Free Republic

Boston, MA – Today, Governor Mitt Romney issued the following statement on the House Democrat plan to dramatically increase taxes on the American people: "House Democrats have shown once again why they cannot be trusted with stewardship of our economy. Their tax plan is nothing more than a recipe for higher taxes and slower economic growth. Instead of raising taxes on hard-working Americans and giving more money to the government, we need to lower taxes. Pro-growth economic policies do not begin with government taking more money out of taxpayers' pockets." The Democrats' Plan To Increase Taxes: The House Democrat Alternative...

Producer of a MSM morning news show? Got a few minutes to fill at the end of your first half-hour? Why not resort to a tried-and-true winner: a bit of good old class warfare? That was the "Today" formula this morning. Matt Lauer introduced the segment, enviously entitled "Share the Wealth?: The Rich Get Richer," fanning the flames of envy and resentment with this opener: TODAY CO-HOST MATT LAUER: Do you feel like you're working harder and harder nowadays just to stay financially afloat while fat cats get richer and richer? It's not just a feeling, and you're not...

Press Releases Contact: Brendan Daly 202-226-7616 For Immediate Release 04/24/2007 Pelosi: ‘Working Women and Their Families Deserve Equal Pay for Equal Work’ Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement this morning at an Education and Labor Committee hearing on equal pay: “I want to thank the Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller for convening this critical hearing today on Strengthening the Middle Class: Ensuring Equal Pay for Women. “I also want to recognize the leadership of Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, a champion for equal pay in the Congress, who for 10 years has been introducing the Paycheck...

NEW YORK -- Three weeks after I wrote that I thought John Edwards might be going someplace in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, I found out where he was heading: to the barber shop. The candidate, who has been looking pretty and pretty impressive in defining "Two Americas" -- one for the rich and privileged, a lesser place for everyone else -- came up with a wonderful device to show us all what he meant. His campaign spending reports, required by the Federal Election Commission, revealed that he has been paying $400 for haircuts by a Beverly Hills...

President Bush yesterday said there is a growing "income inequality" gap between rich and poor Americans, and told companies they should rethink the giant compensation packages they offer top executives. The markedly populist message, a divergence from the past, in which Mr. Bush has accused critics of practicing class warfare, was all the more noteworthy given his venue -- a speech at Federal Hall in New York, in the middle of Wall Street, the capital of capitalism. But the president called for conservative market-based answers, including demanding that Congress renew trade-promotion authority, which allows him to negotiate trade agreements then...

It sits on top of a hill, overlooking a busy road -- a big, pink stucco house that dwarfs all the houses around it. It is conspicuous consumption at its worst, or at its best, depending on your point of view. It's not the biggest house around. There are many bigger -- one just a few miles from where I live, not on top of a hill but practically on the offramp of a highway. So many smaller houses have been knocked down to make room for these Goliaths. This is called progress. I don't understand who lives in these...

In a Newsweek column titled "How Dems can win White House," Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., opines about the difficulties that the Democratic Party has had in defining itself. The senator wonders, enviously, how Republicans have been able to "identify issues that connected to their deeply held values," reduce them to a few words – eight according to Schumer – and communicate to the American people. "What are our eight words?" the senator asks. But Democrats have a very clear picture of who they are. And newly elected Democratic Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia, who his party picked to give their...

Why are America's superrich suddenly fretting about income inequality?What's hot for 2007 among the very rich? A $7.3 million diamond ring. Safari in Tanzania. Oh, and income inequality.Sure, some leftish, Democratic-leaning billionaires like George Soros have been railing against income inequality for years. But increasingly, centrist and right-wing billionaires are starting to fret about income inequality and the fate of the middle class.In December, Mortimer Zuckerman wrote a column in U.S. News & World Report, which he owns. "Our nation's core bargain with the middle class is disintegrating," lamented the 117th-richest man in America. "Most of our economic gains have...

You make too much money! And you make too little! Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., put it somewhat differently. But the new chairman of the House Financial Services Committee vowed to tackle the growing, festering problem of "income inequality." "Government doesn't have to interfere with the free enterprise system," says Frank, "but we can work along with it to reduce inequality." Railing against Home Depot's $210 million severance package for its fired CEO, Frank called it "further confirmation of the need to deal with the pattern of CEO pay that appears to be out of control." What does Frank propose to...

As a baby, Stephanie Giron was facing a life of obesity until her parents, Luis Giron and Chenny LaBoy, enrolled her in a nutrition clinic.(Rich Hein/Sun-Times) Poor and overweightStudy finds a third of inner-city kids are facing obesity problems; it's worse among Hispanics More than one-third of poor, inner-city toddlers are overweight or obese, according to a survey in Chicago and 19 other cities. The problem is especially severe among Hispanic toddlers. Researchers called the results deeply disturbing. Fat kids are more likely to become fat adults. They also are more prone to diabetes and other conditions that increase...

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards acknowledged Thursday that amid his criticism of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., a volunteer member of his staff asked the world's largest retailer for help obtaining a hot new Sony Playstation 3 for Edwards' family. Edwards, a potential 2008 presidential candidate, told The Associated Press that the volunteer "feels terrible" about seeking the game unit at Wal-Mart while his boss claims the retailer doesn't treat its employees fairly. "My wife, Elizabeth, wanted to get a Playstation3 for my young children. She mentioned it in front of one of my staff people. That staff person mentioned it...

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Hallelujah, brothers and sisters. I'm not even sure what "hallelujah" means, but the word just feels right after witnessing what is at the very least an awakening of the power of the people. I'm hopeful that November 7 was also a declaration that middle-class Americans won't be taken for granted by either political party.

John Kerry says that only dopes are fighting in Iraq. Kerry is both a snob and a fool, and his presidential prospects are nil, and yet some good can still come from his ill-chosen and insensitive remarks. Here's what the Massachusetts Democratic senator said to a college audience on Monday: "If ... you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq." Ha ha. Kerry lamely tried to claim that he was referring to George W. Bush, not the GIs, but few were buying his spin. ...Break... ABC's George Stephanopoulos, another...

Former President Bill Clinton urged Democrats on Wednesday to strive for an inclusive politics of "common good" and fight back against the divisive approach of Republican leaders. Less than three weeks before November 7 elections to decide control of Congress, Clinton said U.S. political debate had been degraded by "ideological, right-wing" Republicans who demonized opponents and concentrated power in the hands of a privileged few. Clinton said he longed for a politics that celebrated differences and disagreements without condemnation, and worked toward equal opportunity, shared responsibility and a sense of community. "Ideological, divisive, demonizing, distracting politics, they may be very...

With less than four weeks to the midterm elections, CNN is giving resident populist Lou Dobbs more room to trash the American economy, the Bush tax cuts, and free trade. Associated Press television writer David Bauder noted in an October 10 article that anchor “Dobbs’ weeknight news show will expand to seven days a week, with the two weekend editions presenting highlights of the week’s reporting beginning Oct. 28.” “Dobbs is also anchoring three pre-election special reports: ‘War on the Middle Class’ on Oct. 18, ‘Broken Borders’ on Oct. 25 and ‘Democracy at Risk: E-voting's Threat’ on Oct. 29,” Bauder...

Have you ever heard of Anna Politkovskaya? She was a Russian journalist who regularly reported on Vladimir Putin's undermining of press and other freedoms in Russia. This past weekend she was murdered. If you are debating whether to be optimistic or pessimistic about humanity's future, here is a point to consider: In every generation, especially in the last century, vast numbers of good people -- often the best people -- have been murdered by the worst people. Think about all the decent (and, of course, some indecent) people Stalin murdered among his 20 million to 30 million victims. Think about...

Across the country, the income gap between blacks and whites remains wide, and nowhere more so than in Manhattan. But just a river away, a very different story is unfolding. In Queens, the median income among black households, nearing $52,000 a year, has surpassed that of whites in 2005, an analysis of new census data shows. No other county in the country with a population over 65,000 can make that claim. The gains among blacks in Queens, the city’s quintessential middle-class borough, were driven largely by the growth of two-parent families and the successes of immigrants from the West Indies....

All you need is ubuntu You and me, me and you, lots and lots, for us to do By Sean Coughlan BBC News Magazine Bill Clinton told the Labour conference to get into ubuntu. Eh? Ubuntu. That was what Bill Clinton told the Labour party conference it needed to remember this week. "Society is important because of Ubuntu." But what is it? Left-leaning sudoku? U2's latest album? Fish-friendly sushi? No, it's a word describing an African worldview, which translates as "I am because you are," and which means that individuals need other people to be fulfilled. The former president, husky-voiced...

<p>FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON ON NOT CAPTURING BIN LADEN: 'At least I tried. That's the difference between me and some, including all the right wingers. They ridicule me for trying. They had eight months to try, they did not try. I tried. So I tried and failed'...</p>

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton made a star turn this morning at former President Bill Clinton’s conference on global challenges, calling for a concerted attack on the “feminization of poverty” by destroying cultural, political, and economic barriers that trap women and children in desperate conditions. Before a standing-room-only audience in a ballroom of the Sheraton hotel in midtown Manhattan, Mrs. Clinton gave opening remarks at the conference session “Women and the Power of Economic Opportunity” then moderated a panel that included President Bush’s former secretary of agriculture and three leaders in the development and anti-poverty fields. “Far too many women are...