Free Republic

roups such as Code Pink, National Organization for Women and others within the feminist establishment share an implicit philosophy that holds that women are victims. I began thinking this through after reading a thought provoking book. Called The Cinderella Complex: Women’s Hidden Fear of Independence, writer Colette Dowling gives an in depth look at how women’s fear of independence, diminishes them. From reading this book, I believe that this fear has lasting implications for society. I found Dowling refreshing in laying the blame on women for not taking responsibility for their own lives. She states: Personal, psychological dependency-the deep wish...

Yes, this is about race and racism. But no, it’s not about the Trayvon Martin case and how the media is pimping it. It’s not even about the equally tragic black-on-white crimes some push to expose media bias in the Martin case. I don’t subscribe to the “Yeah, sure, but what about this!� game some play to expose leftist hypocrisy. A crime is a crime, regardless of the skin tone of the victims or the perps. This is about how progressives continue to exploit race to keep us divided as a people and to manipulate voters. This is about...

The American public's dependence on the federal government shot up 23% in just two years under President Obama, with 67 million now relying on some federal program, according to a newly released study by the Heritage Foundation.

The self-reliant citizenry is history. Dozens of countries have “Independence Days.” November 25th, for example: Independence Day in Suriname. In that instance as in most others, the designation signifies nothing more than transfer of de jure sovereignty and de facto operational control from a distant European capital to a more local regime. 1975 in Suriname’s case. They had the first military coup seven years later. But in America “Independence” seemed as much a statement about the character of a people as a designation of jurisdictional status. The first Americans were British subjects who had outgrown a British king as benign...

Happy with high taxes America? Thank an unwed single mother! From The Heritage Foundation: In fact, roughly 75 percent of all families on welfare are single-parent families. With the number of unwed births skyrocketing over the last five decades (more than 40 percent of births in the United States today are to single moms), the cost of federal welfare has mushroomed. Currently, Washington operates more than 70 welfare programs at a cost edging toward $1 trillion annually. Yet poverty and government dependence aren’t the only problems connected to single-parent families. Children raised without fathers are at greater risk for a...

Since the start of Obama's administration, black liberals have been fulminating against his lack of focus on the black community and issues regarding their plight. These black liberals accuse him of being aloof, indifferent, and more dedicated to aiding his big-business cronies than creating economic policies to better the black middle class and the poor. Curiously, despite massive ideological differences, these are precisely the same complaints that many white conservative Americans have towards Obama. Irrespective of the red herring of race, everyone wants America to thrive economically and for all people to have enough resources to live prosperously. The bonds...

The Spirit of Independence: The Social Psychology of Freedom By Lee Harris Friday, July 2, 2010 Filed under: Culture, Government & Politics, Public Square Intellectuals routinely give undue weight to people’s ideas. They tend to believe that ideas cause attitudes, though it is far more often the other way around. Consider the natural libertarians. Several years ago, while attending a street festival in the small town of Tucker, Georgia, I came across a booth sponsored by the local libertarian society. At the time, I did not realize that my encounter would generate my next book. I only remember being struck...

PITTSBURGH – Seizing on a disastrous oil spill to advance his agenda, President Barack Obama on Wednesday called on Congress to roll back billions of dollars in tax breaks for oil and send him a clean-energy bill that would help the nation end its "fossil fuel addiction" for good. Obama predicted that he would find the political support for legislation that would dramatically alter the way the nation fuels its homes and its cars, including placing a price on carbon pollution, even though such legislation is politically divisive and remains bogged in the Senate. "The votes may not be there...

Of all the political boogeymen the Left have to fear, nothing frightens them more than someone who can think for themselves. Minorities, the weak, and the infirm have always been in the crosshairs of the Democrat Party and by extension the Left. By focusing on these groups, the Left has been able to foster a perpetual underclass or dependent class in which to derive votes. New Orleans is a classic example.

With the passage of so-called health care reform, the United States of America that we have known will eventually cease to exist. This legislation begins the end of an America with emphasis on the individual and the beginning of an America with emphasis on the government. The transformation will eventually kill the American spirit and America’s greatness forever. Anyone who thinks the new law is only about health care does not understand the ramifications. Now that a former community organizer has succeeded in the start of reorganizing the way of life of the once most free country on earth, anything...

Abstract: Despite the famed 1996 Welfare Reform Act and the more recent welfare adjustments in 2006, 60.8 million Americans remain dependent on the government for their daily housing, food, and health care. The number of taxpayers is shrinking--and the country may be rapidly approaching the point where more than one-third of Americans do not pay taxes for benefits they receive. In February 2009, the Democrat-controlled Congress and the new Obama Administration may have driven the final stake into the heart of any semblance of fiscal responsibility when they enacted the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act--essentially overturning the fiscal foundation of...

Almost a third of parents remortgage their home to fund adult children Almost a third of parents are remortgaging their home to raise the £30,000 typically needed to help support their grown up children, it can be disclosed today. By Myra Butterworth, Personal Finance Correspondent Published: 7:00AM GMT 17 Feb 2010 The rise of so-called YUCKIES – Young Unwitting Costly Kids – is forcing 28 per cent of parents to take the drastic and unexpected measure to help their 18 to 30 year old children. The latest figures suggested as many as half of parents borrow the money needed, with...

PHILADELPHIA - For students at Thurgood Marshall Elementary School, there really is such a thing as a free lunch - and a free breakfast, too. With no strings attached. The Philadelphia school district's unique program provides free food for all children in schools with a high percentage of low-income students, dispensing with the cumbersome forms parents must fill out elsewhere to qualify their kids for free meals. Although federal officials recently threatened to kill this paperless model, other cities are looking to replicate it. Food service directors say it eliminates the costly bureaucracy that both deters needy families from applying...

None of us know at what point this seemingly paternal beneficence could morph into a frightful, coercive stranglehold over every aspect of our lives, including, in times of material scarcity, what cars we may drive, how warm we can keep our homes or, even more frighteningly, what medical care we are permitted to seek or how long we are permitted to exhale carbon.

At the dawn of our Republic, Samuel Adams stated, "If you love wealth more than liberty, and the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us..." Patrick Henry famously said, "Give me liberty or give me death." The United States of America was founded upon the belief that an all powerful government, even a benevolent one, was by its very nature a tyrannical one. One of our guiding principles has always been that a dependent people cannot be a free people.

The founding fathers of this country had a passion to be independent of the persistent tyranny and irresponsibility of the then-king of England, George III. They even delineated many of his abuses toward the American colonies in our nation’s most landmark document, the Declaration of Independence. The founders felt so strongly about these abuses that it led to a revolution against Great Britain, which ultimately led to our independence. Our independence today is not bound by any external sovereign power, although we are under constant threat of a different kind of external tyranny – Islamic fascism. However, our independence today...

The 4th of July is a great American celebration. It is always enjoyable to watch fireworks, eat a lot of barbecue, spend time with family and enjoy a mid-summer relaxation. Our country is truly a great place to live and it is active and merciful grace that we are enabled to enjoy such freedom as we do. However, when I hear the word Independence Day and its celebration I think of my daily celebration of just the opposite, namely my dependence. For instead of my pride and value coming from a nation and our independence from another nation, it is...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senators Debbie Stabenow, Amy Klobuchar and David Sandalow, an energy expert from the Brookings Institute, held a press conference today to showcase new automotive technologies that can help reduce our dependence on oil. With oil and gas prices expected to remain at record highs in the near future, rapid technological innovations in the transportation sector are critically important to help reduce energy costs, end our nation’s addiction to oil and reduce global warming pollution. “We need a clean energy revolution to unleash our brightest and most creative scientists, engineers and corporate leaders because we cannot...

The lingering lesson of Hurricane Katrina is the great value of self-reliance and the terrible danger of dependence. It was a huge storm. Possibly the largest natural disaster ever to hit the United States. It was the storm of the century. But it taught us more about human nature than it did about the power of nature. More frightening than the storm itself, was the widespread personal failure demonstrated in its wake. It was a peek into the entitlement culture and a sad display of the unwillingness and inability of some Americans to take the slightest responsibility for themselves and...

*****.....the problem with having a billionaire for mayor. Is Mayor Bloomberg planning to put these illegals up at his mansion? Maybe they can cut his lawn and do his laundry in their spare time. Herminie, Pa. ***** Bloomberg swore to uphold all laws, not just the ones he likes. Manhattan ***** Bloomberg is a closet Democrat who favors illegal immigration and cheap labor......he's not worried about his millionaire neighbors in tony Bedford turning their mansions into flophouses with scores of illegals sleeping on cots in cellars. Ossining ***** .....half a million illegal immigrants in New York City,......on welfare, collecting food...

Happy Independance Day! "Independence" is a bit of an unfortunate misnomer as it yields the impression that our liberties do not depend upon anything. True, they are such "inalienable rights" ordained by God Himself, nevertheless most countries do not experience them, and none to the degree that we do here in America. They are, in fact, dependent upon certain qualities unique to our great land, yet waning rapidly as we respond to the lure of other nations, seeking to be like them.

In the 1960s, 85% of the oil in the world was available for ownership, development, partnerships, and such. At the time, 14% of the oil reserves belonged to the Soviet Union. Today it is the reverse of that: 16% of the world's oil is available. 65% is owned by the nations that possess the fields and 19% has limited access -- that is, nations, including Russia, will allow others to invest in and partially own their oil fields. It's different now. And, shall we not forget there are some nations that will allow investment and development and then, when all...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Just two Arab countries have supplied almost 50 percent of California's imported oil over the past five years, a dependence that leaves the state more vulnerable than the rest of the country to disruptions in the world oil markets. The finding, based on an analysis of state and federal crude oil import statistics, underscores the challenges confronting both California -- the biggest gas-consuming state in the U.S. -- and the country as a whole as lawmakers grapple with consumer outrage over high prices at the pump and a U.S. deficit that has widened on the back...

Harvest of help: Study shows too few Latinos visiting food pantries Estudio demuestra que pocos latinos visitan las despensas. (excerpts) Although there are myriad food pantries in Chicago and the suburbs, not enough Latinos take home the free food (that the pantries) offer, according to a 2006 America's Second Harvest study.Last year the Chicago network of almost 600 food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters served almost 500,000 people, but only about 14 percent of them were Latinos, according to GCFD spokesman Bob Dolgan.In the collar counties the situation is similar - only 13.2 percent of its 187,500 yearly clients are...

Apple Computer has quietly voiced its concerns about the growing threat it faces from Linux in the desktop market. The Californian manufacturer's concerns emerged in its Form 10-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission late last week. The 10-K is an annual report on the company's business, and an effective disclaimer on factors that may affect the company's future performance

Eating Our Independence for Breakfast by Edward Hudgins As many major public policy matters are being debated in Washington -- a Supreme Court nomination, runaway federal spending -- seemingly small erosions of our independence and, thus, our freedom continue with very little attention. District of Columbia school officials have just announced that all students will be offered free breakfasts, regardless of family income, under a U.S. Department of Agriculture program. School system official Mark Truax argues that, "Studies keep showing the benefits of a good breakfast: increased attendance, better behavior and better performance." What he fails to say is that...

Here's the EconoPundit national energy policy. 1. Impose an immediate and permanent oil import tax set on a sliding scale between $95/bbl and current world price. If world price is $70, the tax is $25/bbl. If world price sinks to $35, the tax automatically rises to $60/bbl. This tax is permanent. Energy costs as seen by households and businesses will initially rise substantially but will quickly stabilize and won't fluctuate even one tiny bit from year to year. What now goes "up and down" is import tax revenue, not domestic energy costs. It is possible there are massive cost reductions...

WHAT IS a culture of dependence? It is generation after generation of families existing on direct government financial support and sapped of ambition to take care of their own immediate needs or prepare themselves for a better future. For those trapped in this dysfunctional culture, the normal cost-benefit equations of life don't apply. The government safety net becomes a smothering blanket, insulating citizens from the consequences of their actions while reinforcing the poisonous idea that the problems they create for themselves should become someone else's problem to solve.

Dependence on Government, Not Racism, Hurting Black People, Pastor Says By Susan Jones CNSNews.com Senior Editor September 08, 2005 (CNSNews.com) - A black conservative leader says don't blame racism or President Bush for what happened to thousands of black people during and after Hurricane Katrina. "The truth is black people died, not because of President Bush or racism, they died because of their unhealthy dependence on the government and the incompetence of Mayor Ray Nagin and Governor Kathleen Blanco," said the Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, founder and president of BOND (the Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny). Peterson singled out...

Patients arrive broke, busted or abandoned at our methadone clinic in a raw section of Northeast Washington. They are opiate addicts, primarily dependent on heroin, though some take vast doses of street-bought painkillers like OxyContin. Drinking the pink methadone solution every day prevents withdrawal sickness. About half of our patients have also spent years on crack or alcohol. Not all have stopped, but at least they have cut back. We see almost no methamphetamine users, but that is a simple accident of geography - the corrosive drug hasn't yet reached epidemic proportions in this part of the country. The personal...

NEW YORK (Aug. 18, 2005) -- Oakland Raiders receiver Randy Moss admits he has used marijuana since entering the NFL seven years ago and still smokes it "every blue moon." "I have used, you know, marijuana ... since I've been in the league," Moss said in an interview for HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel scheduled to air Aug. 23. "But as far as abusing it and, you know, letting it take control over me, I don't do that, no." When pressed whether he still smokes marijuana, the star receiver with the checkered past said: "I might. I might have...

Two college coeds used cocaine with a pair of convicted drug dealers and had fresh needle marks on their arms when they overdosed in a lower East Side apartment, sources said yesterday. Police believe a bad batch of heroin may have contributed to the deaths of Mellie Carballo and Maria Pesantez, both 18 and with promising futures. It was unclear who supplied the drugs, but heartbroken relatives of the victims blamed Roberto Martinez, 41, and Alfredo (Tito) Morales, 33, who were with the teens Friday when the students apparently overdosed. "How is it possible that they are free?" asked distraught...

Conservative US Braced for Drugs and The Suburbs United Kingsom -- A smartly-dressed young mother, the head of the healthy children's committee, stands before the parent-teacher association to demand that fizzy drinks be removed from the school vending machines. Moments later she is negotiating a deal to buy a large quantity of marijuana to sell to teenagers and their parents. Welcome to Weeds, the latest sitcom to delve into the dark side of American suburbia. But where Desperate Housewives deals with the fantasy of life and death in a gated community, Weeds, set in the fictional Californian town of Agrestic,...

For fifty years, proponents of `aid' have argued that poor countries are poor because they lack the funds to invest in the infrastructure that would enable economic activity to take place, which in turn means that they are unable to attract investment. Originally used to justify mega-projects, such as roads and dams, these arguments continue today in modified form, ostensibly justifying investments in schools and hospitals. Donors have justified aid with various theories and political motivations, but its core justification, the `gap theory', is fundamentally flawed. This theory assumes that poor countries are trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty...

July 4th: What is Independence? by Edward Hudgins July 4th is Independence Day. But at our picnics, parties and cookouts we might well ask, “Independence from what?” In 1776 we Americans declared our political independence with Britain. Tired of high taxes and a long train of abuses, and with no democratic controls on those who governed us, we decided it was time for us to run our own affairs. Besides, bowing on our knees before kings and lords was for slaves and serfs, not free men like us. But it was not just our break with Britain but also other...

...These scenarios unfolded in a simulated oil shock wave held Thursday in Washington. Two former CIA directors and several other former top policy-makers participated to draw attention to America's need to reduce its dependence on oil, especially foreign oil. The scenario is intended to show how vulnerable the U.S. and world economies are because of dependence on oil from places where political instability threatens orderly production and distribution. This year the world is consuming about 84 million barrels of oil a day. America alone guzzles about 20.8 million barrels a day. Experts think oil-producing nations have only 1.5 million barrels...

The United States consumes a quarter of the world’s oil, compared to 8% for China. Even with high Chinese growth expected in coming years, the world will not run out of oil anytime soon. Over a trillion barrels of proven reserves exist, and more is likely to be found. But two-thirds of those proven reserves are in the Persian Gulf, and are thus vulnerable to disruption.In the past, rising prices had a strong effect on US oil consumption. Since the price spikes of the 1970’s, US oil consumption per dollar of GDP has fallen by half, which also reflects the...

Of snake oil and snake oil producers there is no end; and modern America has its own types. Fortunately, philosopher Christina Hoff Sommers and her co-author Dr. Sally Satel, a psychiatrist, are on the lookout for America's Dr. Knocks (or should we say Dr. Kooks) and warn us about them in their smart, straight-shooting new book, "One Nation Under Therapy: How the Helping Culture is Eroding Self-Reliance." The cover of "One Nation Under Therapy" shows an analytic couch covered in red, white, and blue. The inner contradiction expressed in this symbol is explored in the book but requires some elaboration....

Over the past couple of years, evangelicals have taken an increased interest in the environment. You may have read about some of the meetings that have been held recently in Washington. This is a good thing, because evangelicals have often forgotten that we have a stewardship responsibility for all of God’s creation. That means the air we breathe, the water we drink, the wilderness areas we all enjoy. I applaud some of the evangelical leaders who have been pricking our consciences—and some who have been setting good examples by driving fuel-efficient vehicles. But evangelicals need to remember that we are...

Over the past several years, the Senate has stymied Bush efforts to pass an energy plan that includes allowing oil development on a 1.5 million-acre coastal strip of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge because Republicans have been unable to muster the 60 votes needed to overcome a Democratic-led filibuster. However, a maneuver to avoid a filibuster is now being pursued that will likely be implemented in the next few weeks. Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) said Tuesday it was reasonable to assume ANWR would be part of the budget measure, which is not subject to filibuster. A small group...

Gal Luft is executive director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security in Washington, D.C. He is a specialist on strategic issues and energy policy with a PhD in strategic studies from Johns Hopkins University. A former lieutenant colonel in the Israel Defense Forces, his writings have appeared in Commentary, Foreign Affairs, the Los Angeles Times, Middle East Review of International Affairs, the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal. Mr. Luft addressed the Middle East Forum in Philadelphia on October 27, 2004. Introduction In both World War Two and the Cold War, the side best deploying scientific...

The FAIRTAX: A TROJAN HORSE FOR AMERICA? By Claire Wolfe & Aaron Zelman You do not examine legislation in the light of the benefits it will convey if properly administered, but in the light of the wrongs it would do and the harms it would cause if improperly administered. -- Lyndon Baines Johnson, U.S. President “Abolish the IRS!” So goes the cry. And who could disagree? The income tax is unAmerican in the most profound way, punishing people for being successful. The tax code is vast and incomprehensible. The agency that enforces it is universally loathed. Yes, let's abolish...

At roughly $50 a barrel, the cost of oil has almost doubled in recent months, endangering an already fragile economic recovery and once again exposing our nation's dependence on foreign sources of energy to run our factories, heat our homes and power our cars. According to a recent poll by the conservative Hudson Institute, 83 percent of Americans agree that "reducing our dependence on foreign oil must be a top priority for the next administration."Unfortunately, the recent run-up in oil prices also exposes our utter helplessness to make that happen.The standard solution proposed by the oil industry, the U.S. Chamber...

Scripture teaches very explicitly that God acts according to a plan And, knowing that plan, he knows the future. “The counsel of Jehovah standetb fast forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations” (Ps. 3.3:11). “I am Cod and there is none like me; declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that arc not yet done” (isa. 46:9, 10) (Lorraine Boettner, Wycliffe Theological Dictionary, "Foreknowledge.") The doctrine of predestination thus represents the purpose of God as absolute and unconditional, independent of the whole finite creation, and as originating solely in the eternal counsel of his...

IS ANOTHER oil shock in the making? All indications point to that considering the rise in world crude prices, not just in the spot market, but also in the futures segment. In the past, the rise in the spot price of crude as, for instance, ahead of both the Gulf wars, was not accompanied by a sympathetic jump in the forward price simply because the market expected the spike to be short-lived. But, this time, the forward price has been going up sharply. Crude oil has jumped 13 per cent in three weeks. Oil for July delivery reached a record...

Just as certain as death and taxes is the knowledge that we shall one day be forced to learn to live without oil. Exactly when that day will dawn nobody knows, but people in middle age today can probably expect to be here for it. Long before it arrives we shall have had to commit ourselves to one or more of several possible energy futures. And the momentous decisions we take in the next few years will determine whether our heirs thank or curse us for the energy choices we bequeath to them. Sunset industry? Oil production could soon peak...

Oil is making headlines again. Never far from newsworthy, such is its over-riding economic and political importance, the spotlight has returned as harsh as ever. The price of benchmark US light sweet crude recently reached its highest level for 13 years, and the cartel of petroleum exporting nations, OPEC, maintained its decision to cut production - potentially fuelling yet more rises. Add increasing violence in Iraq delaying its return to full oil production, and it is understandable that oil analysts have been getting the jitters. Not to forget President George W. Bush, who in an election year really does not...

        BLEEDING HEARTS There’s nothing more dangerous in this day and age Than the liberal poison in thought. It spreads an infectious disease through our culture Which too many people have caught. Its symptoms include shedding blood from the heart In profusion for those who have failed To make sound decisions, to work hard and save, And to emulate those who prevailed. In spite of the obstacles found in their way, The successful are never inclined To think of themselves as the victims of fate, Or to claim that the system’s designed To thwart their best efforts at getting ahead Because...

America's dependence on Saudi Arabia and its supply of fuel is "so strong it's almost like a narcotic," according to a former CIA agent, in a May interview with Atlantic Unbound, the Atlantic Monthly's online journal. "If we don't curtail our dependence, a failure in Saudi Arabia could have catastrophic consequences for the United States," says Robert Baer, who worked for the CIA in the Middle East for two decades. The United States' policies on Saudi Arabia, Baer argues, are built upon a delusion that "the flow of its most precious commodity can continue on indefinitely". Oil and the defence...

Making Room in the Inn: Why We Need the Needy September 2, 2003 by Jennifer Roback Morse The self-sufficient, autonomous individual is at the heart of America's economic and political institutions. But some people are legitimately dependent on others. Children are profoundly, if temporarily, dependent on their parents. The elderly and the sick are dependent on others. The seriously disabled, and the mentally ill are permanently dependent. The problem of the legitimately dependent can not be finessed or argued away. There is no possible reconstruction of the social, economic and political system that will eliminate the helplessness of infancy. The...