Free Republic

American entrepreneurs are finding new ways to manufacture essential masks, ventilators, and other virus-fighting tools. We need to count on them if we want to win this war against the pandemic. As confirmed Wuhan coronavirus cases in the United States surpass 60,000, our nation is in war mode. Winning a war requires all hands on deck. It appears American businesses and innovators are up to the challenge, however, as more and more private companies are contriving creative ways to play a part in beating this pandemic.In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been making apparent his state’s dire need for...

This is a subject we’ve been tackling here for a while now. With the advent of Uber, Lyft and other gig-economy outfits, a lot of pressure has been put on taxi drivers that don’t deliver a similar quality of service. Part of the resulting economic distress has come from a simple lack of customers, but the problem runs deeper than that. Under the traditional, corrupt system of taxi “medallions,” the municipal government has been able to regulate how many people are able to attempt to earn a living by offering rides. In exchange, they had to pay an increasing amount...

If you've been to any major city recently, you've probably noticed people whirring by on motorized scooters to get from point a to be point b. At first what seemed like a convenient and affordable way to venture across a city has now become hazardous and annoying for pedestrians as more and more scooter rental companies pop up, leaving their riders all the more brazed in their travel on their rental transportation.The Texas Senate just passed a bill "that would crack down on increasingly popular motorized scooters, including setting speed limits and banning the use of rented scooters on sidewalks." “We...

A new ruling from the California state supreme court may open the door for legislators in that state to once again try to wipe out the gig economy, including companies like Uber, Lyft and Airbnb. Previous, direct attempts to regulate such companies out of existence have failed so far, but this case deals with a tangentially related employment area. The court is ordering a change to how the state classifies independent contractors along with temporary employees. By allowing companies to classify certain workers as independent contractors, they don’t have to comply with minimum wage laws, pay overtime or conform to...

Here's a bet: Congress will end up "cracking down" on Facebook with "tough" regulations that Facebook will probably protest quite vigorously. And then Facebook profits will go up. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Facebook, withstood two days of questioning in Congress this week. You could tell Zuckerberg took it very seriously, not least because he shed his traditional T-shirt and hoodie in favor of a grown-up suit. Again and again, he was asked whether he was opposed to regulation. "You embrace regulation?" asked Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). "I think the real question, as the internet becomes more important...

>The green energy, “keep it in the ground” folks are off to a bad start in 2018. It turns out that another one of Barack Obama’s signature “achievements” in energy regulation, the one which would heavily regulate fracking on federal lands, is going away. Given what a dirty word “fracking” has become in liberal circles, this is causing all manner of outrage on the left. There’s only one catch here… the rule in question never even went into effect for even a single day. (Washington Times) The Obama administration’s 2015 fracking rule was never actually implemented, thanks to an ongoing...

It may not be exactly the coming of the Messiah, but seeing a front-page story in The New York Times about over-regulation certainly feels like a breakthrough of note. Titled "One Apple Orchard and 5,000 Government Rules," the story focuses on the Indian Ladder Farms apple orchard in Altamont, New York. A small, family-run business owned by Peter Ten Eyck, the farm does the bulk of its business in the fall (naturally). Their busy season includes sales to supermarkets, direct sales to consumers, visits from busloads of schoolchildren, and "pick your own" days. That's also the time, or it was...

When congressional Republicans failed to enact many of President Barack H. Obama’s agenda items on looser immigration laws, gun control and “social justice” issues, they were declared by the press to be The Party of No. When Senate Democrats blocked one GOP bill after another supporting the agenda of President Donald J. Trump the media lauded them as The Heroic Resistance. When President Obama declared that he had a pen and a phone and took executive, extra-legislative action in response he was declared to be Decisive. When the pen and phone in question were placed in President Trump’s hands...

As a species, human beings are nothing if not predictable. After every horrific disaster, whether man-made or natural, accidental or deliberate, we come together to collectively decide what we can do to prevent the next one, and in the case of the Germanwings intentional crash, the spitballing has already begun. Should we submit pilots to more rigorous psychological testing? Should they have to complete more training? Can technology help? And of course there's the favorite of every government -- more regulations. But with fresh reports Thursday that co-pilot Andreas Lubitz spent time researching suicide methods and cockpit door security before...

As a libertarian, it’s easy for me to get agitated about the theoretical burden of high taxes, wasteful spending, and costly regulation. But even regular people should get upset when they get exposed to specific examples of individuals who are victimized by abusive government. Regarding the particular topic of Second Amendment freedoms and government misbehavior, I know I get very angry when I read about what happened to folks like Adam Meckler and Benjamin Srigley. And now we can add Shaneen Allen to the list. Here’s some of what Glenn Reynolds of the University of Tennessee wrote for USA Today....

The United States is awash in energy. “U.S. production of crude oil, along with liquids separated from natural gas, surpassed all other countries this year with daily output exceeding 11 million barrels in the first quarter,” Bank of America reports. Our country became the biggest producer of natural gas four years ago. Only one thing may stand in our way: Experts. Last year, Forbes contributor Juston Gerdes lauded a proposal by a legislator in California aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The proposal would create a board that is, itself, awash in experts. “The board would include representatives from the...

Leave it to a bunch of Democrats from typically liberal states to take aim at healthy alternatives to cigarette smoking. Democrats from California, Illinois, Connecticut, and Massachusetts have decided that because e-cigarettes vaguely resemble puffing on an actual stick of cancer, they should be the target of heavy regulation and criticism. Instead of embracing a technology that aids in smoking cessation efforts, and greatly reduces health complications associated with traditional “smoking”, these Nannycrats have decided that these non-cigarettes should be the target of ridicule and government regulation. And, of course, it’s all for the “children”. According to the Washington Free...

Contrary to the conventional teachings of environmentalists, hydraulic fracturing (i.e., fracking) has at least one major environmental benefit: saving water. Although most Americans are disturbingly ignorant about fracking, it is an issue of critical importance not only with respect to the environment but also in foreign policy and the economy. Typically, the debate is framed around priorities. If you care more about the environment, you are against fracking; but if you care more about energy independence and domestic economic opportunities, you are for fracking. However, a new study out of the University of Texas at Austin - one of...

I’ve repeatedly explained that Keynesian economics doesn’t work because any money the government spends must first be diverted from the productive sector of the economy, which means either higher taxes or more red ink. So unless one actually thinks that politicians spend money with high levels of effectiveness and efficiency, this certainly suggests that growth will be stronger when the burden of government spending is modest (and if spending is concentrated on “public goods,” which do have a positive “rate of return” for the economy). I’ve also complained (to the point of being a nuisance!) that there are too many...

So it comes to this: After all that has been said about Barack Obama, in the end there is very little to say. You are either willing to overlook Barack Obama’s foibles and foolishness; or you aren’t. There is no middle ground. There is no saying for example “Well he’s kind of new in the job,” or “This is an example of one bad apple in his Cabinet,” or “The president didn’t know about it.” Going into his second term, you either knew what we had in Barack Obama or you didn’t. For myself, I’ve never been willing to overlook...

Lost amidst the White House he-said-she-said of finger pointing, scandal, incompetence, venality, hubris, vanity, error, greed, gluttony, embarrassment, cover up, stupidity,  amateur bungling, brownnosing, grandstanding, photo-opting and hearings as the result of a few minor mistakes made by the Obama administration- an administration which rode roughshod over a several outdated laws, certain small parts of the Bill of Rights written by irrelevant white dudes; an administration that got people killed, violated civil rights, harassed government employees, ignored it’s basic responsibilities and common sense- are these small, little, niggling details: The folks in charge are freaking hypocrites; and because the are...

Regardless of the outcome of Tuesday’s presidential election, Barack Obama will immediately become a lame duck. That is not to say he will be powerless, but he will never again have to face the wrath of American voters. Even if Mitt Romney prevails tomorrow (which I think he will), President Obama will have 75 days to ram through any number of economically destructive regulations and executive orders. Make no mistake, an aggressive administration can push things across the finish line in the waning days regardless of their popularity; and that is especially true of this administration. Prior to the election,...

We take free speech for granted in America, unlike elsewhere. The furor over that anti-Muslim video is the latest reminder of that. But freedom of speech is never safe, even here. Many colleges now impose "civility codes." Civility is nice, but enforcing a "civility rule" against offensive speech would put an end to lots of useful provocative speech. As a University of North Carolina student put it, "A picture of Mitt Romney would offend 70 percent of residence hall students." Taping my Fox Business Network show at UNC, I also learned that the college, to "protect" women, had dropped the...

WASHINGTON - Finally, a pollster asked voters the one question that matters in this presidential election: Does Barack Obama know how to fix the economy? When the Pew Research Center asked that question in the days following Mitt Romney's strong performance in last week's presidential debate, a majority of the voters answered, no. The central failure of Obama's presidency centers on his demonstrated inability to restore the economy to full health and vigor after trillions of dollars in job stimulus spending that created few jobs but added $5 trillion to the federal debt. Pew put the question to likely voters...

Via Forbes.com: The following statement from Mr. Schiff was entered into the Congressional Record this morning as testimony before the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight and Government Spending hearing: “Take Two: The President’s Proposal to Stimulate the Economy and Create Jobs.”