Free Republic

One hundred years ago, the United States ratified an amendment to the Constitution that changed the way America chose its senators. The amendment's supporters said that senators directly elected by the people would not only be more democratic, but also less corrupt and less susceptible to special interest influence. Instead of reducing corruption, however, changing the method of Senate selection provided entirely new avenues of political exploitation by fundamentally transforming our federal government. Most importantly, the amendment destroyed the federalist structure that the Founding Fathers installed to protect state sovereignty. Today, members of the Georgia House of Representatives seek to...

In 2011 as various Republicans competed for the nomination to oppose Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson (Fla.) in the 2012 election, contender Connie Mack promoted the concept of The Penny Plan. The Penny Plan was conceived by Georgia businessman Bruce Cook. Sen. Rand Paul resurrected the idea during his response on behalf of the Tea Party to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address. There’s a lot to be said for the plan, but unfortunately, the messaging was skewed by... The idea was simple: The One Cent Solution is beautifully simple: If the government cuts one cent out of every...

The Founding Fathers knew that in order to ratify a Constitution and preserve the fledgling United States, it was essential that the states have representation in the new Federal government. The legislative branch would be split; the people represented by the directly elected members of the House of Representatives, and each state represented by two officials appointed by the state legislatures. In the new system, the House would represent the people and the Senate would represent the states. Without a federalist system of divided, enumerated, and checked powers between the federal and state governments, no union would be possible -...

An Afghan government website has reported that NATO officials have promised to bring the American soldiers responsible for burning the Koran to justice in an open trial. The website of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Government Media and Information Center (an official government site) states: "NATO officials promised to meet Afghan nation’s [sic] demand of bringing to justice, through an open trial, those responsible for the incident and it was agreed that the perpetrators of the crime be brought to justice as soon as possible." If this is true, and we do not know yet if it is, handing over...

Afghan soldiers turned guns on their US and NATO trainers more in 2011 than perhaps any other year, and the military organization running the war in Afghanistan has responded by choosing not to report details of these incidents. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), a NATO-led security mission established by the UN Security Council in 2001 to secure Afghanistan, has opted to leave the announcements up to the respective nation whose soldiers are killed. Sometimes, the incidents are simply not reported. Last week, a rogue Afghan National Army soldier turned his weapon on his French trainers in Kapisa Province, killing...

1941: The Japanese First Air Fleet, commanded by Adm. Chuichi Nagumo, departs for their attack on Pearl Harbor. 1943: The British transport HMT Rohna is struck by a German radio-controlled bomb, killing over 1000 American troops. The attack became the largest loss of American lives at sea. 1950: Chinese forces launch a massive counterattack against US and South Korean forces, driving them south and putting an end to any hopes of a quick conclusion to the Korean War. Medal of Honor: In 1862, Maj. William H. Powell leads twenty men on a charge of a 500-man encampment at Sinking Creek...

The UN plan referenced by Newt Gingrich is a real threat to private property and US sovereignty.“Agenda 21 proposes an array of actions which are intended to be implemented by every person on Earth…it calls for specific changes in the activities of all people… Effective execution of Agenda 21 will require a profound reorientation of all humans, unlike anything the world has ever experienced… ” - Agenda 21: The Earth Summit Strategy to Save Our Planet (Earthpress, 1993). Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich stated during a recent campaign event that the United Nations was seeking to create an “extraconstitutional control” over...

Republican presidential candidates debated foreign policy on Saturday at Wofford College in Spartanburg (S.C.), one of the most scenic areas in the nation. The debate was promoted as a foreign policy debate. However, some key issues went missing, and they are issues that could impact the freedom of every American. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich once again demonstrated his grasp of the issues, and his win in this debate comes as no surprise to his supporters. Texas Governor Rick Perry began a path to redemption. Perry’s responses were substantive. He joked about his lapse on the Energy Dept....

This week the Department of Justice announced that our intelligence community foiled an Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States. While our counterterrorism strategy is successful at preventing terrorist plots from foreign sources, it fails to stop the flow of American citizens committing terrorist attacks abroad. Since 9/11 the United States has prevented or disrupted 39 known terrorist plots – 40 counting the foiled Iranian plot. We have also curtailed the transfer of material support to foreign terrorist groups. But the flow of potential U.S. terrorists is much harder to monitor and regulate. Increased airport security,...

As discussed yesterday at The US Report, President Obama is peddling a jobs bill that contains elements that may actually be unconstitutional. But there appears to be more to the story. The American Jobs Act states on page 133 (Section 176) that “A State's receipt or use of Federal financial assistance for any program or activity of a State shall constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity, under the 11th Amendment to the Constitution...” This strips state sovereignty and increases dependence upon the Federal government. And if it were to pass, this legislation would open the door for trial lawyers to...

By now, many Americans have already heard about AttackWatch, which is another campaign to further the narrative of the Obama administration by attacking anyone opposing the president's agenda. The website's banner tells readers to “Get the facts” and “Fight the smears.” But at AttackWatch, it seems as though one man's facts are another man's smears. Rather than writing an exposé on the website and their owners, I will expand on one issue brought up by AttackWatch: gun control “gossip.” Clicking on the link, readers are greeted with a sinister, all-red image of former UN Ambassador John Bolton – the alleged...

The logo for the American Police Force, a mysterious security company that may or may not be taking over the town of Hardin, Montana is the same as a Serbian coat of arms.APF appeared to be claiming jurisdiction over the town yesterday when three Mercedes SUVs belonging to the group arrived bearing Hardin Police markings. Trouble is, Hardin hasn't had a police department in 30 years and currently have a contract with the Big Horn County Sheriff's Office.The mayor told the APF to remove the decals.Michael Hilton, who might or might not be a spokesman for APF, said in a...

Bill Forstchen, Newt Gingrich's co-author of several books is interviewed on Unto the Breach, and discusses Abraham Lincoln's bicentennial. In the middle of the interview, Bill mentions his research on an EMP attack, which terrorists could employ apparently at any time. Such an attack he said could wipe out most of the US overnight.