Free Republic

Just about everyone in Connecticut wishes Pratt & Whitney would keep its Cheshire and East Hartford plants open, with their 1,000 good-paying jobs, 3,000 to 6,000 jobs indirectly related to Pratt's operations, lavish tax payments to local and state government, and all of the other benefits such employers bestow on their communities. But do Connecticut residents really believe it's acceptable and appropriate to chain Pratt to the state? Is this the impression they want to give present and future businesses— once you're in our clutches, you have to stay here or we'll tie you up in federal court? Worse still,...

Barack Obama is a great pretender. He constantly says he's doing things that he isn't, and he relies on his powerful rhetoric to obscure the difference. He has made "responsibility" a personal theme, and the budget's cover line is "A New Era of Responsibility." He claims that the budget begins "making the tough choices necessary to restore fiscal discipline." It doesn't. If Obama were "responsible," he would be leading a candid conversation about government's size and role. Who deserves support and why? How big can government grow before higher taxes and deficits harm long-term economic growth? Although Obama claims to...

For the first time in 30 years, United Van Lines Inc. says it moved more people out of Florida than in, and analysts see that as a sign that consumers are looking elsewhere for a cheaper slice of life. The nation's largest moving company reported 16,212 inbound shipments to Florida last year and 17,019 outbound shipments. United moved more people to Florida in each year from 1999 to 2004, but the number of inbound moves fell in 2005, spokeswoman Jennifer Bonham said.

A $59 million jail featuring art and flat screen TVs in Portland, Ore., has been sitting unused for more than a year as the city can't afford to open it. The Wapato Facility took two years to construct and can house 525 inmates at a cost of $20 million per year, .... The county spent more than $600,000 on art for the jail, including a sculpture out front by the circular driveway. There are 30-foot vaulted ceilings and private showers. "I love coming to an empty $59-million jail," Giusto told the Los Angeles Times. "I get tired of telling people...

Kirtland Air Force Base NM (SPX) Jan 16, 2006 The Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center recently completed the F-22A Raptor Follow-on Operational Test and Evaluation and has rated the Air Force's newest fighter as mission capable in the air-to-ground role. This "Mission Capable" rating is part of AFOTEC's newly developed system now being applied to programs under test at AFOTEC. The new rating methodology starts with traditional effectiveness and suitability measures as a foundation for determining potential operational impacts on mission accomplishment in the expected operational environment.

<p>As gasoline prices reach record highs around the country, President George Bush and Sen. John Kerry are competing to cast blame and tout their price-busting strategies.</p> <p>Bush is urging passage of the administration's proposed national energy bill, stalled in Congress, including the opening of the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. Kerry criticized the president in San Diego on Tuesday for allowing gasoline prices to increase by 11.5 percent during the past three years. Kerry says Bush should divert oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to the consumer market and persuade OPEC leaders to increase production.</p>