Free Republic

Last December, it was already becoming apparent that state governments across America were headed for some dire financial straits. Even the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, hardly a free market think tank, said at that time thirteen states were facing revenue shortfalls totaling $23 billion. Of course, these quickly became the “good ole days” once the Center released an updated analysis this summer, showing twenty-nine states facing shortfalls of $48 billion. How did things get so out of control, so quickly? Not surprisingly, it started with rampant overspending. In fact, the average state grew government by 9.3% last year...

The word from Capitol Hill is that efforts by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and her Democrat colleagues to silence talk radio and shut down Internet access are picking up steam. And a struggling House Minority is doing everything it can to slow down the Majority assault on Freedom of Speech. Ms. Pelosi, for her part, has openly boasted of helping lead the efforts to resurrect the moribund “Fairness Doctrine” and has personally helped quash efforts by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) to get the onerous measure permanently repealed. At present, Mr. Pence’s bill, the Broadcaster Freedom Act, is buried in...

It’s one of the most compelling storylines of the current composition of the U.S. Supreme Court – the notion that a 5-4 conservative majority could end up blocking the left-leaning agenda of a unified Democratic power structure in Washington. It may also be the next battleground in America’s emerging presidential slugfest, as supporters of Barack Obama are already sounding the alarm that their candidate’s so-called progressive agenda could be stymied by “judges appointed during the right’s ascendancy.” Columnist E.J. Dionne, Jr. lent voice to this so-called populist rage last month, bemoaning the “danger” inherent in the Court’s recent “spate of...

“Every crisis presents an opportunity.” Sure, it’s one of the oldest clichés in the book. But clichés don’t find their way into “the book” without invoking some elemental, common sense wisdom. Of course, since such wisdom is generally anathema to our elected officials’ way of thinking, expecting them to behave any differently during the current economic malaise than they have in previous downturns is probably wishful thinking. In a nutshell, here’s the predicament government budget writers are facing – the property taxes that provide their main source of revenue are plummeting alongside national home prices, which suffered a record dip...

While much of the U.S. Constitution invites legitimate debate as to the “Framer’s Intent,” the twenty-eight words which comprise the Tenth Amendment are as unambiguous as they are forgotten. “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” One of the clearest and most compelling proofs that our Founding Fathers indeed envisaged a limited federal government, the Tenth Amendment is a vital safeguard against an overreaching central authority. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most routinely discarded pieces of our...

When John McCain joined Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in jumping on the “cap-and-trade” bandwagon for carbon emissions earlier this month, he claimed that the proposal “will create jobs, improve livelihoods, and strengthen futures across our country.” How politically-astute of him. In addition to appeasing the energy and environmental lobbies in Washington – both of which favor cap-and-trade for equally self-serving purposes – Mr. McCain is also throwing a bone to the fiscal conservatives whose votes he needs in November if he is to have any chance of winning the White House. There’s only one problem with Mr. McCain’s...

There are many ironies associated with “Ronald Reagan’s Eleventh Commandment,” but perhaps the greatest irony of all is that this outdated Republican Party maxim didn’t originate with the Gipper. Those famous words “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican” were actually conceived by former California GOP Chairman Gaylord Parkinson, largely to spare Reagan’s 1966 gubernatorial campaign from the same liberal Republican attacks that sank the 1964 presidential bid of Barry Goldwater. Yet nearly a half century later, with an increasing number of Republicans wandering further than ever off of the “Reagan reservation,” the Eleventh Commandment has not only...

Under current law, the power to govern public employees and unions is left to the states, including rules for collective bargaining, Right to Work protections, etc. In 23 states, workers have the right to work even if they do not wish to join a union, which is, of course, as it should be. That could all change, however, if the so-called, “Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2007,” is enacted into law. The bill – which does anything but promote “employer-employee cooperation,” and actually would endanger “public safety” – has already passed the House of Representatives by an overwhelming 314-97...

Should Congress be allowed via earmark to fund a lobbying organization which is promoting passage of another bill? The National Center for Public Policy Research doesn’t think so, and they have noted an extremely egregious example, where included in the 2005 transportation bill was a $1 million earmark slipped in by Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) for the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Foundation. That lobbying organization then turned around and lobbied, undoubtedly using that funding, for passage of the “Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008” to create the aptly titled, “Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area”, which runs from Gettysburg,...

Anteiglesia is not a term with which today’s politicians are particularly familiar. But, perhaps, they should be. In the Spanish Basque country, in the Middle Ages, anteiglesia was the name given to the periodic meetings of the local townspeople who gathered “in front of the church” to robustly discuss the important issues of the day and vote the people’s will. It was in some ways similar to the “town meetings” some politicians stage today – but not really. At the ancient anteiglesia, what was said actually mattered. This was brought to mind earlier this week when former House Speaker Newt...

If the globaloneyists had their way, a man named Jed would still be “a poor mountaineer who barely kept his family fed.” In the short span of 30 years, the Greens have cooked up massive global warming hysteria, stood in the way additional oil exploration and gasoline refinement, and refused to allow viable alternatives to oil (nuclear, coal, natural gas, etc.) to even be seriously considered. As Americans consider proposals for a national energy policy, it is important to keep in mind the words of Lincoln: “He has the right to criticize who has the heart to help.” For all...

It’s no secret that elected officials are prone to viewing the world through the distorted prism of their own indispensability. In fact, an old Washington, D.C. proverb maintains that “every Congressman looks in the mirror and sees a Senator – and every Senator looks in the mirror and sees a President.” Appropriately dubbed the “mirror syndrome,” this tendency of politicians to regard themselves as transcendent figures doesn’t stop at the banks of the Potomac. Sadly, it extends to state capitals and seats of local government all across our nation. In last month’s New York Times, for example, a Nebraska State...

As the prices of food and energy continue to rise globally and the dollar remains weak, the presidential candidates appear to be haplessly ignoring any practicable solutions which would strengthen the dollar and bring the prices of commodities down, leaving Americans in the fast lane on the Road to Perdition. Instead, they appear to be content campaigning on high fuel costs in order to promote their own agendas, whether that includes decreased taxation or more, less regulation or more, spending cuts or increases. None have promoted a defense of the dollar as the means of bringing down the costs of...

The Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy Upon the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, hundreds of millions of Americans rejoiced as with a voice. And a grateful world watched in awe as the Doomsday Clock was turned back. But, what, some may wonder, ever became of the Soviet apologists here in the U.S. You probably remember these types. Telling Americans how wondrous the Soviet economy was, when it wasn’t. How much smarter the Soviet scientists were, when they weren’t. How benevolent their dictators were – even while without remorse their killing fields, gulags, State-sanctioned famines and genocides eliminated over 100 million...

“The beauty of America is that everyone has a right to say what they want…it’s one of the fundamentals of our Democracy.” – Joey Vento, owner of Geno’s Steaks. Until about two years ago- Geno’s Steaks, on the corner of 9th and Passayunk in Philadelphia, was little more than a local legend. However, that all changed in June of 2006 when owner Joey Vento garnered national attention regarding a sign he posted in hiws business’s window that read, “This is America – When ordering, please speak English.” To most observers, this seemed like an entirely reasonable request, since the U.S....