Free Republic

Common sense, down-to-earth economist, Thomas Sowell, is a master of taking complicated economic principles and making them clear and understandable. Sowell has authored dozens of books, including his most recent, "The Housing Boom and Bust". Many praise Thomas Sowell's ability to deliver economics to main street America. What Sowell hasn't received enough credit for is his prophetic warning about the housing bust. On May 26, 2005, when virtually no economist, including the wizards at the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department, were warning of a housing bubble, Sowell wrote predictive op-ed in the Wall Street Journal:

Obamacare from the perspective of a consumer reporter is a classic rip-off. Red Flag No. 1 — Tight Deadlines Are Imposed With ‘Now Or Never’ Claims One of the first red flags flying over a rip-off is the time hustle, the deadline. The con man tells you that you have to sign the contract right now if you want this good deal. You can’t wait until tomorrow -- now or never. Obamacare involves a variation of the time hustle. We have to get this done before the August recess. Or we have to get this done this year. They say...

A new congressional report accuses the radical activist group ACORN of organized criminal activities. I will have a full article here on the American Spectator website in the morning about it. The report, called "Is ACORN Intentionally Structured As a Criminal Enterprise?" comes from minority staff on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The ranking member on the committee, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-California), is appearing on the "Glenn Beck Program" on Fox News today to discuss the report. The report, available here, contains information about the ACORN network's interlocking directorates, various unethical and possibly unlawful activities, and the shocking...

There is some confusion over the story about ACORN “changing its name” that needs to be cleared up and given context. Getting it right is important. I provided a link to the piece by Kevin Mooney at the Examiner on Monday in my post focusing on Project Vote/ACORN’s lawsuit against whistleblower Anita Moncrief. The link was a sidebar to my main story, but I should have spelled out the facts on the name change more clearly, and so should everyone who has mischaracterized the story and glossed over the real reason for the name change: ACORN hasn’t changed its name....

On the Tuesday “Glenn Beck Program,” the host threw a spotlight on bestselling author Michelle Malkin’s new book, Culture of Corruption, which is subtitled “Obama and his team of tax cheats, crooks, and cronies.” Beck asked Malkin to tell him “a little bit about the idea and the philosophy of being a community organizer and remaking America. What does that mean to Barack Obama?”

Most people know not to give out personal information to unsolicited phone callers or visitors. However, the Census process is an exception to the rule, because representatives do collect information by visiting households. Unfortunately, people may also be contacted by scammers who are using this as an opportunity to impersonate Census workers in order to gain access to sensitive financial information such as Social Security, bank account or credit card numbers. Although law enforcement in several states have issued warnings that scammers are posing as Census Bureau representatives, your BBB encourages caution. The big question is - how do you...

I have no idea whether Barack Obama is a natural born American.

The following video from a Santa Cruz, California city council meeting shows why some people really should avoid talking about economics. If you need a laugh this Friday morning, listening to the sage advice on display ought to do the trick:

Without such a well-timed swine flu epidemic, herding Americans toward the sty of the public trough would be much more difficult. Under different circumstances, initiating an endeavor of such a grand magnitude might take years to implement. Nevertheless, an opportune Mexican contribution of swine flu has provided a crisis driven opportunity, which very well may become the fulfillment of the Obama socialized health care dream. As crisis after crisis arises, Americans need to be aware that the strategy behind Obama's misuse of hardship is an effort to further an ideological socialist schema. The Cloward-Piven star pupil, Barack Obama, is aware...

We hear it over and over from the President and from the Democratic party, the well off do not pay their fair share of taxes and during the eight years of the Bush administration, their burden was eased even further. Like most things coming out of the Obama White House that claim is bogus. The Non-Partisan Congressional Budget office issued a report that showed that the top 20% of income earners pay over 86% of all taxes, which is 6% more than what they paid at the beginning of the Bush administration. At the same time much of the bottom...

I've been saying for weeks that Nevada has a spending not a tax collecting problem. And now here's the picture to prove it. What's the legislature's current plan? Raise taxes and spend more.

“We will restore science to its rightful place…” —Barack Obama Unpacked, this sentence means: “Under my administration, Americans will have fewer choices about how they live, and fewer choices as voters because, rightfully, those choices should be made by officials who rule by the authority of science.” Thus our new president intends to accelerate a trend a half-century old in America but older and further advanced in the rest of the world. There is nothing new or scientific about rulers pretending to execute the will of a god or of an oracle. It’s a tool to preempt opposition. The ruler...

Within the first quarter of 2009, the Obama Administration and the 111th Congress have advanced a number of policies that will undermine family and religious freedom in America. Together they show a serious disregard for parental rights, human dignity, freedom of conscience, and civil society in American life. In these difficult economic times, policymakers should recognize and empower the vast resources of family, religious institutions, and civil society. Instead, Congress and the Administration have systematically promoted policies that debilitate the protective and problem-solving capacity of these fundamental institutions. Undermining Family, Faith, and Freedom 1. Discouraging Charitable Giving. Even as charities...

It's bad for our democracy to exempt half the country.If you thought Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme was bad, wait until you hear about the inverted pyramid scheme the federal government is working on. While Mr. Madoff preyed on people who trusted him with their money, the federal government has everyone's money, and the implications of its actions are worse. Picture an upside-down pyramid with its narrow tip at the bottom and its base on top. The only way the pyramid can stand is by spinning fast enough or by having a wide enough tip so it won't fall down. The...

<p>WASHINGTON -- Rampant redistribution of wealth by government is now the norm. So is this: It inflames government's natural rapaciousness and subverts the rule of law. This degeneration of governance is illustrated by the Illinois Legislature's transfer of income from some disfavored riverboat casinos to racetracks.</p>

Al Gore is about to feature in a new movie, but he's not going to like it very much. Titled Not Evil Just Wrong: The True Cost of Global Warming Hysteria, the film presents a devastating account of the shaky foundations and hefty price of Mr. Gore's brand of self-interested and hypocritical alarmism. Created by the Irish film making duo of Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney -- who made another excellent documentary about the "dark side of environmentalism" called Mine Your Own Business-- Not Evil provides the perfect rebuttal to Mr. Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. Despite being chock a block...

I'm surveying climate stations of record around California and documenting their condition as part of a larger project I'm doing. You'll see more about it here in the near future. Today I visited Marysville's Fire Station, just off Hwy 70 at 9th and B Street, where they have the station of record for the city using the MMTS electronic sensor installed by the National Weather Service. The data from this station is part of the USHCN (US Historical Climatological Network) and is used in the computer modeling used to predict climate change. The Marysville station is located behind the fire...

In a procedural vote on April 1, 2009, fifteen Democratic Senators joined all of the Republicans in defeating, for now, a climate change bill that would have allowed fast-tracking of President Obama's cap-and-tax proposal so that it could be passed as part of the current Federal budget. (Click here to see how your Senator voted.) Senator Lamar Alexander called this "the biggest vote of the year." The bill that would have passed would probably have resembled the Waxman-Markey discussion draft of The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, a bill proposal designed to combat global warming by encouraging...

"You cannot pour billions of dollars into make-work while destroying the economy that supports them and call that opportunity. And you cannot build up years of dependence on government are dare call that hope." RR - March 2, 1984 "It has been said that anyone who seeks success or greatness should first forget about both and seek only truth, the rest will follow." RR - March 20, 1981 "You and I are told we much choose between left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as left or right. There is only an up or down." RR...

Here's a timely story. Polihale State Park on the Island of Kauai, Hawaii, has been closed since December when flooding damaged a small bridge at the entrance to the park (for Wikipedia link on Polihale State Park see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polihale_State_Park). It would have taken $4 million and 2 years for the State to repair the bridge. But the State of Hawaii, like other states, is out of money. So when the bridge could be repaired and the park re-opened was anybody's guess. A bunch of the vendors and residents whose livelihoods depend on the tourist trade from the park got...

Beck has, in fact, dropped the "F bomb", but not the Mussolini version; it's Neo-Fascism. And he is dead on balls accurate. Obama parallels and exemplifies what the Italians saw in Mussolini and what the Germans saw in Hitler; the attractive quality of a Megalomaniac narcissist. It's real, folks.

History 101 For those that don't know about history ... Here is a condensed version: Humans originally existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters/gatherers They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and lobster in the winter. The two most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into two...

There has doubtlessly been great anxiety about the economy, but I think even greater anxiety exists over what President Barack Obama is doing and planning to do to this country. We've always had economic downturns, and we've always recovered, but we've never deliberately planned to spend ourselves into bankruptcy, from which we may not be able to recover. True, our smorgasbord of entitlements has threatened our long-term solvency for some time, and reckless politicians have been negligent in refusing to reform them and, instead, have just created more. But Obama takes profligate spending to entirely new levels while pretending to...

Last week, I had the opportunity to hear Burton Folsom speak to a group of more than 300 college students at San Jose State University. In addition to presenting a strong case that the programs of Franklin Roosevelt provided a "raw deal," he proved to be an enthusiastic and inspiring speaker. Based on the many questions asked after his presentation, it was apparent that by the end of the event that most students were convinced that FDR's economic legacy left a damaged America. He started his economic journey in 1920 when the country elected Warren Harding as president as we...

Heidi is the proprietor of a bar in Berlin. In order to increase sales, she decides to allow her loyal customers - most of whom are unemployed alcoholics - to drink now but pay later. She keeps track of the drinks consumed on a ledger (thereby granting the customers loans). Word gets around and as a result increasing numbers of customers flood into Heidi's bar. Taking advantage of her customers' freedom from immediate payment constraints, Heidi increases her prices for wine and beer, the most-consumed beverages. Her sales volume increases massively. A young and dynamic customer service consultant at the...

Only months after the 2008 primaries, most Americans probably don't remember Mike Huckabee or Ron Paul. But that doesn't mean the conservative populism they championed during their campaigns for the Republican presidential nomination is as fleeting as their dark-horse candidacies. Since rank-and-file House Republicans began criticizing October's Wall Street bailout, a growing faction of the GOP has been channeling the country's rage at Corporate America with us-versus-them rhetoric and appeals to economic patriotism. And they are getting help from a Democratic Party whose actions often imply subservience to Big Money. Recall that the majority of House Democrats voted to ratify...

The Obamunist Manifesto Reeks Havoc - Just as Intended by MrArbitrage Obama released the 2010 Budget which he titled "A New Era of Responsibility”. It should be called “The Obamunist Manifesto”. Thank Hussein for the deliberate destruction of our economy. Throughout my Wall Street career I believed the rules about the market, how it is always the best place to be long term, how it always "comes back"… the general rule that the best time to buy is usually when everyone is selling. These were like laws of nature upon which we could depend based on almost two hundred years...

When it comes to important national issues, 73% of adults nationwide trust the judgment of the American people more than that of America's political leaders. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that just 13% place more trust in the judgment of the politicians. Twenty percent (20%) of Democrats trust America's political leaders more than the American people, the highest level of support for the politicians found among any measured demographic group. But 63% of Democrats trust the general public more. Among Republicans, 83% trust people more than politicians as do 76% of those not affiliated with either major...

The reason that stimulus packages cause a further loss of capital is that their starting point is the consumption of previously produced wealth. That wealth is part of the capital of the business firms that own it. The stimulus programs offer money in exchange for this wealth and capital. But the money they offer does not come from the production of any comparable wealth by the government or those to whom it gives money—wealth which has had to be produced and sold and thus put into the economic system prior to the withdrawal that now takes place. The starting point...

We have not been timid about pleading the old man’s case. He has spent a lifetime learning how things work, and now, he is ignored. He has committed the seven deadly sins…the classic ones, and a few more he invented. He has seen the result, but does any young whippersnapper ask his advice? No. Every callow sprig wants to make the same errors. Gluttony…avarice…pride. He feels he has a right to them. He envies those richer than himself, and covets his neighbor’s wife…as well as his new BMW. "There is no use telling him anything," says the geezer to himself,...

In these tough economic times, more people are turning to online resources for networking, job hunting, support and even faith to support their road to recovery. As more bad news is piled on top of bad, the Web has become a lifeline for job seekers, who are reconnecting with classmates and former co-workers in an effort to find that next position. Sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook are reporting huge spikes in traffic as people try to reconnect with others for job leads, references and more. (Many people have accepted LinkedIn has a bona fide business tool but have dismissed...

In his book, The Audacity of Hope, President Obama writes “Our constitution places the ownership of private property at the very heart of our system of liberty. According to Obama adviser Doug Kmiec, President Obama would appoint Supreme Court justices “in the mold of Justices Stephen Bryer and David Souter”. Bryer and Souter have voted against every property rights case for the last 20 years. In a recent study, data shows that countries that protect the physical and intellectual property of their people enjoy nearly nine times higher GDP per capita than countries ranking lowest in property rights protections. The...

I just got a GREAT phone call at my office. A polite young man asked to speak to me and then asked if I could spare a few moments for a message from Jim Demint. I took a few notes: Sign emergency measures to demand blocking the card check bill. National Right to Work Committee. the petition is not available online, they need hard copies and will send them to my office... Alert America to the dangers...we need a million signatures today... The main provision of the "card check" bill is the virtual elimination of the secret-ballot process for unionization....

Sons of Liberty This was the flag of the early colonist who had joined together in the protest against the British impositions on American economic freedom.... The flag of nine red and white stripes that represented these "Sons of Liberty" became known as the "Rebellious Stripes." On December 16, 1773, the Sons of Liberty protested the parliament's Tea Act, an action that became known as the Boston Tea Party. The colonists' believed the tax to be a violation of their legitimate economic liberty.... The Sons of Liberty would rally under a large tree which became known as "The Liberty Tree".

And how could they know what they do? It’s an open secret that members of the U.S. Congress, for a long time, have not read the very legislation on which they vote. Regardless of the fact that many of the congressmen are lawyers and were taught in law school the definition of “fiduciary responsibility” — which means reading the entire document, from beginning to end, word for word — they choose to ignore this all important responsibility. An excellent case in point is the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, H.R. 1, known as the “stimulus package.” The number...

Given the instability of the world today and the very real possibility of worldwide economic collapse, let us accept that every family should own at least one firearm. There are more reasons, of course, and those have been discussed ad nausaeum on more websites than could possibly benamed here. Since our budgets will allow most of us to own only a few (or potentially just one) firearm, we should choose wisely. The criteria is simple. The firearm must be very simple to operate. Ammunition must be plentiful, even in a scenario in which law enforcement and traditional retail markets have...

"Obama is a radical communist and I think it is becoming clear. That is what I told people in Illinois and now everybody realizes it is coming true. He is going to destroy this country and we are either going to stop him or the United States of America is going to cease to exist." - Alan Keyes Video available at the link...

Not satisfied with voter fraud and attempting to fix elections, President Obama's favorite community activist group has added another crime to their portfolio, breaking and entering. Now that the group's former lawyer, Barack Obama has announced his poorly received home mortgage plan, they have decided to come up with their own. The ACORN plan involves breaking into foreclosed houses and giving them back to their original owners (even if the home is now owned by someone else). Just another example of how ACORN does not believe in following the law, just as during the election its their belief that their...

Richard McKenzie: We're in a 'policy bubble,' which, too, will burst UC Irvine economics professor By RICHARD B. McKENZIE In the late 1990s, stock markets went through the "dot.com" bubble. Investors bought with "irrational exuberance" the new-era story that that the world economy had changed so much that high-flying price-earnings ratios for Internet stocks could be justified by the untold profits that virtually any firm establishing a low-cost "storefront" in cyberspace could earn into the distant future. The bubble burst in March 2000 when investors finally realized that the low cost of entry would ensure that profits of the vast...

Collins, Snowe and Specter voted yes. Every other Republican voted no. Right now the Democrats are at 59 and holding the vote open for Sherrod Brown, who is flying back from his mother's wake to cast the deciding vote. So it's pretty much a done deal — America, prepare to be stimulated.

The new law will also prohibit the transfer of a firearm unless the recipient possesses a valid firearms license, the license is verified, and the dealer (or private citizen) records a tracking authorization number. Under the new law, the following would be a crime: The transfer of a firearm to any person other than a licensee unless that transfer is processed through a licensed dealer in accordance with national instant criminal background check system requirements, with exceptions; Licensed manufacturers or dealers failing to comply with reporting and record keeping requirements of this Act; Failing to report the loss or theft...

Just like that, nearly $800 billion are taken away from the American people and redistributed by a small group of people that know nothing more than you or me; they probably know a good deal less than you or me. Much to the celebration of most media outlets and seemingly most Americans, the United States took another giant leap in the direction of socialism with the passing of this bill. $800 billion would be enough to give each working American nearly $5,500. Those of you that gain $5,500 from this action please notify me. $800 billion to stimulate the growth...

There are those who still think they are holding the pass against a revolution that may be coming up the road. But they are gazing in the wrong direction. The revolution is behind them. It went by in the Night of Depression, singing songs to freedom. There are those who have never ceased to say very earnestly, "Something is going to happen to the American form of government if we don't watch out." These were the innocent disarmers. Their trust was in words. They had forgotten their Aristotle. More than 2,000 years ago he wrote of what can happen within...

Angelo Mozilo The son of a butcher, Mozilo co-founded Countrywide in 1969 and built it into the largest mortgage lender in the U.S. Countrywide wasn't the first to offer exotic mortgages to borrowers with a questionable ability to repay them. In its all-out embrace of such sales, however, it did legitimize the notion that practically any adult could handle a big fat mortgage. In the wake of the housing bust, which toppled Countrywide and IndyMac Bank (another company Mozilo started), the executive's lavish pay package was criticized by many, including Congress. Mozilo left Countrywide last summer after its rescue-sale to...

UN: Call for "new world economic order", as commission for social development concludes general discussion by taking up impact of multiple global crises Concluding its general discussion today, the Commission for Social Development examined the impact of the current multiple global crises, particularly the sharp worldwide economic decline, on social development, as delegates urged Governments to sustain commitments to meet their social obligations to citizens. The Russian Federation's representative said socio-economic development remained a priority for his country and the crises had stimulated its undiminished commitment to fulfil the social contract with its citizens under any and all circumstances. The...

Whether it's TARP, the auto bailout, the plan to help distressed homeowners, and much of the stimulus, the government's response to the economic crisis has been to help all those that failed, took excessive risks, or acted irresponsible and/or incompetently. On the one hand, this is natural. Those that didn't do any of these things need no help. On the other hand, rewarding failure is a recipe for disaster. So, what is TARP? It's a program to prop up banks that took on risks that have now blown up on them. Far be it for me to normally agree with...

Here is priceless video of Republican Congressman Aaron Schock of Illinois, the youngest member of Congress, saying today that he was not asked by a single constituent to vote for the Stimulus Bill, despite the fact he was put on the spot yesterday in his hometown of Peoria by President Obama to vote for the plan. Yesterday, Obama urged Caterpillar workers there to talk to Schock after the event and urge him to vote for it. Schock says in this speech that not a single Caterpillar worker did so. In fact, he said his office had received over 1400 phone...

About one hour remains until the Senate votes on the Porkulus Looting of America Bill. Which means only one hour remains of the free America we were bequeathed by previous generations of patriots. We have done what we could, but our so-called rperesentatives, especially the blue state ones, refuse to heed the wishes of their constituents, and are set to approve a bill which will cement the doom of our beloved country. All that is left is a direct appeal to our benevolent God, to overlook our many sins as a nation and as individuals,to save our country, and to...

The crash of 2008 continues to reverberate loudly nationwide—destroying jobs, bankrupting businesses, and displacing homeowners. But already, it has damaged some places much more severely than others. On the other side of the crisis, America’s economic landscape will look very different than it does today. What fate will the coming years hold for New York, Charlotte, Detroit, Las Vegas? Will the suburbs be ineffably changed? Which cities and regions can come back strong? And which will never come back at all?

Press Releases Contact: Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami 202-226-7616 For Immediate Release 02/13/2009 Pelosi: ‘After All the Debate, This Legislation Can Be Summed Up in One Word: Jobs’ Washington, D.C. — Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke on the House floor this afternoon in strong support of the joint House-Senate conference report on HR 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The House approved the measure this afternoon by a vote of 246 to 183. The Senate is expected to pass the legislation later today and President Obama will sign it into law next week. “Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, I...