Free Republic

In his press conference on December 20th, President Obama urged the House of Representatives to support the Senate’s immigration bill, which passed 68-32 in late June. Among the concerns cited by Americans who oppose reform are that immigrants will take their jobs, drive down wages, increase criminal activity, burden the welfare system, and reshape the cultural dynamic of the country. These concerns are mostly ill-founded. The legitimate concerns have real solutions, and a more open immigration policy will be a net benefit for all Americans... Highlights from Article: - A 2013 study by the American Action Forum states that "immigration...

President Obama might want to forget all about 2013. In his second inaugural address in January, the president laid out a confident, liberal vision. As the year ends, none of his objectives have come to pass, his approval ratings are at historic lows and his journey has hit serious potholes on issues from healthcare to national security. Former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs summed it up when he told NBC’s “Meet the Press” this month that 2013 was “no doubt... the worst year of the presidency.” Obama cannot be held solely culpable for the lack of legislative progress. Republicans...

Israeli official says government is planning to build 1,400 housing units over Green Line; chief Palestinian negotiator warns PA would apply for membership in 63 int'l organizations, including the ICC, if Israel makes move. The Palestinian Authority said it would plan to appeal the the internationl community, including the International Criminal Court if Israel announces plans for new settlement construction next week follow the third release of Palestinian prisoner as part of an agreement for resuming negotiations. The Palestinians have said any further expansion of Israeli settlements on land they seek for a state could derail US-brokered peace talks that...

As Democrats survey a troubled 2014 political landscape, it's easy to forget how optimistic they seemed less than a year ago. "I would expect that Nancy Pelosi is going to be speaker again pretty soon," President Obama told cheering House Democrats at a party retreat last February. In the rosy scenario that took hold in some Democratic circles, the party was positioned to recapture the House in 2014 and maintain control of the Senate, allowing Obama to defy the history of second-term presidential decline. Great successes and good years lay ahead. Had Democrats forgotten Obamacare, the law they passed in...

The media, members of Congress, and the President of the United States have gleefully disseminated misinformation about what would happen if we do not raise the debt ceiling by October 17th. The biggest blow these lies encountered was when Moody’s, one of the nation's top credit rating agencies, released a memo on October 7th stating: “We believe the government would continue to pay interest and principal on its debt even in the event that the debt limit is not raised, leaving its creditworthiness intact...The debt limit restricts government expenditures to the amount of its incoming revenues; it does not prohibit...

Bashar al-Assad, the president of Syria, has joked that he deserved to win the Nobel Peace Prize after it was awarded to the international weapons watchdog currently destroying his regime's massive chemical arsenal. The prize, which was given to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on Friday, "should have been mine," he said. The remark, which the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar quoted, was made "jokingly" during a recent meeting with visitors at the presidential palace, the newspaper said. However, it might be viewed as inappropriate when uttered by a president whose civil war has already cost more than...

Given how arcane the debt-limit debate can get, wouldn’t it help if we had responsible reporting? Today’s New York Times story by Jonathan Weisman, “Many in G.O.P. Offer Theory: Default Wouldn’t Be That Bad,” seems to get the definition of “default” wrong. Or at least isn’t understanding what the GOP congressman quoted are saying. Default, in the bond market, means missing a bond payment. If you haven’t read it yet, the article quotes various Republicans who are arguing that the government will indeed be able to meet its debt obligations, for some time at least, even if the debt-limit is...

From the summary of a new Goldman Sachs research note (this is a corrected version, which restates the potential GDP drop in the final point): – The federal government has been partially shut down for 4 days, and it appears likely that the situation could continue for a while longer. As the shutdown continues, the political focus has begun to shift to the next deadline: the Treasury expects to exhaust its borrowing capacity by October 17. We expect the Treasury’s cash balance to be depleted no later than October 31 and possibly quite a bit sooner. – After October 17,...

Here is something to remember as nuclear negotiations between the West and Iran appear set to recommence: The Iranian president, Hasan Rouhani, the putative moderate on whose shoulders great American hopes have been placed, is proud of the work he did to advance his country's nuclear program — and also of his efforts to stymie Western attempts to stop that work. Rouhani didn't talk about this during his recent visit to the United Nations. He came bearing a different message: Iran seeks a peaceful resolution to its decade-old nuclear standoff with the international community. Yet in May, shortly before he...

Just about everyone worries that Beijing, perturbed by the ongoing squabble in Washington, will sour on Treasuries. This concern is embedded in the provocative title of Eamonn Fingleton’s recent Forbes posting: “If Republicans Want to Shut Down Washington, They’ll Have to Ask China’s Permission First.” The Republicans in fact did not seek Beijing’s approval, and neither did Democrats. Are both sides making a mistake by not taking into account China’s “feelings,” as the Communist Party demands everyone do? It’s clear Chinese officials are watching closely. “The United States, the world’s sole superpower, has engaged in irresponsible spending for years,” observed...

Ted Cruz: Delusional or Ingenious? by Brian Woodward As I intermittently listened to Senator Ted Cruz’s filibuster, or more correctly, his elongated speech, I heard all the arguments that have been trotted out before. He is right that this monstrosity of the Affordable Care Act will be incredibly burdensome on society. However, this is not about ideas it's about tactics. It is tiresome to hear politicos and pundits act as if the defunding of the bill is feasible. Senator Cruz knows that he cannot win and in waging this campaign he will needlessly incite increased division within the Republican party....

“We can know only that we know nothing. And that is the highest degree of human wisdom.” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace Times like this are when no one can possibly imagine the pressure that the President (as well as other top military and cabinet members) are under. No matter what President Obama chooses to do, some will assert that blood is on his hands. Geopolitics is a dirty, dangerous, and violent arena at times. Syrians are human beings just like us and 100,000 of them have already died in this civil war. Chemical weapons have been used, although...

A federal jury found former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS +2.11% trader Fabrice Tourre liable for misleading investors in a mortgage-linked deal that collapsed during the financial crisis, delivering a historic win for a U.S. regulator eager to prove its mettle inside the courtroom. The panel of nine jurors reached their verdict during the second day of deliberations, finding Mr. Tourre liable on six of seven claims that he violated federal securities law. "It was a long, slow process," said juror Beth Glover, a 47-year-old Episcopal priest, after the verdict. The victory is an important one for the Securities and...

Glenn Garvin from the Miami Herald gave some insight that probably did not make it to most of the cable news shows, that air time is reserved for doctored 911 calls, and misleading photos. Mr. Garvin wrote in his column, “There is no war on black men, at least not by white men. Last year, the Scripps-Howard News Service studied half a million homicide reports and found that killings of black victims by white attackers have actually dropped over the past 30 years, from 4,745 during the 1980s to 4,380 during the first decade of the 2000s. There were nearly...

The demonstrations in major cities across this nation came on the heels of a now somewhat famous filibuster by Wendy Davis in the Texas State Legislature. The particular bill being considered in Texas that now passed via a special session reduces the legal abortion period to 20 weeks instead of the previous 26 week statute. Supporters of the bill and pro-life advocates will reiterate such assertions as are made by Billy Lowry, the Editor of the National Review, in his latest column. It includes polls that show the majority of Texans support limiting abortions to 20 weeks and explains the...

Rand Paul explaining national security concerns on immigration bill:

#1 Eric Holder needs to be fired #2 Love these so called conservatives and proponents of "limited government" that support the violation of the 5th Amendment in the case of the Boston bomber because these are "special circumstances" don't you know? Public Safety exception? They arrest him and then tell the public that there is no remaining threat. However, they want to tell us the public is in imminent danger? This is bullshit and opens the door to government stripping our 5th amendment rights whenever they please. Also, it may keep the man from getting the federal death penalty due...

There are seven distinct ways the court could rule: If the merits are reached (meaning that the court decides the case meets the constitutional requirements to be adjudicated and a ruling released): The Nationwide Solutions: 1) The court could rule that Proposition 8 is constitutional. This would allow states to confine marriage to a union between a man and a woman. 2) The court could rule that it is a violation of the equal protections act of the 14th amendment to prevent same-sex couples from marrying. This would essentially legalize same-sex marriage in all 50 states. The 8 state solution:...

The Obama Administration’s argument failed to persuade anyone. The only thing the high court seemed to agree unanimously on was that no one considered the Obama Administration’s stance on the issue convincing. The administration’s brief calls “for the nullification of the gay marriage bans now in place in California and the seven other states that forbid gay marriage while allowing civil unions.” Essentially this position asserts that for those states which allow civil unions they will be forced to grant full marriage. It takes no position on states that have no benefits for same-sex couples. Several Justices vehemently challenged the...

Despite increased efforts, manpower, and resources, the war on drugs has been a resounding failure. W.C. fields once quipped, “If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There’s no point in being a damn fool about it.” Not only does the government continue to fail in its crusade against drugs, it continues to perpetrate a policy of immense immorality. It has been over forty years since President Richard Nixon declared war on drugs. What do we have to show for it? The United States has wasted over one trillion dollars, caused incarceration rates to exceed that of...