Free Republic

Women, we are told by some people who say they know them, are not amused. Women, or at least those whose consciousnesses have been properly raised, supposedly think that the impatience being expressed about the protracted futility of Hillary Clinton's campaign is disrespectful. They say that if the roles were reversed -- if Barack Obama's delegate arithmetic were as hopeless as hers -- people would not be so insensitive as to try to hurry a man off the stage. But they would...

Human Rights for Taxpayers by: Bethany Stotts, April 18, 2008 A recent conference on “The Future of Human Rights” raises the question of whether human rights advocacy masks a dual agenda of economic distribution and entitlement expansion. Hosted by Georgetown Law and the progressive Center for American Progress, the panelists offered clear evidence why human rights expansions demand matching government enforcement in order to ensure “inclusive,” egalitarian markets. Raymond Offenheiser, a speaker at the conference, explained why human rights demand government intervention. “I think the important thing to me....however, is the issue of shrinking the state in the era of...

According to the Tax Foundation, tax freedom day is April 23 this year. That means it takes that long into the New Year for the average worker to earn enough money to pay his or her total tax bill for the year. In other words, we are required to pay our taxes for 2007 by April 15th even before we earn enough to pay them. If necessary, we can request a benevolent extension beyond April 15th if our tax return is so complicated that we cannot gather all the documentation required in order to file on time. That’ll be me...

WLPO AM, LaSalle, IL FairTax National Communications Director, Ken Hoagland, will appear on "The John Spencer Show" on WLPO radio, 1220 AM at 11:05 am CDT. The radio station is in LaSalle, IL and the program will stream from WLPO's Web site. Connect here >>Date: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 Time: 11:05 AM

If It's All About You, You're in Trouble. Why a Sense of Entitlement Can Wreak Havoc on Happiness. Broad pronouncement of the week: We are entitled brats. For immediate proof, turn on the television. Locate a reality show on Bravo or MTV. The "Real Housewives of Orange County" and their real children are halfway through a marathon of placating and whining. "The Hills" and "Newport Harbor" are stocked with people who expect to be treated with a disproportionate amount of respect, lest they erupt in a raging meltdown. We watch these shows in horror, with a judgmental eye on their...

If you make your home in Texas, you can’t escape them. They are everywhere these days, hurriedly promising bounty to all within range of their voices. Even their printed matter is filled with pledges of greater public funding. The Democrat contenders for the Oval Office will GIVE everyone healthcare. They will GIVE everyone a meaningful education. They will GIVE those who are about to lose their homes, protection. They will GIVE those on the border and across the nation security. They will GIVE the illegal alien his or her unearned path to citizenship. The only thing wrong with all these...

The Americans For Fair Taxation welcomes Congressman Rob Wittman to The Fair Tax movement. He joined The Fair Tax movement on February 14th. Representative Wittman is the 74th cosponsor. His signing is the second in February. Clearly the grassroots momentum for The Fair Tax is growing! Please keep up your enthusiasm for Fair Tax! Congratulations Representative Wittman for joining The Fair Tax movement!

Adult working students are not given a fair chance at an education. The majority of adult students attending college work full time and many have children and family obligations. As a working student, I have only been offered financial aid in the form of student loans, which require repayment. Ten percent of UNCG's student enrollment is adult students. Throughout my college career, I have come in contact with students privileged enough to not need to work while attending school. Most, however, do not and will not have that opportunity. I have also noticed that certain minorities often get offered financial...

In a piece published on January 9th for Townhall, economics writer Jerry Bowyer posed some common questions about the FairTax. The FairTax would replace personal income taxes, payroll taxes, capital gains taxes, corporate income taxes, and the death tax with a national retail sales tax. The FairTax has become a prominent subject for discussion as Mike Huckabee, its leading advocate among the presidential candidates, has risen to the top of the national polls. In politics, as in life, “context” (which could also be called, “basic point of view” or “the framing of the issue”) trumps “content” (in this case, the...

The exit polls have shown, the Democratic primary is turning into a battle between the people that pay for Social Security and those that collect it.

As the year draws to a close, the battle over spending in Washington is heating up. The Democrats want to expand government healthcare, while the President has vetoed the second attempt to expand SCHIP. The latest version of the State Children's Health Insurance Program would have expanded the entitlement program and raised taxes, just as the earlier version did and the President showed fiscal restraint with his veto. Reducing our entitlement programs here at home is not against saving the children, as the rhetoric goes, it is about saving the country's economy. The fact is we have huge trade imbalances,...

The U.S Comptroller General and head of the GAO, or Government Accountability Office, has described the entitlements crisis facing this country as a "tsunami" that approaches while we continue to party on the beach. What GAO head David Walker is talking about are the massive upcoming obligations under Social Security and Medicare that we have no funds to meet. Tens of trillions of dollars of supposed commitments, promises made to us by our government, that today we have no clue how we'll pay. In those rare moments when our political "leaders" screw up sufficient courage to acknowledge this dark and...

Billions of otherwise productive hours are wasted each year by Americans in preparing their federal income tax returns and, to a lesser degree, planning their tax avoidance strategies. Those strategies involve counter-productive ways to avoid taxes that serve to cripple our economy. Millions of jobs are now outsourced overseas, partly due to our prohibitive withholding taxes that make us non-competitive, despite the fact that the American worker is one of the most productive in the world. Most leading economists agree the federal income tax is the biggest drag on the economy today. More than $22 trillion is sitting in off-shore...

Sen. Larry Craig said Wednesday he will remain in office while a Minnesota judge considers his bid to withdraw a guilty plea, overturning the senator's previous statements of intent to resign by Sunday. The Idaho Republican said he will stay in office "for now," but people close to him said he will remain until the judge rules. Hennepin County Judge Charles Porter said he probably won't decide the matter until next month. Craig, who originally had planned to seek a fourth term next year, pleaded guilty in August to disorderly conduct following a June 11 sting operation in a men's...

In Sidney, Montana the owner of the local McDonald's fast food joint cannot get workers to staff his restaurant. This sounds like a bad thing and for owner John Francis, it is, but, this loss of workers is because of the good economic news and the low unemployment rates that is occurring throughout the Western United States. According to a recent report by the AP, unemployment rates have been as low as 2% in specific areas and no higher than a general rate of 3.5 in the North Western states, a rate that has been dropping steadily over the last...

Police: Pa. Boy Stabs Brother Over Game Jul 17 01:16 PM US/Eastern LANSDOWNE, Pa. (AP) - A 13-year-old boy fatally stabbed his brother with a steak knife after the 16-year-old refused to turn over a video game controller, authorities said. Jahmir Ricks was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Antwan Ricks at their home outside Philadelphia. The older boy died of a single stab wound to the chest, police said, and a bent and bloody knife was recovered from the home. Lansdowne police said the younger boy told them, "I just stabbed my brother," when they arrived at...

Fred Rogers, the late TV icon, told several generations of children that they were "special" just for being whoever they were. He meant well, and he was a sterling role model in many ways. But what often got lost in his self-esteem-building patter was the idea that being special comes from working hard and having high expectations for yourself. Now Mr. Rogers, like Dr. Spock before him, has been targeted for re-evaluation. And he's not the only one. As educators and researchers struggle to define the new parameters of parenting, circa 2007, some are revisiting the language of child ego-boosting....

Let's just say that for the Fort Worth school district, it wasn't a good day.Paul Harvey, the nationally syndicated radio newsman known for his twice-daily show, News and Comment, mentioned the district Friday in his lunchtime program in an item about a small protest outside the administration building.About a dozen students, parents and supporters had picketed the building Thursday in protest of a board decision this week. The board upheld a district policy prohibiting 617 students who failed one or more parts of the TAKS exit-level exam from participating in graduation ceremonies.Harvey had received a photo of the protest."Several students...

On daddy's coattails Ezra Levant The Western Standard Monday, March 26, 2007 To compare Justin Trudeau to Paris Hilton is unfair--to Paris Hilton. While both youngsters have profited from famous last names and handsome looks, Hilton has an impressive track record of accomplishment. In her short 26 years, Hilton has had a successful career in modelling, acting and singing, amassing a fortune on her own larger than her family inheritance will be. Those might not be morally important professions suited to high political office, but Hilton has never pretended to be more than amusing eye candy. The same cannot...

PHILADELPHIA, Pa (1010 WINS) -- Steve Wood spent last week living on the streets of Philadelphia. But he's not homeless or even close to it. The Temple University student from Washington Township, N.J. was gathering material for a series of articles he hoped would ``put a face to the homeless.'' Wood, 21, a senior and features editor of the university's school newspaper, Temple News, started his adventure last Saturday. He had stopped shaving days before to help him blend in and talked to a homeless man who is often seen around his school for tips. The university student rode a...

David Walker, Comptroller General at the Government Accountability Office, appeared on the show “60 Minutes” last evening to discuss the federal budget outlook. If you saw the show, you know that he painted a very sobering picture regarding the federal government’s ability to meet its future obligations. If you didn’t see the show, Mr. Walker’s theme was simple: government entitlement spending is like a runaway freight train headed straight at American taxpayers. He singled out the Medicare prescription drug bill, passed by Congress at the end of 2003, as “probably the most fiscally irresponsible piece of legislation since the 1960s.”...

This photo was in Yahoo's most emailed photos. I couldn't help thinking that it perfectly represents democrat view of government as the cradle to grave "mother" breastfeeding her children with the idea that the children (us sheeple) are totally dependent and must suckle at mommy's teat to survive.

According to NY Daily News and ESPN.

RUSH: Larry in Bourbonnais, Illinois, training location for the Chicago Bears. It's nice to have you on the program, sir. Welcome. CALLER: Hi, Rush, how you doing? Long-time listener, long time Republican, ever since Reagan was elected. RUSH: Thank you, sir. CALLER: But I have a confession to make. RUSH: Yeah? CALLER: If Hillary or any other Democrat runs for president this next time around and offers some sort of national health care, I'm voting for them. RUSH: You can't be serious. CALLER: Serious as a heart attack. You know, I'm tired -- I got the kids here at home...

PARIS,- The French parliament on Friday approved a divisive new immigration law which tilts the system in favour of qualified foreign workers and increases the restrictions on others. The vote coincided with an escalating furore over threats by the government to deporting school-age children whose parents are illegal immigrants, which is expected to cumulate in a mass protest in Paris on Saturday. The law, proposed by right-wing Interior Minister and presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy, creates a new type of residence permit -- named a "skills and talents permit" -- for foreigners with qualifications which are judged to be important for...

Hunter's myopic stance on airport is harmful San Diego's generations-long struggle to build a new airport has reached a critical turn. Within the next month, the airport commission is expected to recommend, after an exhaustive search, a single site for voters to consider in November. At this pivotal moment, with a glimmer of genuine progress finally in sight after decades of futility, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, has quietly intervened to sabotage the entire effort. Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. Without a whisper of warning to the airport commission, Hunter inserted into the 2007 defense authorization bill a sweeping...

Just when I thought I had seen all of the manufactured grief humans could possibly conjure-up in one morning...I discovered an all-girl affair called "Starting Over". This show finds very whiny women who seem to relish the role of victim, and places them together in one house. The Starting Over gals work for weeks on such pressing matters as "eliminating chaos," "growing up at 40," and "learning to drop the hustle." The show employs other women known as "life coaches" to kick-start the ladies' spirits. All this time, I have been living my life without the benefit of a coach...it...

In this kinder and gentler world, what makes a political joke funny? It has to have a kernel of truth that most can recognize as true. If you smile at the end, it was a good joke, regardless of your political stripe. One day a florist goes to a barber for a haircut. After the cut he asked about his bill and the barber replies: "I'm sorry, I cannot accept money from you; I'm doing community service this week" The florist is pleased and leaves the shop. Next morning when the barber goes to open there is a thank you...

Everybody is surprised by the size of the recent demonstrations against legislation to do something about illegal immigration in this country. Why should we be surprised that rallies in Chicago and L.A. are drawing 500,000 people? There are at least 12 million illegal aliens in this country – 12 million illegal invaders, lawbreakers, people who broke into our country, defied the rules about legal entry, many of them taking up permanent residency and taking full advantage of free services designed for taxpaying citizens. Is it a surprise to Americans that there are at least 12 million illegal aliens? Is it...

One of the more amusing lines in President Bush's State of the Union Address last month was his call for yet another commission to study the problem of entitlement spending. Entitlements are programs that do not require annual appropriations. The money is paid out automatically to anyone who meets the eligibility criteria. Spending cannot be capped because people have a legal right to their benefits. Hence, spending for entitlements can only be reduced by changing the basic law applying to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. There are two reasons why the Bush proposal cannot be taken seriously. First, he has...

Embattled Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio) said Thursday he will run for re-election even if he is indicted for his connections to disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Small conceits are revealing National Post Mon 02 Jan 2006 Page: A14 Section: Editorials Byline: Lorne Gunter Major scandals by the Liberals may grab most of the headlines, but their minor arrogances, their small conceits, probably tell Canadians as much or more about the internal mentality of Canada's governing party. Indeed, the big scandals are probably products of this smaller mindset. If true, the latest scandal surrounding the Liberals -- the question of whether insiders leaked confidential financial information to Bay Street traders in advance of that information being made public -- is very likely an offshoot of a...

Guatemala City, Dec 29 (EFE).- Guatemalan Vice President Eduardo Stein on Thursday described as "an insult to Latin America" the U.S. proposal to build a wall along its border with Mexico. "We take it as a total insult to all Latin America that a government calling itself a friend and partner in the region only wants our money and our goods, but sees our people as if they were an epidemic. They treat us as if we were a sub-hemisphere of criminals," Stein told reporters. The vice president was talking about United States plans to build an wall along its...

When congressional Republicans, a free-spending lot who have helped ratchet up federal spending to record levels, proposed slowing the rate of federal spending growth by a hair, congressional Democrats accused Republicans of wanting to starve the poor and recreate Dickensian England.That scenario, in a nutshell, explains the looming fiscal crisis at all levels of government. The debate is between those who want enormous government and those who want something even bigger than that. Hence, the Associated Press reported this week that "entitlement" spending is growing out of control. The word "entitlement" itself is a problem. Americans believe they are entitled...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A government program that put Hurricane Katrina evacuees in hotels while they sought other housing must be extended a month beyond the deadline set by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a federal judge ruled Monday. Judge Stanwood Duval extended the program until Feb. 7. The temporary restraining order came from a class action lawsuit filed in November by advocates for hurricane victims. Attorneys pressing the lawsuit said FEMA has failed to provide aid to many who qualify and that information on the aid has been slow.......

The Associated Press is reporting that rioting has spread to 300 towns in France. Note to Associated Press: 300 towns is not a riot — it's a general uprising. AP says that "Sunday night, vandals burned more than 1,400 vehicles, and clashes around the country left 36 police injured..."Ace of Spades points out the Washington Post headline:  Rage of French Youth is a Fight for Recognition. Apparently all these rioters just want attention. The poor young things feel rejected by a cold and callous society: "We feel rejected, compared to the kids who live in better neighborhoods," said Nasim, a chunky...

In 1973, the French novelist Jean Raspail artfully predicted in the form of fiction the very real Palestinian-style intifada that now rages on the west bank of Europe: France. Ten years after the book's publication, Raspail described the "vision" he had, portrayed in the book, which lasted for ten feverish months: "They were there! A million poor wretches, armed only with their weakness and their numbers, overwhelmed by misery, encumbered with starving brown and black children, ready to disembark on our soil, the vanguard of the multititudes pressing hard against every part of the tired and overfed West. I literally...

We The People..... Of The United States "We the sensible people of the United States, in an attempt to help everyone get along, restore some semblance of justice, avoid more riots, keep our nation safe, promote positive behavior, and secure the blessings of debt free liberty to ourselves and our great-great-great-grandchildren, hereby try one more time to ordain and establish some common sense guidelines.... We hold these truths to be self evident: that a whole lot of people are so confused by the Bill of Rights that they require a Bill of NON-Rights." ARTICLE I: You do not have the...

This past weekend the Millions More Movement march took place. Well, was anyone there calling for an end to subsistence-welfare? This has done more damage to black families than any sinister plot that some evil racists might have come up with. In the black inner cities of America’s big cities, over 85% of children are born out-of-wedlock. Why? The best evidence points to the anti-poverty welfare state enabling women to support children without husbands, and this welfare state makes it easy for men to shirk their responsibilities. These perverse incentives have resulted in a cultural breakdown in poor black communities...

Heart of Darkness BY FOUAD AJAMI,  WSJ, 28 September 2005 From Zarqawi to the man on the street, Sunni Arabs fear Shiite emancipation. The remarkable thing about the terror in Iraq is the silence with which it is greeted in other Arab lands. Grant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi his due: […] The extremist is never just a man of the fringe: He always works at the outer edges of mainstream life, playing out the hidden yearnings and defects of the dominant culture. Zarqawi is a bigot and a killer, but he did not descend from the sky. He emerged out of the Arab world's sins of omission and commission;...

So, any of you catch the hilarious op-ed in the NY Times today? The one where the author, upon hearing that Oprah has re-ignited her book club to include living authors again, basically begs to be on the show? Sounded familiar. Sadly familiar. This is me: "Please, Oprah! Pleeeeezzzzeee!" Yup. I've written to Oprah a few times. ... I've told her about following my heart to success. About putting my brother through school so he could follow his heart, too. About the sales of the book. The movie deal with Jlo and Laura Ziskin. The TV deal at Lifetime. About...

As the insults flew and the protest reached a boil, Joseph Turner couldn't help but smile. The 29-year-old head of the upstart Save Our State organization had come to Baldwin Park to pick a fight over illegal immigration. They got all of the fight they could handle. Hundreds of counter-protesters in the predominantly Latino city rose up to meet them, chanting "Go home, racists!" "I couldn't have scripted it better," said Turner, a former stock trader who runs the anti-illegal immigration group from his Ventura home. "My goal is to continually keep this issue in the forefront of the American...

Hanover Township resident Jim McGuire struggles to pay high costs for services and prescriptions for his 5-year-old autistic son, Jimmy. McGuire is concerned about Gov. Ed Rendell's proposal to require families of children with autism and other disabilities contribute even more to their children's care. With Medicaid costs rising, premiums and proposed cuts are scheduled for June as lawmakers and administrators try to balance the 2005-2006 budget. "As a parent, I feel it's troubling that we are contemplating balancing budgets on the backs of disabled individuals," McGuire said. "I think there is sufficient money in the system to meet the...

It's rather strange when you stop to think about it. Just a stone's throw away from UCLA there are thousands and thousands of bodies buried beneath the ground. Uniform white tombstones rather unceremoniously mark the graves of U.S. veterans. The street is called Veteran, after all, for a reason. Dedicated in 1889, the Los Angeles National Cemetery is the burial site for American soldiers of nearly every war of the past century, including both world wars, Korea, Vietnam and more. Neat rows of tombstones run parallel for as long as the eye can see. Large grass fields await the fallen...

False Security By William Voegeli Posted April 26, 2005 We know at least two things about the Democratic Party. First, it is preoccupied with economic inequality. Implying that the middle class had somehow vanished, Senator John Edwards campaigned for a year with a showcase speech about two Americas, "one for people who are set for life, [who] know their kids and their grandkids are going to be just fine; and then one for most Americans, people who live paycheck to paycheck." Second, it is unyielding in its defense of Social Security—a defense that rejects the idea of reducing by a...

An end to America many of us enjoy and love seams near. The trends are frightening. Immigration poses a huge threat. Using current rates of birth and immigration (legal and illegal), our Census Bureau calculates all races in the United States will become minorities within 45 years. Coalitions of third-world immigrants may then dominate. Such occurences, some watch-dog organizations contend, will likely lead to conflict among the cultures and open revolt. An estimated 12 million foreigners are here illegally. Many receive services without paying taxes. Their presence is causing hospital closings because of required, unpaid treatment, the reoccurence of communicable...

...But the most threatening thing about her, from the American viewpoint, is that she refuses to treat the arts as an instrument of civil rights. Without talent, no entitlement...Students expecting a poem by Maya Angelou will find that this book is less inclusive than the average lineup for Inauguration Day...

The Mark Levin Fan blog captures a call from a woman protesting the deficit/govt. spending.

Employers have recently tried every carrot they can think of — including cash incentives and iPods — to persuade employees to quit smoking. Now some are trying the stick. Pointing to rising health costs and the oversized proportion of insurance claims attributed to smokers, some employers in California and around the country are refusing to hire applicants who smoke and, sometimes, firing employees who refuse to quit. "Employers are realizing the majority of health costs are spent on a small minority of workers," says Bill Whitmer, chief executive of the Health Enhancement Research Organization, an employer and healthcare coalition in...

Prediction: The Social Security debate is going to turn pretty ugly pretty fast. It's quite civilized at the moment, with reporters and op-ed types jousting over economic assumptions and actuarial rates. But New Year's Day brought a Washington Post report that the coming campaign over Bush's privatization plan will take on the coloration of a full-fledged political war, complete with television ads. Such groups as Progress for America (which spent millions on Bush's reelection), the Club for Growth and the National Association of Manufacturers are planning big-budget campaigns, and the AARP is already spending 5 mil on full-page opposition ads...