Free Republic

U.S. citizens have a brand-new tool to gauge how well their government is performing -- at least, when it comes to IT. Cringely says it's about time. Want to know exactly where all those ducats you reluctantly turned over to our Uncle in Washington are going? Things just got a little clearer today, at least in terms of our tech taxes. Today at the Personal Democracy Forum in New York City, federal tech czar Vivek Kundra unveiled the new IT Dashboard at USAspending.gov, which shows you exactly where all those sawbucks are flowing, in dollar amounts that could make you...

Let’s face it, times are tough. With the federal excise-tax increase just going into effect on smokers (and some are bound to be unemployed), it is a cold slap in the face. A friend I know who teaches in prison was talking to a teen inmate who said he was glad excise taxes on cigarettes were going so sky high. When he was questioned why, he replied, “It gives me one more thing I can sell on the street.” Organized crime, street gangs and terrorists are not stupid. They know a good opportunity when the see it. Cigarette smuggling will...

While in Mexico last month, I witnessed U.S. Rep. Joseph Sestak, D-7 of Edgmont, comment on CNN, when interviewed by John Kane, “We are a nation of laws, not men.” I was taught we are a nation of people with “unalienable rights” and laws were adopted by our elected representatives to guarantee these rights and protect our republic form of government from aggression. Since Congressman Sestak believes we are a nation of laws, I wonder when he will begin to enforce these laws and inform his constituents of the dangers confronting America by organizations admitted to this country, such as...

Wednesday was the dreaded Ides of April — April 15, the deadline for Americans to file their state and federal income taxes. And thousands of citizens, all over the country, took to the streets to protest at so-called “Tea Parties.” What, exactly, were they protesting? Well, paying their taxes, of course. Bailouts of big banks and automakers. A “Big Brother” government that might try to take away their guns or put their names on “watch lists” of conservative activists. It was, of course, all nonsense. The Obama administration hasn’t raised any federal taxes, except those on tobacco products. It has...

In a sense it should never have come to this. George W. Bush should never have been permitted to complete two full terms in the role of president of the United States for so many reasons. Attaining the highest of offices by unsavory means — it took the Supreme Court stopping the legitimate counting of votes in Florida, disrespecting the will of the people across this country along with the spirit of the Constitution. That was only the beginning of the contempt Mr. Bush would show for the document he couldn’t even remember swearing an oath to protect and defend...

Our teenagers are on their own By Mary McGrory, 3/9/2001 WASHINGTON THE TEENAGERS WHO survived the latest school shooting are blaming themselves for what happened. That is as it should be. They should bear the burden of our national disgrace - for not telling us what was coming. The blood of the two dead and the 13 wounded is not on our hands. We have provided security guards and the latest technology in gun detection. After the shooting stopped, we sent in legions of grief counselors and psychiatrists to comfort and reassure the trembling children. We are going to charge ...

A class rejects forced religion, patriotism By Patrick Welsh My seniors at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Va., have been both annoyed and amused by a year-old state law that has made them start each day with a moment of silence, during which "each pupil may, in the exercise of his or her individual choice, meditate, pray or engage in any other silent activity." Though teachers enforce it, the moment has become a joke throughout most of the school. But students are not joking about a bill that passed the just-concluded Assembly this weekend and is expected to be ...

George Needles called here the other day looking for an answer to a question. He’d already called AT&T, his local school district (Penn-Delco) and several politicians. No satisfaction. What he wanted was an explanation of an item on his phone bill that he’d never noticed before. Something called the National Access Contribution. "AT&T told me that it went to schools and libraries. I said ‘what do you mean? What is it?’ And she said, ‘It’s a tax.’ I said, ‘I pay taxes as it is for my own schools.’" But the woman just repeated herself. So George Needles said ...

Dear Bill: Can I call you Bill? I know it is more appropriate for us to address you as Mr. President. But over these past eight years I feel like I’ve really gotten to know you, personally, even without ever meeting you. Though I know people who have, my dad for one. It was just a handshake, going through a receiving line, but you sure impressed him. That must be some handshake you have. There have been others. I recently talked to a guy who met you three times. The first time, he said, he couldn’t help liking you, even ...

Phonics: It is a legitimate teaching method, not a right-wing conspiracy When the Texas State Board of Education recently required that elementary textbooks be more phonics-friendly, anti-phonics forces ran true to form. Employing a tactic they have used not just in Texas but across the nation, they portrayed phonics as something right wingers want to impose upon schools in order to keep kids from thinking for themselves. Conservatives "have a paranoia about teaching children to think critically," said a representative of the Texas Freedom Network, a group established to counter conservative influence. Marian Joseph finds this charge bizarre. A Californian, ...

Susan Angry plans to leave her residence in Kennett Square for the July 4 holiday to spend part of her day in Delaware County. But, unlike thousands of other travelers, she won’t be frolicking on her jaunt. Angry and at least 35 other senior citizens plan to march in Swarthmore’s Fourth of July parade as part of a grassroots effort tagged "Grandmothers for Gun Control." "We don’t know what effect it will have, but we will do our best," the 75-year-old Kendal resident said. Charlotte Bartlett, 75, also of Kendal, is helping to organize the effort with fellow grandmother, Caroline ...

Dear School Board Members, Subject: School Uniforms I am writing this lettter to let you know that my husband and I are opposed to the School Uniform Policy that you are trying to enact. We have three children in the School District. Having to buy uniforms and after school clothes for three children will have a big impact on us financially. If I want my children to wear uniforms and “be like everyone else” then I have the choice to send them to a private school. For a public school uniform policy to be legal, it has to have an ...

Palm Springs, Calif. - An American Airlines Boening 767 made an emergency landing yesterday after the cabin lost pressure at 31,000 feet. Six minor injuries were reported. Flight 160 was heading from San Diego to New York with 124 people aboard when a compressed air line burst in the passenger compartment, said Mitch Barker, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. Aircraft insulation spewed into the cabin, the airline said. The oxygen masks dropped, and the captian lowered the jetliner from 31,000 feet to 10,000 feet before landing safely at the Palm Springs airport about a half-hour later. The injured ...

"Public perceptions of pervasive waste. fraud, and mismanagement in the Federal Government are unfortunately acurate . . . Sloppy bookkeeping, wasteful procurement practices, "defective" contract management, lax contractor oversight, personnel abuses, freewheeling lending policies, poor inventory management, poor property management, program redundancy and duplication, and massive computer snafus are some of the seemingly intractable problems pushing government to the brink of "managerial anarchy." Is this an overstatement? Just consider some of the following items culled from the Federal Government Performance As We Near the Next Century Report . (Courtesy of Government Waste Watch--a publication of Citizens Against Government Waste) $125 ...