Free Republic

New York Times columnist Tom Friedman's proposal that Joe Biden shouldn't debate President Donald Trump unless "a real-time fact-checking team" is part of the mix is an ironic illustration of the closed-mindedness of the left. Why would Friedman want a candidate who is eager to contrast his views with Trump's to impose conditions that would make a debate less likely, unless, of course, Friedman realizes that the failing Biden would be particularly disastrous in a debate? That seems to be the case here, as Friedman's other condition -- that Trump agree to release his tax returns for 2016 through 2018...

The origins of the term “Nanny State” can be traced back to British Member of Parliament Ian Macleod, who in 1965 penned a column under the name “Quoodle” for The Spectator. “In my occasional appearances as a poor man's Peter Simple I fire salvos in the direction of what I call the Nanny State,” wrote Quoodle, before taking shots at various British ministers -- in particular the Minister of Transport who recently had proposed a 70-mph speed limit on British motorways. Macleod also awarded medals for “resistance to Nanny” to organizations that objected to the creep of government paternalism. I...

Self awareness is supposed to be a good thing, so I’m going to openly acknowledge that I have an unusual fixation on the size of government. I don’t lose a wink of sleep thinking about deficits, but I toss and turn all night fretting about the overall burden of government spending. My peculiar focus on the size and scope of government can be seen in this video, which explains that spending is the disease and deficits are just a symptom. Moreover, my Golden Rule explicitly targets the spending side of the budget. And I also came up with a “Bob...

The multitude of challenges that the new mayor of America’s second largest city will face starting tomorrow constitutes a laundry list of items. None needs greater focus than revamping the Office of Finance and the business licensing process. If Los Angeles ever wants to regain its business friendly status, this is where he needs to start. There are many tools the City of Los Angeles has found to antagonize current and prospective businesses, but the licensing process and the people who oversee it are at the top -- largely because Los Angeles has been in such need of revenue they...

Barbara1247 wrote:  The Republicans have helped bring us to this sorry state of affairs. - How About More Scandal, Incompetence, Venality, Hubris, Vanity and Error to Start Dear Comrade 1247, You’re a liberal, so even when you are right- like you are now- it’s accidental. So as a public service, let me explain to you, in the simplest terms, what you got right, accidentally. Certainly the GOP has helped establish a track record of what might be the sorriest 25 years of governing in American history. But it’s because they have supported watered-down versions of the Democrat agenda. For every...

New York’s penal code makes it a felony to practice medicine without a license. I suspect, however, that one potential defendant who is proposing to do just that, will escape prosecution. Meet “Mayor Bloomberg, M.D.” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg never attended medical school, did not complete a hospital residency, and never has been admitted to the medical profession. Yet this public official – whose ire in recent years has targeted firearms, salt content, fatty foods, and large-sized soft drinks – is now moving to dictate how doctors should be allowed to issue prescription drugs for their patients. Bloomberg’s...

In the short time since President Obama was re-elected, government has issued hundreds of new regulations. The bureaucrats never stop. There are now more than 170,000 pages of federal regulations. President Obama wants still more rules. Cheering on increased financial regulation, he said, "We've got to keep moving forward." To the president, and probably most Americans, "forward" means passing more laws. It is scary to think about a world without regulation. Intuition leads us to think that without government we'd be victims of fraud, as I explain in my latest book, "No, They Can't!" But our intuition is wrong. Consider...

The 25 statistics below prove that the middle class is being systematically wiped out of existence in America. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer at a staggering rate. Why? Compared to the rest of the world, American workers are extremely expensive, and the government keeps passing rules, regulations and taxes that make it even more difficult to conduct business here. What has developed is a situation where the people at the top are doing quite well, while the average family barely gets by. Entitlement programs are expanding at unprecedented rates, but it is the people...

(Syracuse-AP) -- State Senator Nancy Larraine Hoffmann is sponsoring a bill to require a sign near the front door of every home built with trusses, so firefighters can take precautions. Fire officials say wooden floor trusses burn faster than solid joists. They say that's what led to the floor collapse that killed two central New York firemen last week.