Free Republic

“This growing inequality,” President Obama said during his recent Knox College speech, “is not just morally wrong, it’s bad economics.”A strong statement — but one not supported by data, suggests a blockbuster new study by economists Steven Kaplan (University of Chicago) and Joshua Rauh (Stanford University). They examine two possible explanations for the rise in top-end inequality in their paper “It’s the Market: The Broad-Based Rise in the Return to Top Talent”:1. The Superstar Syndrome. Technology and globalization has enabled highly talented and educated individuals to manage or perform on a larger scale, “applying their talent to greater pools...

The Washington Post´s article detailing the fourth amendment abuses by the NSA got some push back from the administration who attempted to "edit" the article before publication. The internal audit referenced in the article was obtained by the WaPo from Edward Snowden. The details of the audit indicated repeated and growing privacy violations by the NSA, violations which included obtaining thousands of American citizen´s communications records and using methods of information collection that were later deemed unconstitutional by a court. The Post was able to interview John Delong, NSA director of compliance for the article and they were initially

The LA Times reports that sales of the book, which concerns a discontented propagandist working for the Ministry of Truth in a time of endless war, are up 5,771 percent as of Tuesday morning. From a sales rank of 12,507 in the days before The Guardian published top-secret government documents provided by Snowden, "1984" has risen to crack Amazon's top 200.

A Washington IRS attorney named Carter Hull closely oversaw the targeting of conservative nonprofit groups and suggested questions that IRS employees could ask of conservative and Tea Party groups applying for tax-exempt nonprofit status, according to interviews that two IRS employees gave with congressional investigators. “I was essentially a front person, because I had no autonomy or no authority to act on [applications] without Carter Hull’s influence or input,” said Elizabeth Hofacre, an employee of the Cincinnati IRS office, according to a new report in the Wall Street Journal. Hofacre’s office, which oversaw tax-exempt applications, reportedly requested help from the...

Brunswick, Georgia (CNN) -- Two teenagers were arrested Friday in the shooting death of a 13-month-old boy who was in his stroller, according to police in Brunswick, Georgia. The suspects are a 17-year-old boy and a 14-year-old boy, Police Chief Tobe Green told reporters Friday. He said they are being held on suspicion of first-degree murder. Green identified the older suspect as Demarquis Elkins, saying he will be treated as an adult in criminal proceedings. The 14-year-old was not identified because of his age. "We are turning every stone to get a motive," said Green. A weapon has not been...

Even if ObamaCare survives Supreme Court scrutiny next spring, its trials will be far from over. That's because the law has a major glitch that threatens its basic functioning. It's so problematic, in fact, that the Obama administration is now brazenly trying to rewrite the law without involving Congress. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act offers "premium assistance"—tax credits and subsidies—to households purchasing coverage through new health-insurance exchanges. This assistance was designed to hide a portion of the law's cost to individuals by reducing the premium hikes that individuals will face after ObamaCare goes into effect in 2014. (If...

Sheriff Joe threatened for probing eligibility Says intimidation comes from drug lords, Obama fans: 'I'm not sure which are worse' Amid death threats, Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio is scratching his head over the major media's virtual silence about his decision to investigate Barack Obama's eligibility to run for re-election. "Getting death threats is nothing new for me," Arpaio told WND, referring to his national reputation as a tough enforcer of immigration laws. "But why has the media has decided to black out all news of our Obama investigation? That's what I don't understand. "I'm a controversial guy and...

“Oversight of the U.S. Department of Justice” Senate Judiciary Committee Full Committee View a webcast of this hearing DATE: November 8, 2011 TIME: 10:00 AM ROOM: Dirksen 226 OFFICIAL HEARING NOTICE / WITNESS LIST: October 31, 2011 NOTICE OF COMMITTEE HEARING The Senate Committee on the Judiciary has scheduled a hearing entitled “Oversight of the U.S. Department of Justice” for Tuesday, November 8, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. in Room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. By order of the Chairman. Witness List Hearing before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary On Tuesday, November 8, 2011 Dirksen Senate Office Building,...

If you see something silly, say something: Homeland Security training video portrays all "terrorists" as white, middle class males Don't they know stereotyping causes alienation, and alienation and poor self-esteem lead to radicalization? Now these poor men are going to have to deal with those additional radicalized Misunderstanders of Middle America and worry about backlash because of their portrayal in this video! And this is going to damage our standing with middle-class white guys abroad in nations that are our Friends and Allies, and create even more terrorists. Of course, the intention seems obvious. But by bending over so far...

John Cook — The White House released its annual salary report last week, and as usual, it's nice to work for Barack Obama: Most staffers who were there for more than a year got a salary bump. A bigger one than you did. The last time we checked in on White House salaries, we found that an astonishing 75% of continuing staffers got raises from 2009 to 2010—a huge number given the fact that, according to compensation experts, most companies had skipped routine raises that year in reaction to the economic crisis that the White House was busy failing to...

During the 2008 campaign, questions about John McCain's birth in the Panama Canal Zone on a U.S. military base prompted some to ask whether McCain was eligible to be president, since the Constitution stipulates that anyone not born in the United States is not eligible to be president. Amid a flurry of news reports, McCain's own campaign announced in February 2008 that it was conducting an investigation. When a bipartisan pair of lawyers announced the following month that McCain was indeed eligible, the issue virtually died--apart from a Senate resolution that pretty much laid the question to rest by attesting...

The RNC released this web video titled “Lapse in Judgement” back in 2008. http://youtu.be/Aj4_rtyfFu8 The ad revealed Barack Obama’s dealings with convicted felon and close friend Tony Rezko. This great ad described Obama’s relationship with the Chicago crook. Unfortunately, the left-wing media didn’t do its job and protected Obama from any honest attacks during the 2008 campaign. Today Donald Trump went after Obama’s close ties to convicted criminal Tony Rezko. IB Times reported: President Obama “never did a deal in his life except with Tony Rezko,” said Donald Trump on Fox News. “People should look into that one,” he added....

Malik Zulu Shabazz March 23 2011 Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR6mPgSxPtY&feature=player_embedded

Two mainstream news organizations are receiving hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars from Obamacare’s Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (ERRP) — a $5 billion grant program that’s doling out cash to companies, states and labor unions in what the Obama administration considers an effort to pay for health insurance for early retirees. The Washington Post Company raked in $573,217 in taxpayer subsidies and CBS Corporation secured $722,388 worth of Americans’ money. “It is fine with me if they continue covering the ObamaCare debate,” said Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, in an e-mail to The Daily Caller. “When NBC used to...

STAMFORD, Conn. – The right for World Wrestling Entertainment fans to vote was threatened Friday by Connecticut Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz, who gave the authority to local poll workers to determine that if anyone shows up to the polls on November 2 wearing any WWE merchandise, whether it is a John Cena T-shirt or a Randy Orton wristband, they may be forced to go home and change, cover it up, or take it off in order to vote. “Denying our fans the right to vote, denying them their First Amendment rights, regardless if they are Democrat, Republican or Independent,...

Reuters) - President Barack Obama, seeking to fire up an important part of his support base ahead of November's elections, told black leaders on Saturday he wanted their support to "guard the change" he was delivering.

VINEYARD HAVEN, Mass. — President Barack Obama is aiming to underscore his commitment to a region weary of calamity as he travels to New Orleans on the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Obama ends his Martha's Vineyard vacation Sunday and heads to the Gulf, five years to the day from when Katrina roared ashore in Louisiana. Eighty percent of New Orleans was flooded when the storm tore through protective levees.

It's a good bet right now that Barack Obama will be a one-term president. The enthusiasm that once shielded this hyphenated American has dissipated. His supporters, although still numerous, have discovered that he lacks Bill Clinton's centrist instincts, and even his charm. The anti-Bush mania that swept the country from 2006-09 finally burned itself out. It's always possible that the Republicans will nominate a dud. That has happened so often that it should even be considered likely. Not since 1980 has there been an outstanding GOP candidate. But at this stage it's too difficult to predict the 2012 nominee, so...

The Senate’s top Democrat on Monday came out against plans to build a mosque near the site of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, moving away from President Barack Obama on the controversial election-year issue. Locked in a tight race, Nevada Sen. Harry Reid became the highest profile Democrat to respond to Obama, who last week backed the right for the developers to build a mosque near ground zero. Since his comments Friday, the Democratic president and his aides have worked to explain the statement, which drew criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike. “The First Amendment protects freedom of religion,” said...

President Barack Obama sits in the driver's seat of a 2011 Ford Explorer as he tours the Ford Motor Company Chicago Assembly Plant August 5, 2010. U.S. President Barack Obama greets employees as he tours the Ford Motor Company Chicago Assembly Plant August 5, 2010. Obama used the visit to highlight the turnaround in the U.S. motor vehicle manufacturing sector in the past year U.S. President Barack Obama sits takes a look at electric cars as he attends the groundbreaking of a factory for Compact Power Inc. in Holland, Michigan July 15, 2010. The completed factory will employ more than...