Free Republic

226 years ago yesterday (May 5th, 1789) the state of Virginia formally submitted the very first application for a Convention of States under Article V of the new United States Constitution. The 1st Congress under the new three-branch government stood up just two months prior in March of 1789. During the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 and in the ensuing years at the ratification debates there was strong argument made for including a “Bill of Rights” within the Constitution. During the Convention, the delegates were mostly set against the inclusion of a bill of rights in the new Constitution, defeating efforts...

Sen. Laura Ebke's proposal to enlist Nebraska in a call for a convention of the states to propose constitutional limits on the power of the federal government finally made it to the floor of the Legislature this week. And Ebke has a long-shot idea of where it ought to be held. "It should be in the middle of the country," she said Wednesday during an interview. "I think Nebraska would be a great place," Ebke said. "We have an extra chamber." The State Capitol was built with two legislative chambers to house both a Senate and a House; Nebraska moved...

Imagine a world where you can be punished for simply offending someone. That world exists, and people are paying thousands of dollars a semester for the privilege of walking on eggshells for four years. But it’s not just colleges where these delicate flowers grow; the outrage brigade is everywhere. Two major American universities, the University of Michigan and the University of Maryland, caved to pressure from a tiny minority of students who demanded their will be forced on everyone. The schools canceled, at least temporarily, public screenings of the movie “American Sniper” because these emotional Fabergé eggs deemed it offensive...

Whole Foods shares are getting crushed after earnings. The company reported record second quarter sales that still were below investors' expectations, and shares were down as much as 10% in after hours trade on Wednesday. This past weekend at the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders' meeting this past weekend, CEO Warren Buffett singled out the company, saying that that the customers there simply don't seem like a happy bunch. Here's some more color on what Buffett said, according to Time: "Food and beverage companies will adjust to the expressed preferences of consumers. No company does well ignoring its consumers. "It’s amazing...

Since becoming governor of Wisconsin in 2011, Republican presidential hopeful Scott Walker has signed into law 15 tax bills that have reduced taxes by nearly $2 billion. “Every action of our administration should be looked at through the lens of job creation,” Walker told lawmakers in early 2011. In that year, despite a looming fiscal deficit, he persuaded the Republican-controlled Legislature to enact a variety of tax incentives for employers. Those included a tax credit for business relocations to Wisconsin, a credit for manufacturing and agriculture, capital gains tax relief for new investment in Wisconsin, a deduction for new hires,...

Most of us experience ups and downs, but most of us realize that the downs are temporary. Somewhere along the way, we learned that if we picked ourselves back up, dusted ourselves off and tried again, possibly in a different way, then the outcome would be different. It might have been a parent, a teacher, a neighbor, older sibling or grandparent, but at some point during our formative years, someone taught us that our positive actions could and often would lead to a positive outcome. What would happen if instead of having someone to pick you up, you were ignored...

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Why did Rome and Byzantium fall apart after centuries of success? What causes civilizations to collapse, from a dysfunctional fourth-century-B.C. Athens to contemporary bankrupt Greece? The answer is usually not enemies at the gates, but the pathologies inside them. What ruins societies is well known: too much consumption and not enough production, a debased currency, and endemic corruption. Americans currently deal with all those symptoms. But two more fundamental causes for decline are even more frightening: an unwillingness to pay taxes and the end of the rule of law. Al Sharpton is again prominently in the news, blaming various groups...

There are growing signs — including hiring key staff in Iowa — that after years of bluster, businessman Donald Trump is actually serious about making a run for the GOP’s 2016 presidential nomination. Mr. Trump has spent years hyping a potential run, and most of the political world now writes off his rumination as another publicity stunt from the fox-haired New York real estate mogul and reality television guru. But Steve Scheffler, Republican National Committee member from Iowa, said the billionaire has beefed up his team in the first caucus state with some notable hires, including Chuck Laudner, the operative...

Last June, pro-Russian separatists raided a Pentecostal church service in eastern Ukraine and kidnapped four Christian leaders. Some 35 days later, authorities discovered the bodies of the four, who had been tortured, in a mass grave. The killings in Slovyansk, eastern Ukraine, galvanized Christian outrage. Nearly a year later, pro-Russian separatists still dominate the eastern region and non-Russian Orthodox religious groups face many hardships, according to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). Forum 18, a religious liberty news service, also reports new concerns about religious freedom in Crimea, the former Ukrainian autonomous republic, annexed by Russia in March...

American taxpayers will pony up around $3.024 billion this year towards the United Nations’ regular and peacekeeping budgets, more than what 185 other countries combined are paying, an expert on the international body told U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday.While the U.S. contribution in 2015 to the U.N. regular budget is $621.9 million, the 35 countries contributing the least will pay just $28,269 each, Heritage Foundation scholar Brett Schaefer told the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee responsible for multilateral institutions.And where the U.S. will pay $2.402 billion towards the separate peacekeeping budget, the 20 countries contributing the least will pay just $8,470 each.Putting...

Fed chief Janet Yellen rattled the stock market Wednesday when she said "equity market valuations at this point generally are quite high," saying that raises "potential dangers." She added that she doesn't see "the hallmarks of a bubble," but stocks retreated from opening gains and traded lower, though the major averages closed off intraday lows. Are stocks overvalued? After a six-year bull market, a correction should be expected, although the odds favor a more garden variety downturn of 20% or so over a period of several months, not the painful free-falls of 2000-02 or 2008. Wednesday's selling prompted IBD to...

Religious freedom advocates are flagging a mostly-missed moment from last week's Supreme Court arguments over the constitutionality of same-sex marriage, calling it a warning sign. They point to an exchange between Justice Samuel Alito and the administration's top lawyer, Solicitor General Donald Verrilli.Alito asked if, in the event the Supreme Court holds that there is a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, would religious colleges risk losing their tax-exempt status if they continued to advocate for traditional marriage only. Verrilli responded, "I don't deny that ... It is going to be an issue." Travis Weber, Director of the Family Research Council's...

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The last time Bill and Hillary Clinton occupied the White House, it wasn’t easy to identify a guiding principle of U.S. foreign policy. But if Americans allow them to move back in, the former first couple will bring along a standard that is clear and consistent. Based on the evidence marshalled by Peter Schweizer, the new Clinton Doctrine seems to hold that wherever freedom and the rule of law are threatened, wherever corruption reigns and individual liberties are denied—there is money to be made. In such places, big windfalls can accrue to Clinton friends, who are nothing if not grateful...

The title of this post is the headline of the "Daily Express" newspaper in the UK today, its owner supports the United Kingdom Independence Party. Under the headline: "Farage and UKIP boosted by 'very strong' late surge" "Labour and SNP would be absolutely disastrous for us all" The article starts: "The UK Independence Party is poised to 'significantly and perhaps dramatically' beat poll predictions thanks to a late surge in patriotism, it said last night. Amid warnings of the risks from Labour and the SNP, millions go to vote today in what looks like being the tightest election for generations....

The State Department’s chief freedom of information officer admitted during testimony at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday that it is “not acceptable” for employees at the agency to use private email accounts and private servers in the way that former Secretary Hillary Clinton did.The official, Joyce Barr, also agreed that “in theory” she would be concerned about any official that set up such a system in a “premeditated and deliberate” attempt to avoid complying with laws and regulations.“What really bothers me is when people plan in a pre-meditated and deliberate sort of way to avoid the Freedom of Information...

Talk radio host Rush Limbaugh asked if the same media criticizing the Mohammed Art Exhibit would stop advocating gay marriage because that could also be provocative to radical Islamists on Wednesday.

Donald Trump, exploring a run for president in 2016, is now starring in radio ads across the country that criticize President Obama and the Republicans who support his desire for fast track authority to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. -- I compliment Donald Trump and strongly support him in this. If he continues on, I might very well strongly support him in his possible bid for the Presidency.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has handed a gift to the Kamala Harris for U.S. Senate campaign, allowing Ms. Harris to collect confidential taxpayer information about donors to charities and nonprofit advocacy organizations, all without probable cause and a warrant. The leftwing Harris is currently California’s Attorney General, and is touted by some as “the next Barack Obama.” She also is the state’s top charity regulator. The court said she may collect names of top donors to all charities and nonprofit advocacy organizations for “law enforcement” reasons even without a hint of lawbreaking. This will undoubtedly intimidate nonprofit critics...