Free Republic

I feel like a chump. This entire past year, Arnold Schwarzenegger had as a central theme to his campaign for re-election the fact that he would oppose any increase in taxes. I think it would be fair to say that this was a central theme to his campaign. As a matter of fact, in a candidacy that often times stressed issues that were not very appealing to core Republican voters, it was his focused contrasting of Phil Angelides' "The Tax Man" against his own rhetoric of opposing new taxes that helped to mollify, and excite the GOP base to support...

I joined the Republican Party a little bit later than most, as a direct result of the messages I heard from Ronald Reagan. When I began my own business, I discovered that most of the things I had been taught in college about government were wrong. As Ronald Reagan said and I quickly learned, government was a lot like a baby; a large appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other. I could find precious few government agencies that accomplished their actual mission, and none that did so efficiently. I came to the conclusion that the...

Editor, Times-Dispatch: As part of our Thanksgiving celebration this year I took the opportunity to read my family George Washington's Thanksgiving Day proclamation as printed on the Times-Dispatch Editorial Page. I made sure to emphasize Washington's reference to "the providence of Almighty God," and his request that we "all unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the Great Lord and Ruler of Nations." As I read his magnificent words, I was truly inspired by the expressive gazes in the eyes of my grandchildren upon hearing the nation's first President describe the significance of the hand of Almighty...

ALASKA SEN. Ted Stevens threw the senatorial version of a hissy fit on the floor the other day. The issue was a proposal by his Republican colleague, Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn, to block $453 million earmarked for two Alaska bridges in the recent highway bill and instead use some of the money to rebuild the Interstate 10 bridge across Lake Ponchartrain wiped out by the recent hurricane. Mr. Stevens is one of the masters of the Senate at steering federal money in the direction of his state, but he was not going to stand for this reverse flow. "I will...

With both major party platforms calling for expanded federal spending over the next decade, 2004 is clearly not a happy election year for advocates of limited government. In fact, the question has arisen whether there is any reasonable basis at all upon which to choose between the two presidential candidates on the spending issue. Superficial appearances to the contrary, the answer is most certainly "Yes." To the casual observer, the choice might appear to be a tossup. Even among his most ardent supporters, George W. Bush has gained the unfortunate reputation as a major-league spendthrift during his years in the...