Free Republic

It was the twilight of the Roman Empire. The decay, which would lead to the empire’s downfall, had set in long before. The ruling class sought to appease its people by taking money from the largest landowners and most successful businessmen and giving it to the rest of society. But the effort had irretrievably harmed the economy and habituated the poorest and even the middle class to taking gifts and free stuff, and diminished their work ethic. And the rulers, in their indulgence and eagerness to please the citizenry, had amassed for the empire incalculable debts that it could never...

Hawaii folks : Here’s your chance to speak out and name your choice . Please feel free to add additional comments (below) to explain WHY you support whom you support , and do not support those whom you do not support . This poll is for YOU :

(audio) Gallups gives an update on the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Cold Case Posse investigation into Obama. @0:30 "Mike Zullo wants me to tell you and I am at liberty to say this. The case is very intense right now. He is still travelling a lot. @1:25 "Even if American media decides to ignore it the world media will not. When they bring this forward it will go around the world." @1:37 "They're planning on releasing this information in March, folks."

The facts 1. There are 21 US Senate seats held by Democrats in the 2014 election. 2. There are nine US Senate seats held by Democrats in the 2016 election. This is likely to be 10 due to a special election in HI in 2014. 3. Republicans need to pick up six senate seats to have a majority. The Analysis The failures of ObamaCare and broken promises by Democrat senators create a target rich environment in 2014. This is a year Republicans have to do well. Winning a majority in the senate by only one seat or maintaining the status...

Hey folks, Where is the Mooch?? Everything has been totally quiet since Christie has taken over the news. Is she still sitting on a Maui beach, chomping on lobsters with Oprah, Gail, others, filing and then kissing her toenails?? The news of this boondoggle vacation has gone to yesterday's back page, while everyone needs to trash Christie. Where is our Queen

The prospects for single-payer health care -- adored by many liberals, despised by private health insurers and looking better all the time to others -- did not die in the Affordable Care Act. It was thrown a lifeline through a little-known provision tucked in the famously long legislation. Single-payer groups in several states are now lining up to make use of Section 1332. Vermont is way ahead of the pack, but Hawaii, Oregon, New York, Washington, California, Colorado and Maryland have strong single-payer movements. First, some definitions. Single-payer is a system where the government pays all medical bills. Canada has...

My children are about to come into their "own" that is The kingdom that is already theirs to bring to others . So do not hide your burning bush by sitting in a pew all your life but come and leave Babylon behind for she is not your sister and begin to lead others out of their desert places, "Be my Moses" to the multitudes in the Valley of Decisions for your light shines as a pillar by night in the land of the wounded and "I AM" this light in you . So use what I have given you...

A state House lawmaker claimed today that Pono Choices, a pilot sex education curriculum aimed at public middle school students, is not medically accurate or age appropriate and deliberately minimizes the risks of homosexual behavior. State Rep. Bob McDermott (R, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point) said he wants the state Board of Education to either pull the curriculum from public schools or make revisions to the content. McDermott said the curriculum, which the state Department of Education had initially withheld from him, includes the anus in its description of male and female genitals. He said genitals are more properly defined as reproductive...

Dramatic new footage shows the moment a small plane crashed in Hawaiian waters and resulted in the death of state health official Loretta Fuddy - the woman responsible for releasing President Barack Obama's longform birth certificate. The footage obtained by ABC News was taken by a passenger on the plane, who started filming out the window of the flight just moments before it made an emergency water landing. Water quickly starts to flood the cabin after impact, but everyone on board remains calm and quiet as they exit the sinking aircraft.

If rumors are true that the first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, is on Maui, the security around Oprah Winfrey’s Upcountry Maui estate is compelling evidence, as is the national attention via various media outlets.

Michelle Obama's visit to Oprah's Hawaii compound has crippled the neighborhood around O's home ... and some neighbors are pissed. Some of the residents and business people around Oprah's palatial 12-bedroom Maui estate -- where Michelle recently retreated to spend the last few days of her 40s -- are all telling the same story ... Michelle's visit is making day-to-day life almost impossible.

First Lady Michelle Obama extended her own vacation, flying to the island of Maui, where she is spending time with family friend Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey’s magazine describes the home as a “perfect 21st-century farmhouse” in a “remote up-country region, where the houses that dot the moss-covered rock hillside face the ocean.” The president said he sent his wife to Maui as an early birthday present; she turns 50 Jan. 17. The Daily Caller reports Michelle Obama is also spending time with Gayle King of CBS News, White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and Sharon Malone, wife of Attorney General Eric...

Back from his $4 million Hawaii vacation, President Barack Obama seems poised to sound the populist trumpet in an effort to turn the page on 2013’s disastrous Obamacare rollout. Many pundits are speculating that Obama, seeing the popularity of liberal populists like New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio, will use the current debate over unemployment insurance to engage in more divisive rhetoric: The Obama administration has set the stage for a push that could rekindle cries of class warfare -- calling for renewed long-term unemployment benefits, a minimum wage increase and a campaign against what Democrats call "income inequality." Ahead...

  “Look, the president needs to find an issue to campaign on. This is what he's good at. He's really good at campaigning. Maybe not governing.” Because of the fog of governing. Or something. Yeah, maybe he’s not; good at governing I mean. Funny it took so long for anyone to notice though. The Natural Hey, I’ve got an idea for a campaign issue! How about income equality? Big Guy and his handlers love to talk about it and anything that includes “equality” is always a winner with the peeps-who-vote-twice crowd. As well as the true believers Maybe we could...

When President Barack Obama suggested that his wife should spend extra time in paradise as an early birthday present, he was committing U.S. citizens to pay for the gift, whose costs will likely spiral into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The White House conceded on Monday that the federal treasury will foot the bill to fly First Lady Michelle Obama back to Washington, D.C. on a separate government aircraft after she finishes her extended vacation at the palatial 12-bedroom Hawaii home of talk show legend Oprah Winfrey. Dedicated vehicles, Secret Service costs, and security sweeps of the Winfrey estate...

President Barack Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha left their vacation in Hawaii on Saturday, but left First Lady Michelle Obama behind on the islands, according to news agency reports. The president reportedly let his wife stay on in Hawaii with friends as a "birthday present." Michelle Obama will turn 50 years old on Jan. 17.

Michelle Obama doesn't want jewelry or chocolates for her 50th birthday later this month. She wants to be alone. President Barack Obama returned to Washington Saturday after two weeks of vacationing with his family in Hawaii. He left with daughters Sasha and Malia. Michelle stayed behind. 'As part of her birthday gift from the president, the first lady will remain in Hawaii to spend time with friends ahead of her upcoming 50th birthday,' the White House explained in a statement. The First Lady turns the big 5 - 0 on January 17. The White House did not say how much...

Kudos to President Obama for giving his wife a birthday present we all can envy, indeed covet. CBS News reports: President Barack Obama is going to give his wife the birthday present that many parents can only dream of - time off, alone, without the children. The White House said on Saturday first lady Michelle Obama would stay in Hawaii, where the family has been on vacation for the last two weeks, rather than return home with her husband and their two girls. "As part of her birthday gift from the president, the first lady will remain in Hawaii to...

What do you get for the first lady who has everything? Try a few more days in sun-kissed Hawaii for Michelle Obama while her husband and two daughters return to Washington – so she and her Praetorian guard of Secret Service agents and assorted hangers-on can stay on the islands at no small expense to the taxpayers. The New York Times is reporting the first lady is staying put “for several days to spend time with friends in advance of her upcoming 50th birthday” – and staying away from the hustle and bustle of her onerous White House duties. The...

January 06, 2014, 05:40 pm Michelle Obama crashes at Oprah's Hawaii pad By Emily Goodin SUVs, Secret Service agents and Oprah! Michelle Obama's extended Hawaii vacation plans have leaked thanks to security sightings reported by locals near Oprah Winfrey's tropical vacation home. The Maui News reports residents said saw police cars and black SUVs near Winfrey's home in Kula on the island of Maui. The talk show host owns several hundred acres on the island. Other residents told local news outlets that security personnel asked them to leave the area and that paparazzi have been spotted. President Obama left Hawaii,...