Free Republic

Our Entitled Descent Began Long Before Obamacare RealClearMarkets By Bill Flax March 26, 2010 Many decry Obamacare as the death of our republic. Such esteemed thinkers as Thomas Sowell pronounced it a turning point in our dismantlement. Dr. Sowell is a hero and inspiration. With sincere respect, what turned? Surely it can't be the attitude of entitlement. It can't be wealth redistribution achieved through confiscatory taxation. It's not the overhaul of our Constitution from a protector of natural rights to an enforcer of positive rights. It wasn't the hypocrisy of mimicking the Selma March complete with apparently false accusations of...

Modern Medical Care is a Blessing Not a Right As last year’s health reform bill again permeates our public discourse many pundits have highlighted how socializing medicine will exacerbate our already precarious budget concerns. Much was also written regarding the evasion of public sentiment when Congress employed especially repugnant procedural tactics. While these aspects ridicule the hypocrisy of our elected representatives, they are secondary. Healthcare is not a right. It's a blessing. Medical treatment or more specifically how we finance it, cannot be considered an unalienable right. It’s a form of consumption. Your right to own a car does not...

Demagogues in Washington are thrilled to ply their vote-buying wiles promising to punish greedy rich villains, but the wealthy are not the evil caricatures of popular imagination. Riches are not generated by depriving others. Some actions grow the proverbial pie. Others shrink it. Those prospering society through work, innovation or investing their capital deserve to be rewarded accordingly. Greed has been prominently blamed for the current downturn and it certainly contributed, but not entirely in the manner depicted by the intelligentsia. In the Marxist conception of economics as a zero sum game, one's profits must correspond to another's losses. Businesses...

America has lost its way. My hometown was named for the Society of the Cincinnati. In ancient Rome, citizen-general Cincinnatus put down his plow to save his nation. When the battle was won, he declined a crown and returned to his farm. His self-restraint in the face of overwhelming temptation bequeathed to Rome several centuries of limited, republican government. George Washington exhibited similar virtue after our independence. He too could have been king, but his self-denial enabled the rule of law to triumph over the rule of men. Our revolution was largely fought to settle the timeless question of whether...

Supply side economics invokes the most basic element of human nature: self-interest. We all seek to improve our material circumstances. The tinier the tax man’s bite, the greater is our incentive to produce. As tax burdens lighten, motivation heightens, sparking a robust economy. Allowing producers to enjoy their hard earned gains is both just and effective. Contrasted with demand side economics it’s a no-brainer. It is neither just nor effective to funnel public money to political favorites hoping they will spend lavishly and thus stimulate production. Paying people not to produce inspires little effort. Depriving producers of needed capital so...

“The real destroyer of the Liberties of any people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and largesses.” – Plutarch Rand Paul, the freshman senator from Kentucky, can’t seem to avoid controversy. Last year, then-candidate Paul questioned certain clauses of the Civil Rights Act on principled libertarian grounds. He quickly came under fire from across the political spectrum. The son of libertarian standard bearer Ron Paul recently generated headlines again for comparing free health care to slavery. As several commentators observed, no one can “conscript” doctors to practice medicine. He freely quit the profession. However, this isn’t the primary...

America has forgotten her roots and the limited government which produced the greatest mixture of freedom and prosperity in history. Like their modern counterparts, the first tea partiers sensed this. They rejected a government that betrayed its ideals. Today’s Tea Party primarily focuses on the economic aspects of government expansion, but even as prosperity is a profound blessing, it is freedom we must defend. When King George demanded we buy his tea, colonists objected. Astonished at their outrage, Parliament authored tax subsidies to contrive consent. It became a test of wills over sovereignty. Was the king supreme or did justice...

“Liberating tolerance, then, would mean intolerance against movements from the Right and toleration of movements from the Left” – Herbert Marcuse, Father of the New Left President Barack Obama’s recent suggestion that returning to 1967 boundaries is the starting point for negotiations between Israel and Palestinians raises questions. While a strong case can be made for minding our business internationally, betraying allies and naively appeasing enemies appear curious as strategic ploys. His foreign policy revolves around coddling Third World dictators, snubbing traditional friends and overall subservience to the U.N. Obama seems more about reversing his predecessor than charting any coherent...

By Beyonce - never heard of the dance before:

And you thought this weekend was going to be all about Donald Trump! Probably only one other lightening-rod VIP could have stolen the mogul’s buzz in the pro-am zeitgeist tournament known as the White House Correspondents’ weekend, and darned if she didn’t pull a surprise appearance. You betcha, she did. Sarah Palin walked into the Georgetown home of Mark Ein shortly before noon Saturday to dazzle a brunch crowd of Washington insiders and visiting luminaries. Black bell-sleeved summer dress, shiny hair. She and a clean-shaven Todd Palin posed for a few photos with hosts Wendi Murdoch and Susan Axelrod, then...

Seeking One Gorgeous Female For Photo Opportunity (downtown / civic / van ness) Date: 2011-04-16, 11:24AM PDT Reply to: gigs-gqtxs-2329039352@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?] US President Barrack Obama will be visiting San Francisco this Wednesday through Thursday. I will be attending a private dinner for him with 150 high profile people. My date had an unexpected emergency and will be out of town. Anyone care to join me? This is a black-tie affair, so if you don't have formal attire, I'll take you shopping,,,pronto! Reply with: Name Phone Number Age Height and Weight Dress Size and Shoe Size Include...

The Royal Wedding has divided the nation - some breathlessly counting down the days, others rolling their eyes over the growing excitement. And now Jerry Seinfeld has weighed in on the upcoming nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton, calling the wedding 'a circus act.' The comedian, promoting his stand-up show at the O2 on June 3, will undoubtedly Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1376827/Royal-Wedding-Jerry-Seinfeld-ridicules-Kate-Middleton-Prince-William.html#ixzz1JVxMgwtn

It seems improbable to some that Hyundai, the company that once sold a car so inexpensive you could charge it on a credit card, would unleash a car that costs $58,000 and competes with the finest luxury cars in the world. Those who sniff with disdain may do well to remember that some esteemed luxury automakers had humble origins. Consider, for example, Jaguar, which started as a manufacturer of motorcycle sidecars. Given that every automaker has access to the same auto- industry suppliers, and thus the same technology, it comes down to this: Which brand do you like, and how...

What I love most of all is the envelope handbag in black crocodile. Its clasp is engraved with a ‘W’ and an ‘S’, with the numbers ‘30 x 1934’ alongside, denoting the date October 30, 1934. This bag was given to Wallis Simpson by the besotted Edward VIII — but the precise significance of the date — two years before he abdicated the throne to marry her — has never been identified. The label inside says ‘Dior’. Inside, in a tiny crocodile pouch, is a comb. While I sit, with the relics of an incredible life scattered around me in...

While Harvey Weinstein celebrated his Oscars win of four of the coveted awards for The King’s Speech and chirped among a bevy of celebrities at the famed Sunset Tower Hotel, following the Oscars, green celebrity Jane Fonda (a.k.a. Hanoi Jane) was in the back, exercising a little green Oscars celebration of her own at the Vanity Fair Oscars party. The New York Daily News reports: During one trip to a bar in the back of the tent, we recognized the familiar aroma of marijuana, and then caught sight of “Easy Rider” star Peter Fonda standing in the corner with his...

Well, if Chris Christie or any of the other "pretenders" to the Republican nomination thought that Sarah Palin couldn't be a Grizzly when she wants to.... just a little taste of things to come - http://conservatives4palin.com/2011/03/governor-palin-on-fox-business-network.html

2002’s Undercover Brother looked primed to make comic and consummate scene-stealer Eddie Griffin a bona fide movie star. The film was a commercial and critical success, but the expected sequels have not been forthcoming and Griffin has spent the ensuing years alternating between stand-up comedy and small but memorable roles in flashy fare like Norbit. Griffin is no stranger to bit parts: He made his film debut as “Gas Station Attendent” in manager/mentor Andrew “Dice” Clay’s concert film Dice Rules before playing characters like “Ventriloquist” in The Five Heartbeats, “Messenger” in Brain Donors and, of course, “Guest at Kid’s Bachelor...

<p>Becoming a Hooters Girl isn't something everyone in the family will understand.</p> <p>Chante Rivera did it a year and a half ago.</p> <p>"My mom was so excited," said Rivera. "She's like, 'You're going to have so much fun there. You are so pretty. I am so proud of you.' My dad, he said, 'I'm going to pray for you.'"</p>

Americans either have a sense of humour or, maybe, they just like the press they get from controversy (that could well explain Sarah Palin’s baffling rise in power). We say this because apparently, Ricky Gervais has been asked to host the Golden Globes again. Of course, you’ll remember that he upset some humourless dullards with a series of jokes that made everyone else laugh. Dry heaving while pretending to w**k-off Hugh Hefner? That’s exactly the sort of thing that will see hecklerspray jumping to our collective feet for a standing ovation. Not to mention ripping celebrity Scientologists a new one....

As did the Golden Globes Red Carpet, splendid as usual in its stellar opulence, over-indulged glam, hyped-up vamp, and glittering gownage. Hollywood’s best senoritas of starletry came out to play and prance and be seen by the millions. Down below are some of the most daring designs we witnessed, many splendorous, some we would have taken a pass on… Olivia Wilde Anne Hathaway