Free Republic

<p>What the author, John Schoen, ignored throughout the article was the 800 pound gorilla in the room -- Obama's European-style socialist vision.</p> <p>As for Obama's socialist vision, the path of the graph is exactly what he wants to see. This is the path towards ultimate government dependence on the part of the masses.</p>

I Have seen the future, and it doesn't work... The reason is pretty simple: The Bernie Madoff-like Ponzi scheme of big government has been squeezing the productive class and redistributing its tax dollars and innovation to everyone else for years -- and is finally reaching its boiling point. And the way things are going, we're probably not far behind. Barcelona met the new year with the sort of subdued celebration that only 40 percent unemployment can bring. Once-swanky shops and restaurants along grand boulevards such as the Avinguda Diagonal remain vacant... Across Europe, private-sector jobs are disappearing, while governments face...

If you think that tax policies on gambling winnings in the U.S are excessive, then you better take a look at this. According to several gaming and poker news sites, the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event champion, Peter Eastgate, will have to honor the Danish tax authorities with about 63% of his tournament winnings. The Danish government, which has one of the toughest tax policies on casino winnings in the world, will apply a 40% deduction on the first $4 million won by Eastgate, and a second 75% deduction on the remaining funds. So if we do the...

It doesn't matter who wins! Seriously, guys, America is about to become, once again, the coolest place on Earth. An era is ending. If you still think the US is home to all that is fatty and unwholesome and militaristic and cloth-eared and generally low-grade, and not much else, it may be time to give the Yanks another chance. Nothing Sarah Palin and her followers can do will prevent America's steady movement away from social conservatism Politically, socially, culturally, America is - as we watch transfixed and, in spite of ourselves, impressed - being born again. Suddenly we are reminded...

Much has been written about the August budget put forward by Governor Schwarzenegger last week. At his press conference announcing his plan, the Governor said that his budget plan was "a fiscally responsible compromise" and will "put our state on the road to fiscal sanity." In reality, after spending some time looking it over, and discussing it with state policy experts .., the Governor's proposal will do nothing of the sort. It includes more borrowing and higher taxes on Californians... The Governor said that more borrowing in the budget is "not a wise idea and I will not do that."...

Most say it matters to their country who is elected U.S. president

...The Italians, however, have a way of dealing with illegal immigrants. They regularly transform them into legal residents by granting them official papers. Since 1988 Italy has organized six amnesties for illegal aliens — the last one in 2006, when 500,000 people were given permission to stay. Most of them leave Italy shortly afterward. Since Italy belongs to the European Union and since the EU adheres to the principle of the free movement of persons, an amnesty gives immigrants the right to freely enter all EU member states. Italy allows the immigrants in so that they move out, to EU...

The French political response to the continuing riots has focused most on the need for more multicultural "understanding" of, and public spending on, the disenchanted mass in the country's grim banlieues (suburbs). What has been largely ignored has been the role of France's economic system in contributing to the current crisis. State-directed capitalism may seem ideal for such American admirers such as Jeremy Rifkin, author of "The European Dream," and others on the left. Yet it is precisely this highly structured and increasingly infracted economic system that has so limited opportunities for immigrants and their children. In a country where...

Thirty-five Hours by Anthony de Jasay July 15, 2002 In 1999, the socialist administration in France railroaded through a law reducing the "legal" work week from 39 to 35 hours with maintained weekly pay, and severely penalising overtime. This represented a rise of over 11 per cent in hourly labour costs, partly mitigated by a temporary reduction in employers' pension and health insurance contributions, the shortfall to be borne by the general taxpayer.The measure was said to be a double achievement. It was a great leap forward in social progress, in the humanist transformation of the economy to serve man...