Free Republic

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Aw, darn it! Obama is trying so hard. The regime is trying so hard. They never worked harder trying to overcome all of the messes left by George W. Bush, and here we are. We're on the verge of a recovery! The unemployment situation (they keep telling us) is improving. Even though we added people to the unemployment rolls yesterday, that was called "stability" by the AP. We're still at 375,000 unemployment applications every week, but we're on the verge -- we're on the verge! -- of overcoming the big mess left by George W. Bush and,...

We are in the midst of a crisis of federalism and we don’t even know it. In November, the states of Colorado and Washington legalized recreational marijuana use, while 16 other states and Washington, D.C., already permitted the medical use of marijuana. Yet at the same time, the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 prohibits the cultivation, sale, and use of marijuana in all its forms. State and federal law are at odds.The Constitution is plain: Federal law is the “supreme law of the land” (Article VI, section 2). And yet our national history is replete with conflicts between the laws...

Thank you for using the White House's online petitions platform to participate in your government. In a nation of 300 million people -- each with their own set of deeply-held beliefs -- democracy can be noisy and controversial. And that's a good thing. Free and open debate is what makes this country work, and many people around the world risk their lives every day for the liberties we often take for granted. But as much as we value a healthy debate, we don't let that debate tear us apart. Our founding fathers established the Constitution of the United States "in...

Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 of the United States Constitution states: "No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time." This is the "Power of the Purse" clause, which Article I, Section 7, Clause 1 makes clear is exclusively held by the House of Representatives: "All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills."...

America continues to lose ground in economic libertyThe United States is no longer a beacon of freedom to the world. Countries once looked to America for inspiration on how to escape poverty and embrace prosperity, but now they can find better examples to follow. The Heritage Foundation on Thursday noted our fifth consecutive decline in its annual Index of Economic Freedom. It’s a sad day when countries such as Chile and Mauritius can outdo the red-white-and-blue when it comes to opportunity. U.S. economic policy has broken faith with the Founding Fathers, who preached the value of property rights, sound money...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: The New York Times. I hate to break this to you. Do you remember when they were touting digitizing health records, making everybody's health records electronic so that they would be easily available to doctors and medical professionals? Of course, not scammers. They would never get them, of course not. Only the people that needed to see your health records would ever be able to. They'd take care of that. They said, "It's gonna really make things cheaper. We have to do this because health care costs are just out of control, causing the deficit, causing the...

Official White House Response toPeacefully grant the State of Louisiana to withdraw from the United States of America and create its own NEW government. and 8 other petitions . Our States Remain United By Jon Carson Thank you for using the White House's online petitions platform to participate in your government. In a nation of 300 million people -- each with their own set of deeply-held beliefs -- democracy can be noisy and controversial. And that's a good thing. Free and open debate is what makes this country work, and many people around the world risk their lives every day...

To the editor: A recent editorial called for unlimited gun ownership to defend against the government. I hear this argument a lot, but what good is your AR-15 when you're fighting the full force of the United States military? All they have to do is drop a smart bomb on your house from high above and you're done. You wouldn't even see it coming. Alternatively, they could simply run over your house with a Kevlar-plated M1 Abrams tank, or shell your dwelling from cannons positioned far away. I support the right to bear arms to protect your home and family...

If you had buttonholed me in the Senate men’s room circa 2003 and told me that a decade hence Joe Biden would be America’s vice president, John Kerry secretary of state, and Chuck Hagel secretary of defense, I’d have laughed and waited for the punch line: The Leahy administration? President Lautenberg? Celebrate lack of diversity! But even in the republic’s descent into a Blowhardocracy staffed by a Zombie House of Lords, there are distinctions to be drawn.

In remarks with Afghan president Hamid Karzai at the White House this afternoon, President Barack Obama said the U.S. has fallen "short of the ideal" in Afghanistan:

Alabama Leads The Way In Nationwide Run On GunsBy Challen Stephens cstephens@al.com January 10, 2013 at 11:08 AM, updated January 11, 2013 at 9:49 AM Alabama appears to have led the national run on guns last month. It's not that Alabamians purchased the most. But Alabama saw the nation's largest spike in applications for firearm background checks, a sudden rise of 145 percent, between the months of October and December. Federal background checks spiked in every single state following the presidential election and the shooting in Newtown, according to FBI data on background checks. Background checks normally rise before Christmas....

A Middle Tennessee firearms trainer who made an ominous and very public promise in a YouTube video that gained national attention this week, has had his handgun carry permit suspended Friday by the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security. James Yeager, 42, had his permit suspended based on a "material likelihood of risk of harm to the public," the department said in a statement. Yeager told Channel 4 News he is aware of the suspension, and his attorney will handle his statements going forward.

Chris Matthews opened Hardball with video from the past two days of Jim Yeager, Alex Jones and Rush Limbaugh defending the second amendment. David Corn says Rush is "inviting John Wilkes Booth..." Matthews says Rush should know better. Matthews also introduced the segment (usually rebroadcast at 7:00 PM EST) by saying he was "going to nut country" and said that was a quote from JFK just before he went to Dallas for the last time. Right before Hardball, Martin Bashir said that the report that the armed officer assigned to the school that were the latest shooting occurred wasn't there...

Soon after the Rev. Louie Giglio announced he would no longer deliver the benediction at President Obama's second inauguration later this month as to avoid controversy over a past sermon on homosexuality, an inaugural committee spokesperson said the evangelical pastor would be replaced with someone who has pro-homosexual beliefs. "We were not aware of Pastor Giglio's past comments at the time of his selection and they don't reflect our desire to celebrate the strength and diversity of our country at this Inaugural," inaugural committee spokeswoman Addie Whisenant said in a statement Thursday. "Pastor Giglio was asked to deliver the benediction...

Reid to Obama: OK to skip Congress on debt ceiling By: Manu Raju and John Bresnahan January 11, 2013 02:47 PM EST Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other top Democrats are putting new pressure on the White House to circumvent Congress to boost the nation’s debt ceiling if no bipartisan agreement can be reached. In a strongly worded letter to President Barack Obama obtained by POLITICO, Reid and his leadership team argue that failing to raise the $16.4 trillion debt ceiling would threaten the full faith and credit of the United States. Reid and Sens. Dick Durbin, Chuck Schumer...

"So this is what it looks like when a society is starting to collapse," the man standing behind the counter at the hardware store said matter-of-factly. The remark had been directed at no one in particular, but generally at anyone standing nearby. As I was among that audience, I looked at him inquisitively, eliciting in return a look indicating that his observation should be intuitively obvious to even the casual observer. "We should not be this busy," he continued. "People are normally out Christmas shopping for the latest tech gadgets for their kids, but instead they are spending their hard-earned...

"So, you know, I think that, have we achieved everything that some might have imagined us achieving in the best of scenarios? Probably not. You know, there's a human enterprise, and you know, you fall short of the ideal," said Obama. The president went on to say that America has achieved some measure of success in Afghanistan, however. "Did we achieve our central goal? And have we been able, I think, to shape a strong relationship with a responsible Afghan government that is willing to cooperate with us to make sure that it is not a launching pad for future...

"As president of Southern States PBA, a professional law enforcement association with over 30,000 members from federal, state, county and municipal agencies, I would like to express our support for the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution and for law abiding citizens to purchase and own firearms. From hunting to shooting sports, firearms are a part of the American culture that are passed from generation to generation. Rank and file law enforcement officers realize that gun ownership from law abiding citizens poses no threat to the law enforcement community or to the public. New legislation aimed at reducing or restricting law...

Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog Gun control hypocrite Barack Obama chooses guns for himself and his family, but opposes them for everyone else On January 10, 2013, President Obama signed a bill that provides armed guards to himself and his wife for the rest of the lives. He did this because he understands that armed guards make people safer. I think that what he did was a good thing. I agree with what he did on this.Obama chooses to send his own children to the private Sidwell Friends school, which employs 11 armed guard. These aren’t Secret Service agents. Instead, these...

One of the distinguishing features of America from the founding throughout our history has been classlessness. In recent years, especially since 2009, there has been a relentless assault by the progressive left on what it considers the unfair income distribution between the rich and others, propounded particularly in academia as I discussed in Inequality. That blitzkrieg has contributed to a significant rise—by around 20 points—in the percentage of our population that now believes there is a sharp and intensifying class conflict in America, which some on the left would turn into class war. Central to President Obama’s reelection strategy was...