Free Republic

Progressive icon Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) recently dropped a bombshell in a private meeting with Boston-area donors, according to a report in Politico. The dispatch focuses primarily on WarrenÂ’s candid criticisms of President Barack Obama and his pick to serve as undersecretary for domestic finance at the Treasury Department, Antonio Weiss. This bit of fractious infighting within the Democratic Party will provide pundits with an opportunity to examine the divisions within the Democratic coalition, but Warren also made a more interesting contention in this meeting that merits further review. According to sources who attended that meeting, Warren heavily criticized...

According to Lisa Wade, a professor at Occidental College in Los Angeles, if you have an understandings of Economics, you are likely a bad person. That was her finding in an article she published this week, titled "ARE ECONOMICS MAJORS ANTI-SOCIAL?" The first word in the piece was simply, "Yep." Dr. Wade writes that if you have taken classes on Economics, you "are less likely to share, less generous to the needy, and more likely to cheat, lie, and steal." She largely bases her belief on a study from 2010. In the study, students were asked if they would like...

Our social media manager asked our followers on Facebook whether they are better off today than before Barack Obama took office and, more precisely, passed Obamacare. Their answers leave little room for doubt about the negative effects of this president’s horrendous policies: [FB POST] ... So how about you? Are you better off because of Obamacare, or do you agree with 99% of our Facebook followers who say that Obamacare has been “a disaster” for the country and for themselves? Let us know, here in the comment section and on Facebook!

Much has been written about privilege in academic settings over the past few decades. There’s the privilege of wealth, and the advantages wealth confers if a baby is lucky enough to be born into it. Much too has been written about the advantages of being born into this world as a Caucasian — known in academia as “white privilege.” But not enough has been written about the most important advantage a baby can have in America: the advantage of being born with a mother and father who happen to be married. Call it “the marriage privilege” — the advantages are...

Big government rests upon myths, and the people who support it necessarily believe things about politics and society — and themselves — that simply aren’t true. This week, a new report from the Government Accountability Office shows just who benefits from federal crop insurance subsidies: big businesses, billionaires, and the like. It’s not primarily the “little guy” or “the small family farm” of American agrarian mythology. It’s the people for whom progressives usually seethe with hatred. Those on the left must either oppose their “progressive” programs or get over their alleged opposition to “the rich.” “Liberals,” “progressives” and other political...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before a joint session of Congress remind the American people that, despite reports of strains in the partnership, U.S.-Israel strategic cooperation has recently accelerated on a number of fronts. Building on the Memorandum of Understanding signed with Israel by then-President George W. Bush in 2007 to enable Israel to meet evolving threats, in December, President Obama signed the U.S.-Israel Strategic Partnership Agreement, declaring that Israel is a “major strategic partner” of the United States. The Agreement lays the foundation for enhanced cooperation on issues from cybersecurity and agriculture to alternative fuel technologies and defense....

As the European Coal and Steel Community of Jean Monnet evolved into the EU, we were told a "United States of Europe" was at hand, modeled on the USA. And other countries and continents will inevitably follow Europe's example. There will be a North American Union of the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and a Latin America Union of the Mercosur trade partnership. In an essay, "The E.U. Experiment Has Failed," Bruce Thornton of Hoover Institution makes the case that the verdict is in, the dream is dead, the EU is unraveling, One Europe is finished. Consider, first, economics. In 2013,...

The best environment for man is the environment of liberty.” – Václav Klaus Liberty is a fundamental human right and the cornerstone of our existence. But in our current world, liberty is being attacked from all directions, whether through higher state control or individuals themselves. Liberty is in search for its protector. Those that value and actively promote the ideals of freedom and liberty are few in such an enclosing environment. In the following article, Claudio Grass, Managing Director at Global Gold Switzerland, ventures into a discussion with one of the vanguards of liberty, former President of the Czech Republic,...

This week we are moved to ignore the news – which we have done our best to follow without throwing things at the television – take a large step back and consider a question which has been bugging us. Why is it that left are the nice guys – the ones that care – while the right are the heartless, inconsiderate bastards?We think we may have the answer.

The recent state of Nebraska’s tax and fiscal policy climate has been lackluster compared to other states in the region. In the most recent edition of Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index Nebraska ranks 35th (1 being the best, 50 being the worst), which is the poorest economic outlook ranking in the region. Nebraska has been slowly falling behind its neighbors, especially South Dakota and Wyoming—two states without any income taxes—and Kansas improving its economic climate with major recent tax reform. Nebraska has also lost $2.58 billion in adjusted gross income (AGI) to other states from 1992...

Hillary Clinton portrays herself as a champion of women in the workforce, but women working for her in the U.S. Senate were paid 72 cents for each dollar paid to men, according to a Washington Free Beacon analysis of her Senate years’ salary data. Snip “Politicians like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama can’t have it both ways,” Perry said. “They use raw, aggregate, unadjusted gender differences in pay and then claim that those pay gaps are the result of gender discrimination, like the 23 percent national gender pay gap in aggregate median income.” “They would then have to admit that...

Sweden has cut interest rates below zero and launched quantitative easing to fight deflation, becoming the latest Scandinavian state to join Europe’s escalating currency wars. The Riksbank caught markets by surprise, reducing the benchmark lending rate to minus 0.10pc and unveiled its first asset purchases, vowing to take further action at any time to stop the country falling into a deflationary trap. The bank presented the move as precautionary step due to rising risks of a “poorer outcome abroad” and the crisis in Greece. Janet Henry from HSBC said the measures are clearly a “beggar-thy neighbour” manoeuvre to weaken the...

Most of life happens without a central planner. Yet people think we need one. Suppose you'd never seen a skating rink, and I told you that I want to lay down some ice and charge people money to strap sharp blades on their feet. They will zip around on the ice -- young and old, skilled and unskilled. My only rule: Go counter-clockwise. Hillary Clinton would say the rink needs regulation. She calls herself "a government junkie." Government junkies like government plans. Hillary'd probably demand that my rink have an official who tells skaters when to zoom left or right,...

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares wobbled on Monday after dismal Chinese trade data eclipsed a strong U.S. jobs report, raising concerns about a deepening slowdown in the world's second-largest economy and sending the Australian dollar sliding. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.3 percent with Australian shares (.AXJO) down 0.5 percent in early trade. U.S. stock futures also shed 0.4 percent (ESc1).

Jody Hall, owner of Cupcake Royale, was an early supporter of the mayor's plan to raise the minimum wage to $15. Now she is having serious second thoughts.Hazel Roos, owner of Paint Away in Redmond, had planned to open a specialty toy store near her home in Seattle. Those plans are now on hold. Ethan and Angela Stowell own 10 neighborhood restaurants in Seattle. They have decided not to move forward on two new restaurants because of uncertainty over the minimum wage. As the Seattle City Council continues to debate a plan to phase in a $15 minimum wage, and...

resident Barack Obama, in his State of the Union speech, called for a minimum-wage hike and for government-mandated paid family and medical leave. "We are the only advanced country on Earth," said the President, "that doesn't guarantee paid sick leave or paid maternity leave to our workers." On the minimum wage, Obama issued this challenge: "And to everyone in this Congress who still refuses to raise the minimum wage, I say this: If you truly believe you could work full-time and support a family on less than $15,000 a year, try it. If not, vote to give millions of the...

Human Events’ readers, in an online poll, recently voted billionaire financier George Soros “the single most destructive leftist demagogue in the country.” Here are the Top 10 Reasons George Soros Is Dangerous1. Gives billions to left-wing causes: Soros started the Open Society Institute in 1993 as a way to spread his wealth to progressive causes. Using Open Society as a conduit, Soros has given more than $7 billion to a who’s who of left-wing groups. This partial list of recipients of Soros’ money says it all: ACORN, Apollo Alliance, National Council of La Raza, Tides Foundation, Huffington Post, Southern Poverty...

When Democrats talk about middle class Americans, they almost inevitably use them as a cudgel to attack the rich. On the other hand, bizarrely, Republicans seem to spend much more time defending the rich from attacks by the Left than talking about what they’re going to do to help the middle class. That’s unfortunate because middle class Americans are the backbone of the country; yet their interests always seem to take a backseat to those of the wealthy, the poor and the naked self-interest of BOTH political parties. There’s nothing wrong with giving the poor a hand-up or making sure...

Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog Ignoring history, Obama falsely claims that raising the capital gains tax yields higher tax revenue The Washington Times recently reported:Obama’s State of the Union speech to include $320B tax hike proposalPresident wants capital gains rate, bank fees raisedPresident Obama will propose $320 billion in higher taxes in his State of the Union address, mostly by raising the rate on capital gains and closing tax loopholes for wealthier families, senior administration officials said Saturday.Previewing Mr. Obama’s State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday night, aides said the president will propose raising the top tax rate...

President Obama believes that “middle class economics” work. This meaningless tag line must have been popular in focus groups. What exactly qualifies as “middle class economics”? Based on the President’s State of the Union speech and the lead up to it, it apparently entails a bunch of big government programs provided to the middle class for “free.” Unlike the lower classes, who pay very little in taxes, the middle class likely isn’t fooled by the ruse of “free.” Most in the middle class understand that free means taxes are increased, likely on them. While the President offered a few middle...