Free Republic

THE QUEST for ways to reduce inequality begins with taxation. Unlike spending programs, redistribution through taxation is administratively simple; besides, putting money directly into people's pockets allows them to spend it on whatever they need most. But the tax tool has been wielded badly. Rather than using it to offset rising inequality, politicians have contrived to do the opposite. The Bush administration refuses to acknowledge this extraordinary fact. It argues that the tax system has grown more progressive because the rich provide a larger share of government revenue than in the past. But this isn't because tax rates for the...

The expansion of benefit programs since 2000 has led to the greatest increase in social spending in American history – with entitlement programs now accounting for more than half of all federal spending. A USA Today analysis released Tuesday of 25 major government programs – including health care, college aid and food stamps – revealed that enrollment surged an average of 17 percent from 2000 to 2005, while the nation's population increased by only 5 percent. It marked the largest five-year growth in enrollment since Medicare, Medicaid and other social programs were created during Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" movement in...

Last month, as chilly November winds hinted at the winter to come, Massachusetts received a warm gift from Venezuela via CITGO Petroleum Corporation. It could not have come at a more critical moment as those on fuel assistance faced heating price increases of up to 50 percent. Many low-income families looked ahead to a winter of unbearable options: choosing between heat and food or medication. As a result of the Venezuelan oil program, more than 12 million gallons of heavily discounted heating oil will flow to needy households and social service institutions across the state. Together with local nonprofits Citizens...

Federal Social Programs and Catholic PrinciplesOne of the fundamental differences between the “liberal” and “conservative” mentalities, at least in the United States, is the penchant of one for glorifying social programs and the other for glorifying capitalism and a free market system. Over the decades, but particularly today, politicians on both sides court the Catholic vote. The Catholic who votes liberal because of the social programs that are the legacy of 60-plus years of American socialization does so out of a sense of obligation. The argument is that the welfare system and other similar systems promoting social equality are more...

Bills to Cut Social Programs Move Forward in Senate and House By DAVID ROGERS Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL October 26, 2005; Page A6 WASHINGTON -- Deficit-reduction bills advanced in Congress as Senate Republicans completed a $39 billion five-year package and House Republicans began work on a more-ambitious effort demanding bigger cuts in social-service and health programs. Lawmakers neared agreement last night on legislation that would mandate disclosure by the Food and Drug Administration of any waivers of conflicts-of-interest rules for people selected to serve on its advisory committees. The FDA would be required to publish on its...

Kathleen Babineaux Blanco On January 12, 2004, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco became the first woman to serve as governor of Louisiana. In her long, distinguished career, Governor Blanco has served the people with a vision of creating a new Louisiana, filled with hope and opportunity for all citizens. As Governor, her top priorities include: providing affordable, accessible healthcare, improving the state’s education system, and creating a strong and vibrant economy. In her inaugural address, Governor Blanco outlined her priorities as governor: “We face important challenges in this new century: expanding our economy and creating quality jobs; building an effective health care...

The HTLM Worm ! Half-truth virus corrupts human logic ! You can show your teacher this one, perhaps you can teach them a thing a two about logic, and how it can be corrupted. Here are some classic examples of how logic has been corrupted by the "half-truth logical" worm; The HTLM worm. ------ 1. Child Abuse - "Men who abuse, women and children victims" (HTLM Worm #1) That should be some men, some women and some children who abuse and children victims, including children who abuse themselves. The model of abuse is not only based on part of the...

The question ‘When did you stop beating your wife?’ is a well known rhetorical device to illustrate the impossible situation in which whatever answer someone gives traps them into an admission of guilt. Now the government appears to have updated this for the modern era with the question: ‘When did you stop getting beaten by your husband?’ For from next year, it is to instruct doctors and midwives to ask all pregnant women if they are being abused by their husbands or boyfriends. The implications of this are breathtaking. What kind of society presumes that all men are inherently bad?...

The devil beyond the mirror ? © One must realize that the depth, the reality of the image in a mirror is false, merely a reflection that hides the reality behind it. Call it a cancer, call it an error of philosophy, call it the work of the devil. But social programs dealing with family violence and abuse are creating social programs, in a paradoxical effect. Paradox...as in Truth can lie ! Stop violence by women? A missing truth, among others...! Back in 1987, it was noted that the programs dealing with abuse in North America had been seriously manipulated...

<p>Sacramento -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said for the first time Thursday that Republican lawmakers and California voters would have to approve his still- incomplete "fiscal recovery'' plan or face higher taxes because he is unwilling to cut deeply into social programs.</p>

Will Schwarzenegger terminate the GOP? Posted: September 9, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com The candidacy of Arnold Schwarzenegger to become the next governor of California appears to be heading toward victory. But Republican elephants would be wise to consider that if they allow this RINO (Republican In Name Only) to win, he may also be responsible for permanently terminating their precious GOP. What has apparently evaded the thinking of conservative pundits all over America is the long-term impact of Schwarzenegger on the Republican Party's national platform. In particular, there has been an ongoing battle for many years inside...

Whenever someone says that this or that government program is absolutely necessary, I always wonder, "What did people do and how did they survive before the program?" If someone says food stamps are absolutely necessary for poor people's survival, I wonder how America's millions of poor immigrants made it. Unless I missed something, mass starvation is not a part of our history. Was there a stealth food stamp program during the 1700s and 1800s? Then there's the question: How did we manage to build the world's greatest cities without the help of the 1965-created U.S. Department of Housing and Urban...

Compassionate conservatism works because it addresses people as individuals rather than as faceless units in a throng. Conservative Compassion Vs. Liberal Pity A remarkable feature of President Bush's pronouncements is his unashamed use of the "L" word. Mr. Bush calls his political philosophy "compassionate conservatism," but he is not afraid to say the older, stronger word that gives that philosophy its meaning. The word is love. Mr. Bush used the word when, during the presidential campaign, he was confronted by a man who spoke loosely and negligently of illegitimate children and the welfare system. When the man uttered the...

In recent years there has been an explosion in empirical research on faith-based social programs. Most studies, including the most scientifically rigorous, find that faith moves social and civic mountains. Consider the latest scientific literature on religion and crime: A 1997 study by Byron Johnson, director of the Center for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society (CRRUCS) reports that New York state prisoners who participated intensively in Bible studies were less likely to be rearrested: Participants were only a third as likely to be arrested a year after release as otherwise comparable prisoners who did not participate. On average,...

A young teenage girl was about to finish her first year of college. She considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat and her father was a rather staunch Republican. One day she was challenging her father on his beliefs and his Opposition to programs like welfare. He stopped her and asked her how she was doing in school. She answered that she had a 4.0 GPA but it was really tough. She had to study all the time, never had time to go out and party and often went sleepless because of all the studying. She didn't have time...

Dear Reader: I am taking the unusual step in sending this editorial comment to all of our e-newsletter subscribers because there is an issue before Congress that I feel is so important that it needs you to write letters to get it to pass Several weeks ago I was invited to an important briefing at the White House in which President Bush outlined the CARE Act (Charity Aid, Recovery and Empowerment) which would put faith-based ministries on an equal footing for government programs for helping the homeless and doing other social programs for which secular organizations now get funding. The...

Let’s be honest with ourselves, the policies of the Democratic Party encourage people to remain lazy, claim victim status, and leech off of the money of taxpayers and anyone else’s money they can get their lazy fingers on. It is due in large part to the perpetuation of these bottom feeders that taxpayers eventually flee the Democratic Party. As the old saying goes, “if you’re not liberal in your 20’s you have no heart, and if you’re not conservative in your 40’s you have no head.” A lifetime of observing these bottom feeders will build up cynicism in even the...