Free Republic

Todd Platts York, PA - U.S. Rep. Todd Platts, R-York County, said he simply meant to inform leaders of local tea party group York 912 Patriots of federal election law that may apply to them. But the 912 Patriots allege that Platts' advice was an "intimidation tactic." Specifically, Platts told the 912 Patriots leaders that the money they spend, combined with their attempts to remove him from office, may oblige them to register with the Federal Election Commission. On Tuesday, the group put out a press release accusing the congressman of using "intimidation tactics in an attempt to silence the...

For decades, the Americans for Tax Reform founder has locked in lawmakers to oppose new taxes. The deficit debate is his greatest triumph—and biggest test

WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court Thursday upheld an Arizona law that can put employers from fast-food chains to farms out of business for hiring illegal immigrants, sparking fears among businesses that they will be hamstrung by a patchwork of state regulations. The 5-3 ruling split the business community from immigration hardliners who hailed it as an affirmation of states' rights to crack down on illegal migrants. The Legal Arizona Workers Act requires employers to use a federal system called E-Verify to check employees' legal status. It says the state can revoke charters or licenses from employers that repeatedly hire noncitizens lacking work...

I have been engaging in a tit for tat with some liberals on Facebook. As treasurer of our temple, I had to write a check from our "social action" fund for one of our members to attend some Reform Jewish political action conference. She was gloating about it on FB. Here's my reply. It should send them into a frenzy: " I admit I had the same feelings about that check for the conference on how to extort more from the taxpayers as either of us would sending a check to the Moral Majority. Religion and politics are an explosive...

The record is already full of stories about Harrisburg Mayor Linda Thompson’s fits of temper and unwillingness to compromise. But now, her former spokesman has added a different hue to some of those discussions inside the mayor’s suite. According to Chuck Ardo, several times during his stint in City Hall the mayor made targeted references to a person’s sexual orientation or religious heritage that Ardo said crossed the line of appropriateness for a public official. Even an angry one.

The last time these columns were lambasted by a presidential candidate in Iowa, he was Democrat Richard Gephardt and the year was 1988. The Missouri populist won the state caucuses in part on the rallying cry that "we've got to stop listening to the editorial writers and the establishment," especially about ethanol and trade. Imagine our amusement to find Republican Newt Gingrich joining such company. View Full Image Associated Press The former Speaker blew through Des Moines last Tuesday for the Renewable Fuels Association summit, and his keynote speech to the ethanol lobby was as pious a tribute to the...

President Obama says he wants to purge regulations that are "just plain dumb," like his humorous State of the Union bit about salmon. So perhaps he should review a new rule that is supposed to prevent oil spills akin to the Gulf Coast disaster—at the nation's dairy farms. Two weeks ago, the Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule that subjects dairy producers to the Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure program, which was created in 1970 to prevent oil discharges in navigable waters or near shorelines. Naturally, it usually applies to oil and natural gas outfits. But the EPA has discovered...

If you travel to France, as I did last week, a French dinner companion will eventually tell you: "We were all so proud of America when you elected Barack Obama president." It's a condescending thing to say, but the sentiment springs from an affectionate place, and I myself am proud that my native land two years ago affirmed its vigorously multicultural character, repudiating, if only by proxy, its racist past, something no one is likely to do in France, Italy, Germany or England anytime soon. What I don't like is when American expatriates tell me that Mr. Obama's election made...

Funny video http://vimeo.com/16072732

http://www.fhu.com/make-mine-freedom.html This was made in 1948. It is timely, today.

A video worth seeing. It'll make you laugh. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCRNCoOoGbU

IR-2010-103, Oct. 12, 2010 WASHINGTON — The IRS today issued a draft Form W-2 for 2011, which employers use to report wages and employee tax withholding. The IRS also announced that it will defer the new requirement for employers to report the cost of coverage under an employer-sponsored group health plan, making that reporting by employers optional in 2011. The draft Form W-2 includes the codes that employers may use to report the cost of coverage under an employer-sponsored group health plan. The Treasury Department and the IRS have determined that this relief is necessary to provide employers the time...

DETROIT – New General Motors Co. CEO Daniel Akerson will get the same $9 million pay package as the man he replaced, Ed Whitacre. Akerson, a former telecommunications industry and private equity executive, will receive $1.7 million in annual salary, $5.3 million in short-term stock payable over the next three years, and another $2 million in stock that's part of the company's long-term executive compensation plan. The automaker, which is 60.8 percent owned by the U.S. government, disclosed the pay package in a filing on Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It is identical to what the company disclosed...

I'm thinking of getting a Palm Pre Plus from ATT or Verizon as a successor to my Palm Centro. Does anyone have any thoughts about this?

Can fart jokes save the reading souls of boys? You better hope so. Boys have lagged behind girls in reading achievement for more than 20 years, but the gender gap now exists in nearly every state and has widened to mammoth proportions -- as much as 10 percentage points in some, according to the Center on Education Policy. "It certainly should set off alarm bells," said the center's director, Jack Jennings. "It's a significant separation." Parents of reluctant readers complain that boys are forced to stick to stuffy required school lists that exclude nonfiction or silly subjects, or have teachers...

A former state prison inmate who alleges he was humiliated at a halfway house in York City -- including by a dismissive comment about his manhood -- is suing the facility and seven women staff members. The federal civil-rights lawsuit, filed Tuesday, states that Jason L. Zullinger, 34, of Harrisburg, had to provide regular urine samples to the all-female staff of the York County Community Corrections Center Halfway House, 317 W. Market St., despite the fact that state regulations require samples to be taken by a person of the same gender. On Aug. 12, a staff member identified in the...

Singer Jimmy Buffett is just another mad Gulf Coast native when it comes to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, but with an exception: He's got millions of fans and a way to help lift spirits over the seemingly endless crisis. Buffett and his Coral Reefer Band will play Sunday on the beach in Gulf Shores, Ala., which has been sporadically hit by oil for weeks. The show already has been postponed once because of Hurricane Alex, and Buffet is hoping bad weather lurking in the Gulf doesn't create problems this weekend.

A video worth seeing. http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=ZprVPKi-W6s

The York City School Board is considering how to revise its school visitors policy so that parents and guardians without proper identification still get into the district's school buildings for emergencies involving their children or to meet with teachers. The board discussed the visitors policy during Monday's meeting. It will come up for a vote next month, said Marjorie Orr, who leads the board's general policy committee. The current visitors policy requires that all visitors, including parents and guardians must register at the schools' offices and present valid state-issued photo identification, driver's license, government or military identification. "We have parents...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Organizers of tax-day tea parties are having their biggest day of the year Thursday, as thousands of demonstrators participate in local rallies against high taxes and big government spending. But the leaders are striving to keep the rallies from presenting another image: one of fringe groups, extremists or infiltrators obsessed with hateful messages. Sensitive that poor public perception could sink their movement, some rally planners have uninvited controversial speakers, beefed up security and urged participants to pack cameras to capture evidence of any disrupters. Organizers want to project a peaceful image of people upset by what...