Free Republic

Despite last month’s poor jobs report, the U.S. labor market is improving. Job creation is running at the fastest pace since the late 1990s, and there is some evidence that wage growth is finally starting to accelerate, albeit modestly.However, one key component is missing from the labor market recovery: rising labor force participation.In March, labor force participation declined 0.1% to 62.7%, the lowest rate since the late 1970s.Why are so few Americans participating in the labor market even as jobs become more plentiful? I see three main reasons.1. An aging population. While the Great Recession inflicted significant damage on the...

It's early days, and a few people who will likely be running haven't formally announced yet. But I think it's worth looking at Republican contenders for the White House and giving you my initial impressions. I'll be looking at Democrats in a subsequent article. Senator Ted Cruz was the first to announce, and of course caught an initial blast from the Left's media hacks. We certainly can't dignify them with the term 'journalist since so many of them are simply Leftist activists with access to a microphone or a byline. Expect them to ignore blatant violations of law by the...

How do we classify Mississippi now?  In Mississippi, you do not need a license to carry a handgun openly.   Under very liberal restrictions, you will not need a license to carry a handgun concealed.  The new law goes into effect on 1 July, 2015, in two and a half months.  From the NRA-ILA: Late Thursday, Governor Phil Bryant (R) signed Senate Bill 2394, a bill prioritized for passage by Lt. Governor Tate Reeves and sponsored by Sen. Terry Burton (R), and Senate Bill 2619, sponsored by Sen. Haskins Montgomery (D), into law.  These two measures make critical pro-Second Amendment reforms, including a clarification that...

<p>Interesting issue ... and here I'm referring to shotguns which were originally made with a rear pistol grip in place of a buttstock.</p> <p>Under the Gun Control Act, the issue seems simple: they are pistols. Very big pistols, but pistols. Thus they have been treated, and sold in large numbers over quite a few years.</p>

In a video of what appears to be ESPN reporter Britt McHenry berating a parking lot attendant has surfaced. McHenry is shown making fun of the woman’s features, and even asking her “Do you know who I am?” McHenry is visibly upset, although we are unable to see what may have pushed to her treating the attendant so poorly in the video that clearly had some portions edited out of it. McHenry can be heard saying, “I’m in the news sweetheart, I will f—ing sue this place.” “Do you feel good about your job? So I could be a college...

If you listen to the news on the economy or financial markets, you have probably heard statements like “consumption drives the American economy,” or “consumption is 70% of the economy.” But in a new book out that follows in the footsteps of Henry Hazlitt’s classic “Economics in One Lesson” — though in a much more fun package — titled “Popular Economics: What the Rolling Stones, Downton Abbey, and LeBron James Can Teach You about Economics,” Forbes and RealClearMarkets Editor, and senior economic advisor to Toreador Research and Trading John Tamny challenges this and much other “conventional wisdom” on taxes, regulations,...

Hillary Clinton lauds Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) as a “progressive champion” in a Time magazine tribute written amidst calls from the left that Clinton should use the freshman senator as a model in her presidential bid. Praising Warren’s “unflagging determination to level the playing field for hardworking American families” and her goal of helping others “Share in the American Dream,” Clinton compared the senator to the “liberal lion,” former Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass). “It was always going to take a special kind of leader to pick up Ted Kennedy’s mantle as senior Senator from Massachusetts—champion of working families and scourge...

The manager of an Ohio Chipotle restaurant on Wednesday said Hillary Clinton didn’t drop money in the tip jar during her visit earlier this week. Bloomberg reported that Charles Wright, manager of Chipotle’s Maumee, Ohio, location, said Clinton left no change after placing her order Monday afternoon. “Her bill was $20 and some change, and they paid with $21 and left,” Wright said of the Democratic presidential candidate’s spending. Clinton, who was on her way to Iowa, visited the Maumee franchise during its afternoon lunch rush alongside Huma Abedin, the vice chairwoman of her presidential campaign. Employees did not recognize...

Candidate Ted Cruz A declared presidential candidate has a proven track record that supports his promises to honor the Constitution and his Christian faith. He has the audacity to imagine smaller, less-intrusive government, healthcare between doctor and patient without government, a greatly simplified tax system with a flat tax, a strong military, our unabridged right to bear arms, a controlled southern border and education controlled by the states — not by the federal government or the United Nations. These positions synchronize with those of George Washington, the remainder of our Founding Fathers and Ronald Reagan. How refreshing! For these views...

The “homeless billionaire,” a world-renowned architect and the future of Brick City.Newark is building again. Yes, that Newark—the city in Jersey that burned after the ’67 riots, the one that helped to define “white flight,” that struggles still with almost impenetrable unemployment and homelessness and crime. That city is building. And here it all is—its past and present and future—pouring through Irene Hall’s floor-to-ceiling windows downtown: the whites and browns of the Old First Presbyterian Church, founded in 1666; haggard red brick facades with windows sealed off by cinderblock; the neon blue lights of Hotel Indigo, which opened last year...

http://www.snopes.com/politics/clintons/mezvinsky.asp "...'Fast Eddie' [Mezvinsky] got caught with his hand in the till. He cheated investors out of more than $10 million dollars. He went to prison for several years. This weekend, his son married Chelsea Clinton. Read more at http://www.snopes.com/politics/clintons/mezvinsky.asp#i2s7uTvAJedqrvge.99

I have believed for close to 20 years that the 16th amendment was never properly ratified and that the IRS and all the shenanigans we citizens go through every year is ILLEGAL. For all of my adult life, I have spent 6 months dreading tax season and then 6 months worrying if maybe I had done something wrong when filing them. This year, when our tax preparer (for the first time in my adult life, we actually hired a preparer as I believed that a citizen should NOT have to pay someone else to do their taxes, as it should...

Republican businessman Donald Trump on Tuesday announced the formation of a presidential exploratory committee. This step is the closest Trump has come to officially launching a White House bid, and, in a conversation with Business Insider on Wednesday, he suggested it should serve as notice to those who doubt he's seriously considering the 2016 race. He decided not to run in 2012 after a lengthy, public flirtation with the prospect. "This time, I'm very far down the line, so we'll see what happens," Trump said. "I'm going to surprise a lot of people."(continued)

My war was the Cold War.  I spent a good chunk of my career helping to develop weapons to counter the communist threat.  A chunk of our intelligence effort was spent attempting to determine what was going on inside of the Soviet Union, who might succeed who in the leadership, and what it might mean. Watching the NRA and trying to determine what is happening in its internal politics is much like that.  There are the public pronouncements, that tell us some of what happened, after the fact.  While the NRA elections can have a significant effect on select...

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, released the following statement marking Tax Day: "Tax day is upon us again. But this year it’s different. This year, on top of the frustrating reminder that Americans are giving too much of their income to fund too many wasteful government programs, families are now being forced to pay the Obamacare tax for the first time. "Instead of government-run healthcare that increases taxes, limits options, and puts the government between patients and their doctors, imagine a free-market system that enables healthcare to be personal, portable and affordable. Instead of a tax code that crushes innovation...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The billionaire wife of former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling got her revenge against a woman he secretly showered with gifts and whose recording of his racially offensive rant cost him ownership of the team. Shelly Sterling's victory Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court will force V. Stiviano to surrender a $1.8 million duplex and return $800,000 lavished on her in cash handouts and several luxury cars, including a Ferrari, during a shadowy relationship....

Former CEO of GM Jack Welch and wife Suzy, authors of “The Real-Life MBA: Your No-BS Guide to Winning the Game, Building a Team, and Growing Your Career”, talked to Brian on Kilmeade and Friends about why they wrote the book.---snip--- (AUDIO-AT-LINK)On the 2016 GOP Presidential candidates, Jack Welch told Brian that he is taking a very interesting and deep look into Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) because he likes what he stands for, has guts, and does what he says....

".....Back in 1999, Walker was a 31-year-old state assemblyman, while Clinton was preparing to run for the U.S. Senate in New York as a Democrat. In January of that year, the future Badger State governor called into Bob and Brian, a popular morning radio talk show based in Milwaukee and heard throughout the state. Among Walker's comments about the state and national political news was his assessment of Clinton's political assets and liabilities. "Her poll numbers do very, very well when she’s not talking about much and when, quite frankly, when people feel a bit sympathetic for her having to...

In the first day of our campaign, we have raised over $2,000! This paid the down payment for the contractor, and for the supplies to start drywall repair. Please continue to donate and spread the word so the girls can get moved back in as soon as possible! If you don't want to donate online, the address for donations is on our website, http://www.livinggracehome.com/Contact-Us.html. Subscribe to Updates Living Grace Home is a home for pregnant young women ages 14-22 who are homeless or in danger of becoming homeless as a result of their pregnancy. We have two residences at this...

Michigan business owners are running into problems with the state’s new online system for filing sales, use and payroll taxes, and some are worried that if they can’t make timely payments, they will be stuck with fines and interest charges. Asked if the state would waive penalties, Michigan Department of Treasury spokesman Terry Stanton said the “penalty and interest waiver will be accomplished systematically on a case-by-case basis.” The Treasury Department has also changed its stand on mail-in tax payments. Before the system went online, businesses were told the electronic system was mandatory. Now, Treasury is only requiring it for...