Free Republic

It turns out that leftists can’t repeal the law of supply and demand. In the Seattle suburb of Seatac, adjacent to the airport and full of parking lots, hotels, and restaurants with many low wage employees, the minimum wage was hiked to $15 an hour, and the results of this social experiment are coming in. United Liberty reports: A February report from the Seattle Times revealed: At the Clarion Hotel off International Boulevard, a sit-down restaurant has been shuttered, though it might soon be replaced by a less-labor-intensive cafe… Other businesses have adjusted in ways that run the gamut from putting more work in...

Today is the birthday of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington, the wife of George Washington and the first First Lady of the United States. Born in Virginia, she was married to Washington for more than 40 years until his death in 1799.

Joseph Shaun Goodman's seventh arrest for DUI was as sensational as it gets. Police chased him in his Ferrari at more than 90 mph in downtown Olympia, Washington. A passenger, whom Goodman had just met at a bar, begged to leave the car, and his wish was granted while the car slowed. Goodman crashed his sports car, a 2000 model worth $70,000, into a house and two cars. The tall, tan businessman was finally arrested behind the wheel in a church parking lot with police drawing their guns on him just before midnight December 29. Cops noted his watery, bloodshot...

A soldier from Corona is fighting for his life following an attack by six men outside a bar in Tacoma, Washington. Korry McClanahan, 25, is in ICU at the Madigan Army Medical Center and unresponsive, says his family. He’s not speaking or moving. His mother is even unsure if he knows she is there. Last Friday, McClanahan and another soldier went to the Steel Creek American Whiskey Company in downtown Tacoma to shoot some pool. Around midnight, the two men went outside to smoke ... McClanahan was punched twice, fell to the ground and hit his head. He spent more...

The City of Kirkland will join the State of Washington and King County in proclaiming June 2014 as "Pride Month." Please refrain from posting any critical comments about this subject as the comments may be deemed as hate crimes against people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning. The following is from the City's Council Packet for June 3: This year marks the 45th anniversary of the Stonehill Riots which is regarded as the catalyst for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movement for civil rights in the United States. In June 1969, a group of gay customers...

More than 100 officers from the Seattle Police Department are suing the city and the Justice Department, claiming their department's new use-of-force policies put them in danger and violate their constitutional rights. In 2012 Seattle officials agreed to an independent monitor and court oversight of the city's police department as part of a deal with the Justice Department following a report that found officers routinely used excessive force. The civil suit, which was filed Wednesday, names Attorney General Eric Holder, the City of Seattle, Mayor Ed Murray, City Attorney Pete Holmes, and federal monitor Merrick Bob. In the suit, the...

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said in an interview that Washington’s cost-cutting culture helped spark the growing Veterans Administration hospital controversy by encouraging VA officials to understate their financial needs both internally and to Congress. Murray, a top appropriator and former chairwoman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, had strong words for a department that she said not only faces chronic management issues but also consistently underestimates its funding needs and how many veterans will seek care each year. Though many Republicans have called for current VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to step down from his post in light of reports of...

Almost two years after a Haifa court ruled that Israel was not negligent in the 2003 death of American activist Rachel Corrie during a protest against IDF operations in the Gaza Strip, the Supreme Court heard her family’s appeal of the verdict Wednesday afternoon. Speaking before the hearing in Jerusalem, Craig Corrie, the activist’s father, said the lower court’s ruling had given the army “immunity and impunity.” “I think that’s very dangerous,” he said. “I hope the Israeli high court will change the findings, but if they don’t, I hope the world and the world press will bring it into...

<p>NEW YORK (AP) — Chipotle is asking customers not to bring firearms into its stores after it says gun rights advocates brought military-style assault rifles into one of its restaurants in Texas.</p> <p>The Denver-based company notes that it has traditionally complied with local laws regarding open and concealed firearms.</p>

A tranche of new Internal Revenue Service e-mails refute the White House’s longtime defense of the agency’s actions in the IRS targeting scandal. The e-mails, uncovered by a Judicial Watch FOIA request, reveal there was direction coming from the Washington headquarters of the IRS and that the targeting of Tea Party groups was indeed political. The Washington Examiner‘s Mark Tapscott excerpts: In a July 2012 email, Holly Paz, who was then director of the IRS Rulings and Agreements division, asked IRS lawyer Steven Grodnitzky “to let Cindy and Sharon know how we have been handling Tea Party applications in...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is trying to transfer convicted national security leaker Pvt. Chelsea Manning to a civilian prison where she can get treatment for a gender-identity condition. But her lawyer said Wednesday that a move from a military prison would make Manning choose between the treatment and her safety. Two Pentagon officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel gave the Army approval last month to try to work out a plan to transfer Manning from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to a federal prison. Manning entered the Army as a man named Bradley. The officials...

Conservative radio host and blogger Stacy Washington responds to the White Privilege Conference 2014 attendees. Warning: This is a very powerful message by a powerful young woman. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LT11g8W524"An open letter to the White Privilege Conference 2014 attendees; I’m in a state of shock right now. According to your conference, the accomplishments of my family going back generations simply do not exist. Allow me to explain. You see I am black. Your conference contends that this country was built on racism; you contend that a pernicious evil is the foundation of every institution and permeates every aspect of American life. According...

One of the most liberal Representatives in Congress wants California to raise its minimum wage to $26 an hour. Appearing on Crossfire on Friday, co-host Newt Gingrich asked Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) whether it was a good idea for the mayor of Seattle to propose a minimum wage of $15 an hour. Lee said, "good for him." "In California, more than likely from what I remembered, a living wage where people could live and take care of their families and move toward achieving the American dream was about $25, $26 an hour," Lee said. When pressed further, Lee said she...

The California Legislature is looking at a voluntary program that would tax motorists for every mile they drive.KCAL9’s Bobby Kaple reports that Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, introduced a bill to test out the vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax because the state’s gas tax was no longer bringing in the revenue it used to due to people driving more fuel efficient vehicles.The program is modeled after ones in Oregon and Washington.“We want to do as Washington and Oregon have done in a much bigger state with much longer commutes…to make sure that we find out whether it would work, whether the...

Editor’s Note: Kshama Sawant is a Seattle councilwoman. And a Socialist. She was elected last fall on a $15-an-hour minimum wage platform. That wage, which is 62 percent higher than this year’s inflation indexed state minimum wage of $9.32, already the highest in the nation, comes from what researchers at the University of Washington have calculated as the wage it takes to be self-sufficient in the area. The Seattle suburb of SeaTac, home of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, narrowly approved a $15 minimum wage ballot initiative last fall, but as we recently explored, most airport workers have yet to see a...

Using America's interstate system could get more expensive in some places in the near future. Provisions in the White House-endorsed, $302 billion transportation bill would allow states to get permission from the federal government to impose tolls on them to raise money for infrastructure upkeep. Of course, some states already charge to drive on the interstates – the New Jersey turnpike, for example – but for the most part charges are rare on the federally funded roads. "We believe that this is an area where the states have to make their own decisions," said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx to the...

REDMOND , Wash. A mother in Washington is upset after a teacher at her daughter’s middle school allegedly gave students an assignment that required them to pick cotton so that they could "see what it was like to be a slave." Carolyn Walker called Redmond Middle School to inform them that her daughter would not be doing the assignment and later found out the teacher gave her daughter an F. "My daughter is African American and for her to pick cotton when her grandparents were raised on a plantation to pick cotton, is not OK, it's not OK at all,"...

The largest national group of Indian governments has declared Upstate Citizens for Equality a "hate group." The National Congress of American Indians adopted a resolution last week that says UCE, based in Verona, and two similar groups in other parts of the country want to "eliminate Indian governments, societies and culture." UCE also has a Cayuga-Seneca chapter that opposes the Cayuga land claim. The Verona group opposes the Oneida land claim. The resolution was sponsored by Alma Ransom, a Mohawk chief and treasurer of the Indian congress. It also labeled as hate groups the Citizens Equal Rights Alliance in ...

Washington Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee is not waiting for the state legislature to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, but instead has issued an executive order to implement a cap-and-trade program, eliminate coal power and fund green energy projects. “This is the right time to act, the right place to act and we are the right people to act,” Inslee said. “We will engage the right people, consider the right options, ask the right questions and come to the right answers — answers that work for Washington.” Inlsee argues that more action is needed if the state is to meet climate goals passed by...

April 30, 2014 5:08 PM Reid: NFL Should Punish Redskins Owner Like NBA Did Sterling By Andrew Johnson The NBA’s lifetime ban of Donald Sterling for his offensive comments should put the NFL on notice about Washington Redskins’ racist name, Harry Reid says. On the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon, Reid commended NBA commissioner Adam Silver for his response to the Sterling situation, and urged his NFL counterpart Roger Goodell to take similar action to “stamp out bigotry in its ranks.” The Senate majority leader also dismissed the tradition-based defense Redskins owner Dan Snyder has made of the team’s name when...