Free Republic

Russia now spends more on its military, relative to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), than both the United States and Europe respectively. According to figures compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Moscow spent 4.1 percent of its GDP on defence in 2013, an increase of 0.6 percent over the past 10 years. By contrast, the United States spent 3.8 percent of GDP on defence and Britain spent just 2.3 percent, with further defence cuts expected. The only neighbouring country that spends more is Azerbaijan, with 4.7 percent. Defence spending in Ukraine has also rocketed by 16 percent in the...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Here's Brett in Cheyenne ... Wisconsin? Wow. It's great to have you on the program. Hello. CALLER: Cheyenne, Wyoming. Cheyenne, Wyoming. RUSH: I always thought it had to be Wyoming. I never heard of a Cheyenne in Wisconsin. CALLER: I wanted to call because I'm 27 years old, and I just wanted to let you know -- and let everyone know -- that the American dream is well and alive. I'm proof of it. I started out from absolutely nothing. With faith, drive, and determination I have built my own business from working part-time, waiting tables, to...

A new study suggests that politically unaffiliated white Americans who are experiencing a shift to minority status will feel threatened by that shift and subsequently embrace more conservative policies. They will align themselves, therefore, with the Republican Party, providing that party with a more stable base in the midst of racial divisiveness. The revealing study, conducted by Maureen Craig and Jennifer Richeson at Northwestern University, was published by the professional journal Psychological Science and noted by Paul Bedard at the Washington Examiner. The research challenges the notion that the Republican Party will diminish as its aging white members die and...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Judge Andrew Napolitano reacted to the latest developments in the Nevada ranch standoff, telling Elisabeth Hasselbeck that the federal government has acted inappropriately and is trying to scare the Bundy family. Fox and Friends played an audio clip of a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) special agent, who maintained that federal agents respect the Constitution and "understand free speech." He argued that the BLM was trying to avoid conflict, noting that some of the protesters were "holding rocks above their heads to throw at police officers." Napolitano recalled that he was shocked to see that BLM agents were armed. "The...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)KRYSTAL BALL: Next Monday is Patriots' Day in Boston and thousands of modern patriots will take to the streets to run, to celebrate and to come together out of tragedy, proving true the words of our pledge, one nation, under God, indivisible. That word though, patriot, has become a really loaded one. To see what I mean, consider Cliven Bundy, the rancher who has refused to pay the people of the U.S. what he owes for use of our land because he views the U.S. federal government as a foreign interloper. Mr. Bundy denies the legitimacy of our republic. And...

I went to the New Jersey Paranormal and Consciousness Conference last weekend. Here are the theories I heard, ranked worst to best. 57. The CIA controls the New York Times, the Washington Post, other reputable leading newspapers, and some academics. 56. David Rockefeller put every president from Ford onward into the White House. 55. The Aspen Institute is the “open Bilderberg.” (idk what this means) 54. CERN, the The European Organization for Nuclear Research, has a logo that looks like 666 in a twist. (Not NOT true.) 53. They are trying to recreate the Big Bang. 52. We are placated...

America and Great Britain share a special relationship. We speak the same language, have a similar system of laws, have similar (quasi-)capitalist economic system and even often share a system of weights and measurements. As America is a former colony of the United Kingdom, we owe much to Great Britain. Nevertheless, some things we don’t get about each other. Generally, Americans don’t understand Britons’ reverence for monarchy, and Britons don’t understand Americans’ fascination with guns. Politically, our countries do some things right, and some wrong. I follow both countries’ politics closely and I thought I would offer some constructive criticism...

The 2014 midterm elections are right around the corner, and after endorsing 64 candidates in 2010, and contributing about $300,000 to candidates in 2012, Sarah Palin is once again trying to wield influence over another election cycle. Just like in previous years, Palin’s picks get free publicity on her social media accounts, through appearances in their television ads and financial support from SarahPAC. Formed in 2009, SarahPAC is Palin’s political action committee, which is “dedicated to building America’s future by supporting fresh ideas and candidates who share our vision for reform and innovation.” Here are 9 candidates Palin has chosen...

Republicans will nominate someone younger than her, and it won't make a difference to young people.Our old colleague Patrick Caldwell has an interesting article up at Mother Jones about the way the Hillary Clinton campaign—or whatever we can call it at this point, since it isn't actually a campaign but it isn't exactly just a bunch of independent people doing their own thing either—is going after college students. I had forgotten how idiotically hostile the Hillary '08 campaign was toward college students in Iowa, but that's just one of innumerable mistakes that one presumes she'll attempt to correct this time...

Edd Hendee reached into the chilled glass case containing cold cuts of steak, the classic Texas entrée upon which he built his restaurant and his fortune, proudly showing off his merchandise like a jeweler displaying his diamonds. “This is a center cut filet,” he said. “It’s the very best filet you can possibly buy. And that’s why it’s expensive.” And lately, at the Taste of Texas restaurant in west Houston, it’s become even more expensive. “When the price goes from just under $20 a pound to us wholesale to almost $25 a pound, that’s almost a $5 increase in this...

India's Supreme Court has created an official third sex for its transgender eunuchs and announced they will have a quota of government jobs and college places to help them overcome discrimination. The decision was met with jubilation by transgender charities who said it was a milestone in their fight against marginalisation in Indian society. "We are elated and thankful to the court," said Kalki Subramanium, a leading transgender rights activist. "The decision has come after a century of suppression and marginalisation by the legal and social systems. "This verdict is certainly landmark and a new beginning. The biggest challenge is...

Western Washington University sent a questionnaire to students asking them for advice on how the administration could succeed at making sure that in future years, “we are not as white as we are today.” The question notes that WWU’s racial make up does not perfectly reflect the nation at large, and asks students to consider strategies that other universities have used to focus on skin color as the paramount indicator of a student-applicant’s worth. The president of WWU has stated that his explicit goal is to reduce the white population on campus, according to Campus Reform. “I’ve said before and...

The federal government threatens a Nevada rancher with the loss of his private property. A Long Island man loses his life to Obamacare while a Virginia woman’s family says, “Obamacare killed my sister." IRS bureaucrat Lois Lerner is held in contempt of Congress, having emerged as the key figure in a scheme to deprive conservatives of their rights. With these stories and endless others spilling into the news cycle, F.H. Buckley’s new book — The Once and Future King: The Rise of Crown Government in America — could not be better timed. Mr. Buckley’s writings are familiar on these pages...

Endorsments can be overrated but in a conservative primary with a lot of noise and mud, could a high-profile name give a candidate the edge? Congressional District 19 candidate Lizbeth Benacquisto recently got the backing of Sarah Palin, who held a fundraiser and sang the candidate's praises on Fox News. Yesterday, Curt Clawson scored the endorsement of Sen. Rand Paul, among the first tea party backed candidates to make it big. "Washington is desperate for outside leadership," Paul said. "Curt Clawson is an outsider who will bring refreshing ideas to the halls of Congress. Today, I proudly stand with Curt...

Housing markets have remained relatively weak in many areas of the U.S., with two notable exceptions: Washington, D.C. and Texas. Overwhelming evidence suggests that while the federal government, one of the nation's largest employers, is responsible for the ever-increasing housing demand in D.C.--the private marketplace is behind Texas' boom. The Lone Star State's pro-business environment, low taxes and reliable regulation have caused businesses to flock to the state. The result has been a bountiful job market, which draws individuals and families to Texas from around the world--many are eager to purchase homes upon arrival. Fresh statistics released by the federal...

Even if racism were wiped out tomorrow, we'd still need to address pervasive racial wealth inequality. Here's why. Although the Civil Rights Act, the landmark legislation which just reached its 50th anniversary, made great strides in desegregating the economy, economic discrimination is still widespread, and anti-discrimination legislation alone can never rectify the economic damage inflicted upon blacks by slavery and our Jim Crow apartheid regime. The Civil Rights Act was a mild reform, all things considered, but one conservatives fought with vigor and one many conservatives are still bitter about to this day. When the Civil Rights Act passed in...

It was a tense standoff in rural Nevada with armed protesters closing I-15 for a while and facing off against even more heavily-armed federal agents. For now, that volatile Bundy Ranch confrontation has been defused. But it's not over by any means. And we may well experience others that do not pause in non-violence. These are profound disputes illustrative of abiding suspicions among average Americans and their government headed by a man who promised to bring people together but didn't. And it comes in an uncertain economic time when so many have given up big dreams to just keep what...

When President Obama needed a preacher to fulfill the closing prayer duties at the annual White House Easter Prayer Breakfast, he turned to none other than the Episcopal Church’s first openly gay bishop — who said he was as shocked as anyone at the appointment. The Right Rev. Gene Robinson said in a tweet, accompanied by a photo of Mr. Obama behind a podium at the event: “POTUS ‘preaches’ at the Easter prayer breakfast. Then, out of the blue, asks ME to close with prayer. OMG!” Newsmax said he also emphasized that the words he chose to close the breakfast...

India, the world’s largest democracy, is in the midst of a marathon five-week election that will result in the selection of its next prime minister. Although Nate Silver has yet to make it official, most pundits and prognosticators predict that Narendra Modi will be India’s next leader. Modi bears striking similarities to a celebrated American president: one Ronald Wilson Reagan. Both men rose from humble origins. Modi, in particular, worked from childhood hawking tea in railway stations. Both were popular and successful state governors: Modi is the chief minister (equivalent to a governor) of Gujarat, an Indian state whose gift...

On Saturday, I wrote about the standoff at Bundy Ranch. That post drew a remarkable amount of traffic, even though, as I wrote then, I had not quite decided what to make of the story. Since then, I have continued to study the facts and have drawn some conclusions. Here they are. First, it must be admitted that legally, Bundy doesn’t have a leg to stand on. The Bureau of Land Management has been charging him grazing fees since the early 1990s, which he has refused to pay. Further, BLM has issued orders limiting the area on which Bundy’s cows...