Free Republic

The president’s State of the Union Speech was – at long last – the one I wanted him to give. It went after the very poison that has so sickened the United States of America. His call for us to shake off the Cult of Future-Hatred, indulged in by both right and left, was about urging us to start looking forward again, instead of to some mythically better past.

Please note – I have only quoted what I felt were relevant points. If you would like to read the speech yourself, you can find the full transcript at any number of places online. Now, by itself, this simple recognition won't usher in a new era of cooperation. What comes of this moment is up to us. What comes of this moment will be determined not by whether we can sit together tonight, but whether we can work together tomorrow. Ah, yes, “era of cooperation”. Translation: Barry thinks that he can calm down the right. He just wants us to...

During all of the furor over Arizona’s SB1070 immigration enforcement law last spring, one of the most egregious attacks on the sovereignty of the border state came in the form of a highly inappropriate and insulting speech by Mexican President Calderó n before the U.S. Congress. As the Democrat dominated chamber applauded the attack on Arizona, our hapless commander in chief and his constitutionally challenged attorney general were threatening legal action despite having not taken the time to have read the 10 page bill. Comparisons were made to Nazi Germany and liberals expressed outrage over the mere thought that Arizona...

...The REINS Act requires Congress to affirm any major rule authored by an executive agency. The bill promises true reform to scale back growing regulatory overreach under the Obama Administration, which, despite its lip service to prudence, continues to see regulatory action as the preferred avenue for controversial policy. In 2009, Congress passed and the President signed into law only 125 bills while over 3,000 rules were administered unaccountably by regulatory bureaucrats...

Rep. Steve King introduced the National Right-to-Work Act (H.R. 4107 in the 111th Congress). If passed, this legislation would give all American workers the freedom to choose whether or not to be represented by a union. Christopher Prandoni, Executive Director of the Alliance for Worker Freedom, has written a letter urging congressmen to support Rep. King's initiative: "Since the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, states have been free to pass laws that prohibit union membership as a condition of employment. Today, 22 states have some form of Right-to-Work legislation in place. The remaining 28 are known as “forced dues” states, wherein...

...As the Alliance for Worker Freedom has previously reported, the rise of public sector unions—SEIU, AFSCME, and NEA are all big players—is partly responsible for the fiscal crises confronting many states today. While job security, gold-plated retirement packages, and good benefits attract employees, they’ve been bankrupting state and local treasuries across the nation. At the same time, private sector workers have had fewer and fewer reasons to choose collective bargaining, that is, if they get a choice at all: Big Labor has been viciously holding onto power by fighting against Right-to-Work and Paycheck Protection while pushing for mandatory membership and...

Wednesday, January 19, 2011 Email to a Friend NEW YORK, NY (January 19, 2010)-- The results are in from the poll of the Top 100 "Dream" Interview Guests of 2010, conducted by InterviewGuests.com in conjunction with other PR agencies and professionals throughout the broadcast media business. Scott Rasmussen, author, independent pollster and founder/president of Rasmussen Reports, the electronic media company that specializes in the collection and distribution of public opinion data, ranks 15th on the list. That positions him as a more desirable interview ahead of such notable personalities as actor Johnny Depp, Kiss frontman Gene Simmons and presidents Barack...

...An audit by the Office of the Inspector General found that “one or more errors existed in 100 percent of the wage reports they reviewed.” Indeed, in practice, Davis-Bacon misrepresents regional wages causing the federal government to overpay workers by an average of 22 percent. Repeal of the Davis-Bacon Act would end the federal government’s practice of wastefully overspending on construction projects. Estimates made by the Heritage Foundation found that repeal of this law would save the federal government $8.6 billion in construction costs and $100 million in administrative costs per year. It would also save the construction industry $190...

Dr. Ted Baehr and George W. Bush Tie for 17th Place out of 1150 nominees http://tinyurl.com/6d57fyh

...-Repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT): The AMT was first created to trap a handful of taxpayers who some officials felt didn’t pay their “fair share.” Today however, the AMT affects a large portion of taxpayers and essentially forces many to compute their taxes twice and pay the higher amount. The AMT operates on a complex and completely different set of rules and does not offer deductions for dependants or taxes paid to state and local governments. This is an outdated and biased system that now affects about 4 million Americans and will affect up to 24 million Americans if...

...The report continues to outline how, when cutting government expenditures, the most successful formula for budget deficit reduction came as a spending cut in two main areas: social entitlements and reduction in the size and compensation of the government work force. The reasoning here is that a reduction in entitlements “spurs people to work and save.” Additionally, cutting size and compensation of the government work force expands the much more productive private sector. Overall, a government who takes on a failing budget and cuts spending to balance it will likely see an improved credibility for the economy as well. Demonstrating...

...While President Obama was eager in his piece to herald a “21st century” regulatory regime that relies more heavily on expert advice, the executive order he signed today does little to address executive agencies’ practice of regulating in search of a problem. Markey’s crusade to outlaw antibacterial soaps is based on speculation on a product that has a global history of safe use for more than forty years. Restricting antibacterial soaps would disproportionately and unfairly target households with children, where the use of these soaps is almost ubiquitous. After the passage of a health care law that greatly handicaps families’...

The budget introduced by Gov. Jerry Brown last week has been a hot topic of discussion in the Golden State and nationally. And while Brown is calling for $12 billion in higher annual income, sales, and car taxes, legislative Democrats are now jumping into the fray and proposing their own ill-advised tax hikes. Among the most misguided of proposals coming out of the Democrat caucus is Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner’s Amazon tax legislation, reintroduced just yesterday, that would illegally require out-of-state businesses to collect California’s highest-in-the-nation sales tax. Make no mistake, this new tax, commonly referred to as the “Amazon tax,”...

Before I get slammed with the usual "use the search function," let me explain that I HAVE attempted to use the search function. I did every combination of the following keywords that I could think of: Glenn Beck Kill Michael Moore Nothing came up. I am trying to find a full transcript, or better yet audio, of Glenn Beck saying "I'm thinking about killing Michael Moore, and I'm wondering if I could kill him myself." Actually, I can find that on youtube. What I CAN'T seem to find is anything that has the FULL quotation, because if you listen to...

Those of us who have worn the uniform and their families know what God, sacrifice, duty, honor and country are all about. I humbly ask my fellow veterans, service personnel, law enforcement, firefighters, first responders and their families to give generously to FreeRepublic so that it might survive and thrive in a world constantly threatened by socialism, communism, totalitarianism and other threats to our freedom and liberty. The recent shootings in Tucson, Arizona and the Left's attempts (before the victims were in an ambulance) to blame conservatives, the Tea Party Movement, talk radio and Governor Sarah Palin just illustrates the...

NEW YORK, NY (January 19, 2010)-- The results are in from the Poll of the Top 100 "Dream" Interview Guests of 2010. InterviewGuests.com, in conjunction with other PR agencies and professionals throughout the broadcast media business, announce the winners. See list below or go to: http://www.interviewguests.com/guests/articles/viewnews.cgi?id=EkAVFAyZlVkfjCQSBD&tmpl=default Ballots were distributed to 18,000 members of the news media. In the historic poll of 1150 nominees representing a 'Who's Who' of the world, Politics and Entertainment dominated the top 100 list. Although there were Nobel Laureates, genius scientists and other noteworthy people nominated, after more than 1000 votes were cast, the three most...

The Obamacare law raises or imposes some two dozen new or higher taxes on American families and small employers. Often, these tax increases can conspire together against normal, everyday decisions. Below are all the taxes that would be imposed on a child’s dental braces starting in 2013 under the Obamacare law: Excise Tax on Medical Devices. Obamacare imposes a new tax of 2.3% on medical devices, including braces. While these will be paid by the braces manufacturer, the tax will be passed along as a higher cost of the product, ultimately to be paid by the parent buying the braces...

Inquiring minds are laughing at the bureaucrats…mostly made up of those ‘highly intellectual’ Leftist/Progressive/Socialist types. The Intercollegiate Studies Institute has been conducting a national survey for the last 5 years. Remember how The Left derided the thought of reciting the US Consitution before 112th Congress began work? When the Republican House leadership decided to start the 112th Congress with a reading of the U.S. Constitution, the decision raised complaints in some quarters that it was little more than a political stunt. The New York Times even called it a “presumptuous and self-righteous act.” That might be true, if you could...

Due to an Obamacare tax hike which took effect on January 1, Americans are no longer able to use their Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and Health Savings Account (HSA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines (with the exception of insulin). Under the pre-Obamacare rules, health consumers could use these pre-tax accounts to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines. But starting on New Years Day 2011, the 40 million Americans who use FSAs and HSAs (including 5.7 million HSAs with $7.7 billion in combined assets) were no longer be able to use their accounts to buy simple, everyday medicines... Read more: http://www.atr.org/obamacares-medicine-cabinet-tax-hit-millions-a5764#ixzz1BJob0H4g

Not even sure what the "Environmental Justice" noted in the headline above might be about? It's likely that neither are most other Americans but that doesn't prevent President Obama's EPA administrator, Lisa Jackson, from sending $7 million of the taxpayers' money to dozens of groups mounting academic and propaganda campaigns organized around that theme. Judicial Watch reports that Jackson's agency announced late last week that the $7 million will be awarded "to study how pollution, combined with stress and other social factors, affects people in 'poor and under-served communities.' The agency refers to it as cumulative human health risk assessment...