Free Republic

More than half of all students, and nearly 40 percent of all faculty at New Mexico’s higher education institutions don’t have enough food to eat. The findings, from a new state-funded study, reveal troubling statistics representative of a worsening problem across America. New Mexico is taking steps to address it — and other states should pay attention. We’ve known about the problem of food insecurity among U.S. college students for a while. But the New Mexico research casts a wider spotlight on hunger’s broader impact on higher education teachers and administrators. It’s yet another data point that shows just how...

Europe’s extensive social welfare net was showing signs of fraying under economic strain from the coronavirus, as protests erupted Friday for a second day in Spain against layoffs by French carmaker Renault, while Italy’s chief central banker warned that “uncertainty is rife.” Elsewhere, New Zealand has all but eradicated the coronavirus with just one person in the nation of 5 million known to be infected. But developments were grim in other nations, with India reporting a record increase in cases, and Pakistan and Russia a record number of deaths. As cases steadily rose across Africa, officials who are losing the...

As any New Yorker knows, finding an apartment is not easy. The city’s affordable housing lottery was set up to assist residents, but applying for the lottery takes time and patience. Brooklyn resident Maria Martinez told PIX11 she’s been applying faithfully for 20 years, since the inception of the lottery program. Speaking through a translator, she said the process is frustrating. “You keep applying. You hope you end up with a home, but it hasn’t happened for me yet,” Martinez said. Martinez currently rents a one-bedroom apartment in Williamsburg. She lives with her husband and two teenage children. “Sometimes I...

"What is the Islamic State? Where did it come from, and what are its intentions? The simplicity of these questions can be deceiving, and few Western leaders seem to know the answers. In December, The New York Times published confidential comments by Major General Michael K. Nagata, the Special Operations commander for the United States in the Middle East, admitting that he had hardly begun figuring out the Islamic State’s appeal. “We have not defeated the idea,” he said. “We do not even understand the idea.” In the past year, President Obama has referred to the Islamic State, variously, as...

We need our government to transition social welfare programs to private non-profit organizations that seek their funding directly from the people and the businesses of America, Whenever there is lots of money in a centralized source, there is a need to take extraordinary measures to keep it from being stolen. Yet we have a federal government that is involved in the centralized collection and spending of trillions of dollars that is being run by thieves. These thieves have a system of propagandists and compliant news media that have convinced millions of people that this system is working for the common...

SALT LAKE CITY — Ever since Mitt Romney said he was “not concerned about the very poor” but would fix the safety net “if it needs,” conservatives and liberals have been frantically making suggestions. Gov. Romney says he would consider options. But if he wants to see a welfare system that lets almost no one fall through the cracks while ensuring that its beneficiaries don’t become lifelong dependents, he could look to his own church. As I ride in a golf cart through a new 15-acre warehouse on the outskirts of Utah’s capital, I can’t help but wonder: How...

Jin Liqun, chairman of China's $400 billion sovereign wealth fund considers Europe to be a bad investment at the moment. This is worrisome as European leaders are counting on China to bail the Continent out of its debt crisis. Liqun believes that the problems are caused by Europe's labor laws and welfare system, which distort incentives and deform character. They induce people to become lazy and dependent. Until this is fixed, he doesn't see the point of risking his country's capital there. Lazy, dependent people with an expectation of entitlement and a penchant for violent protest are a poor credit...

"If you look at the troubles which happened in European countries, this is purely because of the accumulated troubles of the worn out welfare society. I think the labour laws are outdated. The labour laws induce sloth, indolence, rather than hardworking. The incentive system, is totally out of whack."

<p>WASHINGTON -- President Bush sees the Medicare drug bill as a way to score points on the Democrats' traditional social-welfare turf. But Democrats see new political opportunities in the legislation as well: a target for ramping up attacks on Republicans as beholden to big business.</p>