Free Republic

Ever heard of the Luddites, who took their name from Ned Ludd? They were English textile workers who protested, from 1811 to 1816, against the development and implementation of labor-saving technologies....... .... Robots are causing a new Industrial Revolution..... [SNIP] ....Liberals are even proposing the regulation of technological advancement..... .........One aspect of the massive agrarian job loss in America was that the unemployed farm workers did not sit idle. Instead of lamenting their fate, waiting for government to do something and/or take care of them, they took advantage of the fact that new technology created hundreds of millions of jobs...

Across the key issues related to both legal and undocumented immigration, significantly more Republicans without a college degree expressed conservative views than Republicans who have completed at least four years of higher education, according to detailed results provided to Next America from a Pew Research Center national survey. Likewise, older Republicans embraced conservative views more often than the party's younger members, the survey found. These consistent contrasts may help explain why several of the likely 2016 GOP candidates jostling for blue-collar support have camped out positions not only opposing any path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, but also urging reductions...

OK campers, back home in Texas still thinking of yesterday's big get together w/ the grandkids where I got to show how to make their own rainbow in the backyard sun w/ a garden hose and now helping my daughter & son'n'law move to DC which is probably why I just woke up out of this goofy dream where we walked over to my daughter's really neat friend's house to see the grandkids in the basement and I was going to show how it was possible to make a spoon stick to my cheek and the tray had all kinds...

Cash-strapped consumers are being shown a new place to find money: their driveways. Short-term lenders, seeking a detour around newly toughened restrictions on payday and other small loans, are pushing Americans to borrow more money than they often need by using their debt-free autos as collateral. So-called auto title loans — the motor vehicle version of a home equity loan — are growing rapidly in California and 24 other states where lax regulations have allowed them to flourish in recent years. Their hefty principal and high interest rates are creating another avenue that traps unwary consumers in a cycle of...

Did you know the U.S. government has rolled out a big new federal program to revive the U.S. manufacturing sector? The proposed budget for this new effort now surpasses $2.4 billion, and, surprisingly, it has received a level of bipartisan support that hasn't been seen for years, if not decades, for manufacturing. This new program has a big mouthful of a name -- the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation or NNMI -- and it's targeted at correcting one of the most fundamental weaknesses in America's manufacturing infrastructure: our waning competitiveness in manufacturing technologies. I call this project "top secret" because...

The Supreme Court should not have taken up the lawsuit challenging ObamaCare subsidies, President Obama said on Monday. “This should be an easy case, frankly it shouldn't have even been taken up,” Obama said during a news conference at the Group of Seven (G-7) summit of leading industrial nations in Germany. The Supreme Court is expected to hand down a decision this month in the King v. Burwell case, which threatens to eliminate subsidies for millions of Americans who receive their health insurance from federal exchanges. Obama rejected the basis for the challenge and said it is “well documented” that...

....“I thought it was interesting for the president to say that the guy who called ISIS the JV squad and Yemen a success story somehow suggesting someone else should bone up in foreign policy,” Mr. Walker said on ABC’s “This Week.” ....“My belief is if I’m going to — if I’m even thinking about running for president of the United States, it’s not about preparing for debates, it’s about being prepared to be the president of the United States,” he said...

The Democrats and their media allies have predicted wrack and ruin if the Supreme Court rules against the government in King v. Burwell, a decision that would stop the IRS from issuing Obamacare subsidies through federal insurance exchanges in three-dozen states. They have wildly exaggerated the inconvenience that such a ruling would cause a tiny percentage of the population and ignored the benefits that it would provide tens of millions of Americans. One of these benefits would be the removal of PPACA’s dead weight from an economy whose first quarter performance suggests that the anemic Obama recovery may be stalling....

President Obama has announced or will soon propose important protections for clean water, clean air, threatened species and threatened landscapes. Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, and other Republicans in Congress are trying hard not to let that happen — counterattacking with a legislative blitz not seen since Newt Gingrich and his “Contract With America” Republicans swept into office after the 1994 midterm elections bent on crippling many of the environmental statutes enacted under Presidents Johnson and Nixon. Bill Clinton threatened or used vetoes to block that assault. Mr. Obama should be prepared to do the same. The usual complaints...

MADISON, Wis. — Less than a week after he was elected governor of Wisconsin in 2010, Scott Walker went to Milwaukee at the invitation of his political patron, Michael W. Grebe.Mr. Grebe was Mr. Walker’s campaign chairman. He was also president of the Bradley Foundation, a leading source of ideas and financing for American conservatives. And the bankers, industrialists and public intellectuals on the foundation’s board wanted to honor the state’s next governor over dinner at Bacchus, a favorite restaurant of the city’s elite.While the Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation could not endorse candidates outright, it provided more than $2 million in...

I’m shocked by one aspect of the story of the guy selling $30 hot dogs to tourists near the World Trade Center — shocked that he was fired. Who knew hot-dog men could be fired? As for that other detail — selling a hot dog for considerably “more than it’s worth,” so what? Apple makes a huge profit on every device it sells. Does anyone think Apple is guilty of “price gouging”? Moreover, a hot dog is guaranteed not to shatter when it falls on the sidewalk, and I’ve never had to reboot my sauerkraut. No hot dog has ever...

Mr. Walker’s bet on his regional appeal comes after a generation of Midwestern Republicans flopped in Iowa’s first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses. Michele Bachmann touted her roots in Waterloo, a small city in eastern Iowa. Neighboring governors Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin dropped out when they didn’t catch fire. Midwestern roots did little to boost their presidential campaigns among Iowa’s Republican voters. Regional appeal, in fact, hasn’t helped any Republican candidate win here since Bob Dole of Kansas carried the GOP caucuses two decades ago. The Wisconsin governor, who hasn’t formally announced a presidential campaign, is the only...

'I love ribs. Ribs and BBQ': Scott Walker tells how he proposed to his wife Tonette at a Wisconsin barbecue joint while devouring a spare rib at Iowa 'Roast and Ride' Barbecue has a special place in Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's heart. He reminisced about their courtship today while devouring a spare rib at a 'Roast and Ride' event in Boone, Iowa... Walker had just finished helping employees of Lynch BBQ, the event catering company, prepare a rack of ribs when he professed his love for barbecue - and his spouse. 'We met at a karaoke night, even though we...

"...The spot in front was appropriate for the new front-runner in Iowa, the state that in seven months holds the first nominating contest to pick the party's presidential candidate before the November 2016 election.Walker, who built his reputation by taking on labor unions, has led the five most recent polls in Iowa, including the respected Des Moines Register poll. The Register showed him with a seven-percentage point lead over four tightly bunched rivals and found he was viewed favorably by two-thirds of likely Iowa caucus-goers."If the caucuses were today, he would win. Unless he really screws up, he should win,"...

Boone, Iowa — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker hopped on a Harley Saturday to raise his profile in this early presidential nominating state.A half dozen other presidential candidates were on hand, but Walker was the only one to participate in the ride with U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and 300 other bikers. The 39-mile ride honoring veterans wove from the Big Barn Harley-Davidson dealer in Des Moines to the Boone County exposition grounds that will host the Iowa Straw Poll in August....Walker regularly promotes the motorcycle company headquartered in Menomonee Falls and owns a 2003 Road King that his wife Tonette...

The New York Times is just “one big sort of op-ed” that hates Texas, according to CNBC. Hosts of CNBC’s Squawk Box discussed a New York Times article critical of Texas economy with former Former Dallas Federal Reserve President and current CNBC contributor Richard Fisher on June 4. The article was cynical about on Texas, prompting a discussion between Fisher and co-host Joe Kernen to say “at least they put it in the op-ed section and it wasn’t put as a fact.” Fisher pointed out that the article wasn’t an op-ed, rather it appeared business section’s front-page. “Oh, wait a...

The U.S. economy contracted at an inflation-adjusted 0.7 percent in the first quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reports in its latest update. The bad news flies in the face of economic projections by the U.S. Federal Reserve, which had been predicting 2.6 to 3 percent growth for 2015 in December. That was downgraded to 2.3 percent to 2.7 percent in March. That had been considered a weak outlook at the time, with the economy not getting above 3 percent any time soon. And now, just to get to that modest 2.3 percent for the year, the economy will need...

Payroll Stats Become Even More ImplausibleSince Q1 GDP was revised lower by almost 1% that meant estimates of productivity were going to be even more out of alignment than they were at the first release. Of course, in a less massaged environment productivity might have preserved some sense if there was less rigidity from the BLS on the employment side. In other words, when “output” estimates were reduced (and they were, by more than GDP) it would make sense that everything would be revised downward in a more cohesive process. Instead, output was reduced significantly, by 1.4%, while total hours...

James Pethokoukis American Enterprise InstituteJune 5, 2015,a>nonfarm payrolls,American Enterprise Institute  That negative first-quarter GDP report now seems far less worrisome and far more an outlier than it did initially. Recently Goldman Sachs said “that given the uncertainty around GDP it is better to focus on other indicators—especially employment—to gauge the cumulative progress of the recovery and the remaining amount of slack.” By that measure, the U.S. economic recovery continues to plow forward after a slight early-year stumble. Nonfarm payrolls increased 280,000 in May, the largest gain since December, the Labor Department said this morning. Although the unemployment rate rose...

Blunting worries about the American economy’s momentum after a stretch of lackluster growth this year, the government reported on Friday that employers added a hefty 280,000 jobs in May, well above the average monthly totals logged over the last year. The official unemployment rate ticked up to 5.5 percent, as more Americans returned to the labor force and returned to actively looking for work. At the same time, hourly wages rose 0.3 percent last month, finally providing workers with some long-awaited gains. United States markets were expected to open lower on concerns that the strong report would provide further reason...