Free Republic

An up-close-and-personal look at the difference between Maryland and Texas. Road trips often elicit thoughts and memories of quirky roadside attractions, local food, postcards, and long hours behind the wheel. A recent trip from my home in Maryland to Texas, for a nephew's wedding, was just the excuse my wife and I needed to create some of these road trip memories for our family of five. Our trip didn't disappoint as we visited family and famous attractions: the Parthenon in Nashville; a Civil War museum and battlefield in New Market, Va.; and Buc-ee's in Texas. I couldn't help but notice...

US Supreme Court Justice, Louis Brandeis, 1932: “It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous State may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country.” You governors are now seeing, whether you like it or not, a competitive situation developing among the states. Some states are loosening the COVID restrictions; others are tightening them.

Rankings - Overall 1. North Dakota +4 2. South Dakota -1 3. Tennessee = 4. New Hampshire -2 5. Oklahoma -1 6. Idaho +11 7. Missouri -1 8. Virginia +1 9. Georgia +11 10. Utah

New York @ #50. Big shocker...

NEW YORK, April 1, 2013 (Family Research Council) - New Yorkers can thank Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Michael Bloomberg for their reigning title as the most oppressive state in America. As part of George Mason University's new "freedom index," New Yorkers have the least liberty of anyone, coming in 50th of all states in personal freedom. To arrive at its rankings, GMU's Mercatus Center used a libertarian definition of freedom (including support for same-sex "marriage" and medical marijuana) to assess states. But even using this fiscally conservative and socially irresponsible measure, states that have the most pro-family policies (like...

Burdensome taxes and regulations, further taxes disguised as fees, and a reputation as a nanny state have finally reaped rewards for New York State: They’ve been heralded by a George Mason University study as the worst state in the nation for such things as fiscal, regulatory, and personal freedoms. Here are the final rankings: Fiscal Freedom – 50th Regulatory Freedom – 47th Personal Freedom – 48th Overall Freedom – 50th Via the New York Post: New York’s big government — with its hands deep in taxpayers’ pockets and regulations controlling everyone’s lives — has made the Empire State the worst...

Sometimes I myopically focus on fiscal policy, implying that the key to prosperity is small government.But I’ll freely admit that growth if maximized when you have small government AND free markets.That being said, our goal should be to expand freedom, not merely to have the largest possible GDP.Which is why the Freedom Index is a good complement to Economic Freedom of the World.It shows, for instance, that Singapore may be ranked #2 for economic freedom, but it is only #39 when you look at all freedoms.We also have a comprehensive ranking of economic and personal freedom for the 50 states.Here...

...None other than the legislative haunt of Gov. Andrew “confiscation could be an option” Cuomo and loathsome nanny-state Mayor Bloomberg, of course. George Mason University's Mercatus Center just released the third edition of their comprehensive "Freedom in the Fifty States" study, ranking "the American states based on how their policies promote freedom in the fiscal, regulatory, and personal realms." The researchers calculated in factors ranging from the states’ levels of government spending and debt, tax burden, property rights protection, and health insurance freedom all the way to their policies on alcohol, tobacco, gambling, marriage, and firearms. North Dakota, South Dakota,...

Americans are migrating from less-free liberal states to more-free conservative states, where they are doing better economically, according to a new study published Thursday by the George Washington University's Mercatus Center. The "Freedom in the 50 States" study measured economic and personal freedom using a wide range of criteria, including tax rates, government spending and debt, regulatory burdens, and state laws covering land use, union organizing, gun control, education choice and more.

It might be the ‘Land of the Free’, but some states certainly aren’t living up to the words of America’s national anthem. New York, New Jersey and California are the least free in the U.S., based on an index of public policies affecting your individual freedoms.

developing story: 6-8 governors will reject federal porkulus monies