Free Republic

This past November, Missouri's conservative Defense of Liberty PAC scheduled a high-profile event featuring a speech by Donald Trump, Jr. On November 9, however, WePay—a JPMorgan Chase subsidiary that provided the payment services for the event—announced the termination of those services. WePay accused the organization of violating its policy against promotion of "hate, violence, racial intolerance, terrorism, the financial exploitation of a crime, or items or activities that encourage, promote facilitate or instruct others regarding the same." Although WePay eventually reversed its decision, the organization had to cancel the speech. WePay's actions followed a series of similar incidents in recent...

Lawsuit battles over vaccine mandates continue to heat up across the country. The Independent Restaurant Owners Association Rescue (IROAR) filed a lawsuit against New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio over the vaccine mandate he imposed on indoor dining venues, entertainment establishments, and fitness studios.Those seeking redress: individuals who have pre-existing conditions where a vaccine would do them harm rather than help, and those who have had COVID-19 and recovered, and their natural immunity is equivalent, if not more robust, than the current vaccines.Todd Zywicki, a 24-year tenured law professor at George Mason University (GMU), won a victory in his...

The New York Times recently published two back-to-back articles (here and here) mocking members of the Tea Party Movement for supporting repeal of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution—the one that changed the election of US Senators from state legislatures to the popular vote system we have today. Having endorsed this idea myself on occasion, I am compelled to say that just because some crazy people endorse an idea doesn’t necessarily make the idea crazy. Following are links to some serious commentaries supporting a return to the original system of electing senators established by the Constitution.   George Mason Law...

The creation of a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency (“CFPA”) is a very bad idea and should be rejected. The proposal is not salvageable and cannot be improved in substance or in form. The proposal is premised on a fundamental misunderstanding of the causes of the financial crisis. The Obama Administration’s Financial Regulatory Reform White Paper, and the intellectual underpinnings of the new CFPA as articulated by law professors Elizabeth Warren of Harvard and Oren Bar-Gill of New York University, set forth the blueprints for a powerful regulatory agency designed to react to a perceived failure of consumers to understand...