Free Republic

Illinois’ credit rating has taken another hit. Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service downgraded the state from an “A” rating to “A-minus”, making it the worst in the country.

The report ranks the most and least “Bible-minded” cities by looking at how people in those cities view the Bible.... Regionally, the South still qualifies as the most Bible-minded. The top ranking cities, where at least half of the population qualifies as Bible-minded, are all Southern cities. This includes the media markets for Knoxville, TN (52% of the population are Bible-minded), Shreveport, LA (52%), Chattanooga, TN (52%), Birmingham, AL (50%), and Jackson, MS (50%). Other markets in the top 10 include Springfield, MO (49%), Charlotte, NC (48%), Lynchburg, VA (48%), Huntsville-Decatur, AL (48%), and Charleston, WV (47%). The least Bible-oriented...

Candy, soda, tobacco, and bottles of water and sports drinks are all in Gov. Deval Patrick's crosshairs as he announced another $2 billion tax wish list in his $34.8 billion proposed fiscal 2014 budget at the State House this afternoon. Among the tax highlights: The cigarette excise tax would be hiked by $1 to $3.51 per pack. Taxes on cigars and smokeless tobacco would also increase. The state would essentially expand the bottle bill to include water bottles and sports drinks on deposits. Candy and soda would no longer be exempt from the state sales tax. Patrick last week proposed...

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Chevron is California’s largest corporation, but it seems to be making the move to becoming Texas’ largest corporation instead. That’s 800 jobs out the door which gives Chevron a larger presence in Texas than it still has in California.

With their enthusiastic backing of President Obama and the Democratic Party on Election Day, the bluest parts of America may have embraced a program utterly at odds with their economic self-interest. The almost uniform support of blue states’ congressional representatives for the administration’s campaign for tax “fairness” represents a kind of bizarre economic suicide pact. Any move to raise taxes on the rich — defined as households making over $250,000 annually — strikes directly at the economies of these states, which depend heavily on the earnings of high-income professionals, entrepreneurs and technical workers. In fact, when you examine which states,...

Don’t buy a house in a state where private sector workers are outnumbered by folks dependent on government. Thinking about buying a house? Or a municipal bond? Be careful where you put your capital. Don’t put it in a state at high risk of a fiscal tailspin. Eleven states make our list of danger spots for investors. They can look forward to a rising tax burden, deteriorating state finances and an exodus of employers. The list includes California, New York, Illinois and Ohio, along with some smaller states like New Mexico and Hawaii. Let’s say you are a software entrepreneur...

The brokeyest broke state in the nation (which means it is also one of the brokeyest broke entities in the world, as it has the world’s 8th largest economy) has long served as the place where the far left has conducted field experiments for their policies. How’s that working out? Neil Munro tells us (Daily Caller) The Golden State has fallen on hard times, with a poverty rate that is now twice as bad as West Virginia’s and substantially worse than the rates of poverty in Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Texas. Democrat-run California earned its last-place rank under the federal...

On Tuesday voters in California went the wrong way on three propositions. Voters approved Proposition 30 "temporarily" increasing the state sales tax and income tax on individuals making over $250,000. They voted against Proposition 31 that would allow the governor to cut the budget in fiscal emergencies. They voted against Proposition 32 would prevent unions from making campaign donations via members' dues. Moreover, and worse yet, Democrats picked up two more votes in the state legislature giving them a supermajority, capable of passing any tax hikes they want. Those results are so awful I suggest you prepare for the demise...

Most of us are, by now, familiar with the maps the TV channels and web sites use to show the results of presidential elections. Here is a typical map of the results of the 2012 election:

A winter storm battered the Northeast coast Thursday after cutting power to at least 115,000 homes and dumping record snowfalls in the New York City area. The National Weather Service warned of wind gusts as high as 60 mph along the coast, “minor to moderate” flooding from storm surges, and more snow, particularly in New England, early Thursday. More than 600,000 people were without electricity as a result of superstorm Sandy and the new storm. NBCNewYork.com reported that more than 198,000 Long Island Power Authority customers, 55,000 Con Edison customers in New York City and Westchester County, 197,560 Jersey Central...

California voters may have just handed Democrats unbridled control over taxes as well as policy, but party leaders from Gov. Jerry Brown on down immediately pledged to exercise restraint. Although final tallies are not official, it appears Democrats will hold at least a two-thirds supermajority in both the Assembly and Senate. That gives them the ability to pass taxes and fees, and place initiatives — such as same-sex marriage and bonds — on the ballot without securing a single Republican vote.

A lot can change in just four years. For former Florida Governor Jeb Bush a four-year timetable is enough for a significant shift for the Republican party. He tells Joe Hagan of New York magazine: “It’s a math question. Four years from now, Texas is going to be a so-called blue state. Imagine Texas as a blue state, how hard it would be to carry the presidency or gain control of the Senate.” Hagan starts the article for New York magazine with this idea that Texas’ rapidly changing demographic will unfavorably affect the Republican party. He writes: “Sitting down across...

In the last tow days I have seen at least 3 TV ads from the Obama campaign air in various local and national networks in CT. Also, more and more SuperPAC ads for Chris Murphy. According to RCP it is O52 R42 in CT.

Due to posting restrictions, see article at link. Here is a historically liberal Oregon newspaper in Salem, Oregon endorsing Romney. http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20121031/OPINION/310310078/Editorial-Give-Romney-chance-Obama-had-his?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Home|p

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Mitt Romney is suddenly plunging into traditionally Democratic-leaning Minnesota and Pennsylvania, and his GOP allies are trying to put Michigan into play. It's forcing President Barack Obama to defend his own turf - he's pouring money into television ads in the states and dispatching top backers - in the campaign's final week.

Obama won Oregon in 2008 by 16 points. This year his lead is down to just 6 points, per The Oregonian: President Barack Obama holds a relatively narrow lead of six points over Republican challenger Mitt Romney in Oregon, according to a new poll conducted for The Oregonian. Obama’s lead is considerably smaller than his margin of victory in Oregon four years ago and is a sign of how tight the presidential race has become across the nation…. Democratic officials continued to express optimism that Obama would win Oregon, which hasn’t gone for a Republican presidential candidate since 1984. But...

President Barack Obama holds a relatively narrow lead of six points over Republican challenger Mitt Romney in Oregon, according to a new poll conducted for The Oregonian. Obama's lead is considerably smaller than his margin of victory in Oregon four years ago and is a sign of how tight the presidential race has become across the nation.

Mitt Romney's campaign on Saturday launched an online fundraising initiative to to raise $7 million in 7 days so the campaign could expand the electoral map to "blue states" formerly firmly in the Obama column. Potential donors who visit the appropriately named "expand the map" site are asked to "Contribute now to help Romney-Ryan and the Republican team keep up the fight." "We need your help to raise $7 million in the next 7 days," the site says. "Your contribution will help us expand the electoral map -- we'll take our message into new states, and defeat Obama's billion-dollar machine."...

On Saturday the Daily News, the second largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan Los Angeles area, endorsed Mitt Romney for President in 2012. In 2008 the Daily News endorsed Barack Obama: FOUR years ago, as America faced serious trouble at home and abroad, this news organization embraced the need for bold change to a different brand of leadership and endorsed Barack Obama for president. That assessment of the depth of the nation's problems and the most promising solution was correct in 2008. Regrettably, it applies no less in 2012, after nearly a full term of Obama's administration. This is why the...