Free Republic

In America today there are an estimated 7 million illegal immigrants. Many say that these immigrants drive down wages for hard working Americans. Others say that they introduce new problems into our education system and drain resources from our entitlement programs. Though the problems are [somewhat] clearly defined, the solution is not. While I do not generally support the idea of giving special privileges to certain groups of people, especially ones who purposely and knowingly break the law, in this situation there is no other logical or practical solution. America is like a baker that has left a window open...

Republicans are not the only ones in Washington, DC waging a war. The Democrats have been pursuing a publicity war over the direction the U.S. should take in Iraq—wasting time and resources to advance their political party before the 2008 presidential elections. President Bush has vowed to veto any emergency spending bill that puts a timeline in place for troop withdrawal out of Iraq. Still, without the votes to overturn the veto, the Democrats have insisted on passing legislation in the House and Senate that is ridden with millions of dollars in pork, and a firm “Surrender Date” that is...

Love him or hate him, President Bush has been on the forefront of the international genocide debate concerning Darfur. Bush was the first to call the mass killings "genocide", setting himself, and America for that matter, apart from the U.N. This week, Bush was prepared to give a scathing speech at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, but reluctantly agreed to tone his remarks down after a series of phone calls with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who still believes that diplomacy can stop the bloodshed. Though the speech did not introduce new, tougher U.S. sanctions on Sudan, as orginally planned,...

For some women, the biggest decision of their lives may be whether to abort a pregnancy. The physical and mental ramifications of choosing abortion can cause a lifetime of pain, sorrow, and regret. To balance these perceived ills, the South Carolina legislature is considering a bill that would require women to view ultrasounds of their fetuses before making a final decision. One of the biggest opponents of the measure, Representative Gilda Cobb-Hunter (D-SC) told MSNBC, "It suggests that women don't know what they're doing, that they've arrived at this decision quite lightly, and nothing could be further from the truth.”...

Although I have never been compelled by "slippery slope" arguments, something has to account for the recent popularity in the government banning commonplace practices such as talking on the phone, eating fatty foods, and listening to music. It started with the cell phone ban. Many of us did not protest the ban... after all, no one likes to deal with idiots swerving on the road with their cell phones. So when the government stepped in no one complained. Like the cell phone ban, which seemed to catch on like wildfire, banning smoking in bars also became popular. For many, it...

This week, the Supreme Court handed down a decision that allows the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles. The Bush Administration and the EPA argued that they do not have the authority to regulate emissions, and even if they did, this was not the right time to do so. However, the court decided not to defer to the government this time, stirring up several important fundamental issues. First, what is the role of government in protecting the environment? As Milton Friedman would say, government should ensure that one individual's freedom does not hamper another individual's...