Free Republic

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, late as usual, arrived in Rome Tuesday morning to pontificate at the Vatican about the dangers of climate change. Delayed by fog that forced his plane to land in Milan, de Blasio arrived 80 minutes after his allotted time to speak at the gathering of mayors invited by the Vatican. Once he was given time to speak, though, he waxed eloquent about “powerful corporate interests,” adding, “Is it not the definition of insanity to propagate corporate policies and consumer habits that hasten the destruction of the earth?”

Education remains separate and unequal nearly everywhere in the United States, but Confederate-flag-waving Southerners aren’t responsible for the most racially divided schools. That title goes to New York, where 64 percent of black students attend schools with few, if any, white students, according to a recent report by the Civil Rights Project. In fact, the Northeast is the only region where the percentage of black students in extremely segregated schools — those where at least 90 percent of students are minorities — is higher than it was in the 1960s. Schools in the South, on the other hand, saw the...

PHOENIX—Bernie Sanders is unaccustomed to being heckled by protesters. The self-identified democratic socialist was caught off guard here Saturday when African-American and Latino activists jeered him at Netroots Nation. Sanders’ inability to control the audience – he tried to shut them up and then he tried to yell over them – underscores his broader struggle to expand his appeal and highlights why his summer surge is unlikely to last. The huge crowds Sanders draws are overwhelmingly white, and polling consistently shows that virtually all of his support comes from whites. After Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two contests on...

No wonder he doesn’t think there’s a problem. The police have been laboring to keep Mayor de Blasio in a bum-free bubble — clearing nuisance-causing vagrants from his view at Gracie Mansion and as he travels in the city. On Wednesday, two hours before de Blasio was due to walk through Washington Square Park, cops arrived en masse to clear out the quality-of-life-ruining bums who drink from paper bags, sprawl on benches and pee in public. “They had to clear all the homeless out before he got there,” for a Ramadan fast-breaking dinner at the NYU Islamic Center, said one...

It’s time to draft Al Gore: If Democrats want to win, it’s clear neither Hillary nor Sanders is the way The presidential election is still sixteen months away, but this much is clear: Hillary Clinton is a vulnerable candidate. Since announcing her candidacy in April, Clinton’s stature has steadily slipped. Things got even worse this week. We learned, first, that Bernie Sanders eclipsed Clinton in small, individual donations, which is an indicator of popular support among likely voters. Second, and more problematic, the newest AP poll revealed significant weaknesses among Democrats on a host of issues, including trust, character, and...

Hip-hop mogul and animal-rights advocate Russell Simmons is comparing New York's horse-drawn carriages to slavery and the Holocaust. Simmons spoke Thursday at an event organized by horse carriage opponents. The Wall Street Journal reports that he likened horse carriages to slavery, ethnic cleansing and "people who put people in ovens."

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton is proposing new incentives to encourage corporations to share profits with workers. Her plan is to give businesses that offer employees a share of profits a two-year tax credit equal to at least 15 percent of their profit-sharing payments. The plan would exclude high-income workers and firms where only a small percentage of employees benefit. …

The city is poised to begin providing free Internet broadband access to more than 16,000 residents of its sprawling public housing system.[snip]

2016: If only Wall Street bankers had listened to St. Hillary during the subprime mortgage frenzy. She now claims she warned about the risky loans. Yep, a Clinton actually went there. Her campaign may regret it. While bashing Wall Street for risky acts and "criminal behavior," Clinton in her first economic stump speech portrayed herself as the voice of financial sanity in a casino of wild greed. "As we all know, in the years before the crash, financial firms piled risk upon risk," she intoned, "and regulators in Washington either wouldn't or couldn't keep up. "I was alarmed by this...

Hillary Rodham Clinton’s standing is falling among Democrats, and voters view her as less decisive and inspiring than when she launched her presidential campaign just three months ago, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll. The survey offers a series of warning signs for the leading Democratic candidate. Most troubling, perhaps, for her prospects are questions about her compassion for average Americans, a quality that fueled President Barack Obama’s two White House victories. Just 39 percent of all Americans have a favorable view of Clinton, compared to nearly half who say they have a negative opinion of her. That’s an...

Donors have given just $30,000 to Lincoln Chafee’s Democratic run for president, leading him to acknowledge that Democratic competitor Bernie Sanders is filling the role he hoped to play in the 2016 contest. Chafee lent his campaign $364,000, according to federal campaign finance filings. The former Rhode Island governor trails by a wide margin in fundraising. The campaign for Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton said it raised $45 million since mid-April, while Sanders, a Vermont senator, has raised $15 million since he joined the race in late April. “I always thought that there was fundraising potential for an honest progressive...

A heckler was ejected from Hillary Clinton’s economic speech in New York City Monday after asking the former secretary of state about her position on investment banking regulations. Business Insider reported that Daniel Burke, a self-identified organizer for the LaRouche PAC which supports political activist Lyndon LaRouche, yelled at Clinton at the conclusion of her speech, “Senator Clinton, will you restore Glass-Steagall?” Clinton did not respond to the inquiry, and Burke was removed from the event location, the New School in Manhattan, by security. Passed in 1933 and then repealed 66 years later, the Glass-Steagall Act separates commercial banks from...

According to financial disclosure reports, President Obama has an estimated net worth of $7 million dollars. Since he was worth $1.3 million in 2007, that makes the millionaire 438% more wealthy than when he first ran for office... While the average US citizen has a median income of roughly $51,000, Obama rakes in the cash with an annual presidential salary of $400,000. In addition, he receives money from book royalties and other investments. Hypocrisy isn’t a stranger to the liberal elite. Michael Moore’s fifty million dollar fortune came from creating documentaries that makes free enterprise look like the same as...

“… Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.” – Martin Niemoller, anti-Nazi pastor Donald Trump set off a firestorm with his recent remarks about Mexico. Good, he’s hit a nerve. At his campaign kickoff announcement at Trump Towers, Trump said, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you (gesturing to audience member), they’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”...

By Richard Pollock Israel News AgencyNew York — July 3, 2015 … Civil liberty advocates are jumping all over New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s order to “review” all of Donald Trump’s city contracts because of his recent comments on Mexican immigrants. “This is not the American Way,” observed Alan Dershowitz, Harvard’s most distinguished civil liberties law professor, about the chilling effect de Blasio’s action could have on freedom of speech. “De Blasio seems to put himself directly, squarely in conflict with the First Amendment,” he told TheDCNF in an interview. At his presidential campaign kickoff, Trump said immigrants...

City now looking at Trump’s golf deal in the Bronx as fallout continues from inflammatory comments against Mexicans. Hours after Macy’s abruptly ended its business relationship with Donald Trump, PIX11 News has learned that Trump’s golf course deal with the City of New York involving the much revered Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point is being examined in the fallout of Trump’s controversial remarks regarding Mexicans. Mayor Bill de Blasio telling PIX11 News the following in a statement, “We are reviewing Trump contracts with the City. Donald Trump’s remarks were disgusting and offensive, and this hateful language has no place...

The New York Times has a consistent position on art that offends religions. 1. Mohammed cartoons will not appear 2. Works mocking Christianity and Judaism will Briefly New York Times editor Dean Baquet pretended after the Hebdo and Garland attacks that there was some consistent policy about not offending religious people. Then it began once again featuring materials that offend Catholics. After a lot of squirming, the New York Times offered these criteria A. It's impossible not to offend anyone, so we won't offend Muslims, but we will offend Catholics "There's no simple, unwavering formula we can apply in situations...

I’m guessing this is the new face of equality. Or at least a redefinition of sanity. In any case, welcome to the Big Apple, employers! (From the NY Daily News) In front of emotional supporters, Mayor de Blasio signed legislation Monday that will prohibit employers from inquiring about a candidate’s criminal record prior to a job offer.“Today I see hope for people like me,” said Marilyn Scales, 52, of the Bronx, who said she never has had a full-time job because of her record for dealing heroin. As crazy as this may sound, there’s actually a bit more to...

The slaughter of Democrat sacred cows continues and writing it off as mere coincidence becomes harder. It started several weeks back with a series of FBI raids; on the Speaker of the Rhode Island Assembly, an openly Gay married bi-racial man. From there in rapid succession there were FBI raids/arrests and/or indictments of the Black mayor of Charlotte North Carolina – bribe taking; a White Illinois State Senator – child pornography; a Black New York State Assemblyman – padding his expense account; a Black female Indiana County treasurer – stealing county funds; a Chinese American California State Senator- gun running...

Liam Neeson says he’s “a little bit pissed off” at Mayor Bill de Blasio for wanting to shut down the horse-drawn carriage industry in New York City. The actor made the comment during a Wednesday appearance on “The Daily Show”. …