Free Republic

Whatever we do, let's not allow ourselves to be distracted from the continuing nightmare of Obamacare by the other nightmare of President Obama's latest abuse of power in furtherance of a terrible policy decision -- this time on immigration. I would be remiss if I didn't provide my periodic update on the Affordable Care Act, lest you grow complacent to its unspeakable egregiousness. So let's review some recent tidbits, shall we? First the good news. Customers who enrolled in the most popular Obamacare plans for 2015 shouldn't expect to see major hikes in their out-of-pocket health expenses compared with 2014,...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Oh, yeah. I'm gonna get to Obama last night. Oh, man, am I gonna get to Obama last night. Everybody thinks Obama called for calm last night. That's what everybody thinks. BREAK TRANSCRIPT RUSH: So the president of the United States, Mr. Hope and Change, appeared somewhere in the White House (looked like the briefing room) last night shortly after ten o'clock after the DA in St. Louis had finished his announcement and explanation and taken a few questions. Obama came out and... Well, he called for calm. But then he went on and spoke for 20...

It should properly be called “Affirmative Action Looting.” Having lectured the world for decades that American blacks should not be expected to obey the law or conform to the standards of behavior applicable to others, that black crime is a protest against social injustices, that blacks cannot succeed because of white skin privilege and never mind that there is a black president, the liberal establishment might as well be torching they buildings and cars in Missouri all by itself. The liberals have “Tawana Brawleyed” themselves into oblivion. They seriously believed that a grand jury could be bullied into indicting an...

Last spring, you may remember, the French economist Thomas Piketty was all the rage in certain enlightened circles. His book "Capital" shot up to the No. 1 spot on bestseller lists, and many economists praised his statistics showing increased income and wealth inequality. Piketty argued that, absent a world war, returns to capital will exceed economic growth, inevitably producing growing inequality in the 21st century. There are problems with Piketty's -- or anyone else's -- statistics. Reliance on U.S. income tax returns overlooks the fact that tax cuts encourage people to realize income and misses non-taxable income such as welfare...

resident Obama has committed a mind-boggling $3 billion to a new United Nations Green Climate Fund run by officials from Communist nations, a country that appears on the State Department’s list of terrorism-sponsors and an Arab oil-industry chief. As if it weren’t bad enough that our commander-in-chief is giving away money while the nation suffers through a colossal budget deficit, there are countless reasons why this is a lousy idea. First of all, the United Nations is a famously corrupt organization that is already largely funded by Uncle Sam to the tune of billions annually. The exact figure is tough...

The biggest reason young Americans tend to lean to the left is that they grow up immersed in liberalism. Their entertainment, music, teachers and college professors lean to the left. Meanwhile, since few young Americans follow politics avidly or are out in the real world enough to feel the sting of left-wing policies, the only place they typically get to hear the conservative position is from liberals. That’s like getting the history of WWII from Hitler – or Noam Chomsky, either/or – and expecting to get an accurate picture of what the Allies believed. That puts these kids in a...

"You know, I think — I think the American people, you know, they're gonna want — you know, that new car smell. You know, their own — they — they wanna drive somethin' off the lot that — that doesn't have as — as much mileage as me." — President Obama on ABC News' This Week. Not exactly a great moment in political oratory. But it's also hard to fathom who Obama could have had in mind when he uttered those words, since the Democratic contenders all are showing plenty of wear and tear.

Actually, relations between the police and my community are great. The police enforce the laws, the community obeys the law, we get along fine. We speak to the police politely, we comply with their orders, we don’t have a problem. It’s all good. So, no Mr. President, there isn’t a national problem between the police and “the community,” at least not in most communities. And, likewise, Ferguson is not about some great rift between the police and society. Ferguson is about a kid who did a strong-armed robbery of a store and then attacked a police officer. Period. It’s about...

Last week, when "Fox & Friends" highlighted my most recent column, titled "Neutering Religious Holidays," liberals came out of the woodwork to try to defend President Barack Obama's record. So I decided to do a little research and see just how spiritual his past Thanksgiving addresses have been and compare them with the thoughts of our founding president, George Washington. In 2013, Obama's Thanksgiving address didn't give a single mention of the Pilgrims, their Christian devotion or thanks to God. He did, however, share his gratitude for the Native Americans and their "generosity during that first Thanksgiving." He gave a...

They say in the finance industry that past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. In politics, you can almost always drop the “not.” The past tells us what Republicans are prone to do when in January, a new crop of GOP legislators come to Washington and take the gavel of both houses of Congress. The last times Republicans controlled both Houses of Congress were 2003-2005 and 2005-2007. The signature legislation of those eras were the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit in the 108th Congress and then the lack thereof of the pork barrel-filled "Do Nothing Congress" in the 109th....

"........What Obama has done—asserting the right to legalize millions of trespassers and squatters against the expressed wishes of Congress and in contravention of settled federal law by use of what he and his minions term “prosecutorial discretion”—cannot stand. GOP leadership on Capitol Hill needs to overreact to it in order to set an example....[SNIP]1.Yes, Defund The Bogus Fiat Amnesty.The Federalist’s Sean Davis took the squishes to task last week for their attempts to sell impotence, and he was correct on all points:.....2.Censure.When the Bill Clinton impeachment mess was unfolding in 1998,the Senate Democrats’ response to House Republican talk of impeaching...

The self-righteous indignation of liberals was on full display last night, as the Grand Jury announced their decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson over the death of Michael Brown. Strangely absent was a sense of concern over the violence, destruction, and social devolution that erupted in St Louis. Instead, as expected, there was a profoundly misplaced anger over the decision of a Grand Jury that was presented with facts, eyewitness accounts, and forensic evidence. 1 – Ezra KleinEzra Klein is an idiot. But, don’t take my word for it. (I mean heck, John Ransom and I explain it every...

On Monday night, the grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri freed Officer Darren Wilson from the possibility of indictment over his shooting of 18-year-old black man Michael Brown. The prosecutor before the grand jury, Robert McCulloch, explained why the indictment had been rejected: the evidence, both physical and eyewitness, supported Wilson’s case that he had acted in self-defense. McCulloch added pointed criticism of the media that drove the case in the first place, ripping the “insatiable appetite” of social media and “non-stop rumors” driven by it. The initial accounts pushed by social media, McCulloch said, were “filled with speculation and little,...

On September 11, 2012, Islamist militants attacked U.S. complexes in Benghazi, Libya. Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed, the first U.S. Ambassador killed in the line of duty since 1979. Three other men were killed and 10 were injured. The media immediately turned it into a political story, focusing more anger on Mitt Romney’s comments about the administration’s blaming of a YouTube video critical of Islam than determining the facts of the attack itself. Many in the media thought it fine that President Obama jetted off to a high-dollar fundraiser before the bodies cooled. When various high-level government officials blamed either...

It's bound to happen at Thanksgiving tables across America: A progressive liberal Democrat discovers he's sitting next to a conservative Republican. There's no need for mashed potatoes to fly. Harry Stein, an author, columnist and contributing editor to the political magazine City Journal, offers advice on how to navigate the situation. Stein, an erstwhile '60's radical who evolved into a conservative, faced a similar dilemma at a dinner party a few years ago. When the guest next to him discovered his conservative/libertarian thinking, the fellow said loudly, "I can't believe I'm sitting next to a Republican!" "It was," says Stein,...

Statements from various high-ranking central bank officials prove they are totally clueless. For example, please consider an announcement today by European Central Bank (ECB) Vice President Vitor Constancio: Europe not at risk of full-blown deflation. During a debate in central Italy, Constancio said he did not think "that in Europe there is the risk of falling into full deflation" because nominal salaries would have to fall in all member countries "and this cannot happen". Cannot Happen?! One really has to wonder about what is in these central banker's heads. Constancio is wrong at least three ways. Wrong Three Ways Even...

I’ve argued that the crowd in Washington profits by plundering America, but that’s just part of the equation. There are also plenty of big companies that have their snouts in the public trough.No wonder many people have become disgustedWriting for the Wall Street Journal, James Freeman points out that a growing number of Americans think the system is rigged against them and he links this disillusionment to an ever-expanding federal government. According to the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, a full 56% of Americans agree with this statement: “The economic and political systems in the country are stacked against...

resident Obama’s decision to ignore the law by granting de facto amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants brought to America as children and those who are parents of children with legal status was a terribly foolish act. It will only serve to exacerbate racial tensions. Polls indicate the overwhelming majority of whites view illegal immigration as threatening. Many see immigrants as taking jobs from native-born Americans, pushing down wages and contributing to cultural decline. While many may silently harbor racial bigotry, the adverse economic consequences for whites are real and palpable. Illegal immigration increases the supply of low-skilled workers, and...

Corruption: Smoking-gun emails show how the administration sought to derail a CBS reporter's investigation of its "gun-waking" operation — a reporter whose computers were mysteriously and mercilessly hacked. Fast and Furious, along with Benghazi, is one of the two "phony" administration scandals that produced body bags, and former CBS reporter Sharyl Attkisson is responsible for much of the truth-telling about both. That fact is enough to put her high atop the administration's enemies list. Attkisson, a casualty of liberal media bias, resigned from CBS in March after a series of clashes between her and her bosses over her exposes of...

Left wing groups are ramping up for “street theater” protests at retail stores this Black Friday. If prior years are any indication of the group’s projected success this year, we can expect a handful of union thugs showing up at a handful of Walmart stores, with a few mass-printed signs. As reported by the Free Beacon:“The fight against income inequality in this country starts at Walmart,” said Brooke Anderson of Movement Generation Justice & Ecology Project. “we are proud to stand with Walmart workers this Black Friday to speak out for the fair pay and the respect workers deserve.”Before diving into the...