Free Republic

A widely read study of economic freedom in the world has America ranked 12th out of 152 countries measured. As recently as 2000, we were 2nd.The biggest reason for our decline has been a drift away from the rule of law. Breitabart: A new report of "economic freedom" around the world finds the US ranked 12th among 152 countries, tied with the United Kingdom, and lower than neighbor Canada or Australia. The index, published by the Cato Institute and Canada's Fraser Institute, has been published since 1996. As recently as 2000, the US ranked 2nd in the world, in terms...

There was a time, not so long ago, when the United States was considered the world standard for economic freedom. Yes, there were countries out there, like Hong Kong and Singapore, that might have had lower taxes or fewer regulations. But the world could still speak confidently of the American free-enterprise system. No longer. This week, a consortium of think tanks from almost 90 countries released their Economic Freedom of the World Report. The USA is no longer among the top ten countries when it comes to size of government, rule of law and property rights, soundness of the money...

<p>Re: Today's SCOTUS rollover for the sodomites and the inevitable RINO push to surrender that's guaranteed to follow.</p> <p>Free Republic is here to defend our Constitution and fight for the founding principles and our God-given Liberty. I'll be damned if I'm going to roll over for the homosexual agenda or the Marxist/fascist ruling class!!</p>

Throughout our nation’s history, the Church has been a force for good in America and abroad. But over the last 50 years, government has systematically eroded our free speech and religious expression. The Bible and the Gospel have been banished from our public schools and our public squares. With more than 75% of Americans calling themselves Christians, it’s time for the Church to rise up and take action to turn the tide in our nation! We have the numbers and we have a voice. If we are silent, we have no one to blame but ourselves for a Godless America.

Dr. Stanley Monteith, whose well-known book “Brotherhood of Darkness” exposed a “grand conspiracy” of secret societies, the Council of Foreign Relations and the Bilderbergers, has died at the age of 85. A researcher, author and talk-show host, Monteith spent more than 40 years studying the movement to create a world government. During his 35-year career as an orthopedic surgeon he traveled to Europe, lived in South Africa and spent time researching the records of the men and organizations he believed are working to bring the United States under the control of a corporate elite. His radio talk show, “Radio Liberty,”...

‘The shadow of ‘dark money’ haunts the midterms,” warned the Washington Post in a headline on September 2. Two days later, the Huffington Post chimed in with a headline of its own: “It’s Time to Name the 2014 Midterms the Dark Money Election.” The stories that followed were utterly predictable: pious condemnations of the role of money in politics, with dutiful references to Charles and David Koch, the libertarian brothers whose affiliated groups support Republican candidates. The notion of dark money was first introduced in a 2010 report from the Sunlight Foundation, a nonprofit group that calls for greater transparency...

The right to live, work and worship according to one’s faith is a freedom foundational to the United States. Many of the first settlers, having faced religious persecution in England, sought a place where they could freely worship and live according to their conscience without interference from the government. The Founders were clear, and the Bill of Rights makes it fundamental to our constitutional order that the government should not infringe on the free exercise of religion. In recent years, however, Americans have increasingly faced attempts to water down this robust understanding of religious freedom to a mere “freedom to...

If ever an epitaph were to be written for failed governments, businesses and ideologies it would be this — "It'll never happen." There are few phrases that adequately capture the human capacity for denial like this one. But there is one inescapable truth that is unfolding before the eyes of the world right now. "It" never happens — until "it" does. With Scotland's independence referendum now over, the world has had a wake up call. In a country where 10 years ago, most Scots believed that a vote on independence would never happen in 2014 — it did..... http://www.cnbc.com/id/102021344

Judah walked among his brothers and fellow rebels and spoke to them of the thing for which they fought; “Oh my fellow soldiers, no other time remains more opportune than the present for courage and contempt of dangers; for if you now fight manfully, you may recover your liberty, which, as it is a thing of itself agreeable to all men, so it proves to be to us much more desirable, by its affording us the liberty of worshiping G-d. “Since therefore you are in such circumstances at present, you must either recover that liberty, and so regain a happy...

WASHINGTON, DC — All this week, September 15-19, 211 Young Americans for Liberty campus chapters will rally thousands of students across the country for “Constitution Week” — in celebration of Constitution Day, September 17.YAL chapters will erect large displays in high-traffic areas on campuses and engage students with “Free Speech Walls,” giant Constitutions, and NSA petition drives. They will distribute tens of thousands of pocket Constitutions, personalized flyers, and sign-up sheets to teach more students about our founding principles and bring more students into the liberty movement. A small sampling of these high profile events expected from YAL chapters this...

Sen. Ted Cruz Objects to Democrats Attempt to Repeal Free Speech Protections

The fragile topsoil of freedom and enterprise can be clogged with the hardpan of regulations or blown away by the evil winds of “progressivism.” There are simple ways to draw from Subsoil (the combined application of the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity)… See here for more details: http://www.principia-scientific.org/chaos-and-subsoil-where-science-prospers.html Lawmaking and bureaucracy must incorporate Subsoil into the conception, design and government operations to preserve the American Way of Life as the Founders intended. Sworn Constitutional officers must honor the solemnity of their oaths to protect and defend the Constitution in spite of political agendas. Five important questions must be asked, truthfully...

Self-styled Catholic critics of the free market and “Americanism” have adopted the term “social Magisterium” to suggest that there is a coherent and morally binding body of papal teaching on politics and economics, from which we can derive specific policy initiatives and firmly condemn alternatives as “un-Catholic” or even (that dreaded word) “dissenting.” Hence defenders of market economics, or opponents of mass immigration, can be tarred with the same brush as those who favor women’s ordination or homosexuality. Indeed, if we accept the premise of a “social magisterium,” we are led to believe that we can actually build up a...

“If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be,” as Yogi Berra once said. If you want to understand what this means, go see The Giver. The Giver is in the great dystopian tradition of Animal Farm and 1984, Brave New World, Atlas Shrugged, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, and so many more. (It also evoked for me memories of the Ring cycle and Lord of the Rings.) It takes place in a “perfect” society that has eliminated war, pain, suffering, differences and choice. They have created a society where everyone is equal (except those who are “more equal,” of...

I have argued before that, in their fullest, libertarianism and Catholicism are incompatible -- but to what degree are they so? Leaders of the libertarian movement have certainly said silly, anti-Catholic things. Ludwig von Mises, for example, compared Christ to the Bolshevists and also said, "..[I]t is the resistance which the Church has offered to the spread of liberal ideas which has prepared the soil for the destructive resentment of modern socialist thought" (Socialism, Chapter 29). Translation: opposition to liberalism of one stripe must be blamed for inspiring liberalism of another. Huh? Much of the conflict between libertarians and the...

Today is the birthday of a man who left an indelible imprint on American history and the history of the free world more broadly. The Englishman John Locke was born on August 29, 1632. Locke was one of the most heralded Enlightenment thinkers — preeminent among classical liberals — developing theories on natural rights, property, government, not to mention law and philosophy more broadly that would influence the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and Western civilization itself. His intellectual achievements were so great that Thomas Jefferson identified Locke as one of “the three greatest men who ever lived, without any...

If TJ is in heaven right now, and he’s able to peer through some celestial portal and behold the BS Barack has saddled this nation with -- a country, by the way, that Jefferson labored to make independent from tyrants -- then I would bet that Thomas is more ticked than a boar that just had its balls clipped. How do I know Jefferson would loathe Obama and seek to jettison our Jester-In-Chief? Well, it’s principally via Thomas’ musings -- musings that, for the time being, we’re still afforded the wherewithal to access; principles that also happen to have made...

An Albany area farm which rebuffed efforts by a same-sex couple to hold their wedding at the site has been fined $10,000 and ordered to pay the women $1,500 each for their mental anguish. In New York State Division of Human Rights v. Liberty Ridge Farm, 10157952/ 10157963, Administrative Law Judge Migdalia Pares of the Bronx rejected the owners' argument that the farm, which is their home, is not a place of public accommodation and is therefore not subject to the anti-discrimination provisions of the Human Rights Law. the Giffords are considering their next step, including a possible appeal based...

Welcome to the very first edition of AUSLibertyNews. This is the week's news presented from a Paleoconservative perspective. Hosted by the controversial and thought-provoking Milton Johnson; topics cover Australia's rapidly changing culture, deteriorating race-relations in the US and Israel Folou. Today we are joined by special guest Plato Sandilands (@PlatoSandilands) as he discusses his exciting new internet venture.

As company works up new Liberty development plan, big rig remains sidelined - - - - It’s been five years since BP shipped a gigantic, specially designed drilling rig to Alaska’s North Slope to develop the offshore Liberty oil field. But the rig has yet to drill a well. It’s just sitting there. Exactly what BP plans to do with the behemoth, constructed by Parker Drilling Co., remains to be seen. But one thing seems apparent - it won’t be used for the Liberty project. BP has indicated as much in correspondence this year with the federal Bureau of Ocean...