Free Republic

...When Mitch Daniels said last week that a VAT as a part of tax reform is worth exploring, he obviously didn't see the damage that a VAT did to Europe. The simple fact is that a VAT in the U.S. would lead, over time, to higher aggregate levels of taxation. It's likely that the other taxes will rise as a VAT grows. The burden of proof is on those who say this won't happen, since the facts of history show otherwise. As for a VAT as a total replacement, that's just not going to happen. If there was ever enough...

"Islam is NOT, nor has it ever been a religion, but an all encompassing political system."

I for one, will not spend my money on products that comply with a regressive political ideology that wants to do to me, and what was done to Nick Berg, in the same manner that they slaughter their meat. To get a certification, a company must: Have Halal employees who are involved in the production which “includes the person in charge, those who order the raw materials, and those in charge of packaging.” In other words, the company must hire halal compliant employees . . . .

...The number of people employed by the federal government is slated to hit 2.15 million by the end of this year (excluding the postal service). 1.43 million of these workers are civilians. The Washington Times has characterized it as “the largest federal work force in modern history.” Congressional Republicans have recently proposed a “Net Federal Hiring Freeze” to combat payroll expenditures adding to the national deficit, but legislative action has yet to be taken. While this polling might be explained by dim job prospects and the current wave of anti-Washington fervor, it seems likely that the low opinion of federal...

...Many progressives point to the New Deal as a significant standard for government growth (and, similarly, government "stimulus"). However, government spending averaged 9.4% of GDP during the New Deal Era - just in FY 2010, federal spending has been over two and half times that, amounting to 23.8% of GDP. The failure of both the FDR and Obama Administrations to control spending and spur economic recovery is evident. FY 2009 was the first year federal spending exceeded $3 trillion. FY 2010 is the second. Since FY 2007 (before Democrats took control of the House) federal spending has increased by $724...

Election time is upon us. So cast your vote in the InterviewGuests.com poll for the Top 100 Talk Show guests for 2010. The InterviewGuests.com family of PR agencies and affiliates together book more guests on more talk show outlets than any other agency in the world, to the best of our knowledge. Yet, we cannot complete this monumental project without the help of talk show hosts and producers like you. We want to compile for you the most accurate VIP Dream Interview Guest (DIG) List, so make your opinion count! Simply check the box next to any of the 1000...

I Came across a liberal article today that was steeped in total and utter ignorance "Top ten Reasons why liberals are better than conservatives." HAH! After two years of Obama and the Democrats, you must be blind not to see the fallacy of this statement. Add to this the trashing of our constitutional rights by Democrats for decades. With this in Mind, I decided to refute it with something of my own. Why Liberals are really WORSE than Conservatives. BTW, this guy claims to be centrist. He certainly is not. 10) Liberals prefer to be sensitive to the issues of...

JOE GARCIA'S FRIENDS TELL US WHO THIS DEMOCRAT ISA Man is Known by the Company he Keeps WHO IS JOE GARCIA? Now that Democrat Joe Garcia is running for Florida’s 25th congressional district (FL-25), he has tried to soften his image by cutting his hippie-curls and by pretending to sound conservative while subtly peddling his leftist agenda coated with fake altruism. But those who have listened to him for years know that those "changes" are just artificial. Even if he tries to hide his true personality and radical agenda, voters can always count on his friends to tell us...

The President seems to have some trouble with basic economics. He even admits that he is “no math teacher.” In a speech discussing the what is poised to be one of the largest tax hikes in history, Obama was using some numbers that need some explaining. He was particularly fond of using the number $700 billion, the “cost” he is alleging of preventing these tax hikes. First, it’s ludicrous the President of the United States is calling the aggregate amount of their own hard-earned money taxpayers will get to keep if current tax policy is extended. His implication that this...

Though it has yet to pass a budget on time in the modern era, California was especially late in its annual appropriations this year - waiting 99 days to rangle a budget deal through the state legislature. Per usual, backroom wheelings and dealings secured a massive spending missive, totaling $87.5 billion for Fiscal Year 2011, which started July 1. Although lawmakers has waited 100 days to pass a budget, they were so eager to ram the spending through that they couldn't wait a few extra days to ensure there was time to actually read the bill...

Researchers are scratching their heads over the massive number of college dropouts. “During a five-year period, more than $9 billion was spent by state and federal governments to support students at four-year colleges and universities who left school before their sophomore year,” according to the American Institutes for Research (AIR). “California, Texas and New York led the nation in government spending on students who dropped out before their second year.” “Every fall, first-year college students receive significant funding from colleges, states and the federal government,” said Dr. Mark Schneider, an AIR vice president. “And every spring, hundreds of thousands of...

October 13, 2010 "FLA: Sahar Mohammed To Evangelist Bill Keller: “Jihad Upon You" - “Your Days Are Numbered.”" SNIPPET: "NaplesNews NAPLES — The Collier County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a possible death threat made against a Naples-based online evangelist who has called Islam a “false religion” about “death and hate,” and who is trying to build a “Christian Center” at ground zero in New York City in response to the planned mosque. Bill Keller, 52, who hosts a paid-programming television show on MyTV8, which he described as the O’Reilly Factor from a “Biblical perspective,” said the threat was on his...

Far be it for an American President to publicly congratulate (let alone even mention) AMERICAN ingenuity and AMERICAN PRIVATE ENTERPRISE for the miracle rescue of the Chilean Miners. Schramm Inc. of West Chester, Pennsylvania built the drills and equipment used to reach the trapped miners. Center Rock Company, also from Pennsylvania, built the drill bits used to reach the miners. UPS, the US shipping company, delivered the 13-ton drilling equipment from Pennsylvania to Chile in less than 48 hours. Crews from Layne Christensen Company of Wichita Kansas and its subsidiary Geotec Boyles Bros. worked the drills and machinery to locate...

NOTE The following blog entry is a quote: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2010 update on : German terror suspect arrested in Kenya UPDATE ON German detained in Kenya on terror suspicion-report Kenyan police said on Tuesday they had arrested a suspected German militant and deported him shortly after issuing an alert about his presence in the country. Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said Sascha Alessandro Boettcher, who arrived in Kenya on September 22, was arrested in Mtwapa outside the coastal city of Mombasa."Kindly note that the suspect has been arrested from a private residence in Mtwapa and deported back to Germany," Kiraithe...

...As a starting point for grappling with this tangle of problems, Congress in 1868 formally announced the traditional policy of this country that it is the "natural and inherent right of all people" to divest themselves of their allegiance to any state, 15 Stat. 223, R.S. § 1999. Although the impulse for this legislation had been the refusal by other nations, notably Great Britain, to recognize a right in naturalized Americans who had been their subjects to shed that former allegiance, the Act of 1868 was held by the Attorney General to apply to divestment by native-born and naturalized Americans...

Of all the pithy phrases conjured up by Democrats during the health care debate, this had to have been one of the most effective: “If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep it.” This phrase was beaten into the public with such regularity no one can blame Americans for beginning to believe it. Unfortunately, like so many of the Administrations proposals, the rhetoric doesn’t match the reality. Health insurance companies have dropped coverage for children as the new law makes it incredibly difficult for insurance companies to make a buck. So now children don’t have...

...Why should OLMS again rework the LM-30 after having done so, quite circumspectly, very recently? The answer is simple: union bosses are complaining, and under the current administration, DOL is headed by the kind of political appointees who will cater to them. There is nothing to be gained by returning to the mob-like union days of Jimmy Hoffa, which is precisely what the re-imagined LM-30 would accomplish.

A man who Accuracy in Academia rarely sees eye-to-eye with nonetheless makes a good point in the October 8, 2010 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education. “As for costs, universities typically spend only one-third of their budgets on faculty salaries,” Cary Nelson of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) writes. “Despite more than 10 years of education after high school, most people standing in front of a college classroom earn less than $60,000 a year, considering that contingent faculty members, who are not eligible for tenure, make up two-thirds of the faculty work force.” “Most earn less than...

SNIPPET - quote: October 11, 2010 North Carolina Muslim Admits Working with al Qaeda: "Proud to be an American Traitor" [Full text] ****Jawa Report Exclusive**** I think we can quit with the speculation about where he went and why Update by Rusty: The full text of Khan's story can be found at the end of this post. (Excerpt) Read more at mypetjawa.mu.nu ...

CUBAN LEFTIST GROUPS ARE ATTACKING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE DAVID RIVERA TO FAVOR DEMOCRAT/LEFTIST CANDIDATE JOE GARCIA. Florida Race: Congressional District#25 Republican David Rivera vs. Democrat Joe Garcia The Miami Herald blog, NakedPolitics, reported that Jorge Mas Santos, ex-boss of Joe Garcia, and Carlos Saladrigas are behind the 527 group (Committee for Responsible Politics) running the ads attacking David Rivera: [...] THE PUBLIC RECORDS SHOW IT'S TRUE Sources: Federal Election Commission (FEC), Florida's Company Records, and OpenSecrets.org:COMMITTEE FOR RESPONSIBLE POLITICS (FEC ID#: C30001697) Address: 2618 Centennial Place, Tallahassee, FL 32308 Custodian of Records: Mark Herron, Attorney from Messer, Caparello & Self,...