Free Republic

Not too long ago, Democrats complained about Republican governors and state legislators using their authority to fight Obamacare. Now, those same Democrats are encouraging state and local officials to fight President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris treaty on climate change. Such hypocrisy is, of course, bipartisan. Republicans who lauded state resistance to Obamacare are deeply troubled by state and local resistance to the Trump Administration on immigration and other issues. The blatant hypocrisy is one of many factors contributing to a toxic political dialogue. The only way to reduce both the hypocrisy and the political tension is to do something...

President Donald Trump appears ready to remake the Federal Reserve in an image that will be considerably different than what investors have known for many years. The president is prepared to nominate Randal Quarles and Marvin Goodfriend to two of three vacancies at the central bank, according to multiple press accounts that have not been disputed by the administration. Quarles likely would assume the role vacated by Daniel Tarullo to oversee the nation's banking system. White House officials did not respond to a CNBC request for comment. Should Trump nominate the two men and they receive confirmation, it will represent...

If you're wondering where the Washington, D.C., swamp is being drained as promised, look no further than the Federal Communications Commission and intrepid new Chairman Ajit Pai. For eight long years, the Obama administration circumvented our deliberative democratic process to impose laws via administrative fiat and his infamous "pen and phone." And no agency illustrated that malfeasance more than the FCC, where former Chairman Tom Wheeler in particular rammed through partisan policies and midnight regulations of dubious legality, often suffering the wrath of an unamused judicial branch for its shenanigans. Chief among those Obama FCC misdeeds was its relentless and...

Recently, President Trump signed a landmark executive order (EO) largely curtailing the climate change initiatives of President Obama. According to American Action Forum (AAF) research, this order addresses $14.6 billion in past rulemakings and more than one million paperwork burden hours. Designed to promote domestic energy, “with particular attention to oil, natural gas, coal, and nuclear energy resources,” the order directs federal agencies to “suspend, revise, or rescind” past regulations, mainly from EPA and the Department of Interior. The order also states that these efforts may work in conjunction with EO 13,771, which established a regulatory budget in the United...

How did I manage to miss National Beer Day? Alas it was yesterday, so it’s too late to have a beer for breakfast.Yes, that’s exactly what it looks like: A baby. For awhile it looked like they would have to replace their 12 year old label because the Michigan Liquor Control Commission  suddenly realized that it violated one of their zillion administrative rules that states "an advertisement or label affixed to a container, covering, carton, or case of containers of alcoholic liquor shall not depict or make reference in any manner to minors."The Commission apparently relented after Founders apologized for...

- No one snatches defeat from the jaws of victory like congressional Republicans.: As he prepares to adjourn the House of Representatives for its completely unearned two week vacation, Speaker Paul Ryan announced that his GOP majority – which somehow managed to vote to repeal Obamacare dozens of times while it knew Barack Obama would veto any such bill – just cannot find a way to agree on a bill to modify the healthcare atrocity now that there is a Republican sitting in the White House anxiously awaiting to sign a bill – any bill – that comes his way....

Essentially, Too Big to Fail has been solved — taxpayers will not pay if a bank fails. The American public has the right to demand that if a major bank fails, they, as taxpayers, would not have to pay for it, and the failure wouldn’t unduly harm the U.S. economy. In my view, these demands have now both been met. On the first count, if a bank fails, taxpayers do not pay. Shareholders and debtholders, now due to total loss absorbing capacity (TLAC) rules, are at risk for all losses. To add belts and suspenders, if all that capital is...

President Trump’s appointment of former GOP congressman John Fleming, M.D., to newly created health technology post could portend ONC downsizing and MACRA changes. The new HHS healthcare technology top official's plans are still unknown, but signs point to possible changes to ONC that could weaken the agency's regulatory authority. The new HHS healthcare technology chief -- a longtime associate of HHS secretary, fellow physician and former GOP congressman Tom Price -- nonetheless also mentioned that ONC "may be reorganizing." Few in the capitol, other than his fans, want to comment publicly about what Fleming's ascension to the top HHS healthcare...

President Donald Trump's administration on Thursday proposed a 31 percent cut to the Environmental Protection Agency's budget, as the White House seeks to eliminate climate change programs and trim initiatives to protect air and water quality. The White House's proposed 2018 EPA budget, with the biggest proposed cut for any federal agency, comes as Trump seeks to clear away regulations he claims are hobbling U.S. oil drillers, coal miners and farmers. The proposed cuts are a starting point in negotiations with Congress, and could be tempered. The proposal would eliminate 3,200 EPA employees, or 19 percent of the current workforce....

March 2, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) -- Population controllers told the Vatican at a conference this week that the Catholic teaching of “responsible parenthood” in determining family size has “result[ed] in collective failure” in reducing the world’s population. They suggested that the only way to stop the exhaustion of “humanity’s natural capital” is by imposing a system of “taxes and regulations” that would help modify “social norms of behaviour.” This week’s Vatican symposium on Biological Extinction, sponsored by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences was a closed-door event. Speaking at the event were two controversial figures,...

Trump's executive order: remove at least two previously implemented regulations for every new one.The order could have major ramifications for healthcare, one of the most regulated industries in the U.S. Providers and vendors face a myriad of rules drafted by numerous agencies and departments, including CMS, Health Resources and Services Administration, Food and Drug Administration and Office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. Dozens of regulations leveled against the healthcare industry every year include licensing requirements; quality and safety inspections; and standards to adhere to payment policies. . . major ones last year: a rule that mandated the medical...

This petition on WhiteHouse.gov was started by some heroic American by the name of A.Z. looking to repeal the National Firearms Act of 1934. While the president has no ability to repeal laws, he sure as heck can push congress to repeal them. This petition needs 100k signatures by February 19th to get attention from the White House. Everyone who owns a firearms or enjoys freedom should sign this immediately! https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/repeal-nfa

The Cost Of Regulatory Compliance: $20,000 For Every American Worker by Tyler Durden Jan 23, 2017 3:19 PM 0 SHARES As JPM writes in its intraday update, the "Trump/Ryan enthusiasm is starting to quietly fade as investors appreciate the enormous logistical and mathematical hurdles associated w/realization of their agenda. The nature of the Trump White House is such that investors should get used to avalanches of headlines, tweets, etc. on a daily basis but very little of this stream of consciousness barrage is likely to be incremental – platitudinous promises about slashing taxes “massively” or cutting regulations “by 75% or...

The World Economic Forum recently published its annual Global Competiveness Report. Our continual slide from first in 2008 to fifth worldwide has received some coverage by the press, but no one has written about the underlying causes for the drop or given any meaningful insight into who the WEF is and how the rankings are compiled. The mainstream press has completely missed the story. The WEF describes itself as an independent international organization committed to “improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.” The rankings...

A new French law establishing workers’ “right to disconnect” goes into effect today. The law requires companies with more than 50 employees to establish hours when staff should not send or answer emails. The goals of the law include making sure employees are fairly paid for work, and preventing burnout by protecting private time. French legislator Benoit Hamon, speaking to the BBC, described the law as an answer to the travails of employees who “leave the office, but they do not leave their work. They remain attached by a kind of electronic leash—like a dog.”

California’s desire to combat so-called global warming has led it to attack what it believes is deadly even if it is often silent – cow flatulence. According to an AP report, the self-proclaimed leading agricultural state is now focusing on what it calls “greenhouse gases” produced by dairy cows. In spite of opposition from farmers, California Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation that regulates heat-trapping gases from livestock businesses for the first time. Cattle and other farm animals produce methane, a gas that is referred to as a greenhouse gas and alleged to be more potent than carbon dioxide as a...

Regulation: One of the biggest myths standing in the way of dismantling the Dodd-Frank law is that it somehow reversed the Republicans' "deregulation" of the financial sector in the late 1990s. This is entirely false. Lawmakers are in a desperate tizzy... ...Democrats' narrative about the financial crisis, which goes as follows: In the late 1990s, mean Republicans took advantage of an impeachment-weakened President Clinton and passed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, deregulating the banks and setting off a massive, speculative boom in real estate lending fueled by unbridled Wall Street greed. By 2008, the excesses of these eight years of greed exploded,...

Obama sets new record for regulations, 527 pages in just one day By @SecretsBedard) • 11/17/16 12:14 PM President Obama has just set a new record for rules and regulations, his administration spitting out 527 pages worth in just one day, as he races to put his fingerprint on virtually every corner of American life and business. According to the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the administration has just shattered the old record for pages of regulations and rules published by the in-house journal, the Federal Register. At 81,640 total pages for 2016, it ranks first and 235 pages more than all...

Repeal them all.

Last Friday Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York signed a new bill seeking to crackdown on citizens offering their homes for short term rental through Airbnb. The law would impose fines of up to $7,500 simply for listing a rental on the popular site for travelers. Why would the state of New York pass this law attacking people seeking to earn some extra money to help afford living in one of the most expensive cities in the country? The answer lies with the hotel companies, one of whose CEOs openly celebrated that his company would be able to raise prices...