Free Republic

Being a hardcore constitutionalist, conservative, agnostic AND supporter of gay-marriage is not always easy. I usually take a lot of heat from both sides, and I'm used to that. With the Chick-Fil-A situation, I see both sides of the issue. I support CFA and I support the idea of gay marriage. What I don't support are the tactics used by the left to bully, intimidate, mock, deride and create false narratives to achieve their goal. I'm angry at the left for creating hatred. I see and hear a lot of it because I have so many gay and liberal friends,...

The Race Detective makes a huge discovery again! At the Fox News article about Whitney Houston, he discovers racist comments. What’s odd is that I have seen Whitney Houston threads at various Conservative sites. Not once have I seen racist sentiments directed toward the death of Ms. Houston. But as we know, the Race Detective has henchmen like Killgore Trout and Hoosier Hoops who plant racist comments. Once again, The Race Detective is “tipped” off by posters and discovers racist comments!

Little help here? I think we all operate on the general assumption that industry and us, personally, are far more regulated in small and large ways than we were - say - 50 years ago. A quick trip to the search engines didn't find me the articles I needed to back up my point. Can anyone link me to some good ones that show that the overall trend is toward more regulation over time? This should be a no-brainer.

Rick Ungar Follow Me Rick Ungar The Policy Page * My Profile * My Headline Grabs * My RSS Feed 3134Share 11diggsdigg 3 inShare More Small Businesses Offering Health Care To Employees Thanks To Obamacare Jan. 6 2011 - 2:18 pm | 14,082 views | 3 recommendations | 14 comments By RICK UNGAR The first statistics are coming in and, to the surprise of a great many, Obamacare might just be working to bring health care to working Americans precisely as promised. The major health insurance companies around the country are reporting a significant increase in small businesses offering health...

Many people were sent gasping when President Obama unveiled his plan for outer space with his proposal to cancel NASA‘s Constellation program. It turns out that the great recession of 2008 and 2009 has claimed yet another victim and this time it's the manned exploration of the Universe. Back in 2004, President George W. Bush laid out an ambitious plan. The space shuttle was to be phased out this year and five years later the replacement for the space shuttle (the Ares system) would be fully functional and operational. Then by 2020, the plan was to establish a permanent man...

Olberman is on the air advocating that the health care bill does or should contain a provision for a "life panel." He describes this as merely the ability for your doctor to give you advice about palliative care if you should wish it AND be able to bill the insurance company for his or her time for the consultation. My BS meter is off the charts-- when has a doctor had his bill for a consultation refused by the insurance companies? Does this happen? Especially if this particular consultation would greatly reduce their expenses for providing continued expensive therapies?

Brooklyn prosecutors on Monday cleared ACORN of criminal wrongdoing after a four-month probe that began when undercover conservative activists filmed workers giving what appeared to be illegal advice on how to hide money. While the video by James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles seemed to show three ACORN workers advising a prostitute how to hide ill-gotten gains, the unedited version was not as clear, according to a law enforcement source. "They edited the tape to meet their agenda," said the source.

This is a Facebook post to all my friends who have been braying about CFR. You might find things you agree and disagree with in there. As I am always refining my position, I'd love to hear your thoughts... My friends who are pro CFR have a healthy and well-intentioned fear of corporatism. When big business and the government get too cozy we can rightfully call this relationship fascism-- that's exactly what it is by definition. And this state of affairs is rightfully to be avoided. Fascism is basically socialism for business. America is and always has been in danger...

Thought experiment: Ten years from now, the United States has fully embraced universal healthcare and the government is responsible for administering every aspect of medicine. Two patients' files fall on the desk of a governemnt employee: Both have brain tumours in exactly the same places, and only with heroic attempts will either survive. One is a 25 year old man. One is an 91 year old woman. With heroic methods each have about a 20% chance of survival. Since the Equal Protection clause of the Constitution does not discriminate based on age, can the 91 year old woman expect the...

I'm actually a little optimistic that our reps may stumble into a compromise that doesn't suck. The stalemate our reps are in right now is not going to last forever. Sooner or later they're going to start talking not about what they "want" but about what is possible. I would actually tolerate (and in some cases welcome) some fairly extensive health care reform, short of any kind of public option. Some things I could live with: -- Tort Reform -- Buying across state lines -- Getting a tax deduction for health expenses Insurance company reforms including: -- No cancellations --...

America has a history of civil rights abuses that is undeniable. All nations have such a history and many nations continue that tradition into the present. For a while, it seemed as if America had turned a corner on it's own shameful past of slavery, Jim Crow laws, legal segregation, and had achieved a great moment of legal parity. To be sure, there is no such thing as equal economic status. There has been and probably always will be those with little wealth versus those with great wealth. And it is impossible to mandate the hearts of those who would...

I'm curious about something: If you were to buy about $50,000 worth of building materials from a Canadian company and had them trucked down to your building site in the state of Washington, would you be liable for Washington state taxes, duties or tariffs of any sort?

Guys: I'm just curious, and I tried to Google this question but couldn't get what I was looking for. What would happen to the various GPS systems and various power generating plants if there was no one to operate them for a prolonged period of time-- years, for instance. How long would these systems continue to function and operate? How long before a nuclear, hydro, coal or oil plant shut down? If anyone knows some actual theories on this, it'd be appreciated.

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Fresh off the false and politicized attack on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, today we’re hearing the know-nothings blame the subprime crisis on the Community Reinvestment Act — a 30-year-old law that was actually weakened by the Bush administration just as the worst lending wave began. This is even more ridiculous than blaming Freddie and Fannie. The Community Reinvestment Act, passed in 1977, requires banks to lend in the low-income neighborhoods where they take deposits. Just the idea that a lending crisis created from 2004 to 2007 was caused by a 1977 law is silly. But it’s even more ridiculous...

I am trying to wrap my head around the financial meltdown in as fair and non-biased way as possible, and here are my thoughts for the causes: 1. Repeal of the Glass-Stegallman Act. Spearheaded by Phil Gramm, but passed by both houses by overwhelming, veto-proof margin. Signed by Clinton. 2. Introduction of the Community Reinvestment Act, spearheaded by democrats and leftwing activists, but also trumpeted by republicans and the Bush administration (effort to make as many Americans homeowners as possible). Distant 3rd: Unreasonably low interest rates by Fed Chairmen Greenspan and Bernanke? Your thoughts?

I have a coyote problem in my neighborhood of Sun Valley (a suburb of Los Angeles just north of Burbank). We're near the hills, which is national forest land and get a lot of wildlife. Over the last few years, the population and aggressiveness of the local coyotes has increased. We've lost a pet, and several neighbors with small children and pets have expressed concern. Many pets overall have been lost in this area and there have been reports of small children attacked. I see coyotes walking around freely in the morning and evening hours, unafraid of humans. I could...

When CBS's Katie Couric interviewed John McCain on Tuesday, her producers edited one exchange to include part of McCain's answer to a previous question on Iraq -- and, in the process, deleted comments that have touched off a controversy. The "CBS Evening News" interview began with Couric quoting Barack Obama as saying that "there might have been improved security even without the surge. What's your response to that?" But what viewers saw next was not what the Arizona senator said next, an out-of-order sequence that news organizations generally do not allow. It was McCain's earlier comment that "Senator Obama has...

Does anyone have a link, example or opinion about the "eco costs" associated with eating off of paper plates versus porcelain ones in the work place? Pretty fine-tuned debate, I know, but a co-worker was making a big point today of not eating lunch at work off the provided paper plates. I mentioned that it might actually be less "damaging" to the environment not to have everyone standing in line at the sink with the hot water running washing their plates after lunch. She was not buying it, but hell, I don't know if I was either. Your thoughts?