Free Republic

The headline on this op-ed piece in the Washington Post says it all: College applicant: I got in! But I can’t afford it. Was all my hard work for nothing? The author of the piece is a high-school senior in Lousiana who just got admitted to Tulane, so let’s cut her some slack here. But what does it say about the success of President Obama’s constant yammering about how college should be “free” (incrementally, of course, beginning with community college, but we’ve all seen this leftist movie before and know where it’s going)? A lot, is what: I am...

Police were called to a church in St. Louis this morning for crowd control after an unexpectedly large crowd gathered on rumors of applying for $500 food vouchers. St. Louis police spokesman Dave Marzullo initially said police had responded to crowds at a blood drive but later corrected that statement. Howard Walker, an administrator at St. Louis Powerhouse Church, and also a representative for Advanced Marketing Promotions, LLC, said the hundreds of people gathered for the event at the church, were tempted by the chance at the vouchers...

The American public's dependence on the federal government shot up 23% in just two years under President Obama, with 67 million now relying on some federal program, according to a newly released study by the Heritage Foundation. The conservative think tank's annual Index of Dependence on Government tracks money spent on housing, health, welfare, education subsidies and other federal programs that were "traditionally provided to needy people by local organizations and families." The increase under Obama is the biggest two-year jump since Jimmy Carter was president, the data show. The rise was driven mainly by increases in housing subsidies, an...

LAGOS, Nigeria — Protesters furious over spiraling gas prices set fires on an expressway Tuesday and at least one person was killed in the violent unrest after Nigeria's government did away with a subsidy program that had kept fuel costs down for more than two decades. One union leader described the federal government's hugely unpopular move as "immoral and politically suicidal," and urged Nigerians to resist "with everything they have." But Tuesday's protest showed that, once unleashed, the pent-up anger of the masses could be hard to curtail. Angry crowds vandalized gas stations, intimidated owners into keeping their pumps unused...

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Thousands of people in Philadelphia are waiting in long lines for aid due to losses caused by Hurricane Irene; however, there is a lot of confusion over who exactly qualifies. At several locations throughout the city, thousands lined up to get a month’s worth of food stamps for food that was ruined by Hurricane Irene in late August. However, confusion of who is exactly qualified for the food stamps has lead to long lines and short tempers. Officials say the application deadline is 7 p.m. Tuesday for the Federal Emergency Management Agency program, which is administered by...

ust before 6 p.m. Monday, a group of nearly 20 young men enter the trendy - and pricey - G Star Raw store at Connecticut Avenue and R Street near Dupont Circle and began helping themselves to whatever they wanted. The store is down Connecticut Avenue from the National Zoo and this incident occurred about an hour after the stabbing there. During their minutes long flash mob theft spree, video, exclusively obtained by ABC7 News, shows the suspects hunting through the merchandise as if they were looking for the right size, sometimes even leisurely. Other kids can be seen outside...

A crowd of people hoping to get federal housing assistance became unruly Wednesday morning with reports of fights breaking out in the crowd.

A crowd of people hoping to get federal housing assistance became unruly Wednesday morning with reports of fights breaking out in the crowd. Thousands of people were lined up at the Tri-Cities shopping center, hoping to apply for a voucher from the East Point Housing Authority that will give them a discount on their rent. People began lining up at the shopping center two days ago, and by Wednesday morning the crowd had grown to over 1,000 people. East Point police, some wearing riot helmets, were patrolling the area. Firefighters and EMTs were attending to people who were overheating in...

Tens of thousands of people lined up at an East Point shopping center hoping to get federal housing assistance became unruly Wednesday morning with reports of fights breaking out in the crowd. An East Point police spokesman said the crowd numbered 30,000, some of whom waited for two days at the Tri-Cities Plaza shopping center. They were seeking applications for East Point Housing Authority vouchers to discount their rent. As the temperature rose Wednesday, people fell ill. Sgt. Cliff Chandler, spokesman for the East Point Police Department, said there were no reported injuries from the jostling, but 62 people had...

Nurses at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital are going on customer care courses after being picked up by patients about their attitude. The hour-long course touches on everything from bedside manner and going the extra mile, to encouraging nurses to smile more. Patient Barbara Booty, 82, from Northwold, said: “They have been very kind to me. They found some very nice gowns for me. They have done all sorts of things for me and they have been very cheerful. “I have been back and forwards to hospital for years. I always find that everybody here has been extremely good to me.”

In an address to Members of Congress and participants attending a Congressional Black Caucus meeting, Robert L. Johnson, founder and chairman of The RLJ Companies, called for a national discussion about the growing wealth gap which he referred to as a "wealth gap Tsunami threatening African American families." He cited the recent Institute on Assets and Social Policy at Brandeis University study, among other studies, which conclude "the wealth gap between white and African American families has more than quadrupled over the course of a generation; the racial wealth gap increased by $75,000, from $20,000 to $95,000; and, at least...

This is weird. The NAACP and La Raza slammed Obama today over his historic unemployment rates. And, The New York Times reported the story. Weird. With unemployment among blacks at more than 15 percent, the N.A.A.C.P. will join several other groups on Tuesday to call on President Obama to do more to create jobs. The organizations — including the A.F.L.-C.I.O. and the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic advocacy group— will make clear that they believe the president’s $787 billion stimulus program has not gone far enough to fight unemployment. They will call for increased spending for schools and...

As the public debate over health care reform continues, many African-Americans are concerned that the minority of voices loudly denouncing a public option might sideline the real reform their community desperately needs. From the cradle to the grave, African-Americans have poorer health outcomes: African-American infant mortality is more than double that of whites; African-American women make up 70 percent of new HIV/AIDS infections; three times as many black Americans die from diabetes as white Americans; and the life expectancy for whites is 78 years, compared with 73 years for all African-Americans and less than 70 years for African-American males.

Scuffles erupted as several thousand Detroit residents jockeyed, pushed and shoved Wednesday to get free money being offered to only 3,500 of the city's recently or soon to be homeless. (Oct. 7)

SACRAMENTO — On the stump, as he tries to sell his deficit-cutting plan to voters, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has tried to show a softer side toward those who will get hit hardest, often returning to a variation of a line he rolled out in an address to the Legislature in May: "I see the pain in their eyes and hear the fear in their voice." But every once in a while, the megamillionaire and movie star reveals himself as somewhat detached from the struggles of the poor. Last weekend, in a New York Times Magazine article, he spoke of getting...

Unbelievable. Houston taxpayers could start footing the bill to help first-time homebuyers pay off debts and improve their credit scores, under a proposal before City Council this week.The “Credit Score Enhancement Program” will give up to $3,000 in grants to individuals who are trying to qualify for mortgages through the city’s homebuyers assistance program. City officials say some applicants fall short of eligibility by only 10 or 20 points on their credit scores, and paying off some debt balances can quickly improve their numbers. Want to know how dumb this is? The Chron.com article doesn’t mention the sponsor of this...

Police in Baltimore today made what is believed to be the first arrest in a civil disobedience program aimed at supporting homeowners who refuse to vacate their foreclosed homes. An activist with ACORN — the Association of Community Organization for Reform Now — faces criminal charges after breaking into a home in southeast Baltimore on Thursday to protest the foreclosure crisis sweeping the country.

NEW ORLEANS -- The scene outside New Orleans' City Hall boiled on the brink of a riot Thursday as protesters stormed the gate and were met with police spraying mace and firing Tasers. Protesters broke through the gates outside City Hall shortly after 11 a.m. Click Here: Council Chaos Livestream A woman identified by bystanders as Jamie Bork Laughner, was sprayed and dragged away from the gates. She was taken away on a stretcher by emergency officials on the scene. Before that, she was seen pouring water from a bottle into her eyes and weeping. The first brawl of the...