Free Republic

This year’s White House Easter Egg Roll will be the cutest one EVER, obviously. Just watch.... Kid President, a.k.a. nine-year-old Robby Novak,announces that the ticket lottery for the April 1 White House Easter Egg roll is open,and closes on Monday, Feb. 25. Better get your name in there if you want to meet Kid President! Or real president. But the former upstages the latter in this mega-cute video...

Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives Philip Gunn has made another move in reaction to potential federal gun control laws, this time wooing gun manufacturers to relocate to his state. “Gun manufacturers are under attack in anti-Second Amendment states,” Gunn said in a release announcing that he sent 14 letters to CEOs of firearm manufacturers across the country Thursday, inviting them to move their operations to Mississippi. He said it is a state “where their industry and jobs will be appreciated.”

My phone rang late on a Friday evening. The number was from an area code with which I wasn’t too familiar. Would I be able to attend a dinner in Manhattan honoring Amity Shlaes on the occasion of the publication of her new Calvin Coolidge biography? Well, yes — yes, I would. Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/02/20/my-dinner-with-calvin/#ixzz2LdOsACmC

If we're being completely honest, Lauren Silberman's odds of making a NFL team as its kicker are pretty much nonexistent. However, the long-shot nature of her bid isn't stopping the 28-year-old New Yorker from becoming the first woman in history to register for an NFL regional scouting combine, which features players who weren't invited to the main combine currently being held in Indianapolis. Silberman will compete alongside college kickers in New Jersey on March 2 and 3 for the right to advance to a Dallas super-regional combine in April...

ISLAMABAD One of Pakistan's top-ranking diplomats, Ambassador to the U.S. Sherry Rehman, is the latest person to be accused of blasphemy in her home country under harsh laws that include a possible death sentence for anyone convicted of defaming the Islamic prophet. A senior government official in Lahore, provincial capital of Punjab province, confirmed to CBS News that a case of blasphemy had been registered with the police in the city of Multan against Rehman, a former journalist who was assigned to the Washington post in 2011. The case promises to unleash another clash between conservative Muslims who vehemently back...

Something odd happened a few months ago as I weighed the various aspects of the dreaded Sequester Monster, a creature vilified across party lines. It is often true that if enough people in government say something is bad, there is a strong chance of redeeming qualities. So my journey began. The only element of the sequester that bothered me in the least was military cuts. But my friends at the Institute for Policy Innovation properly observe that defense spending will not fall below 2007 levels, which were 75% above pre-9/11Pentagon budgets. High enough for me? Of course not. I actually...

I am going on Fox Business with Adam Shapiro at 2:45pm EST today to discuss the housing recovery and whether it is sustainable. While mulling over the data, I noticed a disturbing trend. Mortgage rates for consumers are rising with additional Fed asset purchases. We are all aware of The Fed’s massive intervention in the economy through its quantitative easing programs beginning in September 2008. But what is lost on that chart is the dramatic growth in Treasury and agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) since the beginning of October 2012. Agency MBS, in particular, has risen dramatically. But has the massive...

Shield Tactical released the following statement on their Facebook page today. Who didn’t see THIS coming, honestly? :) Shield Tactical is pleased to announce that we are moving our retail division to Shiner, Texas. We are pleased to have neighbors such as TBRC and the Spoetzl Brewery (home of Shiner Beer). Shipping etc will not be substantially affected. Out training division will remain in CA until the legislature outlaws everything.

The federal income tax celebrates its 100th birthday this month. With so few fans of the tax in and outside Washington, few are likely to celebrate. But maybe we should. The income tax was once quite popular ... After the Civil War, the federal government relied on a combination of consumption taxes and high tariffs to raise revenue. Both bore most heavily on regular people while doing little to tap the fortunes of the Gilded Age’s robber barons. Popular hostility toward these moneyed interests helps explain the initial popularity of the income tax ... At their 1896 convention, Democrats endorsed...

Quietly, behind the scenes, the groundwork is being laid for federal government confiscation of tax-deferred retirement accounts such as IRAs. Slowly, the cat is being let out of the bag. Last January 18th, in a little noticed interview of Richard Cordray, acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Bloomberg reported "[t]he U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau [CFPB] is weighing whether it should take on a role in helping Americans manage the $19.4 trillion they have put into retirement savings, a move that would be the agency's first foray into consumer investments." That thought generates some skepticism, as aptly expressed...

Daily finance & investment thread Trying to focus on the markets for today and each day and the economic news A number of people have talked about such a thread. Lets see how it goes. This is where you can impart some investment wisdom to your fellow freepers. You can vent about the big one that got away. You can chime in how Obama is out to wreck American capitalism. If you see another FR economic thread you like and want to link to it here, please do Post your favorite economic site links. Your favorite precious metals blogs and...

Gold price has dropped below $1,600 for first time in six months It is a treacherous moment for gold bugs. The first whiff of future tightening from the US Federal Reserve has sent bullion into a nose-dive, triggering a much-feared “Death’s Cross” sell signal on gold futures. Gold has dropped by over $100 an ounce in ten days, touching $1556 this morning. The HUI index of gold mining stocks broke down weeks ago – as so often leading gold itself by a few weeks – and has already crashed to levels last seen in 2009. Goldman Sachs has cut its...

DANBURY —— Amid concerns about getting a vote on tighter gun control legislation only months after the worst elementary school massacre in history, Vice President Joe Biden joined many of Connecticut's most powerful leaders in a daylong forum to press for change. "There's a moral price to be paid for inaction. If you're concerned about your political survival you should be concerned about the survival of our children," Biden warned. "I believe the price will be paid politically by those who refuse to act, who refuse to step forward."

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WATER BUMP Something I received in email that offers a little perspective on ammo shortages - This morning I lucked out and was able to buy several cases of ammo. On the way back I stopped at the gas station to get some gas, and this drop dead gorgeous blond was filling up her car at the next pump. She looked at the ammo in the back of my car and said in a very sexy voice, "I'm a big believer in barter, big boy. Would you be interested in a trade of sex for ammo?" I thought it...

In one week, seven days, the GOP has a decision to make. In spite of the dire warnings and fear mongering being broadcast by President Obama and his minions in the liberal media, the GOP has publicly stated the sequestration will go forward on March 1. That's their public face, but I can't help but wonder what is going on behind closed doors. We have already discussed the sequester many times. Those of us who pay attention to these things know President Obama is up to his same familiar tricks, trying to sway public opinion in his favor by feeding...

In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of “Word for the Day”. MonomaniaNoun 1. Pathological obsession with one idea or subject. 2. Intent concentration on or exaggerated enthusiasm for a single subject or idea. monomaniac - n. monomaniacal - adj. monomaniacally - adv. Rules: Everyone must leave a post using the Word for the Day in a sentence. The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day. The Review threads are linked for your edification. ;-) Practice makes perfect.....post on.... Review...

When Life Isn’t Fair Today's Scripture “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (Romans 8:28, NLT) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria Everyone goes through things that don’t seem to make sense. It’s easy to get discouraged and wonder, “Why did this happen to me?” “Why did this person treat me wrong?” “Why did I get laid off?” But we have to understand, even though life is not always fair, God is fair. And, He promises to work all...

Purim celebrates the salvation of the Jews from the wicked Haman's scheme to exterminate all the Jewish men, women, and children living in the Persian empire, which essentially meant all the Jews in the world. On Purim we are obligated to hear the Book of Esther which recounts the Purim story and enjoy a festive meal. We are also required to give charity to the poor, send two food items to a friend, and get so drunk that we do not know the difference between Haman, the villain, and Mordechai, the righteous hero of the story? (This last commandment, I...

Full Title: As Country Club Republicans Link Up With The Democratic Ruling Class, Millions Of Voters Are Orphaned On January 1, 2013 one third of Republican congressmen, following their leaders, joined with nearly all Democrats to legislate higher taxes and more subsidies for Democratic constituencies. Two thirds voted no, following the people who had elected them. For generations, the Republican Party had presented itself as the political vehicle for Americans whose opposition to ever-bigger government financed by ever-higher taxes makes them a “country class.” Yet modern Republican leaders, with the exception of the Reagan Administration, have been partners in the...