Free Republic

Burger King plans to merge with Canuck coffee-and-doughnut chain Tim Hortons and base the company's headquarters in Canada, where it will enjoy the kind of reasonable corporate tax structure that Democrats continue to obstruct here in the United States. And the move has provoked a fresh round of moral panic, faux patriotism and confusion. It's doubtful, despite much wishful thinking, that there will be much of a real backlash. Nor should there be. Most obviously, the majority of fast-food customers are probably less inclined than the petitioners of MoveOn.org to mistake high tax rates for patriotism. This kind of distorted...

Jonathan Alter at the Daily Beast has an idea that will infuse the president’s “economic patriotism” rhetoric with some bite: Compel companies to take “loyalty oaths” to prove their patriotism. You may find this suggestion a little creepy, maybe even a little fascistic; but Alter says that “it’s time for red-blooded Americans to take matters into our own hands.” And by taking the matter into “our” hands, Alter means that President Obama would unilaterally bar any company that practices “inversion” – corporate merging with foreign firms to save on U.S. tax bills – from doing business with the federal government....

The notion that Elizabeth Warren should challenge Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Party presidential nomination has been optimistically tossed around in left-wing circles for a while now. Activists at Netroots Nation recently chanted ”Run, Liz, run.” And no doubt, the excitement generated by Warren is a function of her ideological sincerity—a sincerity that’s most obvious when contrasted with Hillary Clinton’s lack of earnestness and pandering.Still, it seems to me that a lot of people are overestimating the appeal, uniqueness, and popularity of Warren. What’s most enticing about Warren right now is the perception of her, not the reality.For starters,...

The Federalist's David Harsanyi pointed out the New York Times's clear double standard when it comes to advertising in a Thursday post on Twitter. The writer recounted that the liberal paper "rejected an ad aimed at one religion" in 2012, but printed a full-page ad in Thursday's edition from the far-left Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF), which blasted the "all-male, all-Roman Catholic majority" on the Supreme Court for its decision in the Hobby Lobby case. Harsanyi linked to a March 15, 2012 item on the ultra-liberal Think Progress blog that spotlighted how the Times "rejected a full-page anti-Islam advertisement submitted...

The Colorado Civil Rights Commission has ordered a suburban Denver baker named Jack Phillips to make wedding cakes for same-sex couples, finding that his religious objections do not supersede the state's anti-discrimination statutes. Because if the Constitution should be subordinate to anything, it's the local thought police, hurt feelings, and nuptial pastries. Raju Jaram, one of the reprehensible unelected commissioners—whose contact information is nowhere to be found on Colorado's government site—apparently had this to say about the case: "I can believe anything I want, but if I'm going to do business here, I'd ought to not discriminate against people." No,...

Every decade or so, Hollywood has an epiphany. It turns out faith-based audiences enjoy going to the movies, too. And they enjoy films with A-list actors and big-budget productions, as well. So it’s no surprise that “Noah,” even with the artistic license and rock monsters, had such an impressive week. This is good news. Because whether you’re a believer or not, a flawed biblical epic is going to be more entertaining than a remake of a Paul Verhoeven movie or some third-rate sci-fi flick.And if there’s one thing we know about Hollywood it’s this: if a genre turns a...

Eric Meikle, project director at the National Center for Science Education, recently told Politico that he doesn’t believe “the function of public education is to prepare students for the turn of the 19th century.” Good point. We should stop teaching kids about the wonders of windmills and choo-choo trains and stop demeaning the technological accomplishments of the 20th century. Because, guess what; it already sounds a lot like the 19th century in classrooms. Of course, Meikle wasn’t referring to the environmental Cassandras of our public-school districts; he was pondering the bogeyman of creationism. And like most efforts to warn us...

These days, it’s popular to claim that Senator Ted Cruz is only looking out for himself. And this is undoubtedly true. Much in the same way John McCain is only looking out for himself and Chuck Schumer is only looking out for himself, and every millionaire Senator looking to hold on to his or her seat in perpetuity is looking out for #1. Cruz just happens to be better at it. Take the kerfuffle over the debt-ceiling vote. When Mitch McConnell met with Senate Republicans colleagues this week, he proposed that they allow a vote on the House debt limit...

And to think they told us the War on Terror was over.With news that the National Security Agency is currently collecting the telephone records of millions of us through one of America’s largest telecoms providers, Republicans have a chance to dramatically recast themselves in the debate over state surveillance and privacy.An order requires Verizon on an “ongoing, daily basis” to hand over information on all telephone calls in its systems to the NSA — both domestically and between the United States and other nations. A White House official has already defended the actions: “On its face, the order reprinted...

That's the logical question to ask after an avalanche of official denials of knowledge and responsibility from the IRS, Department of Justice, and the White House. "I don't know" seems to be the new mantra of executives at every level once questioned about wrongdoing and abuse. The editors of the Wall Street Journal wonder not where the buck stops, but if it even exists anywhere in the federal government: There’s a certain infantilization of the federal government here that should be especially alarming to taxpayers who have ever crossed paths with the IRS. The agency has the power to make...

Granted, the actor did get into some trouble recently when he wondered aloud if gay marriage would “debase” marital law, allowing men to marry their sons to avoid estate taxes. And less recently he said, ”If a man puts his hand on a woman’s bottom, any woman worth her salt can deal with it. It’s communication.” (Perhaps that’s how it works for Jeremy Irons. I remain skeptical.) Whatever the case, his position on paternalistic do-gooders in this HuffPo Live interview, is right on.

(Left out were a couple of nauseous videos, of children and pop stars singing "the One's" praises, which I don't think we can (yet) post here on FreeRepublic).Happily, except for a few...this adulation is from 4 years ago.

In the new Barack Obama campaign piece The Life of Julia, voters can "Take a look at how President Obama's policies help one woman over her lifetime -- and how Mitt Romney would change her story." It is one of the most brazenly statist pieces of campaign literature I can ever remember seeing. Let's, for the purposes of this post, set aside the misleading generalizations regarding policy in the ad (no one is innocent on that account, obviously). What we are left with is a celebration of a how a woman can live her entire life by leaning on government...

Gas prices are spiking. That's great news, right? We have to wean ourselves off the stuff. At least that's what we've been hearing for years. Oil is dirty. We import it from nations that hate our guts (like Canada!). And moreover, we're running out. Oil is "finite." Finite much in the way water is finite. So why aren't Democrats making the case that the spike in prices is a good thing? Isn't this basically our energy policy these days? How we "win the future"? If high energy prices were to damage President Barack Obama's re-election prospects, it would be ironic,...

It is reprehensible how politicians waste our time with whimsical notions about "debt ceilings" and "budgets." A federal debt limit is much like other government guidelines—e.g., "speed limits" and "filing taxes"—that exist only theoretically. In the past decade, Congress has raised the debt limit -- instituted in 1917 to restrain spending—10 times, and the U.S. has reached its ceiling 74 times since President Barack Obama's birth. So in other words, technically speaking, there is no ceiling. We might as well eliminate it. It is likely that we will now witness another ridiculous debate on the topic, followed by another Republican...

Any impartial national media type will tell you as much: A bunch of half-baked zealot nutjobs have emerged from the Republican primary field. Folks like Nevada's Sharron Angle and California's Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman are all throwing around frighteningly out-of-step opinions. Let's start with Angle, who believes it would be prudent — get this — to start de-funding the Department of Education. The Department of Education! You must be aware that the vast majority of Americans were unable to write or use basic arithmetic before the prestigious bureaucracy began operating in 1980. Over its 30 years of sure-footed guidance,...

Less than an hour ago, while watching the NBC nitely news covering the French President's visit to our whitehouse, they had a camera angle directly between Obama and Sarkozy to three flags on stands in the distance. The AMERICAN FLAG was hanging down so low it was touching the floor so plainly that one could see the bottom 4 to 6 inches were deflected by the floor in plain sight!!! Did anyone else see or capture this disgusting display of disrespect "as seen on TV"??? I sure hope so and I hope a big huge stink is made about it....

The Democratic Party believes so deeply in the will of the American people that it may courageously not vote on a bill that it couldn't pass. It was The Washington Post that recently compressed the absurdities of the Democrats' plan to control your health care into a single amusing headline: "House may try to pass Senate health-care bill without voting on it." For the typical American, this may sound counterintuitive — or perhaps inconceivable — but, as Democrats continue to display a creative knack for legislative swindling, a question has emerged: Are voters, by and large, concerned about the "process,"...

Remember that Congress estimated Medicare's cost at $12 billion for 1990 (adjusted for inflation) when the program kicked off in 1965. Medicare cost $107 billion in 1990 and is quickly approaching $500 billion. Who's going to stop it? The template is used over and over again. Government is a growth industry. Small or large, when you unwrap today's health care reform legislation, nearly every Democratic initiative is designed to affect the choices people make through some mechanism of top-down control.

If Jesus raised the dead tomorrow, our science czar probably would be too busy calculating the carbon footprint to find salvation. But who needs Christ when the flock is blessed with sound moral guidance from men and women whose lifework has been cajoling 50 percent plus one to push a button? From our extravagant health care choices to our risky financial behavior to our ill-conceived love of profit to, most tragically, our immoral penchant for air-conditioning our homes, we need help. I need help. This week, prepping for the upcoming Copenhagen climate change talks, Dr. Steven Chu, our erstwhile energy...