Free Republic

From 1995 to 2011, Michigan ran a program that granted special tax exemptions to chosen companies. The research on this program – the Michigan Economic Growth Authority – has been pretty consistent: It was a failure. The Mackinac Center did two studies on MEGA; a 2005 study showed that the few jobs “created” from the program were temporary and expensive and a 2009 study found that it had an overall negative impact on Michigan’s economy. The Michigan Office of the Auditor General has found repeated problems with state “economic development” programs over-promising and under-delivering. The Anderson Economic Group found a...

Link only - Source: Top Clinton Aides Used Secret Email Accounts at State Dept.

Marlene Nelson loved teaching, but after 35 years she was ready to retire the first chance she got. When she became eligible for her pension at age 55 because of an early-retirement incentive known as the Rule of 90, she and her husband sold their home in Glenwood, Minn., and moved someplace warm. "I really would've liked to have taught a little longer, but I just wanted to go out liking my job," Nelson said. She and her husband have spent the past four years living modestly off their two pensions in Arizona. This kind of Utopian early retirement is...

The Clinton Foundation accepted millions from foreign governments when Hillary Clinton was secretary of State, according to a report in the Washington Post. Officials with the foundation disclosed the donations from seven countries, including Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Algeria, Australia, Norway and the Dominican Republic, to the Post on Wednesday. The report is the latest to shine a light on the Clinton Foundation's fundraising practices, which have attracted scrutiny as Hillary Clinton prepares for a 2016 presidential bid. The foundation during Clinton's tenure was under a self-imposed ban on accepting contributions from foreign governments, meant to address concerns from the Obama...

A critic of mandatory child vaccinations made no apologies for her views in an appearance on Newsmax TV Tuesday, and said that public anger over the Disneyland measles outbreak should be directed at pharmaceutical companies and the federal government, not people like her. "What's happening is people are freaking out about measles outbreaks," Louise Kuo Habakus said ina combative interview with "MidPoint" host Ed Berliner. "They're pointing the finger at unvaccinated children and non-vaccinated families, when really what needs to happen is people need to be pointing the finger at industry and at Congress." Habakus, co-founder of a group called...

The Tweets at Twitter are at it again! But then "The Preezy" makes such an inviting target. The latest hashtag to gain some traction: #StateOfTheUnionInThreeWords So, as we are about to endure, yet another State of the Union speech by "The Won", the posters have their own ideas on how to make it shorter. Here are some of the posts... #StateOfTheUnionInThreeWords Arrogance, defiance, lies More free stuff I'm secretly gay. Chair Still Empty Worse than Carter screw the constitution Me me me Been On Vacation Still Bush's Fault Worst. President. Ever. Greetings Grubered Voters illegals got jobs Just more excuses...

Martha MacCallum grilled State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf tonight on the administration’s refusal to use the term “Islamic extremism.” Martha MacCallum: Every time we see this exchange it seems like the answer is so tortured. Its so difficult to say what everyone around the world feels so clearly it is. Leaders have said in Canada, and Australia and Paris where they have felt it so personally, they’ve all said quite clearly that the battle is against Islamic extremism. Why is that so hard to say? Marie Harf: “Well, it’s not hard to say but it’s not the only type...

Government employees can enjoy luxurious overseas business trips on the taxpayer’s dime thanks to generous foreign per diem rates established by the State Department. Per diem rates include the cost of lodging, meals and incidental expenses that the government is willing to give civilian federal employees for their official foreign travel. The rates are meant to cover lodging at “adequate, suitable and moderately-priced facilities” and meals at “facilities typically used by employees at that location,” according to the State Department's office of allowances. All federal employees traveling to foreign countries on official business can get reimbursements from the government at...

Sheriff with a heart of gold treats boy, nine, to the hunting trip of a lifetime - after the boy mistakenly sent an adorable letter to the wrong state A 9-year-old Pennsylvania got the hunting trip of a lifetime after mistakenly writing to writing to a sheriff 600 miles away in South Carolina. Alex Collins' mother saw a Facebook post by Chester County Sheriff Alex Underwood's program to take small children hunting and fishing and little Alex wrote the sheriff a heartfelt letter. He explained that he desperately wanted to learn to hunt, but he didn't have anybody to teach...

Before he was recalled in 2011, Arizona state Senate President Russell Pearce was arguably the most powerful man in Arizona politics. Elected in 2000 to represent Mesa, Pearce was known primarily for his efforts aimed at undocumented immigrants, most notably Senate Bill 1070. (SNIP) Prop 100—passed by 78 percent. [Proposition 100 denied bond to undocumented immigrants. It was later ruled unconstitutional.] Prop 200—passed by almost 60 percent. [Proposition 200 partly required proof of citizenship to vote in state and federal elections. Portions of it were also struck down.] Employer sanctions—overwhelmingly supported; S.B. 1070—supported by over 73 percent. Tell me what...

TEL AVIV – The Palestinian Authority received a pledge from the U.S. that by the end of 2014, the Obama administration will issue an official written declaration presenting general highlights of a future Palestinian state, a senior Palestinian negotiator told WND. The negotiator further said the goal is to have the general framework for a deal ironed out by April. The current framework for an Israeli-Palestinian agreement being brokered by Secretary of State John Kerry calls for the phased implementation of more Palestinian sovereignty within three to five years, the negotiator said. As part of the written declaration, the U.S....

Amir Benayoun is a popular Mizrachi Israeli singer/composer with a small problem. He’s not left-wing, and sometimes his songs are political commentary — and not from a left-wing perspective. This past week he released a song called “Ahmed Loves Israel” (song and translated lyrics below) In particular, it reminds the listeners that the Arab terrorists in Har Nof Massacre, in the Merkaz HaRav Massacre, in the Rechavam Ze’evi assassination, in the Yehuda Glick assassination attempt, and in many of the other terror attacks worked near the places where they committed their terror attacks, and they seemed normal, until they weren’t....

Back in the Reagan days the Republicans were the BLUE Party; the Democrats were the RED Party. Somebody changed it after Reagan left politics; the switcharoo has been attributed to Tim Russert. At the time I didn't like it, but, judging from today's politics, it may have been a good move. The Democrats are acting like the typical blue-bloods of history. Those were the elitists who made their own laws and own law enforcement system. They, as an aristocracy, kept a safe distance between their own properties and lives and those of the common man. This is what we have...

Obama has summoned the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse – making manifest his goal of "fundamentally transforming America.” Part I of “The Four Horseman,” described the growing power of Obama’s plans for the “fundamental transformation” (destruction) of our nation, and the “Four Horsemen” he employs to affect that transformation: Death, War, Conquest, and Famine. We examined in detail Obama’s Magnum Opus, Obamacare, its intended destruction of our healthcare system and the consequent enslavement of the population to the whims and caprice of the Administrative State, and, more alarming than this, Obamacare’s comprehensive obliteration of most freedoms Americans still take for...

The question we must understand, and answer properly, is, "Are the people to serve the Government, or, is the government to serve the People?" Do you understand the difference between Rules and Laws? Laws are enacted in accordance with the Constitution, where the House of Representatives and the Senate concur on a Bill. The Bill then goes to the President, who can sign it into law. We needn’t discuss veto, here, as that has nothing to do with what we need to understand. A Rule (Note: Rule includes regulations) is the desire of unelected officials in Administrative Agencies to implement...

Republicans have the opportunity to take control of a record number of state legislative chambers across the country this year, as Democrats play defense in unfavorable terrain. The Republican landslide in 2010 and the subsequent redistricting process in 2012 gave the GOP control of a nearly unprecedented number of legislative chambers. Today, the party controls 59 of the 98 partisan chambers in 49 states, while Democrats control only 39 chambers (One legislature, Nebraska’s is officially nonpartisan). Once election results are tabulated in the 6,049 legislative races on the ballot in 46 states this year, Republicans could find themselves running even...

RUSH: Okay. So let me see if I understand this. The states want to set up their own Ebola quarantines. Why would they want to do that? That's because they don't trust the federal government's quarantine protocols, right? That means they don't trust the CDC. That means they don't trust Obama, the Ebola czar, who has yet to make an appearance. They had a 27-member meeting, though, they had an Ebola meeting with 27 people, problem solved. So one week before the election we have here a bunch of states that are deciding to do their own quarantines, and the...

The beheadings over the last several weeks were intended to terrorize, to intimidate, to coerce obedience, and to enforce a construction of sharia law that, being scripturally rooted, is draconian and repressive. And let’s not kid ourselves: We know there will be more beheadings in the coming weeks, and on into the future. Apostates from Islam, homosexuals, and perceived blasphemers will face brutal persecution and death. Women will be treated as chattel and face institutionalized abuse. Islamic-supremacist ideology, with its incitements to jihad and conquest, with its virulent hostility toward the West, will spew from the mosques onto the streets....

Earlier today, President Barack Obama said that America’s goal should be to “shrink” the Islamic State until it is a “manageable problem.” His own vice president, Joe Biden, later contradicted him, saying that we will “follow ISIS to the gates of Hell, because Hell is where they will reside.” This afternoon, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki did a “what he really meant to say” routine.

Hundreds of adoptive parents in New York City who've sent their children to live elsewhere continue to get monthly government subsidies of up to $1,700 per child. They can continue receiving the checks until the child turns 21 years old.They gave up on their “hard-to-place" adopted kids — but not on the government check intended for the discarded kids’ care. Hundreds of adoptive parents across the five boroughs who've sent their children to live elsewhere are continuing to pull in monthly checks of up to $1,700 per child while the city, state and feds look the other way, the Daily...