Free Republic

His annotated Constitution was worth $9.8 million at auction — but was priceless to a nation When George Washington’s personal, annotated copy of the Constitution sold last week for $9.8 million at auction in New York, it didn’t just set a record. It allowed us to see, for the first time, how cautiously our first president assumed the office, his eyes not toward history but the future. “This shows that he let the presidency define him, rather than for him to define the presidency,” says Edward Lengel, military historian and author of two books on Washington. “He was a man...

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows President Obama attracting 45% of the vote, while Mitt Romney earns 45%. Four percent (4%) prefer some other candidate, and six percent (6%) are undecided. 54% still favor repeal of Obamacare. Opinion of the Suprme Court slips. And Obama's approval rating is at 48%, with 51% disapproving. Matchup results are updated daily at 9:30 a.m. Eastern

Florida Republican Rep. Allen West said liberal Democrats in Congress — including many members of the Congressional Black Caucus — who walked out on the bipartisan votes to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in criminal and civil contempt of Congress did so because Holder is black. “Today the Congressional Black Caucus and other liberal Members of Congress judged the Attorney General by the color of his skin, and not by the content of his character,” West said of their walkout in a Facebook post. “I am disappointed my colleagues would rather engage in a political stunt to distract the American...

I would caution my fellow conservatives on the frustration they may be enticed to express at Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. It is unwarranted, and it is unwise. The reason I state such is that it is my firm belief that the Roberts' decision on the Obamacare mandate will without question bring about ultimate doom to the government control of healthcare, and through the best means possible--not judicial activism--but through the democratic process. In boxing terminology no one has pulled a "rope-a-dope" this effective since Muhammad Ali himself. In doing so, it is clear that John Roberts duped the...

I know that the real focus on Gettysburg will be next year with the 150th anniversary then but I found a Hard Rock band that put together a "Rock Opera" of the battle and figured the 149th was a good enough time to show it. Days 2 and three to follow.

Russian energy giant Gazprom issued a brief statement on June 29 which actually touches on many political problems in the greater geography surrounding Turkey. It said that the company is ready to send more gas to Turkey if necessary, but from 2018 on Turkey could ask help from Azerbaijan as well. Reuters got it right when it called the statement a threat; a threat to both Turkey and Azerbaijan. The date the Russian company named, 2018, is the planned completion date for the TANAP (Trans-Anatolian) pipeline, which will carry Azerbaijani natural gas to Europe, a $7 billion project which was...

Valerie baring her soul

The story is told that a woman asked Benjamin Franklin - as he and the Founders left the hall where they had spent four months crafting our Constitution - what sort of government they had given the people. “A republic, if you can keep it,” was his famous reply. As something of the highpoint in my multi-year study of the founding of our once-great nation, I have especially savored the insights of two books over the past year: James Madison’s “Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787,” and William Lee Miller’s biography, “The Business of May Next: James...

Never mind what the Supreme Court said — the White House is doubling down on its insistence that the individual mandate isn’t a tax. Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday morning, White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew said the mandate penalty is not a tax and the Supreme Court ruling didn’t make it so. And in any event, he said, very few people will have to pay it. “First of all, the law is clear, it’s called a penalty. Second of all, what the Supreme Court ruled is that the law is constitutional. Actually, they didn’t call...

On "This Week" (ABC): WH Chief of Staff Jake Lew Struggles to deal with Obamacare being a tax (July 1, 2012).

What is the second half of 2012 going to bring? Are things going to get even worse than they are right now? Unfortunately, that appears more likely with each passing day. I will admit that I am extremely concerned about the second half of 2012. Historically, a financial crisis is much more likely to begin in the fall than during any other season of the year. Just think about it. The stock market crash of 1929 happened in the fall. "Black Monday" happened on October 19th, 1987. The financial crisis of 2008 started in the fall. There just seems...

Welcome to the FReeper Recipe Thread for July 2012. Looking for something new to make or made something new that came out great? Please share a 'tried-and-true' recipe or seven- for fellow FReepers to add to their 'go-to' Recipe Stack of Family Favorites! Here's the place to share and explore your latest and greatest favorite recipe.

It’s a tax… it’s a penalty… no, wait…it’s a tax. Chief Justice John Roberts turned the Constitution and the Supreme Court on its head with a not-quite-coherent opinion in which he managed a tortured interpretation of the Obamacare Act, which was clearly intended to save the most detested piece of legislation since prohibition. The temptation to jump on my keyboard as soon as I heard the announcement was severe. As with most news events, I prefer to wait until the immediate coverage has sorted itself from the garbage which so often accompanies events such as this. I’m glad I did....

(CNN) -- People in a huge swath of the United States are being urged to seek out shelters as needed on Sunday as a historic heat wave continues to bring sizzing temperatures -- including to some who have lost power. Extreme heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the United States. Nineteen states were under excessive heat warnings or heat advisories on Sunday morning, according to the National Weather Service. Temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit were expected in much of the Southeast. Over the past week, nearly 1600 high temperatures have been broken -- including 140 all-time highs,...

Wile E. Coyote: Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Mud. Bugs Bunny: [faints] and remember, Mud spelled backwards is Dum. Wile E. Coyote: Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Wile E. Coyote, genius. I am not selling anything nor am I working my way through college. Bugs Bunny: I... Wile E. Coyote: [warningly] so let's get down to cases: you are a rabbit, and I am going to eat you for supper. Wile E. Coyote: Now, don't try to get away! I am more muscular, more cunning, faster, and larger than you are, and I am...

Al-Qaeda is plotting to blow up an American airliner in the run-up to this month's London Olympics and has trained a Norwegian Muslim convert in an attempt to evade airport security, a media report said on Sunday. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has trained the Norwegian convert and is understood to have also selected a target, believed to be a US passenger jet, The Sunday Times quoted intelligence sources as saying.

In all the discussion about repealing Obamacare, I haven't seen a lot of discussion about what will fill the solution vacuum once it is defeated. One issue that keeps coming up is the prohibition against insurance companies selling policies across state lines. Given that increased competition - coupled with availability - generally drives down cost, why is removing this restriction not a first and foremost low-cost solution? Or if this is indeed problem, where are the pitfalls?

In their never-ending efforts to buy votes with other people’s money (see the first cartoon in this post), politicians have been expanding the welfare state and creating more dependency. This is bad for the overall economy because it means a larger burden of government spending and it’s bad for poor people because it undermines their self reliance and self respect.It also has very worrisome long-run effects on the stability and viability of a culture, as shown by these two cartoons.A stark example can be seen in the food stamp program, which has morphed from a handout for the genuinely poor...

Indiana's budget director calculates illegal immigrants have cost Indiana $130.9 million. Budget Director Adam Horst sent Congress a bill for the amount Friday as required under Indiana's illegal immigration law passed last year by the General Assembly. Congress is not expected to act on the request, however. Indiana's law was modeled on the 2010 Arizona illegal immigration bill whose key provisions were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday. Horst estimated $110.6 million of the state's illegal immigrant costs have been for K-12 education. He estimated prison costs at $12.3 million and welfare costs at nearly $8 million.

It’s game on for Operation Repeal & Replace if America is to save herself from a disastrous British style healthcare system. In a stunning decision the U. S. Supreme Court dusted off its reputation of being utterly unpredictable in light of the logic used to validate the Affordable Care Act. Who would have predicted the conclusions authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr? How did this conservative member of the court join forces with the entire slate of liberals? Is he, as some are commenting, a principled jurist that was simply calling out the Congress? Was he forcing the President...