Free Republic

The First Amendment is the essential foundation for our nation’s greatness, guaranteeing Americans our precious freedoms that are denied in so many countries. Thus, it is disturbing to behold a bi-partisan group of politicians advocating a big government attempt to restrict the First Amendment in a disastrous piece of legislation called the RESTRICT ACT.

On March 16, the Obama administration announced that a new rule, which would more than double the salary threshold for worker eligibility for overtime pay, was taking another step toward becoming official Department of Labor policy. This statement didn’t come at a press briefing, and wasn’t part of a lengthy policy proposal. Instead, the administration was responding to an online petition through the “We the People” portal on the White House website. The petition, which specifically asked the administration to “tell the Department of Labor to move quickly on implementing the new overtime rule,” gained more than 113,000 signatures in...

Now the other shoes begin to drop. Voters knew in November that many of the promises Obama made in 2008 had been broken. The economy had not revived as he had promised it would ("or we'll be talking about a one-term proposition"). He has not "changed the tone in Washington" -- except for the worse. He didn't prevent lobbyists from holding positions in his administration. He didn't cut the deficit in half; he increased it radically. But voters apparently decided that the president deserved credit for good intentions. How long will that indulgence last? The next four years, whatever else...

Warner Bros. is reaching into its film vaults so it can sell old movies on made-to-order DVDs, in a move it hopes will goose sales of a vital product in a downturn. Starting today, the studio will sell copies of 150 films from the silent era to the 1980s Brat Pack that have never been released on DVD. Internet downloads of the movies will cost $14.95, while DVDs sent in the mail are $19.95. Both can be ordered at www.warnerarchive.com. The initiative, which Warner claims is the first of its kind for a major studio, is an effort by the...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said there will be a vast shift in Internet technology over the next decade as he met Tuesday with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. "We're approaching the second decade of (the) digital age," the software mogul and philanthropist told Lee at the start of their meeting at the presidential Blue House, according to a media pool report. "The Internet has been operating now for 10 years," Gates said. "The second 10 years will be very different." Microsoft Corp., the South Korean government and South Korean companies are investing $313 million in...