Free Republic

Libertarians and free-market conservatives take an unequivocal stand on the provision of state welfare. It should be phased out and returned to the private sector. Charity is not a proper function of government. This, of course, attracts the usual horrified denunciations of, “My God, what kind of human being are you? Don’t you have any compassion? How can you wish to suppress poor people so? We can’t just let people be poor; we must do something!” But to be against state funded welfare does not mean one is devoid of compassion or desirous of suppressing poor people. It means one...

Emma "Matty" Yturralde was the exact opposite of a bank's dream borrower: A newly divorced single mom with a $13-an-hour job. Her finances were so tight, she had a tenant sleeping in her living room. She had a car, but it was in the shop almost as often as it was on the road. The bus ride to her job at Kmart took an hour and a half. Too proud to ask for a ride home, Yturralde, now 49, said she would sometimes wait outside the store to see if a co-worker offered one. Her life changed in 2003 with...

A family's second chance By Andrew M. Seder 12/17/2003 Charles and Barbara Smith and 14 of their 18 children are moving back into their North Scranton home today, just in time for the holidays. The Smith family was forced to leave the house after the city condemned it July 29 -- the first known Habitat for Humanity home in the country to be condemned. On Tuesday, a team of city inspectors went through the house at 2517 N. Main Ave. and removed the "unfit for human habitation" label. Mr. Smith says he regrets what happened because of "my neglect...