Free Republic

Does Rep. Anthony Weiner really have nothing better to do? He's currently going after Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, declaring that he should recuse himself from any constitutionality deliberations on ObamaCare because his wife got income from the Heritage Foundation (against ObamaCare), which Thomas forgot to disclose. But now, the game just got more intense.

While politicians are still talking about restoring civility, liberal thugs are waging an all out attack on the website of David Rivkin, lead counsel in the multi-state lawsuit against Obamacare, rather than engage in a civilized debate that they can’t win.

Virginia Thomas earned over $680,000 from conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation over 5 years, a group says. But the Supreme Court justice did not include it on financial disclosure forms. Reporting from Washington — Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas failed to report his wife's income from a conservative think tank on financial disclosure forms for at least five years, the watchdog group Common Cause said Friday. Between 2003 and 2007, Virginia Thomas, a longtime conservative activist, earned $686,589 from the Heritage Foundation, according to a Common Cause review of the foundation's IRS records. Thomas failed to note the income...

WASHINGTON -- Allegations of a pro-gay takeover, boycotts, embezzlement and terrorist-loving board members. Sounds like a Hollywood version of a conspiracy thriller, but it's not. It's the buzz around this year's Conservative Political Action Conference, the nation's single largest annual congregation of conservative leaders. Conservatives riding a new wave of momentum thanks to the strength of the Tea Party movement and big wins in the November midterm election should be riding high ahead of this year's CPAC,scheduled to take place in Washington on Feb. 10-13. But the conference, which has met for 38 years, has found itself beset by conflict...

The White House apparently follows Sarah Palin's writings and opinions on Twitter. Wednesday at a White House briefing, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs responded to a question about reaction to the Bush-era tax cut deal. He was asked if it seems off to them that Democrats are mad, but Republicans aren't and if that signals an imbalance to them that it wasn't exactly a compromise. "Well, I don't know if you guys get Sarah Palin's tweet, but it does not appear she likes this deal. I don't know where [Senator] Jim DeMint is at the current moment but it does not...

Those who think they are safe from the looming Obama tax hikes because they are not “rich” are in for a rude awakening if the Obama tax plan goes into effect. Economic growth affects everyone—whether directly or indirectly. All people’s microeconomic decisions contribute to the macroeconomic picture. When business owners hire fewer employees, the economy as a whole suffers, not only those who otherwise would have had jobs. Senior citizens are hurt the most by the imminent tax increases because retired people rely disproportionately on dividend pay­ments for their income. Economists in The Heritage Foun­dation’s Center for Data Analysis explain...

First there was the Contract With America. Then came the Pledge to America. The Heritage Foundation plans to issue its Solutions for America blueprint on Monday–just after Republicans issued their Pledge to America, which outlined what they’ll do if they win back power in the November elections. “Now is the time to be bold, and to act as befits our character,” foundation President Edwin J. Feulner writes in a letter addressed to “My fellow conservatives.” “That is what our parents and grandparents would expect of us, what future generations demand – and what The Heritage Foundation offers to America.” Feulner...

Mainstream America is finally getting to know the billionaire brothers backing the libertarian movement, thanks to a pair of dueling profiles in New York and The New Yorker. Now that we've heard about their charitable giving, David's 240-foot mega-yacht and role as patrons of the Tea Party movement, it's time to ask a more serious question: How libertarian are they? The short answer...not very.Charles and David Koch, the secretive billionaire brothers who own Koch Industries, the largest private oil company in America, have spent millions bankrolling free-market think tanks and pro-business politicians in order, as David Koch has put it,...

Want a 22 percent raise with zero risk of being let go? Get a federal job. A just-released report from Heritage Foundation scholar James Sherk reveals that times have never been better for civilian employees of Uncle Sam. To wit: Federal employees enjoy salaries 22 percent higher than folks in the private sector with comparable qualifications and job descriptions -- 30 to 40 percent higher when you factor in extra-generous fringe benefits. Plus, civil-service protections make it almost impossible to be fired. Nice work if you can get it, right? Actually, the federal government seems to be the only employer...

You may know that the Environmental Protection Agency is having a contest to try to explain “rulemaking” to us rubes. According to the contest site: Almost every aspect of our lives is touched by federal regulations. Even before you leave the house in the morning, government regulations help set the price of the coffee you drink, the voltage of electricity your alarm clock uses, and the types of programming allowed on the morning news. But many Americans don’t understand how rules are made or how they can get involved in the process. [emphasis mine] They manage to drag in school...

While Americans across the country have been tightening their belts and dealing with a wave of new taxes, fees, and regulations, the EPA has launched a video contest to celebrate their brand of over-regulation. They are offering $2,500 to whomever puts together the best video lauding the merits of regulation in American life.

With MANY THANKS to the Heritage Foundation website, this short YouTube video presents that up to thirty terrorists threats have been prevented via key parts of the Patriot Act. In light of what has just taken place this past weekend in New York City’s Times Square is all the reason why parts of this law MUST BE KEPT. But also another lesson is that it will more and more be left up to “WE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE” to do “if you see something, say something” in order to keep this country SAFE.

Abstract: North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il's faltering health has raised concerns about regime stability. Succession rumors have been swirling for years, with Kim's third son, Jong-eun, currently rumored to be Kim's favored choice. But regardless of whether leadership stays in the family or is wrested away by a challenger, a new North Korean leader is likely to keep in place the same belligerent policies--toward South Korea, toward China and Japan, and toward the U.S. If succession does not go smoothly, and if the North Korean regime were to collapse, the ensuing chaos would require immediate action by the U.S. and...

President Obama this morning cited The Heritage Foundation’s research in an attempt to sell his health care package as a “middle of the road, centrist approach.” We take great exception to this misuse of our work and abuse of our name. This is but the latest act in a campaign to sell this big-government program as a moderate law that incorporates conservative ideas. Americans should not be fooled. Let’s be very clear: We oppose this new law because it is a radical new intrusion into the daily lives of all Americans and a massive takeover of one-sixth of the...

Progressivism was the reform movement that ran from the late 19th century through the first decades of the 20th century, during which leading intellectuals and social reformers in the United States sought to address the economic, political, and cultural questions that had arisen in the context of the rapid changes brought with the Industrial Revolution and the growth of modern capitalism in America. The Progressives believed that these changes marked the end of the old order and required the creation of a new order appropriate for the new industrial age. There are, of course, many different representations of Progressivism: the...

Environmental Regulations: While U.S. politicians try to keep the idea alive here, the French have announced cancellation of their version of cap-and-trade. They say it will hurt their competitiveness. Vive la France. Moments of crisis concentrate the mind wonderfully, or at least they should. In France, as public-sector workers mount a nationwide strike and fallout continues from the ruling party's heavy defeat in regional elections, Prime Minister Francois Fillon has indicated that his government will abandon plans to introduce a domestic carbon tax. "We have to amplify measures that help reinforce the competitiveness of our economy," Fillon told the Reuters...

Members of the House of Representatives tonight approved President Obama’s health care agenda, the biggest expansion of government power since the Great Society. The Obama health care legislation is universal in scope and will profoundly impact the personal lives of more than 300 million Americans. It will restrict our personal freedom while undercutting the independence and authority of the several states. This unprecedented congressional action will give Washington control over the content of health benefits packages; the kind of health insurance available to Americans and the organization and regulation of health insurance markets. This has been accompanied by one of...

Abstract: President Barack Obama has committed the United States to building at least 13 high-speed rail (HSR) lines, one of the most expensive forms of transportation that a nation could choose. Even in a strong economy, building HSR makes little sense, offering minimal reductions in travel times at exorbitant costs. In the current weak economy and with the government facing massive budget deficits, the country simply cannot afford to squander $8 billion in stimulus funding, $5 billion over the next five years, and billions of dollars in matching state funding on a transportation system that will at best serve a...

The day before yesterday’s White House health care summit, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) told reporters: “The only way this works is for the House to pass the Senate bill and then, depending on what the package is, the reconciliation provision that moves first through the House and then comes here.” When Conrad was reminded that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has repeatedly insisted that the House will not pass the Senate bill until the Senate passes a second bill that fixes the first, Conrad replied: “Fine, then it’s dead.”

Conservative manifesto coming soon By: Kenneth P. Vogel February 12, 2010 12:54 PM EST With conservatives grappling among themselves for control of their movement — and the Republican Party — a group of more than 80 prominent conservative thinkers are set to unveil their version of a mission statement for the right. What they are calling “the Mount Vernon Statement” in homage to George Washington will be unveiled and signed Wednesday — on the eve of the annual gathering in Washington of the establishment right, the Conservative Political Action Conference. The big names attached to it include former Attorney General...