Free Republic

Christos voskrese, which means Christ has Risen, is the Easter greeting in Church Slavonic which brings the response Voistinu voskrese or Indeed, He has risen. Easter, of course, celebrates the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus and the salvation of Man. The date for Easter is the Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox, which is always reckoned, regardless of astronomical observations, to be March 21 as per the Western churches that use the Gregorian calendar, so Easter always falls between March 22 and April 25.

But through a series of legendary — and somewhat controversial — academic papers published over the past decade, Acemoglu has persuasively challenged many of the previous theories. (If poverty were primarily the result of geography, say, or an unfortunate history, how can we account for the successes of Botswana, Costa Rica or Thailand?) Now, in their new book, “Why Nations Fail,” Acemoglu and his collaborator, James Robinson, argue that the wealth of a country is most closely correlated with the degree to which the average person shares in the overall growth of its economy. It’s an idea that was first...

The State House okayed the changes the Senate made to HB 934 -- the rational, reasonable bill requiring voters present identification albeit not necessarily photo identification -- yesterday, March 15, and Gov. Tom Corbett signed it into law a few hours later. The Democrats strongly fought the bill and are pledging legal challenges to it.

The Pennsylvania House Committee has scheduled a hearing at 11 a.m., today, March 12 regarding HB 1270 which was submitted by Rep. Tom Creighton (R-37) and would change the way Pennsylvania casts its Electoral College votes for president by aligning them with the national popular vote. The bill has 34 co-sponsors, 24 of whom are Democrats.

The Pennsylvania Senate, yesterday, March 7, passed HB 934 that would require voters to present identification at polling places and in applications for absentee ballots. The vote was 26-23 with all Democrats opposed along with Republicans Stewart Greenleaf of the 12th District, and Mary Jo White of the 21st District, Jane Earll of the 49th District. Not voting was Republican Jane Orie of the 40th District. The bill which was introduced March 4, 2011 by Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-12) passed the state House June 23, 108-88 and had been languishing in the Senate to the dismay of Tea Party and...

Bloomberg.com reported, Feb. 1, that Goldman Sachs Group workers contributed $106,580 to Mitt Romney's presidential bid in the fourth quarter of last year and that Goldie is his largest source of campaign bucks at a half-million total so far. Goldman Sachs does like to spread its money around. It gave boatloads to Barack Obama and got Timothy Geithner as secretary of the treasury in return, along with a whole lot of bonus people. . . . In other Goldman Sachs news, its CEO, Lloyd Blankfein, became the first national corporate spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, a homosexual advocacy group....

The denizens of the Philadelphia Inquirer are wishin' and hopin' and, well not prayin' of course, that their sinking ship is purchased by a group of city business leaders organized by famous Philadelphia sports fan Ed Rendell who one-time chaired the Democrat National Committee and was once our governor.

Sam Rohrer brought his freedom movement -- the phrase he feels is more comprehensive than "tea party" -- to Newtown Square, tonight, Feb. 1, as he begins in earnest his campaign to be the Republican to take on incumbent Bob Casey in this fall's U.S. Senate race. The nominee will be decided at the April 24 primary election. The Republican establishment has shamelessly endorsed Chester County businessman Steve Welch despite Welch having had voted for Barack Obama and given money to Democrat Congressman Joe Sestak. Rohrer and others in the Knights of Columbus Hall on Route 252 described the apparently...

The Pennsylvania Republican establishment, Saturday, Jan. 28, overwhelmingly endorsed a Chester County reputed Obama-supporter to take on incumbent Democrat Bob Casey in this fall's U.S. Senate race. Steve Welch, a businessman who has never held elected office, received 182 votes before the GOP State Committee. Coming in second was coal industry executive Tom Smith with 51 votes. Following them were Washington County businessman and erstwhile 12th District congressional candidate Tim Burns, 47 votes; former State and gubernatorial candidate Sam Rohrer with 33 votes; and Dauphin County attorney and former Sen. Rick Santorum staffer Marc Scaringi with 6.

In the month marking the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade, several House members held an event in Harrisburg this week to urge action on the Women’s Right-to-Know Act, said State Rep. Jim Cox (R-129). House Bill 1077 would offer every pregnant woman in Pennsylvania seeking an abortion the opportunity to view and receive a printed copy of an ultrasound image of her unborn child. In addition, any questions a woman would have as a result of the ultrasound, including those involving gestational age and general developmental health, would have to be answered fully and completely....

Republican candidate for the US Senate, Sam Rohrer, will hold a town hall meeting, 7 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 1 at Knights of Columbus Mater Dei Hall, 327 N. Newtown Street Road, Newtown Square, PA 19073 in Newtown Township.

The (Pa) House Committee on State Government, yesterday, Jan. 24, voted overwhelmingly to send to the House floor a bill that would cut representation in Harrisburg. The bill, HB 153, would cut the number of representatives in the State House from 203 to 153. It would leave the membership of the state Senate unchanged at 50. The bill would also mandate that counties, municipalities and wards not be divided in forming a senatorial or representative district which would about the only bright side of this wealth and power grab. The argument for the bill is to cut cost since the...

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa) tweeted 20 minutes ago (about 8:25 p.m., Jan. 18) that he will not support either the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) in their present forms. "Piracy of intellectual property is a legitimate concern that should be addressed. However, the PROTECT IP Act and the Stop Internet Piracy Act are flawed, and I cannot support them in their current form. I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues on this issue and finding a better legislative approach for tackling online piracy," Sen. Toomey said.

Pennsylvania Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi will face a Tea Party challenger for his 9th District seat this April 24 in the Republican Primary. The challenger, Rogers Howard is a Unionville resident with a PhD. in Chemistry.

Tea Party activist Bob Guzzardi has compiled a list of Republican legislators that have accepted contributions from the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA). The PSEA is the union that represents most public school teachers in the state and, ironically, is very likely the most anti-child, anti-education and anti-senior citizen organization in the state. Here is Bob's list -- with his comments -- of those who accepted contributions in 2010, which was the last legislative election year:

The Philadelphia Archdiocese announced, yesterday, that the 49 of its schools will be shut forever come June. (snip) Who is to blame? A lot, maybe most, of the parents who send their kids to these Catholic schools are died-in-the wool Democrats who'd rather have a toenail ripped out than vote Republican, as are a lot, maybe most, of the teachers at these places. They cannot even begin to get their minds around the fact that their party is the puppet of the PSEA, the union that represents most Pennsylvania public school teachers (and nurses and librarians etc.) and that fights...

Pennsylvania collected $2.3 billion in state taxes in December which was $141.5 million less than anticipated for the month. Year-to-date revenue collections are now $11.6 billion which is $487 million less than expected.

Can anyone in Iowa tell me what Santorum said about bringing back ethanol subsides/saving mandates? If he campaigned on doing that, I'm going back to Perry. It's still ABR in the primary.

Congratulations Rick Santorum. Considering the puff coverage, establishment support and personal fortune of your main opponent, a second place Iowa finish eight votes back of Mitt Romney can count as a win. Especially taking into account that if it were a two-man race it would have been a landslide for you. Also, it is very nice that Newt Gingrich seems to be staying in the race for the sole purpose of torturing Romney, whose first name which he never uses just happens to be Willard. Yes, just like the movie.

On the Third Day of Christmas (Dec. 27), the former senator who resided in Pennsylvania but represented himself for 30 years took to the stage of the Helium Comedy Club in Philadelphia to really let we Keystone Staters know what kind of cue balls we have been. (snip) "Bill Clinton is a friend of mine because I was a friend of his," he joshed. "I voted not to impeach him. And that's a hell of a thing to do considering the evidence." So much for "Scottish law".