Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- In the gloom of the day after last week's election I think even his allies in the media expected something more from the Prophet Barack Obama. After all, he had just suffered through a wave election and he was left soaking wet. He did not merely lose this wave election. He was swamped. Republicans were victorious practically everywhere. At times they won by double digits: Senator Mitch McConnell won by 15 points, Arkansas' Senator-elect Tom Cotton by 17 points. And forget not the governorships: Ohio's John Kasich by 31 points, South Carolina's Nikki Haley by 15 points. The...

A teaching on Choice 3 of Life's Healing Choices, a book used by the Celebrate Recovery 12 Step ministry of Victory Church, Audubon, Pennsylvania. Learn how to access the power of God to overcome bondages and addiction. Here the rest of the "I once was..." series at

Here are some of the funniest reviews for Hillary’s new book on Amazon. As of right now, the 1 star reviews have a commanding lead. Sickening: I became violently ill before finishing the first chapter and had to burn it in a bio-hazard incinerator. Dangerous stuff. Boring: The directions on shampoo were more interesting than this. I feel like the Clintons owe me 4 hours of my life back. Toilet Paper: Totally unequivocally pure unadulterated stinky no good terrible crap. I would not recommend using this as toilet paper, maybe kindling, do not waste your money.

The problem with the U.S. Veterans Affairs giving inferior and delayed care to veterans is a good window into the future of Obamacare. Both the VA and Obamacare suffer the endemic problems of a government-run single-payer system (aka socialism) -- no choice of doctors or hospitals, no insurance companies, broken promises, lengthy waits and bureaucratic cover-ups. Before President Barack Obama was elected, we were assured by experts writing in the mainstream media that the VA was a U.S. health care leader and a model for the country. The New York Times oracle Paul Krugman wrote in 2011, "Yes, this is...

Afterburner with Bill Whittle: Boiling Frogs http://youtu.be/wuSjsLA9Jdo

A new CBS report highlights the story of Natalie Willes, "one of the millions of Americans who already have private health insurance but whose policies do not comply with the Affordable Care Act." "I was completely happy with the insurance I had before," Willes tells CBS. "Now I'm being forced to choose from a bunch of new plans that I don't want to choose from that are all more expensive." The report shows a clip of President Obama saying at a rally in 2010 that "if you like your insurance plan, you will keep it."

From Libya to Iran, our past actions have drastically limited our current choices. Survey the Middle East, and there is nothing about which to be optimistic. Iran is either fueling violence in Syria or racing toward a bomb, or both. Syria is past imploding. Take your pick in a now-Manichean standoff between an authoritarian, thuggish Bashar Assad and al-Qaeda franchises that envision a Taliban-like state. There is increasingly not much in between, other than the chaos of something like another Sudan. Our Libyan “leading from behind” led to Mogadishu-like chaos and Benghazi. Do we even remember the moral urgency of...

My dad used to say, "Life is a great trainer. You make your choices, and you live the consequences." Did you hear any of these statements in your home? "No pain no gain." "Don't buy what you can't afford." "Waste not; want not." "You hang out with trouble, you get trouble." Mom would add, "You're not leaving the house dressed like that!" We had parents who weren't afraid of "destroying" our self-esteem by lecturing us, disciplining us, and letting us experience what comes from handling our own disappointments and obstacles. When a teacher called, my parents didn't blame the teacher;...

Americans' affirmation of the "right to choose" is a feature of our national identity. No matter where you go or what you're doing, chances are you are confronted with a plethora of choices. Go to the supermarket and you are confronted with a dizzying array of options for each and every product you wish to buy. Seventeen brands of Greek style yogurt. Forty-five flavors of coffee creamer. Thirty-seven different kinds of peanut butter. The same may be said of cell phone carriers, automobiles, clothing brands... you name it. The freedom of "choice" also figures prominently in the political realm, and...

Asked on Friday who he’d prefer to see as Mitt Romney’s running mate, three-time Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich offered an entire roster of would-be veep choices. “Well, I think the people who would do the best job is somebody like either Sen. Rob Portman, Sen. Marco Rubio, Sen. Kelly Ayotte, Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia, maybe Gov. Bobby Jindal,” he responded. “There are five or six people who each has the ability to be a good president and each of whom will help win the election and each of whom will broadly share the values that the Republican Party...

Lent: Becoming Uncomfortable About Being Comfortable Mar 1st, 2012by Gary Zimak.   “I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.” (C.S. Lewis)One of the biggest mistakes that we can make in our lives is to become comfortable. While this attitude is common among atheists and those with little faith in God, it is a BIG problem for believers as well. The fact that we are Christians doesn’t stop us from retreating into our...

Watching the election year primaries unfold, it is clear disgust surrounds the individual in the White House and the top two challengers for the office of President of the United States. The man in the White House characterized his last three years with deception, poor stewardship, and immoral decision making. One of his challengers has a past characterized by philandering and broken trust while the other has demonstrated immoral choices involving support of homosexuality, abortion, and stem cell research. This speaks completely to their moral fiber; it does not address their failures of ideology or misdirected spirituality. Presently and historically,...

Gov. Kasich explains how Ohio turned its greatest fiscal shortfall into a structurally balanced budget, all while cutting taxes for every Ohioan.

To understand whether our recovery is in jeopardy, we must first grasp what prospers us, why economies recede and then what rejuvenates them. There is a natural symphony to the market. Everyone seeks the best available outcome. Our unlimited desires are tempered by scarcity, yet we all strive to get what we can while wanting still more. Price signals orchestrate this perpetual friction between buyers and sellers into a concert of mutual satisfaction. Wealth creation emanates from the value sellers add for which buyers are willing to pay, but buyers ensure efficient utilization of resources by insisting on lower prices....

“To choose or not to choose” – That is the choice. How many decisions does a person make each day consciously and unconsciously? Wake or snooze? Oatmeal or cereal? Hat or no hat? Bus or car? Cranky or smiley? Pay bills or wait? Aaarrghgh! So many decisions are processed. In the grand scheme of things, most decisions are relatively simple; however, there are big hairy decisions that are always lurking. From the beginning it has been this way. How long did Adam and Eve go before they ate the fruit? What went through their minds before the decision was made?...

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama says he is making difficult cuts in the nation's budget to allow needed spending increases in education, technology and public works projects. In a broad preview of his administration's blueprint for the budget year that begins Oct. 1, Obama says the combination of cuts and new spending will result in an overall freeze in annual domestic spending for the next five years. "This budget asks Washington to live within its means, while at the same time investing in our future," the president said Saturday .. to release his budget on Monday.

This is a list of the propositions on the 2010 California ballot with my personal choices below...

I am confounded over the wisdom to make any statement at all. However some things must be stated in plain English. Do we have choices? Let us examine some recent history: ‘We the people’ play by the rules of the system, a representative republic (NOT a democracy) that any casual disinterested observer, using informed reason, will note is not functioning as originally intended by those who designed it, and left us not only the official blueprint, but also more than sufficient precursory writings to discover and understand exactly what their intentions were and were not. The letters, faxes, e-mails, and...

It’s clear that everyday, like it or not, we all make choices. Some choices are easy such as getting up in the morning and making breakfast, taking or not taking a shower, eating at a fast food restaurant or eating at home or buying something we like but don’t need, like a new dress or suit. Some choices; however, are more difficult such as: finding a job, leaving a job one can’t stand, finding a good friend or ending a sick marriage. Such choices as speaking or not speaking to someone who is annoying and rude or listening to a...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Saturday named three choices for senior posts in the U.S. Treasury Department as his administration seeks to fill the ranks of officials to help confront a deep economic downturn. Michael Barr, a Treasury official under former President Bill Clinton, was selected to serve as assistant secretary for financial institutions, and George Madison, a financial industry attorney, was chosen to be general counsel. Helen Elizabeth Garrett, a vice president for academic planning and budget of the University of Southern California, was nominated to be assistant secretary for tax policy. All three nominations must be...