Free Republic

When the COVID-19 vaccines emerged, the narrative started out as a suggestion that people get should the vaccines (and what would apparently become endless boosters) .... It didn’t take long for the narrative to turn to “get the shot — or else” for far too many people. Vaccine mandates hurt employees across many sectors of the economy, but those vaunted “essential workers” often bore the brunt of them. First responders lost their jobs, and when teachers weren’t having to educate kids remotely, many of them faced unfair mandates. Now, three Rhode Island teachers who lost their jobs under a vaccine...

Chris Christie scolded Republican governors who are blocking municipalities and school boards from implementing mask and vaccine mandates, saying their heavy-handed control of local coronavirus mitigation efforts violates the tenets of conservatism. “I don't think governors should be telling the locals they can't do it. A real conservative, I think, says, 'Government is best that works at the level closest to the people,' the former two-term New Jersey governor and Republican 2024 contender said during a virtual appearance at the annual Texas Tribune Festival.

Yesterday, Candace Owens shared a crazy story about her inability to get medical treatment for her asthma attack. Why? Well, because of Covid. That’s why. Isn’t that the reason for everything insane in 2020? Owens explained in her video post that she is a severe asthmatic. When she was eight years old, she had a severe asthma attack and a collapsed lung. Owens, who is seven months pregnant, shared that her asthma and allergies have worsened during pregnancy. She was having trouble breathing and her inhaler was not helping her so she decided to in and see a doctor at...

Congress passed and the president signed a $2 trillion "stimulus" bill. "Not enough!" shrieked politicians. They said the government must do more. They demanded President Donald Trump reactivate the Defense Production Act, a 1950 law that lets government force companies to make things. Trump hesitated. That upset lovers of big dictatorial government. They demanded the president order companies to make respirators, masks and other desperately needed medical equipment. CNN's Alisyn Camerota joined the media mob asking "What's the holdup!?" Then a White House press reporter confronted Trump at the White House, asking, "Why not use it now?" The president surprised...

... A child’s mother sent the kid, a preschooler mind you, to school with a turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, potato chips and apple juice. Is there any conceivable grounds here for government intervention? No? Think again. Bauer reports that the lunch from home “failed the mandatory lunch inspection”...

Creation of new jobs has hit a wall as employers created just 18,000 jobs last month, sending the unemployment rate to 9.2 percent. The numbers would have been even worse had so many Americans not simply given up looking for work. I talked about this on Fox News this morning in the context of health care. It is clear that the mandates in the health-care law are an important factor in depressing job creation. Small business is the engine for job growth in America, but a recent survey found that 70 percent of them have no plans to increase hiring...

Five days after the transition to all-digital television, WUSA, the area's CBS affiliate (Channel 9), and WJLA, the ABC affiliate (Channel 7), have disappeared from screens around the region. The stations were the only two in the Washington area to move their digital signals from UHF to the VHF frequencies they once used for their analog broadcasts... LaRochelle received the stations perfectly before the digital transition on Friday, when all full-power stations permanently turned off their analog signals. But now, "they don't even register after a rescan," he said, although he is able to receive Baltimore's ABC channel... The sudden...

In the first hundred hours of the just-started session of Congress, the new leadership promises to raise the minimum wage. The Democrats won't be opposed by many Republicans. Raising the minimum wage is definitely popular. Voters in six states approved higher minimums last Election Day. State politicians in both parties are practically drooling with eagerness to "help" lower-income workers. We all want the poor to make more money. So if government can raise wages by decree, why are the popular proposals so stingy? Let's really do something for the poor. Let's raise the minimum wage to $20 an hour. Even...

Legislature approves health care coverage as constitutional right By Jennifer Peter, Associated Press, 16:25 BOSTON (AP) Comprehensive and affordable health care coverage would become a constitutionally-protected right for all Massachusetts citizens under an amendment overwhelming approved Wednesday by a joint session of the House and Senate. If approved by lawmakers again during the 2005-2006 session, the question would go before voters in November 2006. If successful, the state would then develop a specific plan for providing and paying for health care. Under a change approved Wednesday, which made the amendment more palatable to some lawmakers, the payment and coverage plan...