Free Republic

I jump on every opportunity to respectfully challenge my 84-year-old black dad's loyalty to Obama. Dad has been a Christian pastor over 50 years. He lives in Maryland, and I live in Florida. I called Dad to ask if he participated in Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day. He said no, he had not heard about it. Then, he added, "All I know is Chick-fil-A discriminates against gays." Folks, I was outraged. Struggling to keep my composure, I passionately said, "Dad, that is a lie! You have got to stop getting your news from the mainstream media!" I went on to explain to...

With the possible exception of Adam Smith, no person in history is more widely recognized as ably championing free markets than Milton Friedman. Justly so: For more than 60 years until his death in 2006, he pressed the case for capitalism and freedom with impeccable scholarship, good cheer, impressive vigor and unmatched clarity. Despite his clarity, there are a handful of people whose inability or unwillingness to grasp Friedman's arguments leads them to misrepresent his writings and policy recommendations. "I conclude that Keynes's political bequest has done far more harm than his economic bequest and this for two reasons. First,...

The latest jobs report should persuade all those who worry about the president’s economic policies but find him likable that enough is enough, and that policy trumps personality when it comes to deciding who should occupy the White House. Job creation remains anemic, the unemployment rate has ticked up to 8.3 percent, and the labor force participation rate continues to fall as more and more Americans choose the couch over tramping the streets looking for work. The Labor Department sums it up: Both the number of unemployed and the unemployment rate "have shown little movement thus far in 2012." It...

My friends at Americans for Tax Reform have received a bunch of attention for a new report entitled “Win Olympic Gold, Pay the IRS.” In this clever document, they reveal that athletes could face a tax bill – to those wonderful folks at the IRS – of nearly $9,000 thanks to America’s unfriendly worldwide tax system.The topic is even getting attention overseas. Here’s an excerpt from a BBC report. US medal-winning athletes at the Olympics have to pay tax on their prize money – something which is proving controversial in the US. But why are athletes from the US taxed when others...

While the national unemployment rate paints a grim picture, a look at individual states and their so-called real jobless rates becomes even more troubling.

Stocks loved today’s jobs report, rising well over 200 points at this writing. But equities may be suffering from a certain irrational exuberance. Yes, nonfarm payrolls rose by 163,000 in July. That’s better than the prior two months and probably signals no double-dip recession -- at least for now. But there are a lot of negatives in this report. For one, the small-business household survey dropped 195,000. That’s what drove the unemployment rate up to 8.3 percent. These two factors virtually cancel out the better-than-expected rise in nonfarm payrolls. By the way, the labor force shrunk by 150,000. The participation...

Congress has headed off for its long vacation-and-campaign season, fleeing Washington as the unemployment rate rises. According to the Labor Department’s July jobs report, the unemployment rate ticked up to 8.3 percent, 12.8 million Americans are out of work, and 5.2 million have been out of work for at least a half a year. According to one survey, the country added a surprising 163,000 jobs in July, while according to a second Labor Department survey, employment fell by 195,000—raising questions about whether the more positive figure is all that reliable, given that the economy slowed significantly to a 1.5 percent...

Solar is the power of the future and the power of the past. What solar isn’t, is the power of the present. That’s because using solar power to generate electricity is expensive. Still. And that’s not going to change anytime soon, no matter how many political fundraisers are held by solar advocates. According to Bloomberg, recent price decreases in solar equipment have driven costs from about 25 cents per kwh to 17 cents per kwh for photovoltaic (PV) powered solar energy, the least expensive form of solar power deployable at scale. But that’s a far cry from the average retail...

"I am honored by the invitation to address you on this august occasion. It's about time. Be warned, however, that I am not here to impress you; you'll have enough smoke blown up your bloomers today. And you can bet your tassels I'm not here to impress the faculty and administration. You may not like much of what I have to say, and that's fine. You will remember it though. Especially after about 10 years out there in the real world. This, it goes without saying, does not apply to those of you who will seek your careers and your...

Despite the ongoing church versus state drama, the mandate, today, is in effect for most new and renewing health insurance plans. A variety of health care services — many of which are benign and relatively uncontroversial — are included on the required list. Shirking the controversy surrounding the regulation, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius took to Capitol Hill on Tuesday and praised the new regulations going into effect. Not everyone shared such a positive view on the matter. Take, for instance, Matt Smith, president of the Catholic Advocate. “August 1st will be remembered as the day our most...

A bipartisan group of House members has called on the Department of Transportation to reverse regulatory guidance issued in June that limits the ability of supply trucks to service oil and gas fields. Rep. Jeff Landry (R-La.) and 60 other members of the House argued in a letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood that the guidance will harm not just the oil and gas industry, but related industries that contribute to job growth. They also argue that the guidance reversed 50 years of established practice with little warning to the industry. "Such a change significantly restricts the operations of individuals...

China’s two-way liquidity risk: capital outflows Posted by Kate Mackenzie on Aug 01 12:11. Izzy wrote in May how China’s Rmb exodus is a huge (and still little-explored) story for the world economy, and it’s one that won’t be going away as China recorded a net capital account deficit in Q2. We’re wondering now how this might collide with risks to domestic liquidity — specifically, whether a combination of Rmb exodus and local banking problems might affect the People’s Bank of China’s ability to maintain financial stability? A very brief recap on the Chinese foreign reserves-domestic liquidity nexus: - Demand...

A seemingly small mistake in a paper in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) landed a Danish physician-researcher in hot water last month after a German company threatened to sue him for potential losses that could run in the millions of dollars. The exchange prompted media consternation in Denmark over whether academic freedom was being censored, but the researcher, Anders Perner of Copenhagen University Hospital has corrected the error, which occurred in the publication of a study of a widely used drug to prevent shock, and thereby averted legal action. Still, the episode has shone a light on a...

Bond payoffs are supposed to be boring, but Argentina's president is celebrating Friday's final $2.3bn payment on a bond given to people whose savings were confiscated a decade ago, calling it a lesson for European countries now mired in foreign debt. The nation's economic disaster left thousands with a grim choice after the government seized their dollar-denominated deposits to stop bank runs in 2002. They could switch to devalued pesos and regain access to what was left of their savings, or accept a piece of paper promising to repay the money in dollars over the next 10 years. Few had...

RUSSIAN television contacted me last night asking me to go on a program about the race for Arctic resources. The ice is melting fast, and it was all the usual stuff about how there will be big strategic conflicts over the seabed resources – especially oil and gas – that become accessible when it’s gone. The media always love conflict, and now that the Cold War is long gone, there’s no other potential military confrontation between the great powers to worry about. Governments around the Arctic Ocean are beefing up their armed forces for the coming struggle, so where are...

Indian-American Akshay Desai has been roped in by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney for his outreach to Asian American community ahead of the crucial November 6 US presidential elections. Florida-based Desai, CEO of Universal Healthcare, has been made one of the seven national co-chairs of the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for Romney community. "I am pleased and honoured to serve as a national co-chair for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for Romney," Desai said. "As a businessman, I know all too well what it takes to make it in the private sector. When I hear President Obama tell small...

I just met the owner of the newest Chick Fil A. His name is Will and couldn't be a nicer guy. He is planning a hard opening on August 23rd and looking forward to being a part of our community and playing a role in local charities. Let's all come out to support Will at his great restaurant weekend on August 23rd. In fact, let's all come out to eat together all weekend when he opens. Chick Fil A is located on North 1st street on the same parking lot as Five Guys.

Robert E. Murray, the founder and CEO of Murray Energy Corporation, told CNN's Soledad O'Brien Friday that the closure and subsequent layoffs at his company's mine near Brilliant, Ohio, were "entirely" due to the anti-coal policies of Barack Obama. Not surprisingly, the Starting Point host spent much of the eleven-minute segment defending the president she adores from this accusation (video follows with transcript and commentary): Coal CEO Tells Soledad O'Brien 'Obama Responsible Entirely for Closure of Mine and Loss of Jobs' SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, HOST: This morning we're taking a closer look at coal, an Ohio mining company now shutting down...

This seems like a question for which the answer wouldn't matter much. Why should we care? But, sometimes things turn out to be more important than we can imagine. As will be explained later on this topic and in others at the site and to be added to it, this matter of determining how many of us own guns turns out to be one that is vitally important, not so much because of the number itself but because of the important facts that the quest brings out. THE NUMBER OF GUNS Nobody knows precisely how many guns there are in...

During the height of the Rush Limbaugh/Sandra Fluke controversy in March, software company Carbonite announced it would no longer sponsor the conservative radio host. As CEO David Friend said at the time: No one with daughters the age of Sandra Fluke, and I have two, could possibly abide the insult and abuse heaped upon this courageous and well-intentioned young lady. Mr. Limbaugh, with his highly personal attacks on Miss Fluke, overstepped any reasonable bounds of decency. Even though Mr. Limbaugh has now issued an apology, we have nonetheless decided to withdraw our advertising from his show. We hope that our...