Free Republic

<p>Petro Poroshenko, the newly elected president of Ukraine, inherits a low-grade civil war against separatists backed by Russia, an economy rapidly descending into recession and a fragmented political system in which most power lies with a lame-duck, unrepresentative parliament. But as he sees it, he does have one thing going for him: For the moment, at least, a decisive majority of Ukrainians are behind him.</p>

In the face of a stagnating economy and national debt topping $17 trillion, many policymakers in Washington, D.C. are seeking ways to reduce spending. Given that many states increasingly rely on federal spending to craft their state budgets, the necessary federal spending reductions could pose a serious fiscal threat to states that fail to prepare. What’s more, those federal funds come with serious strings attached, which often hamper state autonomy and effectiveness in policymaking. A recent report from State Budget Solutions based on Census data reveals that on the whole, states received 31.6 percent of their total revenue from the...

The Stepford Voters: Dems see women as devices by Daniel Clark While combating the liberals’ dishonest and sophomoric “War on Women” theme, Republican former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee said, “if the Democrats want to insult the women of America by making them believe that they are helpless without Uncle Sugar coming in and providing for them a prescription each month for birth control, because they cannot control their libido or their reproductive system without the help of government, then so be it. Let’s take that discussion all across America, because women are far more than Democrats have made them to...

Nearly one-out-of-two Americans (48%) think that cuts in government spending are at least somewhat likely to lead to violence in the United States, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. But that includes just 13% who feel it’s Very Likely. Nearly as many Adults (44%), however, believe violence as the result of spending cuts is unlikely, but only 12% say it’s Not At All Likely. (To see survey question wording, click here.) Americans under 50 raise the possibility of violence more than their elders. Most adults not affiliated with either party (58%) think spending cuts are likely to...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBy0NWJsKz4

On the heels of his unsuccessful attempt to raise taxes through the debt ceiling agreement, Obama has decided to lower everyone's take home pay another way, through regulation. The Department of Health and Human Services just announced a new regulation which sounds all warm and fuzzy on the surface, but is in fact another in the long list of idiotic & costly government regulations. It requires all new healthcare plans to cover, without the need for co-payment or any other form of cost-sharing, a number of services strictly for women (I guess since men tend to vote Republican, this administration...

Prediction: The Social Security debate is going to turn pretty ugly pretty fast. It's quite civilized at the moment, with reporters and op-ed types jousting over economic assumptions and actuarial rates. But New Year's Day brought a Washington Post report that the coming campaign over Bush's privatization plan will take on the coloration of a full-fledged political war, complete with television ads. Such groups as Progress for America (which spent millions on Bush's reelection), the Club for Growth and the National Association of Manufacturers are planning big-budget campaigns, and the AARP is already spending 5 mil on full-page opposition ads...