Free Republic

On April 6, 20-year-old Ty MacDowell led a march in Portland, Maine, designed to raise awareness of sexism. She did this by walking bare-breasted down the street with two dozen fellow women. MacDowell was shocked to learn that far from decreasing sexism, revealing her bosom drew hundreds of men with cameras. "I'm really upset by the men," she moped, "watching it like it's a parade." This is called the law of unintended consequences. Anyone with half a brain could foresee the consequences of MacDowell's march – there's a reason men spend years of their lives perusing the Internet for booby...

The walk-on-water president, who made health care better and more affordable, is now making good on his promise to rid the world of nuclear weapons. If you believe the former, then you should have no trouble believing that his Kodak moment in Prague today, where he signed a new arms limitation agreement with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, is a step in the right direction. If not, you have a right, no, an obligation to be skeptical.

People who believe that health care is a right instead of a privilege embrace a fundamental principle of Marxism. This philosophy is built on the idea that workers are the source of productivity and must not be exploited by kings or capitalists; that workers must control their own destiny. This is the foundation of socialism. Continues...================================================================= Dude, where's my utopia? Democrats told each other over and over that ObamaCare would instantly become popular once it was shoved down everyone's throat. People would warm up to fascism once they realize all the good things Obama and Congress are doing to them,...

There's a scene in the movie "Galaxy Quest" in which actors on a distant planet are spying on cute alien creatures that resemble children. The cynical Guy says, "Sure, they're cute now. But in a second they're gonna get mean. And they're gonna get ugly somehow. Then there's gonna be a million more of them." The other actors think he's crazy, but sure enough the cute aliens suddenly get mean, ugly and numerous. As the actors flee from the pursuing creatures, Guy gasps, "I'm so sick of being right!" Despite the dire predictions over the last few months, politicians inexplicably...

Less than three weeks ago, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi cooed, "We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it." Yes, she said that! Right out loud, on national TV. She indicated that she herself didn't know all that the 2,700-page health-care bill contained or mandated – but that she was determined to cram this atrocity down the throats of Americans, before they (or she) learned what it would contain or cost them.

Let's do a quick thought experiment. The price of apples keeps going up. The government decides that every American must buy apples. But some can't afford them. Government starts controlling how much apple farmers are paid. It mandates that every single American buys apples and subsidizes those under a certain income level so they can. Will the price of apples go down, stay the same, or go up? Or, in economist's language, if you limit supply of a commodity and increase demand, will the price of that commodity go up or down?

The health care bill that President Obama signed last week bears little resemblance to the reform package he once touted from the campaign trail. With the final legislative product in hand, it's worth evaluating how it compares to the promises Mr. Obama made to voters regarding the plan's cost, its features and the reform process itself. The difference between then and now couldn't be more stark.

Emboldened by the passage of health care legislation, the Obama administration will set its sights on a new target - regulating how much money you can make. Recipients of federal bailout money already face regulations designed to rein in "excessive" corporate salaries. Since the administration has proclaimed this first step a success, it is only a matter of time before it seeks broader control over private-sector compensation.

Minutes after President Obama signed the health care bill, constitutional challenges were filed. Their key is the Commerce Clause, which, judicially redefined, is the sole constitutional rationale justifying many federal regulatory powers (which is why in law schools it is often called "the everything clause").

President Obama, in his quest for victory on healthcare, has striven mightily to do everything the progressive believes the socially conscious leader ought to do. He has fired the zeal of grassroots activists by providing them with a right to be wronged and demons to oppose. He has given an articulate and seemingly authoritative face to a favored program of social justice-oriented pressure groups. Through Obama and healthcare, The New York Times provides for a nationwide audience the imagery of progressivism as in the enlightened and compassionate interest of the poor and ordinary people, and of the American national community...

There are simple reasons why the ObamaCare approach to sick care reform can never and will never work to accomplish its stated goals of cutting costs while increasing access. The simple truth requires neither confusing numbers nor rhetorical flourishes. The simple truth requires the lowest level of common sense and an answer to the question, "What is the essential work of the sick care industry?"

Democrats in the House needed 216 votes to pass the Senate's version of a sweeping health-care package Barack Obama has been pushing with all his presidential might. They tallied 219. Democrats hailed the vote as a landmark victory. "Today is the day that is going to rank with the day we passed the civil rights bill in 1964," said Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich. "Today we're doing something that ranks with what we did with Social Security or Medicare. This is a day of which we can all be proud."

Where do we go from here? That is a question the tea-party movement has asked since its beginning one year ago. The question remains valid as this movement goes where no movement has gone before. This movement is something that will be written about in history books. Despite the myth of the great liberal uprising of the '60s, fueled by the anti-war left, the simple fact of the matter is there has been no contemporary political movement like the tea-party movement. But that still does not answer the question, "Where do we go?" First, the tea-party movement must remain focused...

I have so few words to express the depth of my disgust with the unconstitutional path and passing of Obamacare and the corruption in Congress. So let me just tell you about the storm coming to Washington. The majority of the Americans have voiced ad nauseam grave concerns with and rejection of Washington's health-care bills. Like a host of commentators, I myself have written at least a dozen syndicated articles this last year addressing sound objections. And like you, I've joined rallies, signed petitions and passed along a plethora of reasonable nonpartisan negative critiques of Obamacare. But, at every turn,...

By the time you read this, if Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama have their way, the vote will have been taken on the health-care bill. Either it will be dead on arrival, or this country will be swept by a tidal wave of anger, dissention and lawsuits. Washington is immersed in a political battle of record proportions involving a clash of the Obama agenda to move the country far, far left into socialism, if not worse, against the efforts of Americans who want to maintain and retain the Constitution as the law of the land as it has stood throughout...

Democrats rose throughout the predictably partisan day to declare "historic" Sunday's vote on the $1 trillion health care overhaul — with many citing the creation of Social Security and Medicare. But the vote would be nothing like the bipartisan accomplishments of yore, despite Democrats' repeated references to their coveted entitlement masterpieces that, by the way, are headed for insolvency.

The Messiah sacrificed his life to save all who believed in Him, offering them eternal life. In contrast, the Obamessiah has called on his followers in the House of Representatives to sacrifice their political lives in order to save his presidency in pursuit of health care legislation that’s massively unpopular in the country. Perhaps the biggest problem for Obama and the Democrats is this: Even though they have railroaded a “victory” on the health care bill, it will be a pyrrhic one. The President has revealed a ruthless arrogance – and the complete absence of any decent respect for the...

As this is written, the lobbying of House Democrats on the health care bill is going on apace, and every hour brings news of another no vote converted to yes, or a yes vote switching to no. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the House Democratic leadership is expressing confidence that the jerry-rigged bill they've put together will pass -- which is evidence either that they have the 216-vote majority pretty well in hand or that, like any party's House leadership, they're professing confidence to prevent a stampede against them. Republicans are saying the Democrats haven't gotten to 216 yet but admit...

Autism is a tragic malady. I became acquainted with it some years ago. My middle two daughters, both Lindy and Debby, when they graduated from high school, decided to take a break from school – they volunteered to work at Hathaway Ranch, a wonderful retreat and day-care center for kids with learning disabilities, including autism. They came home after long days at Hathaway, sometimes buoyed and excited about some breakthrough with one or more of the kids they were working with, but more often weepy and heartbroken about the autistic kids.

Whether they are called Democrats, socialists, Marxists or progressives, the current leadership in Washington has but one goal: control. The current leadership has demonstrated its belief that government must control virtually every facet of the economy, of politics and the life of every citizen. With unprecedented arrogance, this leadership manufactured nearly $2 trillion with which to exercise its control over the banking industry, the auto industry and over virtually every other entity that was persuaded to take the federal handouts. Government is now firmly in control and working overtime to expand its control.