Free Republic

The European Union is a horrible, stupid project. The idea that unification would create an economy that could compete with China and be more like the United States is pure garbage. What ruined China, throughout history, is the top-down state. What made Europe great was the diversity: political and economic. Having the same currency, the euro, was a terrible idea. It encouraged everyone to borrow to the hilt. The most stable country in the history of mankind, and probably the most boring, by the way, is Switzerland. It’s not even a city-state environment; it’s a municipal state. Most decisions are...

The European Central Bank (ECB) could take on the key role of supervising the eurozone's strained banking system very quickly if necessary, a German financial daily reported on Tuesday. "The institution is credible; it could do it and quickly," French central bank head Christian Noyer told Tuesday's edition of Germany's Handelsblatt business daily. "All we need is a plan for overall supervision of the eurozone banks. It that was ready today, then you could put it into effect tomorrow," he said. …

Wolfgang Schäuble calls for more political clout in Brussels. The European Commission should develop into a true government, says the Finance Minister in a Spiegel interview. He expected that the Germans must therefore vote on a new constitution. … "The Europe of the future, not a federal state, will be modeled after the U.S. and Germany. It will have its own structure. This is a very exciting experiment," said Schäuble. The Minister of Finance warned forcefully not to place the common currency at risk: "There is a real danger that in a breakup of the euro, as I believe (won't...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday (4 June) said she supports more integration in the eurozone—a veiled reference to pooling debt provided EU institutions gain more supervisory powers. "We need more Europe, not less, especially in the eurozone. This means that EU institutions, the EU commission included, should be granted more possibilities to control. Otherwise it would be impossible for a currency union to work," Merkel said alongside EU commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso who visited her in Berlin ahead of a 28-29 June summit. Recognizing that her hard-fought-for treaty on fiscal discipline—signed in March by 25 EU states—is "a...

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi called on European politicians to come up with a vision for the euro zone for the years ahead to better tackle the region's debt crisis and to restore confidence, with greater centralization of financial sector regulation as the first possible step. "The sooner the vision is clarified the better for the European Union," Draghi said Thursday at a hearing in front of the European Parliament's Committee of Monetary and Financial Affairs. More centralized banking supervision is necessary for large banking groups that are systemically significant for the financial sector of a country, he said....

The European Union needs to become more integrated with a common finance policy and a central government, German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble said Wednesday (16 May). "I would be for the further development of the European Commission into a government. I am for the election of a European president, he said at an event in Aachen, reports Reuters. "I am in favor of being more courageous on Europe," said Schäuble, who is one of the German government's most pro-European ministers. He said this is a long-term response to the current eurozone crisis, which many have said has been exacerbated by...

Newt Gingrich took the stage at the Georgia Republican Party state convention on Saturday wearing a Mitt Romney sticker, focusing his attacks on President Barack Obama and attempting to energize the crowd around his former Republican rival. "To every conservative, everywhere in America: When your choice on the one hand is Barack Obama, and your choice on the other hand is Mitt Romney, no serious conservative could possibly believe that electing Barack Obama is acceptable ... for America."

A key House Republican says the $2 billion trading loss at JPMorgan Chase raises critical questions about how banks control their risks. But Republican lawmakers rejected calls from Democrats for stricter regulation. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, Republican chairman of the House Financial Services subcommittee, noted the loss during a hearing about how best to regulate banks big enough to bring down the broader financial system. Lawmakers said a firm's character should count when regulators determine if they are "systemically important financial institutions." Such a designation would subject them to a stricter level of oversight. The panel's hearing on a key...

Many people with whom I talk about politics with are stunned by my constant assertions that America is not supposed to be a democracy. I credit public education for this. The fact is that most people are almost totally ignorant of history and completely brain-dead about the Constitution. Our Founding Fathers did not give us a democracy, nor did they intend to. They were very well-educated men (especially by today's standards), and they knew, historically, democracies had never worked, even on the small scales when they had been attempted. They knew if democracy wouldn't work on the small scale of...

In the heat of the electoral controversy — the worst possible time to make constitutional decisions — many people, such as Senator-elect Hillary Rodham Clinton, are calling for an end to the Electoral College. Big mistake. Someone once said, Don’t knock down a wall merely because you cannot immediately see what it’s good for. The same can be said for the Electoral College. We should keep in mind that the Founding Fathers were of somewhat better caliber than the politician you are likely to see on television, including those with presidential ambitions. The Electoral College was not an idea floating...

This weblog calls for the repeal of the 17th Amendment and addresses the abusive hegemony committed by the U. S. Senate. If Americans want to remove some corruption from government, the first significant step is to repeal the 17th Amendment. Americans should fear the steady growth by the oligarchy in the Senate. We should fear the oligarchs more because our Constitution cannot be spoiled by bombs, the courts, or the President; only through legislation.

In one of the greatest moments in Simpsons history, two giant, slimy, space aliens — Kang and Kodos — take the forms of Bob Dole and Bill Clinton, rival candidates in the 1996 presidential election, as a prelude to taking over the planet. Newcomers to American politics, needless to say, the aliens are less polished then your typical pol. But the body snatcher Dole is a fast learner. At a debate he takes the stand and booms in a rich baritone: "Abortions for all!" The crowd boos. "Very well," he responds, "no abortions for anyone." The crowd boos again. Kang-Dole...

Prospects for Conservatives Part III The Behemoth State: Centralization By Russell KirkThe Heritage FoundationLecture Number Two Hundred and Ninety-Three September 19, 1990 All present in this room today are aware that the word "federal" does not mean "central." But the Congress of the United States, in recent decades, and frequently the Executive force, too, have been behaving as if unable to discern any distinction between the two terms. That way lies the collapse of the Constitution. A simple instance of this occurred on Capitol Hill only nine days ago. We now have a new statute that prohibits servants of...