Free Republic

The issue of labor unions has recently been a cause of much heated debate. Throughout the United States, there are many states facing budget shortfalls and are trying to rejuvenate struggling economies. State expenses are being slashed, and union benefits are just one of many expenditures on the cutting block for many states. Recent events in Wisconsin have caused many people to engage in the debate of union benefits, and many more are still left wondering where to stand on this current hot button issue. In his monograph, Liberating Labor, Charles W. Baird seeks to answer questions regarding how the...

[...]I believe that the final question boils down to: is the sacrifice which teachers and other labor union members are called to make fair? The problem with responding to that question, of course, is that there appears to be no common ground in terms of what the word “fair” actually means among various individuals. Some believe that “a fair solution” would require sacrifice from everyone but self. The relativism of our culture and society once again does us grave harm, because the cultural response to the question of the meaning of “fair” is, “well, what’s fair for you is fair...

An outspoken Arizona sheriff has responded to a letter from the mayors of three border cities who asked him to tone down his comments on border security problems, saying, "feel free to 'drink the Kool-Aid'" of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke and President Obama. ... "The threat from an unsecured border is real, where 241,000 illegals were apprehended last year by the border patrol and an additional 400,000 got away just in Arizona alone!" the letter reads. "These are failing grades by anyone's score card." .... If your intent was to establish dialogue with me, you...

George W. Bush will be at Fort Campbell on Wednesday to sign copies of his presidential memoir, “Decision Points,” for soldiers and their families at the Post Exchange. The book-signing will be limited to people with a military identification. They must purchase Bush’s book at Leisure Travel Service on post, according to an announcement by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service. The book-signing will begin at 9:30 a.m. CST. The PX will open at 7 a.m. Soldiers and family members must buy the book between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday or Tuesday at the PX store. The books...

LONDON -- Hundreds of disillusioned Anglicans were preparing Sunday to defect from the Church of England to the Roman Catholic Church in time for Lent, Sky News reported. It follows a campaign by a former Anglican bishop in protest at its stance on the ordination of women and gay clergy. Father Keith Newton has encouraged Anglicans to join the Ordinariate -- a special branch of Catholicism established by the Pope -- to welcome protestant defectors. Despite the efforts of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Anglo Catholics have begun leaving following the conversion of three Anglican bishops in mid-January.

While you may need a forklift to get it on your nightstand, Thomas Sowell’s most recent edition of his popular guide to economics, “Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to Economics,” will aptly navigate all — from laymen to experts — through the treacherous subject that has seemingly stumped many as of late. Dr. Sowell recently spoke about his book with The Daily Caller and offered his insight on some of today’s most vexing problems: TheDC: Why did you decide to write the initial “Basic Economics” and how does this, the Fourth Edition, differ from the earlier versions? Thomas Sowell...

George W. Bush's book is atop the bestseller list, which could help explain the presence of hundreds of people who waited in line Monday at the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, N.C., to have a book signed by the former president and former first lady Laura Bush. The event sold out in a matter of hours Saturday. Library officials would not say how many people obtained the wristbands necessary for admission. According to USA Today, in the week ending Dec. 12, Bush's book, "Decision Points," which was released a week after the midterm election reached No. 1 on the nonfiction...

Former President George W. Bush was happily stunned when legendary former heavyweight boxing champ Muhammad Ali stood facing him. Bush was at a Barnes & Noble Booksellers store in Phoenix today signing his book, Decision Points when the Greatest entered (with the Secret Service) to shake hands. With his famous comic humor, Ali sat next to Bush and held the book up as press and public snapped photos.

Baghdad, Iraq, Nov 11, 2010 / 01:36 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Confronting one's own mortality on a daily basis can be overwhelming, but deployed servicemen take comfort and strength from prayers offered on the home front, according to Army chaplain Father Brian Kane. Fr. Brian Kane, a priest of the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, is presently deployed for the second time in Iraq. He is Chaplain for the 67th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade and oversees four battalion unit ministry teams which serve over 1,400 soldiers across the country. “It is humbling for me to serve such a dedicated group of men and...

Hannity Interviews George W. Bush part 1 of 2 video here

In a new interview to be aired tonight with NBC’s Matt Lauer to promote his new book, Decision Points, pro-life former President George W. Bush explains a startling conversation that resulted in forming and solidifying his pro-life views.After his mother Barbara Bush suffered an emotional miscarriage, “she said to her teenage kid, ‘Here’s the fetus,’” Bush told Lauer. During the interview, President Bush gestures as if he is holding a jar saying the former First Lady showed him the jar containing the baby and that made a tremendous impact on him. “I never expected to see the remains of the...

Here is video of Gov. Chris Christie on Meet the Press today, where he said the Tea Party Movement is a “net positive” for the GOP and the nation because of the core principles they advocate – which he said should be the core principles of the Republican Party. But when asked about Delaware and the U.S. Senate seat the GOP failed to take in last week’s Midterm Elections, Christie said Delaware was “a missed opportunity” for the GOP to get a “really good United States Senator” in Mike Castle. Christie supported Castle over the eventual GOP nominee, Christine O’Donnell.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen.-elect Rand Paul says GOP lawmakers must be open to cutting military spending as Congress tries to reduce government spending. The tea party favorite from Kentucky says compromise with Democrats over where to cut spending must include the military as well as social programs. Paul says all government spending must be “on the table.” Paul tells ABC’s “This Week” that he supports a constitutional amendment calling for a balanced budget.

The Hill is reporting that an Alaska-based Republican Pollster – Marc Hellenthal – believes GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski has an insurmountable lead over GOP Senate Nominee Joe Miller: THE HILL: . . . . . As it stands now, the number of “write-in” votes cast on Election Day leads Miller’s vote total by 7 percent. It translates into a lead of some 13,000 votes over Miller, meaning the Republican nominee will have to find a way to invalidate a sizable portion of write-in ballots to have any chance of defeating Murkowski. “Short of some absolutely astounding event, it’s over,” concludes...

What a moment! George Bush 41 and George Bush 43 entered the stadium together tonight to throw out the first ball at the World Series. THE CROWD ROARED. Then GW threw a strike to home plate catcher Nolan Ryan to start off game 4. Barbara Bush was taking photos in the stands. What a wonderful moment.

"The Church recognizes this right in every human person, in its dual aspect of the possibility to leave one’s country and the possibility to enter another country to look for better conditions of life" (Message for World Day of Migration 2001, 3; cf. John XXIII, Encyclical Mater et Magistra, 30; Paul VI, Encyclical Octogesima adveniens, 17). At the same time, States have the right to regulate migration flows and to defend their own frontiers, always guaranteeing the respect due to the dignity of each and every human person. Immigrants, moreover, have the duty to integrate into the host Country, respecting...

The population suffers from malnutrition and chronic economic problems, most affected children, women and the elderly. Between August 2009 and August 2010 a "worsening of the crisis” registered. South Korean Minister: in the North there are 150- 200 thousand political prisoners in six detention camps. Seoul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - North Korea's population suffers from malnutrition and chronic economic problems; the most affected are children, pregnant women and the elderly, who do not have enough food to survive. This is what emerges from the latest UN report, released by the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and dedicated to the human rights situation...

In a rare public appearance, former President George W. Bush talked about life out of the limelight and took a jab at what the "elites" might be thinking of his upcoming book. "I have written a book. This will come as a shock to some of the elites. They didn't think I could read a book, much less write one," Bush quipped. Speaking at the University of Mobile in Alabama Thursday night, Bush talked about his memoir "Decision Points," [...] The 64-year-old said the tome gives some understanding to the decisions he made on tough issues like the handling of...

The former House Speaker’s latest book, "A Contract with the Earth" co-authored with Palm Beach Zoo CEO Terry Maple, is an appalling paean to environmental naivete and taxpayer-subsidized profiteering. While the book’s theme — i.e., let’s all just happily pitch in and do what it takes to save the environment — may sound reasonable, at least on a superficial basis, Mr. Gingrich’s notions are often wrong or simply bizarre, and his prescriptions amount to little more than a full embrace of rent-seeking "green" business and left-leaning eco-activist groups, both of which often masquerade as "protectors" of the environment. The book...

NEW YORK (AP) — Tea party activist Carl Paladino wasted no time in setting his sights on Democrat Andrew Cuomo after confounding pundits and rolling over the leaders of New York's Republican and Conservative parties with a stunning win in the GOP primary for governor. "Andrew Cuomo has to answer to the people," Paladino said Tuesday after defeating Republican Party designee Rick Lazio, a former congressman. Cuomo "is going to have to debate me. I'll debate him 49 days if there are 49 days between now and then." "He was never vetted. He came in on Spitzer's coattails," Paladino said,...