Free Republic

Let's think about the kind of mess that we're in. Federal 2010 Medicare and Medicaid expenditures totaled $800 billion. The projected annual growth of both programs is about 7 percent. Social Security expenditures are more than $700 billion a year. According to the 2009 Social Security and Medicare trustees reports, by 2030, 49 percent of federal revenues will go for Social Security and Medicare payments. The unfunded liability of both programs is already $106 trillion.But not to worry. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that it's possible to sustain today's level of federal spending and even achieve a balanced budget. All...

During a conversation on politics with an old friend I offered the hope that all his faith in our new president: "Ain't been in vain fer nuthin'."With that he reared up and replied to my comment by saying: You always ridicule with clever solipsisms."Far be it from me to be solipsistic, so I pointed out that he probably meant solecism. Mistake 1: Never quote Lina Lamont at a New York City cocktail party. They won't know what you're talking about. Mistake 2: Never attempt to correct the tortured misuse of the English language by New York intellectuals who pride themselves...

Shibboleths in presidential politics It's a commonplace that you can't win the presidency of the United States without God. Whether or not he really uses your product, the celebrity endorsement is a must have. It was not always so. In his classic examination of the fledgling United States, Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville argued that religion both flourished and acted to cement democracy in the early republic precisely because religion remained at a certain distance from partisan politics. Tocqueville observed: In several states 5 the law excludes [clergy] from political life; public opinion excludes them in all. And when...