Free Republic

Five years ago an elderly Los Angeles woman who had agreed to move out of her daughter's apartment bought a handgun. She cleared the background check, passed the safety test and practiced on targets at the local shooting range. Then she shot and killed her daughter and her daughter's fiance - my brother David. As someone who has lost a member of my family to gun violence, I see the new federal legislation to limit gun manufacturers' liability as unconscionable beyond my ken. But what troubles me most is that the gun control lobby is pouring its resources into battles...

CONWAY — Two people are in critical condition and the husband of one of the victims is in custody following a midnight shooting yesterday in Madison. Edwin A. Valdez Aguilar, 26, is being held in lieu of $500,000 cash bail in the Carroll County House of Correction on two counts of attempted second-degree murder. Madison Police Chief John Pickering says Valdez Aguilar, from El Salvador, has been in this country illegally since 1999 and has been living in town off and on for the past several years. The victims, Valdez Aguilar’s wife, Sarah Pelligrino Valdez, and a friend, Anthony Gentile,...

Michael Kinsley: The flat tax is a bad idea, as viable as a flat earth By MICHAEL KINSLEY Guest Commentary IT IS TRUE that the Republicans are the party of ideas and the Democrats are the party of reaction. Republicans set the agenda, and Democrats try to talk the country out of it. But the Republican Party is hardly the Institute for Advanced Studies. The GOP uses ideas like seasonal sports equipment — taking them out when needed, then scraping the mud off and stuffing them back into the garage until they are needed again. Remember term limits for members...

By Bruce Mohl, Globe Staff | August 10, 2005 For the first time ever, Massachusetts auto insurance companies will seek a rate cut for drivers next year, according to two company officials involved in the deliberations. The industry's proposal would guarantee Massachusetts drivers a break on their premiums and may make it more difficult for Governor Mitt Romney to sell lawmakers on a sweeping overhaul of the state's heavily regulated system for setting rates. The two company officials, who asked for anonymity in advance of the rate filing tomorrow, said the auto insurance carriers will seek a 0.1 percent decrease...

Not a burden: Keep NH government a light load THE BEAUTY of federalism is made plain each April, coincident with the melting of New Hampshire snow and the blooming of cherry trees in Washington. This is the month the Tax Foundation, a non-profit institute that supports limited government and low taxes, releases its annual ranking of each state’s combined state and local tax burden. The tax burden is the percentage of personal income paid in state and local taxes in each state. As usual, New Hampshire imposes one of the lightest tax burdens of any state in the country. This...

PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT JOHN KERRY: Several months ago, in Detroit, we had an investigation at which over 150 honorably discharged, and many very highly decorated, veterans testified to war crimes committed in Southeast Asia. These were not isolated incidents, but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis, with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command. It is impossible to describe to you exactly what did happen in Detroit--the emotions in the room, and the feelings of the men who were reliving their experiences in Vietnam. They relived the absolute horror of what this country, in a sense, made them...