Free Republic

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) celebrated Democrats seizing the House by unprecedentedly relying on the opposition party to force President Joe Biden’s priority of Ukraine border defense funds toward a full House vote on Saturday. “We look forward to every member voting their conscience and their desire, and that is exactly how this process is supposed to work and how the house is supposed to operate,” Johnson told reporters on Friday after passing a rules bill. “So we’re happy to provide that.”

Russian courts could get the green light to seize foreign assets on Russian territory under a draft law intended as a response to Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis. The draft, which was submitted to parliament on Wednesday by a pro-Kremlin deputy, would also allow state compensation for an individual whose property is seized in foreign jurisdictions. Italian authorities this week seized property worth about 30 million euros ($40 million) belonging to companies controlled by Arkady Rotenberg, an ally of President Vladimir Putin targeted by the U.S. and European Union sanctions. The draft law, published on a parliamentary database, would...

Why does a flyspeck of a town in North Florida want voting rights to a potentially massive block of Publix Super Market's stock? Maybe it's tied to a recent campaign to oust the chain's directors at the upcoming annual meeting and take the company public. Or maybe the people of Campbellton, just south of the Alabama line in Jackson County, just want to lobby for a Publix in their town, population 351. It's tough to tell because none of the town officials are talking about their effort to seize voting rights in Publix stock by eminent domain, a move one...

The New York Times welcomed the Supreme Court's recent endorsement of virtually unfettered eminent domain powers as "a setback to the 'property rights' movement." The fact that the Times not only celebrated a defeat for property rights but felt a need to put the phrase in scare quotes speaks volumes about the left-liberal misconceptions that have been brought to the fore by the Court's decision in Kelo v. New London. According to the Court, the Fifth Amendment, which allows the government to take property "for public use" provided it pays "just compensation," is a license to transfer any parcel of...

Governor considers calling special election By Ann E. Marimow TIMES SACRAMENTO BUREAU SACRAMENTO - After his string of ballot measure successes, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger might call a special election next year to force radical change on the Democratic-controlled state Legislature. The governor and his advisers are considering a long list of proposals to change the shape of legislative and congressional districts, require rapid disclosure of campaign donations, impose new limits on state spending and subject the Legislature to more public scrutiny. If successful, Schwarzenegger could intimidate his competition for 2006, should he decide to run for re-election. If he...

Greece 'too hasty' in seizing ship Helena Smith in Athens Wednesday June 25, 2003 The Guardian (UK) The Greek seizure of an explosive-laden ship bound for Sudan prompted heated exchanges between the two countries yesterday. Khartoum insisted that the cargo of 680 tonnes of high explosives and an estimated 140,000 detonators, loaded in Tunisia, had purely civilian use. Its foreign minister, Mustafa Ismail, accused Athens of ordering the seizure of the Baltic Sky on Sunday before knowing "all the facts". Mr Ismail, whose country has been accused by the US of supporting terrorists, said the shipment had been commissioned by...