Free Republic

In recent years, discussion about homelessness has been circumscribed around a set of premises acceptable to progressive opinion. The homeless were thrown onto the streets, we’re told, because of rising rents, heartless landlords, and a lack of economic opportunity. Activists, journalists, and political leaders have perpetuated this line of reasoning and, following it to its conclusion, have proposed investing billions in subsidized housing to solve homelessness. But new data are undermining this narrative. As residents of West Coast cities witness the disorder associated with homeless encampments, they have found it harder to accept the progressive consensus—especially in the context of...

I was proud recently when Marc Little, chairman of my organization, the Center for Urban Renewal and Education, stood behind President Donald Trump at a White House event for Black History Month and prayed for him. Then a parade of black liberals did their thing in the media to try to deflate and devalue this important event. Their actions help us understand why so little progress has been made after more than half a century of civil rights activism. CNNs Keith Boykin called the black Christians grouped around the president "Uncle Toms." Chris Redd of "Saturday Night Live" called them...

A Florida woman stepped forward to claim a Powerball jackpot from January worth $369.9 million, Florida Lottery officials announced Tuesday in a news release. She will know how to get the most out of her money, too. According to Sheryll Goedert’s profile on LinkedIn, she is an accountant with offices in Ocala and Dunnellon. Goedert chose to receive the winning amount in a one-time, lump-sum payment of $276,558,034.09, according to the Florida Lottery. That’s before taxes. The winning ticket was a Quick Pick, purchased at a 7-Eleven store in Bonita Springs. The retailer will receive a $100,000 bonus commission for...

"Never let a crisis go to waste,” Rahm Emanuel famously said during the 2008 recession. That same ethos is currently at play in the current Coronavirus crisis. Democrats have wasted no time using the health scare to push long-time progressive policy goals, including paid sick leave and “universal health care.” During a recent Democratic press conference on the viral outbreak, Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) said the issue proved the need for paid family leave, collective bargaining, ObamaCare, expanding entitlements like Medicare and Medicaid — all of which she said are now isues of “national security.”

Joe Biden was sworn into the United States Senate on Jan. 3, 1973. He remained in the Senate until Jan. 15, 2009 -- a span of 36 years. If history is any guide, that alone is a disqualifier in Biden's quest for the White House. What does 36 years in the Senate say about a politician? It says he is a senator -- not a president. So the first reason Biden will not become president is that no one who served 36 years in the Senate has ever become president. No one who served 30 years in the Senate has...

"O Lord, in accordance with all Thy righteous acts, let now Thine anger and Thy wrath turn away from Thy city Jerusalem, Thy holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Thy people have become a reproach to all those around us. So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Thy servant and to his supplications, and for Thy sake, O Lord, let Thy face shine on Thy desolate sanctuary. "O my God, incline Thine ear and hear! Open Thine eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by...

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – Dayton Police and the University of Dayton Police responded to Lowes Street in the South Student neighborhood on reports of a massive crowd. University officials said the crowd gathered around 11 p.m. and began throwing objects and jumping on cars. Students said they were celebrating the cancellation of classes due to the coronavirus outbreak. Police in riot gear fired several rounds of paintball guns and pepper balls into the crowd. Units from across the city were also called in to help after verbal orders to disperse were ignored. University Officials said at least one person was...

Former pro golfer Paige Spirinac has slammed what she says is rampant “stuffiness” in the sport, claiming she's been shunned “because of her cleavage” and shamed as “a sl*t.” Spirinac, 26, emerged as a college golf star while at university in Arizona and San Diego, before briefly playing professionally on the women’s Cactus Tour in 2015-16. However, the budding blonde star decided to leave the professional ranks as her social media popularity soared, also featuring in magazines such as the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition. (snip)

The coronavirus epidemic is an economic calamity of historical proportions. The stock-market collapse Monday rivaled the worst days of the 2008 financial crisis. Oil prices dropped faster than at any time since the Persian Gulf War in 1991. The yield on U.S. bonds approached zero percent, the lowest ever. It needn't have happened, not at this scale. History shows that a concerted show of force from the world's leading governments could have stopped the panic. But no such demonstration came, suggesting the world's inward turn over the past half-decade is making the coronavirus crisis worse. As COVID-19 spread, politicians mostly...

The scope of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak is expanding, but it’s vital for U.S. policymakers and citizens to act rationally, work together, and keep what’s happening in proper context. People have many legitimate concerns, including mitigating the spread, manufacturing enough test kits to detect the virus in sick people, finding an effective treatment, preventing shortages of protective gear for medical personnel, and offsetting potential costs to the taxpayers and to the economy, among many others. As Virginia’s former secretary of health and human resources, I know how critical it is for federal, state, and local governments to work together in...

Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) reacted to former Vice President Joe Biden's primary wins on Tuesday, telling supporters it was "a tough night" for Sen. Bernie Sanders's (I-Vt.) supporters. "There's no sugarcoating it. Tonight is a tough night," Ocasio-Cortez, who is one of Sanders's most high-profile supporters, said in an Instagram Live video. "Tonight is a tough night electorally," she added before citing the generational gap in support between Sanders and Biden. "Older voters, which we know are more reliable voters, which we know turn out, have decisively gone to former Vice President Biden." "There's a generational divide within the...

Former staffers for Elizabeth Warren have been taken to the woodshed over tattoos meant to memorialize her ill-fated campaign – which just happen to closely resemble markings given to Holocaust concentration camp prisoners. Oops! Intending to commemorate the Democratic senator’s failed bid for the presidency, at least two former Warren staffers thought tattoos displaying the hex code for the campaign’s “Liberty Green” theme would be a clever tribute – until Twitter caught wind of it. In an avalanche of criticism, netizens wasted no time in pointing out the obvious – albeit accidental – reference to Nazi atrocities proudly displayed by...

“The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them” (Proverbs 11:3 KJV).

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Freelance jobs are "feudalism," says California Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez. She persuaded California's legislature to pass a new law reclassifying freelance workers as employees. That means many people who hire them must now give them benefits like overtime, unemployment insurance, etc. Politicians said it would help freelancers a lot. Of course, much of the media agreed. Vox called it "a victory for workers everywhere"! Sigh. Young reporters just don't understand that stifling economic freedom always creates nasty side effects. Actually, more understand now, because they got a very personal lesson. Once the bill passed, Vox media cut hundreds of freelance writing...

WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday halted nearly all inspections of overseas plants that ship drugs, medical devices and other consumer goods to the U.S., citing the global spread of the coronavirus. The agency announced it will postpone most foreign inspections scheduled through April, because of federal guidelines prohibiting travel for government workers. Last month, it postponed most inspections in China. The FDA is responsible for ensuring that food, drugs, cosmetics, medical supplies and other U.S. imports are produced in safe, sanitary conditions that meet quality standards. Last year, it conducted more than 3,100 foreign inspections, according...

As the markets have plummeted over global fears surrounding the fallout from the new coronavirus, political pundits have taken up the call: Find some meaning in the coronavirus outbreak and response. And where there is a demand for speculative opinion, there's never a shortage of supply. Thus we've seen the coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China, be blamed on President Donald Trump. We've seen government-managed response, which has varied widely in terms of success by country, touted as a final rebuttal of libertarian precepts. We've seen the coronavirus' economic impact cited as a rationale for breaking global supply chains and...

Bernie Sanders praises the government of New York for making its own hand sanitizer, which is made by prison inmates who get paid 65 cents an hour Bernie Sanders just said the following:“I just learned a few moments ago that in New York State the government is doing the right thing. They are manufacturing disinfectant, for hand washing, to make sure that everybody will be able to get the Purell or whatever they need.”“What they’re saying is, they are telling the manufacturers today to stop the price-gouging. And they’re manufacturing it. And we are prepared to say that to the pharmaceutical...

On Tuesday, the hosts of CBS This Morning warned viewers that common words and phrases with no racial context whatsoever were now somehow examples of “racism” in everyday life. It was all part of a segment designed to promote a “new book teaching kids the roots of racism.” “Many headlines referred to the stock market plunge yesterday as ‘Black Monday,’ and that is just one of the subtle and not-so-subtle ways that racism has been braided into our everyday culture,” co-host Tony Dokoupil lectured at the top of the 8:30 a.m. ET half hour

When he became the acting White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney was more familiar with the media’s critical portrayal of President Trump the family man than the first dad himself. That changed on one of his first trips with Trump, and it was another eye-opening case of how the media was dead wrong. “The first trip I went with him," he said at the Conservative Political Action Conference, “I bet he called his son [Barron] three times, four times on the trip.” He added, “People forget that Barron’s only 13 years old. We don’t think that about him because...