Free Republic

Job killing leftists have chalked up another victory. Wal-Mart was looking to build three stores in Washington, DC, but the prostitutes serving Big Labor, aka the DC City Council, voted 8-5 to chase them away. What this came in the form of was a "Living Wage Bill", which was actually specifically targeted toward Wal-Mart. The bill forces retailers with over $1 billion in sales and stores occupying over 75,000 feet of pave to pay $12.50 per hour, as opposed to the $8.25 Washington, DC minimum wage. The Washington Post reported “The question here is a living wage; it’s not whether Wal-Mart...

A couple lessons, here. First, businesses are not obligated to open in your city or your neighborhood, particularly when you incentivize them to locate elsewhere. Washington, D.C. is particularly susceptible to losing potential jobs (particularly in entry-level and working class retail positions, as opposed to lobbyist slots) to nearby jurisdictions because it doesn’t take much to simply cross the bridge to friendlier climes in, say, Virginia. Second, as Sonny Bunch reminds us of a lesson from Econ 101, hiking the minimum wage kills jobs.Here’s the haps. In Washington, Wal-Mart, the city council, the grocery store unions, and a thousand Wal-Mart...

Television chef Paula Deen, who lost her gig Friday with the Food Network after admitting and apologizing for having used racial epithets, including the “N-word,” is a supporter of President Barack Obama and campaigned on his behalf in 2008. The Southern-bred television personality also invited Michelle Obama onto one of her television programs and praised the first lady’s healthy eating agenda.

Most pregnant moms pick out names for their kids. “Snooki” wants to pick out sexual orientation. Nicole Polizzi casually mentioned the other day that she was “so grateful” for those who “support the LGBT youth so they have someone there for them because I'm praying I have a gay little boy one day.” That’s right. Not only does Snooki “consider herself bisexual” - she also hopes that the child she’s having with her fiancé will be gay. She made this disturbing announcement at an event hosted by the “anti-bullying” (and very pro-LGBT) group, “Trevor Project.” Her co-star Jenni Farley was...

Strobridge Elementary Principal Charles Hill has a brilliant idea: he’s holding a toy gun exchange next Saturday in which students of the Hayward, CA school can turn in a toy gun to receive a book and a raffle ticket to win one of four bicycles. Really. Hill believes that children who play with toy guns may not think real guns are dangerous. “Playing with toy guns, saying ‘I’m going to shoot you,’ desensitizes them, so as they get older, it’s easier for them to use a real gun,” he claims. Hill was inspired by a school photographer, Horace Gibson, who...

The scandals that have broadsided the Obama administration in recent weeks have the potential for leaving a gaping hole in the president's standing with the American people, according to a new Investors Business Daily/TIPP poll. Overall, more Americans still approve (48%) than disapprove (44%) of the job President Obama is doing — a 3 percentage-point improvement over approval readings in the last two months. But the reverse is true among those who are following the administration's handling of the Benghazi crisis, the IRS' targeting of the Tea Party and other groups, and the Justice Department's seizure and pursuit of the...

President Obama in Asbury Park, NJ on Tuesday: "So, Jersey, you’ve still got a long road ahead, but when you look out on this beach -- this beautiful beach here, even in the rain, it looks good. You look out over the horizon, you can count on the fact that you won’t be alone. Your fellow citizens will be there for you -- just like we’ll be there for folks in Breezy Point and Staten Island -- (applause) -- and obviously, we’re going to be there for the folks in Monroe [sic], Oklahoma, after the devastation of last week. (Applause.)...

Singer Erykah Badu took to her Twitter account early in the morning on Wednesday to share her very-candid views on the Minister Louis Farrakhan. Rather than taking aim at some of the divisive comments that the faith leader continues to utter, she labeled him a “Super Hero” and a “beautiful, brave being.” “Louis Farakahn is a SuperHero. That’s A beautiful brave being,” she wrote (note: the minister’s name is “Farrakhan” not “Farakahn” as noted in her tweet; spelling and grammar kept in tact). Clearly confounded by the message, Twitchy asked, “Since when are racism and anti-Semitism beautiful or brave?,”...

Colion Noir gives his take on the statement made by Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) on April 2, 2013 at the Denver Post forum: "I will tell you these are ammunition, they’re bullets, so the people who have those now they’re going to shoot them, so if you ban them in the future, the number of these high capacity magazines is going to decrease dramatically over time because the bullets will have been shot and there won’t be any more available."

We somehow missed this yesterday, but Newsbusters certainly didn’t, and it’s worth a look even a day later. The New York Times, with reporters around the world and “layers of fact-checkers and editors,” somehow couldn’t properly define Easter in a news article that focused on Pope Francis’ message on Christianity’s most holy of days. This correction has to be a contender for the most hilarious of the year: This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:Correction: April 1, 2013An earlier version of this article mischaracterized the Christian holiday of Easter. It is the celebration of Jesus’s resurrection from...

MANASSAS, Va. (CBSDC) — A server at Buffalo Wild Wings refused to serve Prince William County police officers because they had their guns displayed. The Manassas Park Patch reports that the employee wouldn’t serve them despite the plain-clothes officers showing him their badges. The server reportedly told the officers that it was a gun-free establishment. Scott Lupton, general manager of the Manassas Buffalo Wild Wings, apologized for what happened

Vice President Joe Biden incorrectly stated early today that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords had been "shot and mortally wounded":

Seeking to counter a potentially powerful argument against gun-control, Democratic Strategist Zerlina Maxwell contends that women arming themselves to fend off potential rapists isn’t necessary. “Urging women to take up arms is the wrong approach,” Maxwell said. “The primary responsibility lies with the men who commit rape. What we need to do is tell men not to rape women. We need to clearly communicate the message that rape is an inappropriate way to interact with women. Putting society’s energy into disseminating this message would be our best investment toward solving this problem.” Maxwell cited the low educational achievement of most...

Newsmax Sequester Forces Biden to Take Amtrak Friday, March 1, 2013 10:04 AM By: Sandy Fitzgerald Joe Biden’s military flights back home to Delaware will be grounded starting this weekend, as the vice president plans to start taking Amtrak trains to help cut the costs involved in using military transport for the short trip. Biden said he initiated the change in travel plans, Fox News reports, saying the change is the one part of the sequester that works to his benefit. According to published reports, it costs the government tens of thousands of dollars every time Biden takes Air Force...

A crowd of people rallied against gun violence at the Georgia State Capitol in honor of Trayvon Martin Tuesday, the one year anniversary of his shooting death. Many of the protesters were speaking out against so-called “stand your ground” laws, which allow gun owners to use deadly force if they feel as if their lives are in danger. During the rally, one female protester — wearing an Obama hat — told WGCL-TV that using a firearm in self-defense “is not an option.” “It’s not an option,” she repeated. The reporter then asked her, “But what if someone is trying to...

Newly minted Secretary of State John Kerry is sweeping through Europe and the Middle East on a nine-nation tour, meeting with top global heads to forge diplomatic relations — and, apparently, even creating new countries. Mr. Kerry was trying to praise diplomats who were working on behalf of the United States in the Central Asian region, but in doing so, he created a new country. He thanked the diplomats for their work in “Kyrzakhstan,” according to various media reports, and credited their efforts in “support [of] democratic institutions in Kyrzakhstan and Georgia.” The National Review suggests Mr. Kerry could have...

John Kerry invents country of Kyrzakhstan John Kerry has suffered his first gaffe as the new US secretary of state, inventing the nation of 'Kyrzakhstan' By Jonathan Earle, Moscow 11:36AM GMT 25 Feb 2013 In an embarrassing slip of the tongue, Mr Kerry last week praised US diplomats working to secure "democratic institutions" in the Central Asian country, which does not exist. The newly minted diplomat was referring to Kyrgyzstan, a poor, landlocked nation of 5.5 million, which he appeared to confuse with its resource-rich neighbour to the north, Kazakhstan. The State Department kindly omitted the error in the official...

Matt Damon: ‘I will not go to the bathroom’ in an effort to draw attention to worldwide water crisis ‘The Rainmaker’ actor gets down and dirty by pledging to hold off from using the bathroom until the problem is resolved. By Zayda Rivera / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Tuesday, February 12, 2013, 5:48 PM Matt Damon is on an extended bathroom break. "The Rainmaker" star declares he will not go No. 1 or 2 until everyone in this world has access to clean water and sanitation. "In protest of this global tragedy, until this issue is resolved, until everybody has...

One of former New York City Mayor Ed Koch's last interviews before his death on Friday came in Vanity Fair's Proust Questionnaire. The most interesting part of the Q&A came when he was asked who was what living person he "most despise[s]." ... Which living person do you most despise? Former president Jimmy Carter.