Free Republic

Any time you get a bunch of Democrats together in the same room, it is recommended that you grab hold of your wallet tightly and lock up the family silver. You also might want to hide your wife and daughters - just to be safe. The Democratic presidential candidates who took the stage for their debate on Tuesday night tried to outdo one another in rushing to give away tax dollars on wild spending schemes. How much are we talking about? The Washington Times has some thoughts: The five Democratic presidential candidates pushed proposals in their first debate that...

Some people were not happy after presidential candidate Jeb Bush told a group in South Carolina Thursday night that Republicans can win more African-American voters with a message of positivity than with one that promises “free stuff.” The remarks, reported first by the Washington Post, echoed those by Mitt Romney in 2012 that sparked criticism at the time. Bush’s campaign event Thursday drew a largely white audience, according to the New York Times, and his comments came in response to a question about how he would appeal to African-American voters. The phrase “free stuff” was trending on Twitter Friday morning...

“I wrote a story about it.” It is a phrase Jack Beritzhoff says a lot. And when you consider the San Rafael resident, and former Merchant Mariner, is about to celebrate his 97th birthday, that adds up to a lot of stories. In fact, Beritzhoff compiled many of his favorite one into a book he published in 2012: Sail Away, Journeys Of A Merchant Seaman. Still, there is one story he is most eager to share these days, about an oversight of history he would like to see corrected. “I think it’s an injustice,” said Beritzhoff. Beritzhoff is referring to...

IT IS now four years since David Cameron promised to reduce immigration into the UK from the hundreds of thousands to “tens of thousands” a year. “No ifs, no buts”, was what the Prime Minister said. But the latest official figures, out yesterday, show he is nowhere near to fulfilling that promise. In fact in the last year immigration into our country reached record highs with net migration reaching a 10-year peak at 330,000 in the year up to March. Thirteen per cent of people in this country now were born abroad. ... the need to speak out has never...

At an event in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, where he accepted the endorsement of the National Nurses United, Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, said he would fight as president to enact legislation making all public colleges and university in the country free.

Countries run more efficiently when there is less government intervention. Government certainly has its role in providing a strong military, adequate border defense, police and fire protection, and education. Unfortunately government intervention in the free market has caused again and again more harm than good. And government has now become a Hydra that we fail to legally slay. Voting in a new government has been discouraging; it is now impossible to rid ourselves of the encroaching octopus with sharped-edged suckers.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama is set to announce on Wednesday a pilot project to expand broadband access for people who live in public housing, in his administration's latest push to bridge the "digital divide" between the rich and poor. Working with mayors, internet service providers and other companies and nonprofits, the Department of Housing and Urban Development will make it cheaper and easier for more than 275,000 low-income households with almost 200,000 children to get home internet, the White House said in a statement on Wednesday. Obama is set to speak about the program in Durant, Oklahoma...

Today the FCC voted in favor of updating its Lifeline program to include broadband. This would mean that households surviving on low incomes would be able to receive help paying for a broadband connection. It might not be as important as electricity or water, but having a broadband connection is seen as being all but essential these days. From helping with education and job hunting, to allowing for home working, the ability to get online is seen as so vital by some that there have been calls for it to be classed as a utility. The Lifeline program has been...

You won't find this on any local news, but what is happening is a crime on a massive scale. Here's the story. My friend works at a section 8 apartment complex, which means that the taxpayers pay most of the rent there. Last week he sent me this picture of a late model Jaguar parked at his complex. His caption of the picture was "Section 8, rent always late". I asked him how much was their rent. "It just went up, to $80." A MONTH?!! "A month." This means that taxpayers are providing the Jag owner over $1,000 a month...

An aggressive push for what's being billed as "debt-free college" has galvanized progressive activists, putting Hillary Clinton in the position of either endorsing an idea that will be controversial or being criticized by liberals as too timid if she does not. The proposal, which is also energizing Democrats on Capitol Hill, attempts to enshrine a promise that all Americans can attend a public college and get a four-year degree with little tuition cost and while incurring no student debt. One of Clinton's Democratic rivals, ex-Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, has endorsed the idea. Another Democratic candidate, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, has...

Two insurance carriers on the Obamacare exchange are attributing proposed double-digit premium increases to next year’s private-market alterations to the New Hampshire Medicaid program. Minuteman Health Inc. has requested rate increases ranging from 42 to 51 percent for next year, according to healthcare.gov. Maine Community Health Options asked for premium increases between 19 and 22 percent. Both companies attributed their proposed increases in part to the Premium Assistance Program, the name for the Medicaid expansion program that is scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1. Maine Community estimated that claims from the Medicaid patients will be 61 percent higher...

From contraception to colonoscopies, the Obama administration Monday closed a series of insurance loopholes on coverage of preventive care. The department of Health and Human Services said insurers must cover at least one birth control option under each of 18 methods approved by the FDA — without copays. Also, insurers can't charge patients for anesthesia services in connection with colonoscopies. Other services covered without copays or cost-sharing include: - Preventive screening, genetic counseling and BRCA genetic testing for women at increased risk for having a potentially harmful mutation in genes that suppress cancerous tumors. - Prenatal care and other services...

The Blue-City Model Baltimore shows how progressivism has failed urban America. April 28, 2015 You’re not supposed to say this in polite company, but what went up in flames in Baltimore Monday night was not merely a senior center, small businesses and police cars. Burning down was also the blue-city model of urban governance. Nothing excuses the violence of rampaging students or the failure of city officials to stop it before Maryland’s Governor called in the National Guard. But as order starts to return to the streets, and the usual political suspects lament the lack of economic prospects for the...

A group of congressional Democrats introduced a resolution on Tuesday seeking to ensure that students who attend public colleges and universities can graduate without debt. The Senate resolution was introduced by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), while Reps. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) introduced the House version. The lawmakers support plans to increase financial aid, help states lower tuition and make it possible for students to earn degrees in less time. In a statement, they noted that the cost of college has increased by 300 percent over...

Wisconsin governor, no stranger to corporate welfare, sings a new tune in front of Iowa farmers Breitbart.comIn 2006, when he was running for governor, Scott Walker took the opportunity of a proposed statewide ethanol mandate (which his opponent favored) to declare his opposition to all ethanol mandates, state or federal: "Currently, we have a problem with big government in Madison. On principle, I cannot support this proposal."It is clear to me that a big government mandate is not the way to support the farmers of this state,” he continued [in a statement]. "Central planning will not help our family farmers,...

Scott Walker went to Iowa over the weekend and embraced the ethanol mandate — a corporate welfare program that subsidizes corn farmers and ethanol producers at the expense of drivers, eaters, restaurants, and the environment.As my colleague Phil Klein aptly put it, "if Scott Walker can't stand up to Iowans, how will he stand up to the Islamic State?"Why do I assume this position was tailored to Iowa's caucus goers? Because Walker vehemently opposed the ethanol mandate back in 2006, actually standing out from the rest of Wisconsin's gubernatorial field in that regard.From Milwaukee's Daily Reporter at the time: "Currently,...

More than 370,000 migrants who were admitted to Britain to work, study or go on holiday are now claiming out-of-work benefits, according to official figures compiled for the first time. The migrants, who can claim unemployment, housing and incapacity benefit, are costing taxpayers billions of pounds a year. In other countries, many would have had to return home after their visas expired or their employment ended. But Chris Bryant, shadow immigration minister, today blamed the Government and said the situation would only get worse due to lax border controls, rising migration and increasing unemployment. He said: "Tory ministers are resorting...

My car needs washing, and frankly I’d prefer that the losers who think Obama’s “free” community college idea is super awesome get off their lazy hindquarters and wash it for me for free. Sure, I could pay for it myself, but then I’d have to forgo things I’d rather have. It’s cruel and inhuman and, I’m guessing, both racist and phallocentric, to force me to prioritize how I spend my money. So, Mr. President, I need you to direct your minions toward my reserved parking space because, in the words of noted jurist and personal hero Judge Elihu Smails, I...

The last program that passed through Congress to demonstrate their belief that Obama knew better than anyone what the nation needed was nicknamed Obamacare. You can always count on our President, Barack Obama, for some gimmicky giveaway idea that will appeal to the nearly untutored who don’t understand the one simple fact that is never, ever discussed when Obama unveils his latest brainstorm. They never seem to be able to understand the simple idea that NOTHING IS FREE. Ever. Obama has proposed that if you are still breathing, you ought to be able to get an Associate’s Degree from any...

The Big 4’s coverage of President Barack Obama’s Sate of the Union address on Tuesday night amassed 19.4 million total viewers, down 6 percent from a year ago. Last year’s SOTU went on to total 33.3 million viewers with cable coverage folded in, marking a 14-year low.