Free Republic

Ask youth and Democrats in America what they think of socialism and a growing number will answer in the positive, pointing to Norway, Sweden and self-declared socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders as their examples, a new survey showed. YouGov conducted a survey of how Americans these days are viewing socialism, and the perception has greatly changed since Moscow Red Square military-parade days. In general, 52 percent of Americans say they have a favorable view of capitalism and 26 percent, a favorable perception of socialism. But those numbers change dramatically with the younger set. For those in the under-30 range, “36 percent...

Happy Mother's Day from Ted Cruz! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4SD7KLqOWc

Must we accept that we are no longer the electorate and the elected, but the ruling and the ruled? “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.”- Benjamin Franklin What has happened to the United States? Many say that it is a natural progression that is inevitable, but is it actually the breakdown of our morals, our ethics, our family structure and our school systems? Is it the inevitable “chains of government,” that have slowly but surely bound us with the very freedoms we claim to embrace? In...

It all started with an unwanted knock on the door by a government worker and it’s being answered with a $60 million lawsuit. A New Jersey family is suing the state child-protection agency after it allegedly sent a caseworker to their home to interrogate them on everything from their son’s homeschool education to questions about vaccines and guns in the house. Christopher Zimmer and his wife Nicole of Belvidere filed a civil rights complaint in April in U.S. District Court in Trenton alleging “unlawful and unconstitutional home intrusion.” “I won’t forget that morning for a long, long time,” said Christopher...

The next time they appear in court for homeschooling, Dirk and Petra Wunderlich could face four years in prison—each. “I am sad today,” said Dirk Wunderlich, recounting how on April 28 he lost his most recent case in the German state of Hesse, and also heard dire warnings from the presiding judge. “We had hoped the judge, who seemed open-minded and friendly, might give us a chance,” Wunderlich added. “But no, he said he could not: The law is the law.” In their most recent court appearance, Dirk and Petra Wunderlich were fined 450 euros each (about $1,000) for not...

Americans are eager to see the government "spread the wealth around" through heavy taxes on rich people. This, according to Gallup, is a relatively new phenomenon, with a clear preference for soaking the rich really only emerging in the past four or five years. On a different polling measure, Gallup finds that at least since the mid-1980s a large majority of Americans have expressed a preference for a flatter distribution of income. But that's something that could, at least hypothetically, be achieved in a whole variety of ways. Taxing the rich in order to redistribute income to the working class...

People who are trying to do good for their families and the planet by living a simple life based on traditional skills are facing yet another assault. Artisanal soap makers say new regulations, proposed by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California) and Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), will put them out of business. The view of Sen. Feinstein and her corporate backers (listed below) is that the Personal Care Products Safety Act (Senate Bill S.1014) will make the world a safer place by scrutinizing “everything from shampoo and hair dye to deodorant and lotion.” She says the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act...

The 1968 Democratic presidential primary is rightly remembered as a famous mess culminating in bloodshed. It seemed likely that the unpopular President Lyndon Johnson would suffer a great embarrassment or even a primary loss after Robert Kennedy entered the race, prompting him to declare that he would neither seek nor accept his party’s nomination for another term. The Kennedy surge was cut short when he was shot and killed in a California hotel. The stage appeared set for a victory by the anti-war candidate Eugene McCarthy until George McGovern entered the race in late spring. The two fought a bitter...

a new poll shows that Republican voters who rally to that cry still want to maintain many federal programs. The results, from an online poll of 4,770 adults from April 10 to 24, highlight a dilemma for Republican candidates such as Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas who have made reducing the size of government a top campaign theme.

The Foundation for Government Accountability has just published a report on state enrollments under the Obamacare Medicaid expansion. Here’s what the authors say about Michigan: When Republican Governor Rick Snyder lobbied the Michigan legislature to adopt his Obamacare Medicaid expansion plan, he too sold it on the promise of low and predictable enrollment. His office predicted no more than 477,000 able-bodied adults would ever sign up, with 323,000 signing up in the first year. But more able-bodied adults enrolled in ObamaCare expansion in the first three months than the state thought would sign up during the entire year. Despite the...

I’m an immigrant who has realized the American dream. But Washington’s new labor rules are a nightmare. In 1985 I left my home in Pakistan at age 19 and came to the United States with the help of an uncle. I considered this my best chance to start a life away from the government control and corruption that troubled my country. That proved true. Through hard work, I learned to run restaurants and I now own dozens of stores as a franchisee. But the National Labor Relations Board is threatening to upend my business model by muddling the distinction between...

A new study published by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy makes the case for a new state-led process for amending the U.S. Constitution. Nick Dranias, the study’s author and president of the Compact for America Educational Foundation, argues that Michigan should join the effort already under way to use this new process to create a constitutional amendment to require the federal government to balance its budget. Gov. Rick Snyder already signed a resolution in 2014 calling for such an amendment to the Constitution, but Dranias writes that that effort likely won’t amount to much. Instead of using such resolutions,...

Geneva, Switzerland — What is the happiest place? Last week in its annual “World Happiness Report,” the United Nations reported that Switzerland was No. 1. The United States ranked No. 15, and the African country of Togo came in last, at number 158. Switzerland is arguably the world’s most successful country — and most improbably so. It is landlocked and without much in the way of natural resources. It has four official languages, many different religious groups, and is surrounded by warring neighbors. Yet, it has remained an island of peace and prosperity. The last armed conflict on Swiss territory...

Just an hour after UMN President Eric Kaler delivered his annual State of the University address, Minneapolis activists, led by Students for a Democratic Society members, delivered their own address. Dubbed a "People's State of the University Address", the address centered on the struggle of students, staff, and faculty, including inflated administrations, the need for a diversified campus, tuition hikes, and greater difficulties for workers. This was in contrast the the address delivered by Eric Kaler which was little more than a PR stunt for the university.read more

With this being budget week, the federal government’s taxing and spending decisions are under the microscope — as they should be in a healthy democracy. But what about government’s hidden tax: regulation? With no equivalent of a federal budget day, regulatory decisions and their implications get precious little scrutiny and we are all worse for it. Thankfully, regulatory transparency got a considerable boost Thursday when the Red Tape Reduction Act (C-21) received Royal Assent and became law. Minister Tony Clement, who has championed the bill, can be proud that Canada is now the first country in the world to require that for...

NASHVILLE -- As the Tennessee House debated a bill Wednesday that could determine whether he can eventually afford college, 15-year-old Carlos Reyes was in the balcony. In the end, the bill to allow some undocumented students to pay in-state tuition at state colleges and universities failed by one vote, 49-47. Fifty votes were needed to approve the bill, which had passed in the Senate. The measure is dead until next year. "It does make me feel kind of upset," said Reyes, a high school student from Murfreesboro whose parents brought him illegally to the U.S. "I really hope they pass...

Colorado lawmakers started work Wednesday on a proposal to ask voters to keep some $58 million in marijuana tax collections. Colorado voters already approved the taxes on recreational pot sales in 2013. But because that ballot measure didn’t account for a quirk in state law related to new taxes, the money will have to be refunded unless voters again approve the 10 percent sales and 15 percent excise taxes. Colorado voters approved the taxes the first time by a 2-to-1 margin. The new ballot measure has broad bipartisan support, with lawmakers calling the measure a do-over of what voters already...

While the American voters sent a message of repudiation against the overreach of the executive branch in the November 2014 elections, the executive responded by informing the voters that their message would be ignored. As Republicans won in a landslide election that gave them control of Congress by vowing to stop the overreach of the Obama administration, it simply didn’t matter. In an interview with the Huffington Post last month, Barack Obama conveyed this message by stating that he will, “try to reach out to Republicans and see if they can work with us and where they’re not willing to...

In a stunning display of not knowing what words mean, self-described feminist professor Elizabeth R. Upton has declared that a government run by people of merit who are competent and able to handle difficult situations is actually one of the worst forms of government. Dr. Upton posted on her Twitter profile (by retweeting another college professor, Dr. Adam Kotsko) that the "Second worst utopia" is "a pure meritocracy," asking, "Do we really want to be ruled by people who believe they *deserve* to rule over us?" Dictionary.com defines "meritocracy" as "an elite group of people whose progress is based on...

Between the egotistical unions, misguided misinformed environmentalists and pushover government bureaucrats, free enterprise is under fire and our men and women at arms are underfed. Few things are more despicable It wasn’t enough that the International Longshore and Warehouse Union targeted Portland container-terminals run by ICTSI Oregon, effectually shutting down Terminal 6 by goading Hapag Lloyd into closing operations which supplied 20% of Portland’s container traffic. Hanjin, which began servicing the U.S. Army after World War II, had already abandoned the port taking 80% of T-6’s traffic with it, but the shortsighted union stranded inland farmers and backstabbed the military....