Free Republic

It seems Texas Republican Congressman Ron Paul is now the leading Republican presidential candidate in Iowa, according to the latest Public Policy Polling survey released late Sunday. The Texas Republican, who has for weeks witnessed a surge in support, is leading the Republican field with 23 percent support. Mr. Paul is followed by former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney at 20 percent, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at 14 percent, former Pennsylvania U.S Senator Rick Santorum at 10 percent, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann at 10 percent, Texas Governor Rick Perry at 10 percent and former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman at 4...

John Jay, the co-writer of the Federalist Papers and the first chief justice of the United States (1789-95), wrote in a 1786 letter to Thomas Jefferson that he was worried that under our evolving founding document that became the Constitution, Congress would have exorbitant power. “These three great departments of sovereignty,” he told Jefferson, “should be forever separated and so distributed to serve as checks on each other.”

A new Institute of Medicine report unintentionally highlights the fatal folly of censoring truthful information about cigarette alternatives until their manufacturers can generate the sort of costly, time-consuming studies that federal regulators demand before approving new drugs. Under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, a "modified risk tobacco product," which is any tobacco product identified as safer than cigarettes, can be legally sold only after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) certifies that it will "benefit the health of the population as a whole, taking into account both users of tobacco products and persons who do not currently...

Daniel Hannan speaking in the debate on the conclusions of the European Council meeting (8-9 December). The debate took place during the European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg this week.

By employing a plethora of tax-dodging techniques, 30 multi-million dollar American corporations expended more money lobbying Congress than they paid in federal income taxes between 2008 and 2010, ultimately spending approximately $400,000 every day -- including weekends -- during that three-year period to lobby lawmakers and influence political elections, according to a new report from the non-partisan Public Campaign....

Juliana Taimoorazy, founder of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council, said the Christians -- who over the past decade have fled to surrounding countries to escape the violence -- are faced with limited options today. She said they simply can't go to Iran, Jordan can't handle more refugees and Syria is no longer safe. "They don't know what tomorrow or the next day will bring, but really there's nowhere else to go," she said. She questioned the security for Christians in northern Iraq, claiming the Kurdish regional government there did not initially intervene to stop the recent violence. She also said...

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin joined Eric Bolling on Fox Business Network’s Follow The Money Wednesday night, and chimed in on several hot-button GOP issues, including the Donald Trump debate and Newt Gingrich‘s rise in the polls. But her most interesting comments came when Bolling got into the weight that her endorsement may carry. “You know the endorsement that I’m most interested in?” Palin asked. “Ron Paul’s, to tell you the truth.” Palin said she didn’t agree with Paul’s foreign policy, pointing out that he wasn’t even invited to the Republican Jewish Coalition’s summit this week. But she said that...

...Against Paul, 42 percent of registered voters in Iowa support Obama and 43 percent support Paul. Paul’s popularity among independents could be a crucial advantage. Paul leads Obama 42 percent to 35 percent among independent voters, according to the poll, and he also attracts 15% of Iowa’s Democrats. Not to mention that 16 percent of voters were undecided....

James Madison, father of the Constitution, warned, “The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become instruments of tyranny at home.” Abraham Lincoln had similar thoughts, saying, “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter, and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” During war, there has always been a struggle to preserve constitutional liberties. During the Civil War, the right of habeas corpus was suspended. Newspapers were closed. Fortunately, those actions were reversed after the war. The discussion now to suspend certain rights to due process is especially worrisome, given that we...

In the wake of the disastrous Bush presidency and the Republican defeats of 2006 and 2008, it was widely assumed that the GOP had repudiated the idea that big government could be harnessed for conservative ends. And, of course, in 2010, the Tea Party led a return to conservatism’s traditional small-government roots, resulting in the biggest Republican landslide in 70 years. One would think that settled the matter. Yet, just five weeks out from the Iowa caucuses, both of the front-runners for the Republican nomination are strong advocates for a bigger, more activist government....

The US government has been slowly eradicating the Posse Commitatus Act of 1878. That act banned the US government from using the US military in domestic law enforcement. Over the past few decades the US government has repeatedly violated the act. However, many Republicans have insisted that the Posse Comitatus Act needs to be respected to protect the rights of American Citizens. South Carolina's left-wing Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, however, is supporting provisions to eradicate Posse Commitatus and dramatically expand the powers of the Federal government. The US Senate Armed Forces Committee, led by Carl Levin (D-MI) and John McCain...

Judge Napolitano asks some profound questions on the state of our country and our Constitution.

The Tea Party was a beautiful happening! So beautiful was the sight of watching our citizens rise up in opposition to a federal government that has lost any sense of restraint that it is easy to forget that the enlightenment, which made it all possible, came at a heavy price – the expansion of government, debt, and an obscene redistribution of wealth from the people to a few select financial firms and companies. All the hope that the Tea Party provided, along with the labor, sacrifice, and treasure that was involved in organizing it, will be for naught if we...

I have followed politics for a long time, and there is never a shortage of politicians promising the world and not delivering. After my recent review of Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan I detailed why this plan is "all sizzle and no steak" and how an additional 9 percent federal sales tax would give the weak consumer driven economy an immediate heart attack. I believe we already collect enough in taxes, seemingly more than enough, and our problem is almost entirely based around our federal government's spending habits.....

I became a conservative because of Rush Limbaugh. In fact, only three contemporary American political figures have had a real life-changing influence on me: Limbaugh, Pat Buchanan during his presidential runs in the 1990s, and Ron Paul, for whom I remain a humble servant as his 2012 campaign’s official blogger. But first there was Rush. In the summer of 1992, my mother would often fold laundry in the family kitchen while listening to Limbaugh’s radio program. Regularly listening with her, usually over lunch, quickly my interest went from curiosity to ardent devotion. By the time I was 17, I considered...

GOP presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul will unveil his economic plan Monday afternoon, calling for a lower corporate tax rate, cutting spending by $1 trillion during his first year in office and eliminating five cabinet-level agencies, including the Education Department, according to excerpts released to Washington Wire.......

.....I don't trust Obama with determining what protections I should be allowed as a citizen any more than I trust him with our general defense, the economy, health care, job growth - or anything else. The usual justification for such abuse of the rule of law is that the post-9/11 period demands a different code of conduct to ensure people's safety. But politicians can always find excuses for why they should be allowed to disobey the Constitution..... Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2011/10/02/2011-10-02_an_unconstitutional_killing.html#ixzz1Zeydd8Ny

Judge Napolitano, "When the president can kill whoever he wants, he's not a president anymore, he's a King." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnem1Ohm3Q0&feature=player_embedded

Tapper to Carney: "Do you not see at all... does the Administration not see at all how a president asserting that he has the right to kill an American citizen without due process and that he's not going to even explain why he thinks that he has that right, is troublesome to some people?"... http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=14642685

I want to state at the outset that this essay is not intended to be an endorsement of Ron Paul. While I respect and admire many of his positions and his fidelity to the Constitution, I have strong misgivings about some of his stances on national security. If you could hear the debates between myself and my 20-year-old son, a passionate Ron Paul supporter, you would readily accept the sincerity of my disclaimer. That said, as the political season has heated up, I've been surprised at the tone of the discourse as it relates to Ron Paul. In fact, I...