Free Republic

WASHINGTON - Download your "exclusive personal Constitution." And while you're at it, how about a few bucks for Senate Democrats. That is the thrust of an appeal from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, issued Thursday under the name of Sen. Robert C. Byrd (news, bio, voting record). "I carry a pocket-sized edition of the Constitution with me every where I go, whether I'm back home in West Virginia or speaking out on the Senate floor," it says. "Now you can, too. You can download and print the DSCC's exclusive personal Constitution." When printed, it runs eight pages. Each bears the...

House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer dropped by our offices recently to talk about, among other things, Social Security. This was no dry, by-the-numbers discussion. Mr. Hoyer clearly feels passionate about the issue and fully understands that what's at stake is not how large grandma's check will be, but how the welfare state will be organized. In the process of making his arguments, he unwittingly demonstrated that the claim that Democrats have no reform ideas is flat wrong. By the end of the meeting it was clear that if Republicans fail to pass Social Security reform this year, they will deserve...

The shorthand version of the "ownership society" is a society of people who individually fund their own retirement, medicare insurance, disability insurance, life insurance, survivor insurance and long-term care and who only look to government to enforce withholding a portion of the of their wages and earnings during their working life and the caretaking of those funds in a real "lockbox" until needed. People own the funds in their account. People own nothing under the present program. The ownership society will get government out of people's lives. It will eliminate the need to redistribute income to the poor, it will...

One of the tactics frequently employed by left-leaning politicos and activists (including Teddy Kennedy, Barbara Boxer, and Harry Reid, who represent the phalanx of the left wing of the Democrat Party in the U.S. Congress) is to introduce into the public debate a "MacGuffin," to use film director Alfred Hitchcock's term for a plot device that diverts viewers' attention from the real issues at hand. Under Hitchcock's not infrequently perverse direction, the MacGuffin became a means of manipulating the audience away from discovering in advance the ultimate resolution of a film's conflict. The Democrat Party has most recently employed this...

ATLANTA — She trembled with fear before the armed man who was wanted in the shooting deaths of a judge and three others. But Ashley Smith kept her head, even when Brian Gene Nichols pushed into her home by sticking a gun in her ribs, and bound her with masking tape, an extension cord and a curtain. "I didn't want to die," she said Sunday. "I didn't want him to hurt anybody else." The 26-year-old woman, credited by police for bringing a massive search for Nichols to a nonviolent end Saturday, resurfaced a day later with a harrowing account of...

A Letter From Iraq: (Timothy Lawton of Bridgewater is currently serving with the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division in Iraq. He will be writing occasional pieces for The Enterprise.) I want to thank The Enterprise for allowing me this opportunity to communicate from Iraq. Let me say how fortunate I feel to be an American citizen now that I've spent some time in both Kuwait and Iraq. I feel doubly blessed to be able to lead a platoon of brave and courageous men from Bravo Company of the U.S. Army's 2nd Battalion, Seventh Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. My Brigade...

I am 54 years old, so I may be grandfathered into today's Social Security. Darn. Just return every penny I paid into it – and I keep what I contribute for the rest of my working life – and call it even. I won't ask for the interest. I know how much my employers and I put in. I figured out how long I must live to get that back, get it back with low interest, and when I start freeloading on younger workers. Change the law so I have what I paid into it – right now in a...

If the Minnesota Court of Appeals is having trouble deciding the fate of the Minnesota Personal Protection Act, they should consider the story of Matthew Dirks. The 23-year-old East Side native served 15 months with the Army in Iraq at Baghdad International Airport and Camp Dogwood. Last week, St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington denied him a carry permit. Dirks' primary job in Iraq was repairing the weapons systems on Bradley Fighting Vehicles. He also stood guard with the M249 light machine gun and .50-caliber heavy machine gun. He has fired the TOW anti-tank missile, the 25 mm cannon on...

I wanted an apology for comparing our troops to the terrorists. Here are two consecutive letters: Yes, the election in Iraq had a great turnout and it went well. A lot Of people there welcome the change, while others disagree with it. Perhaps they might not disagree so much if it were not so much under U.S. Control (do you really think that we would "allow" the Iraqi people to elect Someone that we do not want in office?). Perhaps they might not disagree so much if our U.S. military was not laying waste to their cities and training the...

NEW YORK (AP) -- An appeals court Tuesday revived part of a class-action lawsuit blaming McDonald's for making people fat, reinstating claims pertaining to deceptive advertising. A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a lower court judge erred when he dismissed parts of the lawsuit brought on behalf of two New York children. U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet dismissed the lawsuit in 2003 because he said it failed to link the children's alleged health problems directly to McDonald's products. But the appeals judges said New York's general business law requires a plaintiff to show only...

An appeals court has overturned part of the decision dismissing a case against McDonalds that charged the fast-food giant was responsible for the obesity and related health problems of two of its loyal (and I do mean really loyal) customers. Now the plaintiffs have refiled their suit, using the advice the judge gave them when he first dismissed the case. But Sweet left open the door for plaintiffs -- including a 400-pound teenager who said he eats at McDonald's every day -- to refile the case, with guidance on how the suit might be strengthened. "For instance, Chicken McNuggets, rather...

I'm looking for any Freepers out there who are in the gas/service station business -- particularly those who are familiar with the market research services that Lundberg Survey, Inc. (LSI) offers. I have a couple of questions about a business opportunity that has arisen, and I want to get some informed, intelligent input from anyone here who might be in a position to help.

New papers redefine Reagan By Eric Leach-- Staff Writer Sunday, January 23, 2005 - SIMI VALLEY -- Law school student Jason Ebin has already spent hundreds of hours poring over Ronald Reagan's official documents at the late president's hilltop library. But when curators released the largest collection of Reagan's pre-presidential papers earlier this month, Ebin and other researchers felt like a new treasure hunt had started. "You never know from day to day what you're going to find," said Ebin of Pacific Palisades, who is doing research for presidential historian Richard Reeves. "The Reagan Library is an invaluable resource. There...

Breederville Imagine an old fashioned county fair, a wildly popular internet auction site, and Noah's Ark all rolled into one. Has there ever been a special animal you wanted to buy, sell or design? Now there is an internet community especially for you! Breederville.com

In April 2004, followers of Iraqi Shi‘ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr launched a well-coordinated uprising across southern Iraq. While Western media focused on events in Sadr City, Najaf, and Karbala, violence occurred elsewhere as well. A Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) source forwarded the following after-action report regarding violence in the town of Al-Kut, the capital of the Wassit governorate and home to the Ukrainian contingent.The unclassified report, written by a coalition security contractor, highlights dysfunction between regional coalition offices and the Coalition Provisional Authority headquarters in Baghdad, as well as tension between diplomats and security officers. The summary faulted a British...

One does not expect honor from those operating in an illegal system. And let's face it, if our Constitution is supposed to be the "law of the land," the federal government we have now must be the most successful illegal operation in the history of this nation. The U.S. Supreme Court has said many times that when we look for an explanation of what is meant (what was intended by the authors) in the Constitution, one should turn to The Federalist Papers as an expert source for guidance. That being so, we see that we now have a government greatly...

The Reynolds story... November 24, 2004 BY MICHAEL SNEED SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST Former U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds was reportedly a personal guest of former President Bill Clinton at the dedication of his library in Little Rock, Ark., last week. *Background: During his final hours in office, Clinton commuted the jail sentence of Reynolds, who served 2-1/2 years in federal prison on charges of corruption and having sex with an underage girl. Reynolds petitioned for clemency so he could be reunited with his children, who he felt needed him desperately. Clinton concurred. *Foreground: Reynolds was accompanied by his son and namesake, 11-year...

You might be a Democrat if..... ..You outsourced your GOTV effort to the jackoffs at MoveOn.org ..You lost buckets of money on tradesports.com today because you believed Wonkette's BS exit poll reporting ...You're out in your garage at 3 AM scraping the "Re-defeat Bush" sticker off your car ...You are passed out in your bathtub, empty bottle of MadDog 20/20 at your side ...You really think that the Chimp managed to steal 3% of the popular vote ...You can't understand how it's possible for a traitor and a sleazy trial lawyer to lose to the Chimp and Darth Vader.

I got my tickets for a presidential debate watching party with a personal appearance by the man himself after the debates. It is at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix on Wednesday October 13. Doors open at 3pm and close promptly at 6. George W will be making an appearance to speak to all of us supporters after the debates. We want to fill this place up and show the President how much support he has in Arizona! Tickets are free and available from: Bush-Cheney '04 Headquarters 4647 N. 32nd Street, Suite 125B Phoenix, AZ (32nd street and Camelback) and Northwest...

Many Shall Call Me Lord Self-deception and believing, then living a lie. There are no quick answers to complex questions, but the questions concerning, God’s Word or “Revealed Will,” are plain for every generation to see.  Whether they are men and women who name Christ as their Lord or not, people want to play all kinds of games with God and His Word in an attempt to excuse themselves from their anti-cultural and suicidal behaviors.  These lifestyle choices center on ethical decisions requiring wisdom for greater understanding of the difference between good and evil.  From a Christian perspective, this point...