Free Republic

Thanks to the collective efforts of city and state Democratic “leaders” like California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, the coronavirus-inspired mandates in L.A. County are the most restrictive in the state and among the strictest nationwide. Business owners in the area have cried foul, with some being so outraged and fed up that they’ve taken matters into their own hands. One such person is Alex Jordan, who runs the “Eat at Joe’s” diner in East Redondo Bay. Jordan told news station KTLA that he is defying Newsom and the county because of loyalty to his employees...

At least one fifth of Rhode Islanders receive some form of public assistance, including housing, health care, food stamps, and cash assistance, according to figures collected from several state departments and federal agencies by GoLocalProv. Welfare, strictly defined as direct cash payments, benefits a small slice of the population, about 22,000 individuals. But when all forms of public assistance are included, the number balloons to at least two hundred thousand. By far, the largest public assistance program is Rhode Island Medicaid, with 199,199 eligible residents in August 2012 and $1.6 billion budgeted for medical benefits in the current fiscal year....

Subprime Scandal: Democrats thought they'd dammed up the truth about government's role in the financial crisis. But the levies are breaking, thanks to a spate of rogue new books on the subject. The latest, "Reckless Endangerment," shreds the narrative carefully constructed by Democrats and the liberal media that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were only bit players in the crisis and followed Wall Street into subprime lending. It details how the federally chartered mortgage giants in fact led the way in relaxing underwriting standards for the entire industry — thanks to relentless pressure from Democrats, who used them as off-budget...

Gordon Brown is under intense pressure to declare the Lisbon Treaty dead after Irish voters delivered an overwhelming vote against the European Union's drive toward greater integration. In the only popular vote on the treaty to be held in the EU, 53.4 per cent of the Irish electorate rejected its terms – plunging the EU's plans to create a new European president and foreign minister into turmoil. MPs and campaigners from across the political spectrum called on the Prime Minister to halt moves towards British ratification of the text in the wake of the vote, with David Cameron saying the...

<p>Manufacturing showed further signs of growth in September and construction spending climbed in August to the highest level in seven months, a double dose of encouraging news for the country's economic recovery.</p> <p>The Institute for Supply Management reported yesterday that for the third month in a row activity at America's factories expanded. The research group's manufacturing index was 53.7 in September, following a reading of 54.7 in August.</p>

<p>We need government, and that means taxes. But when we think about government spending, and the taxes needed to finance its spending, we should also think of the effects of taxation.</p> <p>Suppose I hire you to repair my computer. The job is worth $200 to me, and doing the job is worth $200 to you. The transaction will occur because we have a meeting of the mind. Now suppose there's the imposition of a 30 percent income tax on you. That means you won't receive $200 but instead $140. You might say the heck with working for me ? spending the day with your family is worth more than $140.</p>