Free Republic

In a free enterprise system, some businesses prosper while some do not. Success and failure are simply a byproduct of the free market that should be expected. And when businesses fail due to market conditions, it should not be the responsibility of the federal government to bail them out or give them special treatment. So why then is conjecture building once again that key members of the Trump administration still want to revive plans to bail out failing power plants? Last year, the Department of Energy was trying to use its power to revitalize a handful of well-connected but economically...

When General Motors and Ford sell more cars, they are involved in more accidents. They undoubtedly advertise more in those places where they sell more cars. Does that mean that the car companies are responsible for additional accidents in those places? That they are purposefully plotting to create more accidents? Let’s hope not, but if Monday’s $570 million verdict by an Oklahoma judge against Johnson & Johnson for making opioids is any indication, those types of cases aren’t going to be far off. Oklahoma had refused to settle out of court believing that they could receive a very large verdict....

The late historian and political philosopher Harry V. Jaffa noted the significance that the preamble to our Constitution concludes with the words "secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity." This is how the drafters of our Constitution saw its purpose. Jaffa continues, saying, "a blessing is what is good in the eyes of God. It is a good whose possession ... belongs properly only to those who deserve it." In light of this, let's consider a just-released Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll that appeared under the headline "Americans Have Shifted Dramatically on What Values Matter Most." "Patriotism,...

Why does most of Africa stay poor while other parts of the world prosper? People blame things like climate, the history of colonialism, racism, etc. But I say Senegalese businesswoman Magatte Wade gives the right explanation: too many rules. “Once you hire someone, good luck getting rid of them for any reason,” Wade complains. Her government must approve every firing. “Then the tax code is so complicated… worth at least two or three truckloads of paper.” Wade started a lip balm company. Some of her ingredients are not made in Senegal, so she imports them. To “protect” Senegalese manufacturers, the...

Should students be denied equal access to education funding just because they attend religious schools? As school children across the nation head back to class, that’s the question America’s courts are facing—including the Supreme Court of the United States. The decisions they reach will have broad implications for the religious liberty of students and families throughout the country. American parents take their children’s education seriously. Voters regularly point to education as a very important issue in many state and local elections, and total taxpayer spending on education is over $1 trillion annually. While the vast majority of children attend public...

Higher education in America today should come with the disclaimer, caveat emptor. The cost of tuition has more than doubled in the last two decades, with the value of a four-year college degree heading in the opposite direction. The “fix” championed by Democratic Party leaders – a bailout for those already graduated, and “free” tuition for those entering the pipeline – will only make matters worse. A part of this long-developing problem is simply supply and demand; the overabundance of bachelor’s degrees in the market means they are worth less in the eyes of employers. There also is more talent...

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- At the conclusion of the annual Group of Seven summit in Biarritz, France, U.S. President Donald Trump emerged on the world stage for a joint press conference with the summit host, French President Emmanuel Macron. It was arguably the best performance of Trump's presidency. It certainly bore little resemblance to Trump's stream-of-consciousness rants on Twitter in which he criticizes TV shows and the "fake and disgusting news," bad-mouths countries and former staffers, promotes conspiracy theories and complains about his approval ratings. Trump should hold more of these types of press conferences and spend less time on...

The desire to ensure technological reliability and, ultimately, combat superiority, guided the Trump administration's mid-July decision to terminate U.S. plans to sell the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to Turkey. Give Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan his due. On the global diplomatic stage, Erdogan can display power-player skills diplomats can admire, no matter what they tell reporters. For example, like President Donald Trump, Erdogan uses the perception of tumult and impulsiveness to gain political and diplomatic advantage. Surprise agitates; the unexpected momentarily boggles. Erdogan says something -- anything -- provocative and sensational, waits four beats (or tweets) as adversaries react and...

In the midst of the daily tarring and feathering of President Trump by our "objective" press, we are treated to some precious moments where these badly disguised political operatives write something unintentionally hilarious. Take, for example, The New York Times story on Aug. 25 headlined "Trump's Allies Scour Internet to Punish Press." Reporters Ken Vogel and Jeremy Peters ominously warned, "A loose network of conservative operatives allied with the White House is pursuing what they say will be an aggressive operation to discredit news organizations deemed hostile to President Trump by publicizing damaging information about journalists." Notice how journalists employ...

There’s a civil war brewing on health care. While many of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary candidates support some version of Medicare for All, others aren’t ready to give up on ObamaCare—and Kamala Harris is trying to have her cake and eat it too. “KamalaCare” would apparently move the country to Medicare for All over the span of 10 years. But it would require the help of private insurers—a surprise, considering Harris supported the elimination of private health insurance during the last Democratic presidential debate. The plan was met with immediate criticism from so-called “moderate” and radical Democrats alike—either saying...

Dear fellow patriots: It's time to stop making nice with those who are waging war on ICE. Are you sick of your neighborhoods being hijacked by law enforcement-bashing thugs who prioritize every last illegal immigrant over law-abiding families, workers and employers? Are you sick of do-nothing politicians promising to take action while well-funded and well-organized protesters riot in our streets and obstruct criminal arrests? Are you sick of nobody (except for a few demonized Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer activists) standing up on the front lines against the American flag hijackers and knee-takers and hatred-inciters threatening ICE employees and Border...

The New York Times has begun a major initiative, the "1619 Project," to observe the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery. It aims to reframe American history so that slavery and the contributions of black Americans explain who we are as a nation. Nikole Hannah-Jones, staff writer for The New York Times Magazine wrote the lead article, "America Wasn't a Democracy, Until Black Americans Made It One." She writes, "Without the idealistic, strenuous and patriotic efforts of black Americans, our democracy today would most likely look very different -- it might not be a democracy at all." There...

President Trump's latest foray into the world of international economics -- his ongoing trade war with China -- has been widely derided by his critics. It's been derided on the grounds that there is no long-term strategy; on the grounds that the trade war will not be, as Trump has bragged, "good and easy to win"; on the grounds that Trump continues to send mixed signals, simultaneously claiming that China is bearing the brunt of his tariffs while desperately urging Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to lower interest rates. Now, Trump's trade policy may not be well-considered. His understanding of...

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Before long we’ll be moving the clocks back an hour yet again (or at least most of us will), but that’s not what this story is about. There’s a new proposal that doesn’t seek to eliminate Daylight Savings Time but instead would eliminate time zones all across the United States and the rest of the world as well. And it comes to us from no less of an august source than Johns Hopkins. Now that I’ve picked my jaw up off the floor, let’s see what this is all about. Here are two of their professors discussing the idea on...

California’s got the most gun control laws in the country. It’s also trying to win the race on bad legislative ideas, too. California’s Assemblywoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Los Angeles) is pushing a resolution that California would use its economic might to nudge banks and lending institutions away from doing business with federally licensed law abiding firearms manufacturers and retailers if they have open accounts with the Golden State. Assembly Concurrent Resolution 115 would “encourage” six lending institutions to cut all business ties with America’s firearms manufacturers. The goal, according to Kamlager-Dove, is eliminate the production of firearms and the means to...

The usually poker-faced Angela Merkel couldn’t contain a chuckle at the G7 in Biarritz on Monday as Trump announced his plans to visit Germany “soon” at the German chancellor’s invitation. In a news conference held prior to their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit, a reporter asked Merkel if she had invited the US president to Berlin, and if so, how he had responded, according to CNN footage. The German chancellor said she had invited Trump “many times” on previous occasions, and then deferred to the US president. Trump responded, “We’ll be there … we’re very honored...

I was flying to the UK on Friday so I missed the second 3 percent drop in the stock market in three weeks. When I landed I discovered that Everyone is agreed that President Trump is to blame because of his tweets jawboning the Fed to lower interest rates. Well I’m not a credentialed journalist or a credentialed economist or a credentialed central banker, but all I can say is that I have been worried about the inverted yield curve for months. The inverted yield curve is when short-term rates for U.S. Treasury securities are higher than longer-term rates. Right...

San Francisco, a city described in song for its natural beauty, is descending into an abyss of homelessness, the use of sidewalks as toilets and a place you might not want to visit, much less live. The latest, but surely not the last demonstration of insanity, is San Francisco's Board of Supervisors' adoption of new "person first" language guidelines meant to "change the public's perception of criminals." The words "convicted felon," "offender," "convict," "addict" and "juvenile delinquent" are now out. These individuals will henceforth be referred to as a "justice-involved person." Someone previously called a "criminal" will now be referred...

I interviewed Andrew McCarthy about his new book, "Ball of Collusion: The Plot to Rig an Election and Destroy a Presidency," because it is a critically important read for thoughtful people. "This is a story about hubris," is how it begins. Thoughtful people know that for all our grand monuments carved of granite and marble, a republic is an extremely fragile thing. Especially now, as a cynical establishment seeks restoration, as establishment Kemalist bureaucrats run for cover, and as the divisions in our nation widen and public discourse sounds like rival packs of angry barking dogs. And in a few...