Free Republic

Volkswagen could shut down as many as three factories in Germany and lay off tens of thousands of workers as it seeks to regain its edge in Europe amid slumping sales and increased competition from China, the company’s top employee representative said Monday. ***snip*** The representative, Daniela Cavallo, who leads the council representing the company’s employees in Germany, told a gathering of workers at Volkswagen’s home plant in Wolfsburg that the proposed closures were part of a plan that managers had presented to the works council. The company “wants to close at least three VW factories, downsize all remaining plants,...

Yet another Republican U.S. senator has caught former President Donald Trump's eye as he searches for a ticketmate to replace former Vice President Mike Pence. The New York Times reported Friday that Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton has jumped to the top of Trump's list. The 47-year-old Arkansas Republican was elected to the Senate in 2014 after serving tours in Iraq and Afghanistan with the U.S. Army. The pick of Cotton would be unexpected because it would be bland. Cotton joins other veepstakes contenders from the upper chamber including Sens. Marco Rubio, Tim Scott and J.D. Vance. The presumptive Republican nominee...

The Party for Socialism and Liberation, one of many communist groups in the U.S., argues that “the long period of reaction that began in the late 1970s and greatly accelerated under Margaret Thatcher in Britain and Ronald Reagan in the United States is drawing to a close.” Leaving aside the Marxist rhetoric about “reaction,” one has to say there may be some validity to what the communists are saying. After all, Bernie Sanders seems to be leading the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, Marxist Jeremy Corbyn has become head of the Labor Party in Britain, and the socialist New...

And so it begins: CPAC embraces the new Mitt Romney http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/33161.html South Carolina mulls 2012: Romney? Palin? Huck? http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/South-Carolina-mulls-2012_-Romney_-Palin_-Huck_-84732787.html Romney now biggest threat to Obama head to head http://hotair.com/archives/2010/02/18/ppp-poll-romney-now-biggest-threat-to-obama-head-to-head/ These are just a few examples from the last two days. You'll also notice the (once again) packed straw poll at CPAC, and a sudden surge in Freepers attacking Sarah Palin at every turn. It seems the push is already at full force. Mitt Romney is the guy to beat, like it or not (remember that McCain enjoyed -5% support at FR during the campaign), and the GOP is circling the...

....But there are a bevy of reasons that Romney would stand to perform well- and perhaps even win- in the race for the Republican nomination. Here are just five:Republicans Tend to Nominate People Who’ve Run for President Before. With the exception of George W. Bush, Republicans tend to favor candidates who’ve sought the nomination at least once before: John McCain (won in ‘08, lost in ‘00), Bob Dole (won in ‘96, lost in ‘80), George H.W. Bush ........

Do you support Ron Paul? Three categories: President Congressman Governor

David Scull/The New York Times Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, left, at a 1995 news conference with Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, and James S. Brady, who was shot in the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan. As mayor of New York City, Rudolph W. Giuliani became the favorite Republican of gun control advocates. He spoke in favor of a licensing system for gun owners that would require trigger locks and firearms training, and he lobbied Congress to outlaw most military-style assault weapons. He was the only Republican mayor to join a lawsuit by dozens of cities...

Try the words ``President Arnold Schwarzenegger'' or ``President Jennifer Granholm'' out for size. The two governors - of California, from Austria; and of Michigan, from Canada, respectively - are just two of the many foreign-born U.S. citizens who would be eligible to run for president under a constitutional amendment that Sen. Edward M. Kennedy [related, bio] said yesterday he is ready to support. Add to the list former secretaries of state Madeleine Albright (Czechoslovakia) and Henry Kissinger (Germany), commentators Arianna Huffington (Greece) and David Frum (Canada), and Gen. John Shalikashvili (Poland). ``Most American historians believe that it's probably an anachronism...