Free Republic

Minority activists air complaints about proposed redistricting AUSTIN (AP) — Minority activists and elected officials testified Wednesday that a Republican-drawn congressional redistricting map could hurt the political progress black and Hispanic Texans have made over many years. "I think it's probably going to set us back maybe 20, 25 years," said Deralyn Riles Davis, a black political activist from Tarrant County. "The people are going to be discouraged." Attorneys for the state say Republican legislative leaders were trying to craft a congressional map for partisan gain, and that race was not a predominant factor. They dispute claims by Democrats and...

The story is this: My mom and I were visiting this Mexican friend of hers (legal resident, if you ask) who is pregnant, and this lady lives in a trailer park strategically located in Chesterfield, an upscale suburb of St. Louis. The leftists always rant and rave about how the "poor" are oppressed here in the "evil American empire", but the reality is very different: -Half of the trailers sported a satellite dish, the other half have digital cable with HBO and Cinemax. -None, and I say none, of the cars at the park, looked like it was more than...

MEDFORD, MASS - Brazil's President Luiz Inácio da Silva - "Lula," as he is widely known - has made Brazil's gaping gulf between its few rich and many poor a focus of his new administration. The United States should do the same. While not as vast as Brazil's, the gap between the rich and the poor in the US is too wide - the widest among all the rich democracies. According to World Bank data, the poorest 10 percent of Brazil's population receives just 1 percent of the country's total income, while the richest 10 percent receives almost half. In...