Free Republic

There’s an old saying that you shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds you. Unfortunately, politicians in Washington don’t follow that advice. Let me explain. All economic theories – even Marxism and socialism – agree that capital formation is a necessary condition for long-run growth and higher wages. The Marxists and the socialists are misguided in thinking that government has the capacity to be in charge of saving and investing, but at least they recognize that you have to set aside some of today’s income to finance tomorrow’s growth. And they even understand that capital formation leads to more productivity and...

It is well known that Asian Americans in this country vote overwhelmingly for Democrat candidates. Politico.com reported that “in the 2012 presidential election, Barack Obama won 73 percent of the Asian American vote, exceeding his support among Hispanics (71 percent) and women (55 percent).” What is unclear to many conservative politicians and operatives is why and how to fix it. But as the 2016 presidential race is heating up, any GOP candidate who wishes to have a serious shot at the White House simply cannot continue ignoring the Asian voting block, because the demographics in this country has already changed....

Pew Research came out with its latest seven-year study of religious trends in America. The data appears to show Christianity in decline, and given its numerous sensational headlines the liberal media couldn’t be happier with the results. For once, this Jesus Freak actually agrees with them. The Pew Research numbers showing Christianity in decline is good news—both for America and Christianity. Allow me to explain. We have become so obsessed with numbers in our culture – dollars, attendance, followers, likes, polls, etc. – that we have confused audience with influence. For example, pop stars Katy Perry and Justin Bieber currently...

The White House finally appears ready to announce conclusions and policy recommendations from the Pollinator Task Force it appointed a year ago. Environmentalist groups eagerly await the decision. After clamoring and campaigning for years for government action, they hope to get tough restrictions on using innovative new insecticides called neonicotinoids.Agricultural interests await the decision with trepidation. A ban or broad restrictions would cost billions of dollars annually, force them to employ pesticides that are more difficult to use and more toxic for beneficial insects, and compel them to confront more secretive government “science” and faulty justifications for policies that are...

Speaker John Boehner recently made headlines by joining the growing chorus among conservatives on Capitol Hill calling for a “wind down” of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im) – signaling he might be open to a plan by U.S. House Republicans to bring the New Deal-era program of economic cronyism to an end.The statement came before the April 30 joint Financial Services-Oversight hearing, in which Ex-Im Bank Chairman Fred Hochberg was questioned about the bank’s politically motivated international handouts and the 31 ongoing fraud investigations.Boehner joins a large number of conservative lawmakers calling for the bank’s end. House...

Studies show there are three things you can do that will almost guarantee you will never live in poverty: (1) finish high school, (2) get a full time job and (3) get married, but wait until you are 21 and don’t have children until you are married. Do these three things and it’s very unlikely you will be poor. If you are, you won’t be poor for very long.So how does public policy affect these choices? Inner city schools dominated by powerful teacher unions are not meeting the needs of poor minority students. The welfare state (185 federal/state means test...

Not all pro-choice arguments were created equal. Some are much worse than others. Perhaps the worst is the claim that most pro-lifers aren’t consistently pro-life but are “only anti-abortion.” The assertion impersonates an argument when the pro-choice advocate starts to throw in various causes one must support in order to be “truly pro-life.” Here is an example taken from a recent email exchange I had with a friend: “I get tired of pro-lifers who are really only anti-abortion. If they were truly pro-life, they would adopt minority babies, donate to cancer research, and drop their opposition to national health care....

When I think about America, I think of the Founding Fathers who were willing to “mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor,” to defeat Great Britain and make this a free country. I think of John Paul Jones saying, "I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm's way." I think not only of the brave men who died fighting for their countrymen at the Alamo, but of Sam Houston and his force slaughtering a Mexican force twice their size in retaliation...

Tom Balek with Watchdog.org is doing the kind of local reporting that I hope we see more of. This story comes from the not terribly exciting sounding environment of a high school in South Carolina. Peyton Robinson is a senior at the local school who is also a volunteer fireman and drives his own pickup truck. Mounted in the back are two flags… one the American flag and the other a POW/MIA flag. Unfortunately, Peyton showed up for school one day and found that his display was no longer welcome. Peyton Robinson, a senior at York Comprehensive High School in...

RUSH: You're gonna have to forgive me. I'm gonna tell you this up front. The Stephanopoulos story, my fire was lit on this years ago. This, to me, is "been there, done that." But, see, I've gotta fight that because I know to a lot of people this is earth-shattering. See, this is why it takes a concerted effort and a constant use of empathy to do this job well. See, I have the benefit of knowing everything George Stephanopoulos, Bill and Hillary Clinton, The Forehead, Begala, that whole team, Rahm Emanuel, since they burst on the national seen in...

RUSH: Now, I mentioned a couple of books. You know, Zev Chafets has written a mini-biography of me in a New York Times Sunday magazine profile of me, and he's also put together a book of conservative commencement addresses. It's based on the fact that conservatives are not asked to give commencement addresses. They just are frozen out. Some have. He's compiled them. He went to a bunch of high-powered conservatives and asked for permission to reprint their commencement addresses. I have not given a major college commencement address. I have at a couple of high schools. He said, "But...

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama participated in a panel discussion this week about poverty in America, but failed to acknowledge the central reason why it has remained so high under his presidency. And that reason has to do with anti-growth policies that have held back tens of millions of low income Americans, and destroyed entry level jobs that would help the poor get on the first rung of the economic ladder. The Census Bureau, which gathers the nation's poverty data, said that more than 45 million Americans were stuck below the poverty line, according to figures released late last year. This...

It was just a small item in a round-up of the day's news, but like so many such nuggets, it set off a whole train of thoughts: "Mindy McCarty-Stewart, the principal of Mason High School in Ohio, canceled a student-led event that invited girls to spend a day wearing a Muslim headscarf and issued an apology, adding that the school received numerous messages that forced her to reconsider the event's ability to meet its goal of combating stereotypes." In that one sentence, Gentle Reader is offered a panoramic view of the trouble with American education, society and politics. What's wrong...

Imagine what ultra-sophisticated Washington Post writers think of people who believe their cancer can be cured by a “lying on of hands!” by the likes of Reverend Ike, Benny Hinn or the ghosts of Oral Roberts and Sister Aimee McPherson?Well, here’s a Washington Post headline from this week: “Americans could soon be thanking Fidel Castro for their revolutionary cancer drugs. Cuban immunologists made several other vaccination breakthroughs, including their own vaccines for meningitis B and hepatitis B…All this is even more impressive considering the crippling embargo that America has imposed on the island for half a century."In fact, Hillbilly snake-handlers...

“So, you're a jew-hating b***. You even have that b***'s eyes and nose!”It was a harsh comment, but at least it was anticipated. I asked for it because I took a picture of some unnamed cousins in SS uniforms to school for history class. While I never did find out their names, they still remain in my family tree somewhere, along with other relatives that fought against and were held prisoner by the Nazis. It would have been easier to take in the pictures of the GI's that were closer relations, but their history wasn't in danger of being lost,...

Pope Francis' decision to give formal recognition to a Palestinian state is puzzling at best. Some conservative Catholics -- most prominently scholar and papal biographer George Weigel -- have given a wide berth to the pope's views on income inequality, climate change and how best to integrate gay and divorced Catholics into the Church's ministry, even as the left has gleefully embraced the pontiff's rhetoric. Francis' latest foray into controversy is harder to explain. Unlike Francis' positions on the poor, which Weigel avers are rooted in the pope's pastoral history and mission, the decision on Palestinian statehood is purely political...

You can't be more straightforward: "Knowing what we know now, would you have authorized the invasion?" Fox News host Megyn Kelly asked presumptive GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush about the Iraq War. Without hesitation, Bush replied: "I would have." Bush went on to qualify his answer, adding that "so would have Hillary Clinton, just to remind everybody. And so would have almost everybody that was confronted with the intelligence they got." Well, even if we give Bush the benefit of the doubt and concede that he was probably answering the question "Knowing what we knew then, would you have authorized...

Michelle Obama can give as good as she gets, and she's getting a hard time from conservatives over two speeches she gave last week. The first was a commencement speech at Tuskegee University in Alabama, and the other was at the opening of the new Whitney Museum of American Art in downtown New York City. She was accused of "playing the race card" by emphasizing ethnic divisions, taking offense in a place where none was intended, when she could be elevating the conversation about what unites us. The National Review calls her a "racial scold" for suggesting that minority children...

Jeb Bush has spent the week debating with himself over whether he would have started the war his brother launched on Iraq. When he figures it out, hopefully, our would-be president will focus in on the campaign to drag us into yet another Mideast war -- this time to bring down Bashar Assad's regime in Syria. While few would mourn the passing of the Assad dynasty, there is a problem: If Assad falls, a slaughter of Christians will follow and the battle for control of Damascus will be between the Syrian branch of al-Qaida, the Nusra Front, and the crazed...

The Saudis are in play, casting about for partners. In a clear vote of no-confidence in US President Barack Obama’s leadership, Saudi King Salman led several Arab leaders in blowing off Obama’s Camp David summit this week. The summit was meant to compensate the Sunni Arabs for Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran. Salman’s decision is further proof that US-Saudi relations have jumped the tracks. For 70 years the Saudis subcontracted their national security to the US military. Deals were closed with a wink and a nod. That’s all over now. Obama has destroyed Washington’s credibility. Salman views its gentleman’s agreements...