Free Republic

Crony capitalism thrives in Alaska, center stage held by the Alaska Native Corporations (ANC). From the pending shakedown of taxpayers through a wholesale land grab (S.730 and H.R.1408) to recent arrests of four people in one of the "most brazen federal contracting scandals in our nation's history," there seems to be no end to the scams, a consequence of an ANC system run amok. It's not enough that over $29 billion of taxpayer money has been transferred to the ANCs under the 8(a) minority no-bid federal contracting scheme. The state's seemingly permanent political class has recently orchestrated sister bills in...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Some voters expecting to vote for Barack Obama or John McCain two weeks ago were surprised to see 11 other names on the ballot. But 736 voters in Duval County weren't happy with any of the choices and wrote in 191 other names. Among the write in votes were those who really ran for president or vice-president during the long primary campaign: Sen. Hillary Clinton, Rep. Ron Paul, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani, Sarah Palin and even Steven Colbert. George W. Bush got two votes to serve a third term. Others getting multiple votes...