Free Republic

Elon Musk is a pleasure to listen to for a number of reasons: he's down to earth, witty, often funny, and as the CEO & Chief Engineer of Space/X he can delve into the challenges of rocketing to Mars and make it somewhat understandable and interesting for the layman. I'm pretty impatient when it comes to podcasts, but I listened to the first 45 minutes of this 2.5 hour recording -- it was that interesting. Scan the subjects in the index below, then click to your subject of interest. Here's an excerpt from the podcast where he discusses what he...

Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard has noted a strange paradox concerning the president. It seems that Obama knows perfectly well how cumbersome and inefficient big government is. However his solution to anything relies on big government. Barnes implies, and indeed almost outright suggests, that President Obama has within his grasp a way to save the rest of his presidency and go out with a legacy that goes beyond being an enormous failure. He could devote the rest of his second term in an effort to reform government, to make it more efficient and responsive to the American people.

So why then is Kentucky — more quickly than almost any other state — moving to implement the Affordable Care Act? Because there’s a huge disconnect between the rank partisanship of national politics and the outlook of governors whose job it is to help beleaguered families, strengthen work forces, attract companies and create a balanced budget. It’s no coincidence that numerous governors — not just Democrats like me but also Republicans like Jan Brewer of Arizona, John Kasich of Ohio and Rick Snyder of Michigan — see the Affordable Care Act not as a referendum on President Obama but as...

Wastebusters Take On Government Spending FOX 11 News video report. Murietta - In the November election, Murrieta residents ignited a fire between its government and those who want to stop government waste. The "wastebusters" say their community represents what the nation is feeling, but city officials tell us it's a deathknell for Murrieta. Script: A cowbell calls the meeting to order. Ernie White: "We made a statement and that statement was very simple, we are going to take this country back like it or not!.... We won on November 2." At Richie's Real American Diner, it's a celebration. Big wins...

"I love data." Mitt Romney has been speaking for less than two minutes when he makes this profession. The former Massachusetts governor is meeting with the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal to discuss his campaign for the presidency. And he starts not with the economy, "global jihad" or the country as a whole, but with himself. While some have questioned Mr. Romney's authenticity, the immediate impression he gives is that he speaks straight from the heart. Especially where data are concerned. "I used to call it 'wallowing in the data,' " Mr. Romney continues. "Let me see the...

I am challenging all active freepers to set up or visit a local "meetup" (www.meetup.com topic - social security) and discuss social security reform. The overall gist of reform proposals can be found at generationstogether.net. This is a massive public education problem that must communicate four things: 1.Social Security has a crisis. 2. There will be no change for those at or nearing retirement, or receiving disability payments. 3. Young people will have a choice to participate in a retirement program more like a 401k (and less like welfare) or may choose to continue with the present tax and benefit...

CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION PREAMBLE We, the People of the State Of California, acknowledging our rights come from God, in order to secure them and in order to promote the good government and order of our state, establish a government similar in principle to that of the Canadian Provinces, in this Constitution. CHAPTER ONE Article 1. The people are free in their persons and property, which can be restricted only insofar as it is necessary for the public safety. Article 2. Freedom of speech and the press shall be respected subject to the need to deter libel and slander, control the publication...

Chamber plans next anti-tax move... If you listened to rumours on the street you would think that by Thursday or Friday all life in Belize will come to a halt. But while citizens anxiously wait to see if the water, light and telephone service will be halted by angry utility workers, the unions and others opposed to new tax increases are officially taking their time to formulate a plan of action. Earlier this evening, the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry held an emergency meeting with its membership to decide on their way forward in response to the budget presented...

Arnold's second State Of The State Address to the California State Legislature.

I am hoping to bring some articles to the attention of those at the current conference on Human Trafficking in Tampa and/or to other anti-slavery advocates. I am very limited in my own resources in dealing with this issue. The material I want to bring to the attention of as many as possible who may be at that conference are articles I've written that talk about what I've uncovered in my own efforts to get what appears to be a major US modern-day slavery operation investigated and the victims rescued. I got involved in this effort when one of the...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and local governments are close to agreement on a deal that would provide cities and counties a bigger share of the property tax in exchange for an agreement on one-time cuts. Officials close to the negotiations say Schwarzenegger has shown new interest in satisfying local governments following qualification last week of a November initiative that protect cities and counties from future raids on their revenue sources by the state. According to a memo from the California State Association of Counties, local officials have proposed a one-time $816 million cut to be equally shared between...

Schwarzenegger called for spending cuts, changes in education regulations, a cap on university fee increases, reform of state purchasing, consolidation of duplicative government departments and commissions, renegotiation of state energy contracts and a solution to the state's unemployment insurance woes. He said that he was steadfast in his opposition to taxes and that spending cuts were the key to fixing the state's budget crisis. "The fact of the matter is that we do not have a tax crisis; we do not have a budget crisis; we have a spending crisis," he said. "We cannot tax our way out of this...

In California, Arduin is taking on a state budget shortfall that could easily balloon past $25 billion, thanks to a chronic imbalance between spending and revenues and legally dubious borrowing. Campaign strategist Mike Murphy first suggested that the new administration consider Arduin, whose work he knew from Michigan, where they both had jobs in the early 1990s. Schwarzenegger's transition chief, Rep. David Dreier (R-San Dimas), was impressed by rave reviews of Arduin, and then by conversations with her. "She likes to say this is the Super Bowl of budgeting, to deal with the kind of challenge California faces," he said....

You know, Maria and I, we teach our kids basic principles," he said, referring to his wife, Maria Shriver. "We teach them: Don't spend more money than you have.... I promise you that's what I would teach Sacramento." "Sacramento has overspent, overtaxed and over-regulated our businesses," he said.

Third Millennium President by John J. Abele For reasons I never before considered, a number of countries have a Chief Executive and another man as Head of State. Periodically, this ideas surfaces in the United States. The primary reason is that as structured, the duties of our president are more than we have a right to expect of one man. Considering the strengths, and weaknesses, and personalities of recent presidents, as well as I can know and understand them, I think it is time for us to consider a change. Here are a few of the deficiencies that I see...

I should begin by saying that I'm hopeless with wiring diagrams, and unlike so many Washingtonians I have never been fascinated by the bureaucratic balance of power, which no doubt explains in part why I was such a lousy bureaucrat myself. But I've got lots of experience with counterterrorism, and I do not believe that you can fix what's wrong with our counterterrorist program by rewiring the federal bureaucracy, however necessary that may be.The problem with our intelligence services is not structure, it's culture. For more than 25 years they've been hammered into brain death by the scandal-crazed media...