Free Republic

The U.S. labor market is the strongest it has been in the last half century, as President Trump’s pro-growth economic policies continue boosting labor demand and lowering structural barriers to entering the labor market. Economic data presented in the 2020 Economic Report of the President, which was released today, show that recent labor market gains disproportionately benefit Americans who were previously left behind.Since the 2016 election, the economy has added 7 million jobs, far exceeding the 2.0 million predicted by the Congressional Budget Office in its final pre-2016 election forecast. Under the Trump Administration, and for the first time on...

MOLINE -- Building the new Interstate 74 bridge will take years, but certification to bid on the jobs building it should only take about 90 days. The Illinois Department of Transportation held a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise certification and supportive services workshop Monday evening at the Moline Public Library, 3210 41st St. At the workshop, officials from IDOT shared information on how those who are in presumed disadvantaged groups can bid on contracts associated with the project. To qualify for DBE certification, the business owner must have a personal net worth of less than $1.32 million. Engineering consulting businesses must average...

Mayor Mitch Landrieu announced a new policy Thursday (Sept. 3) that would require city contractors to place a priority on employing local and disadvantaged workers. The goal of Hire NOLA is to have, by 2020, at least 50 percent of all work hours on city projects performed by local workers and 30 percent by local disadvantaged workers. "Since launching the Economic Opportunity Strategy, we have made our goal clear -- prepare and connect the people of New Orleans to jobs and our local businesses to strategic opportunities for growth," Landrieu said in a prepared statement. "There is no doubt the...

At the time, the president proposed tying federal aid to the rating system to incentivize schools to help their students graduate with an affordable education.President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will host an event on college affordability next Thursday at the White House. While White House press secretary Jay Carney did not provide details about the event, it is likely a make-up of a summit with college presidents and members of the private sector that had been planned for early last month. The White House was forced to scrap that event after the death of South African President Nelson...

Nick Clegg is to make an explosive attack on British universities as ‘instruments of social segregation’ as he orders them to stop taking so many middle-class students. The Deputy Prime Minister will this week insist that top institutions must ‘throw open their doors’ and lower their entrance requirements for the less well-off.

Oprah Winfrey's poke at the short-sighted materialism of some low-income students has delighted conservative commentators, but that doesn't mean she's wrong. Liberals love to "speak truth to power," but the powerless need to hear the truth, too. Knowledge, after all, is power. Don't keep it to yourself, I say. Spread it around. That's why the Queen of Daytime Talk did poor folks a favor when she candidly explained in a Newsweek interview why she decided to build her lavish new school for impoverished teenagers, the $40 million Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, in South Africa instead of the United...

The argument liberals use most often to justify socialist programs is that they want to help those who are disadvantaged. And it's important to remember that this refers to their definition of "disadvantaged" - a specific criteria they've determined to explain why a certain person or group of people is unable to enjoy the same right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as the majority. These individuals are in need of special federally mandated privileges to make up for this embedded shortcoming and wipe away hundreds of years of unfairness. And as far as I'm concerned, there is...

/begin my translationChina, "A Pressure Cooker Which Can Blow Up Anytime"Seven Oppressions in China: an Analysis by Asia Weekly Ji Hae-bum hbjee@chosun.com  04/26/05  Chinese society  is like a 'pressure cooker' with its safety lid tightly closed. recent anti-Japanese protest served as a way to relieving pressure from 7 oppressions by (Chinese) authorities.  The latest (May 1st) issue of 'The Asia Weekly' in Hong Kong assessed, "For last 15 years, under the slogan, ' Stability is above everything else,' China repressed the freedom of public assembly, which was guaranteed in their constitution, thus closing the channel for expressing discontent and frustration. (Recent) Anti-Japanese protest  is...

US Democratic Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, who had hoped to replace George W. Bush as president yesterday, instead sat in the cold and clapped as the Republican began a second four-year term. Iowa Democratic Senator Tom Harkin patted Senator Kerry on the back shortly before the inauguration Senator Kerry had hoped would be his. As Mr Bush delivered his inaugural address, Senator Kerry, about 10m away on the steps of the US Capitol, joined other lawmakers and the crowd in repeated applause. Senator Kerry looked relaxed, at times wistful. He frequently smiled, able to hide any disappointment over what...