washington should have reconsidered its policy of promoting homeownership. It hasn't. Last Tuesday, Tim Geithner led a summit to determine the future of Fannie and Freddie. According to Geithner, "We will not support returning Fannie and Freddie to the role they played before conservatorship." We should hope not. But Geithner hastened to add that Washington would still play an important role in housing. "I believe there is a strong case to be made for a carefully...

Dueling rallies in Washington DC may be more exciting than another speech from a politician. The heated debate over building an Islamic Center near Ground Zero may be more inspiring than economic policies. But this week's GOP radio address delivered by Florida's Republican candidate for US Senate Marco Rubio is definitely worth our attention.

While America's super-rich congratulate themselves on donating billions to charity, the rest of the country is worse off than ever. Long-term unemployment is rising and millions of Americans are struggling to survive. The gap between rich and poor is wider than ever and the middle class is disappearing. Ventura is a small city on the Pacific coast, about an hour's drive north of Los Angeles. Luxury homes with a view of the ocean dot the hillsides, and the beaches are popular with surfers. Ventura is storybook California. "It's a well-off place," says Captain William Finley. "But about 20 percent of...

Correo (Leon, Guanajuato) 8-16-10 The American Dream is a Mexican nightmare Mexico, D. F. In addressing the nightmare that confronts Mexican immigrants in pursuing the American dream that the undocumented are having going to the United States, the Mexican Human Rights Commission (CODHEM) has launched a program in cooperation with the organization “Apoyo al Migrante” (Help the Migrant), which is a campaign to prevent migration to the United States. The program named “Sueno Americano, Pesadilla Mexicana,” (American Dream, Mexican Nightmare) will take place in public areas of Tejupilco, Luvianos, Amatepec, Tlatlaya, Sultepec, Zacualpan, Texcalititlan, Valle de Bravo, Otzoloapan, Zacazonapan, Ixtapan...

Somewhere, somehow, in the last decade the so-called American Dream seemed to insinuate itself into the Bill of Rights. Government policy, among other factors, pushed homeownership to a lofty 68% of all households. That was then. The number has been steadily backsliding in the last couple of years, and housing analyst John Burns says he got "a lot of heat" for his recent report predicting that homeownership would drop below 62% — and maybe further — if the number of "strategic defaulters" who walk away from their underwater mortgages continues to increase, he said. "Homeownership is clearly a value that's...

Is the American Dream getting smaller? Are we defining down the tools of opportunity and the pleasures of prosperity? President Obama's flippant dismissal of American Exceptionalism last year stirred a lot of criticism because it suggested he did not believe the United States held a special place in the world. It also suggested America's unique history is, to the President, no big deal. Now with fellow travelers exercising power at all levels of government, progressives can do more than just belittle the idea of American Exceptionalism. They can enact policies to make America unexceptional -- diminishing our quality of life...

GRAFTON, Mass. — After breakfast, his parents left for their jobs, and Scott Nicholson, alone in the house in this comfortable suburb west of Boston, went to his laptop in the living room. He had placed it on a small table that his mother had used for a vase of flowers until her unemployed son found himself reluctantly stuck at home. The daily routine seldom varied. Mr. Nicholson, 24, a graduate of Colgate University, winner of a dean’s award for academic excellence, spent his mornings searching corporate Web sites for suitable job openings. When he found one, he mailed off...

Some things are hard to put a price tag on. Love is one. A rainbow is another. Peace of mind is yet a third. There aren't many in that category, and now, thanks to a liberal New York judge and a local community activist, we DO know what an illegal alien drug dealer's time is worth. How much? $145,000 of you money for a month of his time. Per the New York Post, an illegal alien with a long rap sheet was accidentally held at Riker's Island for a month pending deportation. However, the city's internal rule is that no...

Restoring Principled Leadership for the United States of America Submitted by Congressman Jason Chaffetz Congressional Action Plan (CAP) for the 112th Congress The American Dream is powerful. It has motivated generations of Americans to contribute to our unparalleled prosperity and quality of life. The American recipe for greatness has always rested on the values of hard work, thrift , perseverance, ingenuity, industry, self-discipline, self-reliance, and dedication. We did not become the greatest country on Earth by entitlement. We worked for it. But when our public policies foster dependence, punish industry, redistribute wealth and limit freedom, we risk compromising the very...

New York, Jan 27 (IANS) The American middle class dream is fast getting out of reach for more and more people as tough economic times take toll on their incomes and quality of life, says a study by the US Commerce Department. More than 90 percent Americans consider themselves to be middle/working class, with only one percent calling themselves 'upper class' and seven percent 'lower class', according to a 2005 survey by the New York Times. But according to the new report titled Middle Class in America, the Americans' dream to reach the middle class is becoming increasingly difficult. The...