Free Republic

We all know them. People that abuse the system. People that work a few months of the year, just long enough to qualify for unemployment, and then jump on the unemployment bandwagon. Those that get food stamps to support their families despite being able bodied, often educated and capable of work. And, of course, the people that work “under the table” while receiving government aid intended for the truly needy. One such image sticks in our minds from a visit last year to a local softball game. Across the street was a truck distributing food for the needy. A brand...

An examination of how the economic stimulus plan will affect Americans. ___ Taxes: The recovery package has tax breaks for families that send a child to college, purchase a new car, buy a first home or make the ones they own more energy efficient. Millions of workers can expect to see about $13 extra in their weekly paychecks, starting around June, from a new $400 tax credit to be doled out through the rest of the year. Couples would get up to $800. In 2010, the credit would be about $7.70 a week, if it is spread over the entire...

The list is heavy on campaign heavyweights and Washington insiders, many of them from the administration of President Bill Clinton. So while surprises can be expected to crop up — especially on any Republican members of the Cabinet — many of the selections would likely be proven hands who would provoke little controversy. White House chief of staff: Former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.); Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.); or dark horse candidate Bill Daley, commerce secretary under President Bill Clinton and now an executive with JPMorgan Chase & Co. Deputy chief of staff: Pete Rouse, chief of staff in Obama's Senate...

BOSTON -- It may sound spooky, but a national Halloween costume retailer says it can predict the outcome of the presidential election based on the number of candidate masks it sells. Spirit Halloween said it has picked the winner in the past three presidential elections days before the general election results were in, WCVB-TV in Boston reported. The Spirit Halloween Presidential Index measures sales of the masks, and in 2004, sales were 65 percent to 35 percent for George W. Bush over John Kerry. In 2000, more revelers purchased Bush masks, with Bush sales at 57 percent to 43 percent...

What would Americans think, then, of a member of Congress who introduced legislation, not to improve health care in the United States, but to improve health care in Mexico? What would Americans think, then, of a member of Congress who introduced legislation, not to improve health care in the United States, but to improve health care in Mexico? Even more unbelievable, the senator who sponsored the bill is not on the verge of being thrown out of office for this odious piece of legislation. No, the senator who introduced the bill, Senator John McCain of Arizona, is on the verge...

Former Reagan diplomat says he's unmoved by lack of moral courage displayed by others FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – After two previous runs for U.S. president, former Reagan diplomat Alan Keyes has announced he's again seeking the White House in the 2008 election, and he'll take part in Monday night's Republican presidential debate here. Keyes told syndicated radio host Janet Parshall he's "unmoved" by the lack of moral courage shown by the other candidates, among whom he sees no standout who articulates the "key kernel of truth that must, with courage, be presented to our people."

MEXICO CITY -- Mexico's government on Tuesday called a series of gas pipeline explosions a threat to the nation's democratic institutions and vowed to step up security after a guerrilla group claimed responsibility for the blasts. The Interior Department said it would take measures to protect "strategic installations" across Mexico after an explosion Tuesday at a pipeline run by the state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, and two other blasts that rocked gas ducts on Thursday. The Mexican government categorically condemns the attacks against Pemex facilities. This criminal conduct aims to weaken democratic institutions, the patrimony of Mexicans and the safety...

Poisons routinely used in mainland, reveals report on safety concerns WASHINGTON – With hundreds now dead in Panama as a result of poisons in Chinese-made toothpaste, the translation of a shocking Chinese report on food safety on the mainland is not likely to ease growing consumer concerns in the U.S. and Europe over imports from the Communist country. The report, authored by Zhou Qing and titled "What Kind of God: A Survey of the Current Safety of China's Food," a finalist for the 2006 international Ulysses Award, reveals widespread use of toxic chemicals in the preparation of food meant even...

MEXICO CITY (AFP) - Two armed men posing as tourists interested in snapping photos from a helicopter ditched their pilot Monday and stole the chopper, Mexican police said. The suspects, who hired the helicopter at the airport in Atizapan, Mexico, instructed the pilot to take them to an isolated area for a photo shoot. "When we got there, they told me to get out, so we could see where we were going to take the pictures. And then they pulled a gun on me, bound and gagged me, and left me there," pilot Eduardo Merito told Radio Formato 21. The...

LONDON (AFP) - London Mayor Ken Livingstone called on Britons Saturday not to demonize Muslims after a double car bomb plot was foiled in the capital, amid fears of a Islamist terror threat. At the same time he criticized Britain over its ties with Saudi Arabia, which he said had fuelled intolerance in the past through its Wahhabist form of Islam, creating a "major problem." "In this city, Muslims are more likely to be law-abiding than non-Muslims and less likely to support the use of violence to achieve political ends than non-Muslims," he told BBC Radio. "They have played a...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Despite low approval ratings and hard feelings from last year's elections, Democrats and Republicans in the House are reaching out for an approximately $4,400 pay raise that would increase their salaries to almost $170,000. The cost-of-living raise endorsed Wednesday evening gets lawmakers back on track for automatic pay raises after a fight between the parties last year and again in January killed the pay increase due this year. That was the first interruption of the annual congressional pay boost in seven years. The blowup came after Democrats last year fulfilled a campaign promise to deny themselves more...