Free Republic

In what is developing into a standoff between states and the federal government that could be bigger than gun control or even health care, 17 states have launched versions of Arizona's immigration law, even as federal officials say they may not bother to process illegal aliens caught by the states. William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, which has been trying to get officials to address the open southern border for years, warned the consequences could be dire. "Over the last couple days, Obama and the chief of ICE have refused to honor their oaths of office," he...

EconomicPolicyJournal.com has learned that 32 states have run out funds to make unemployment benefit payments and that the federal governmant has been supplying these states with funds so that they can make their payments to the unemployed. In some cases, states have borrowed billions. As of May 20, the total balance outstanding by 32 states (and the Virgin Islands) is $37.8 billion. The state of California has borrowed $6.9 billion. Michigan has borrowed $3.9 billion, Illinois $2.2 billion. Below is the full list of the 32 states (and the Virgin Islands) that have borrowed from the Fed to make unemployment...

Big Brother says elderly visitors to federally funded meals at a Georgia senior citizen's center aren't allowed to pray to that absurd, dangerous Christian God of theirs. Obama's Big Brother government contends that since it has paid for their meals the government has the right to slam its iron boot heel down on the necks of those seasoned citizens that dare to engage in such an apostasy toward the state. Seem absurd? Well it is but that is what happens when the feds roll into town and begin to hand out money. They feel the right to dictate what everyone...

For those of you interested, you can show your support for Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona's Immigration Law which she signed into law last week. The ACLU, Attorney General Eric Holder, and 95% of the Hispanic politicians are lining up to either file suit or challenge the constitutionality of this new law. Which is kind of a joke, since they purposely tailored the law to parallel the Federal Law which has existed for years but is not enforced due to political correctness. Obama has been making comments about it being poorly put together, blah, blah, blah. In case you aren't...

DETROIT — General Motors Co.'s CEO said Tuesday that the automaker has repaid the $8.1 billion in loans it received from the U.S. and Canadian governments, a sign that a plan to rebuild the company is working. GM got a total of $52 billion from the U.S. government and $9.5 billion from the Canadian and Ontario governments as it went through bankruptcy protection last year. The U.S. considered as a loan $6.7 billion of the aid, while the Canadian governments held $1.4 billion in loans. The loan payback to the U.S. government comes five years ahead of schedule, and Whitacre...

CONCORD — A crew of federal officials wandering into a day labor hiring zone used to mean one thing: time to leave. Not the case Thursday morning on Monument Boulevard. Armed with coffee, not handcuffs, investigators from the U.S. Department of Labor chatted warmly with Latino immigrant workers about how to find jobs without being exploited. "We're the feds, but the good ones," said Paul Ramirez, speaking in Spanish inside the Michael Chavez Center, a gathering spot for day laborers. "We're here to help workers." The unprecedented visit was part of a campaign to bring long-established workplace protections to the...

At the heart of conversations around water coolers, dinner tables, blogs, Twitter, Facebook and Tea Parties is this simple question - by what authority is the federal government doing what it's doing? What's the basis for the out-of-control spending, the bank and auto bailouts, the proposed takeover of healthcare, the specter of new taxes, and the vast and unchecked expansion of federal power?

It has gotten to the point where I wince every time I hear or read someone calling for the “restoration” of “civility” in American politics. Such plaints are either naive or sinister — mostly, I suspect, the latter, since “civility” in the context of politics is a code word which means “putting the muzzle on the opposition.”

The Drudge Report and other conservative sites are highlighting a newly-unveiled logo for the U.S. Department of Defense's Missile Defense Agency and complaining that the new logo (pictured at left) is reminiscent of both the Obama campaign logo and an Islamic flag. "the new MDA shield appears ominously to reflect a morphing of the Islamic crescent and star with the Obama campaign logo," writes Big Government's Frank Gaffney. "… Team Obama is behaving in a way that -- as the new MDA logo suggests -- is all about accommodating that 'Islamic Republic' and its ever-more aggressive stance." Critics, meanwhile, are...

It's bad enough that Greece's debt problems have rattled global financial markets. In the world's largest economic and military power, there's a far more serious debt dilemma. For the U.S., the crushing weight of its debt threatens to overwhelm everything the federal government does, even in the short-term, best-case financial scenario -- a full recovery and a return to prerecession employment levels. The government already has made so many promises to so many expanding "mandatory" programs. Just keeping these commitments, without major changes in taxing and spending, will lead to deficits that cannot be sustained. Take Social Security, Medicare and...

The federal government's bailout of Chrysler and General Motors has been a big success. At least, it has been a big success if you're a Ford dealer. According to the Wall Street Journal, Ford sales for the month of December 2009 were up 33.5 percent compared to December 2008, even as Chrysler and GM sales were falling. When the government's auto bailouts were announced, Dick Edwards Ford in Manhattan, Kansas, saw an opportunity. According to Mark Besthorn, the dealership's sales manager: "We just thought about it and decided we wanted to strike while the iron was hot." Days later, the...

U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes announced Monday that he will no longer request federal money to finance projects in New Hampshire that benefit businesses, hospitals, police departments and colleges. Hodes, a Democrat, said the appropriations process also known as earmarking is broken because many lawmakers abuse the system. He cited the poor economy and federal deficit as other reasons behind his newly adopted stance. But Hodes denied that he is forgoing earmarking because he is running for U.S. Senate and stepping away from the controversial issue could benefit him politically, as the state Republican Party immediately claimed. “There’s nothing I can...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The federal government was closed Monday after a record-breaking snowstorm swept across the northeastern United States and put a damper on one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year. Just days before Christmas, the eastern seaboard from North Carolina to New England was digging out from the worst blizzard in years, which closed train and bus service, paralyzed air traffic, crippled motorists and left hundreds of thousands of residents without power in some areas. Americans pining for a white Christmas got more than they bargained for, with local officials urging residents to hunker down indoors as...

Because they're more skilled than the private sector. Latest analysis from USA Today finds that the federal government has been creating a lot high paying jobs for itself. Yet, the excuse is that they're hiring more skilled people than in the past: USA Today: "There's no way to justify this to the American people. It's ridiculous," says Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, a first-term lawmaker who is on the House's federal workforce subcommittee. Jessica Klement, government affairs director for the Federal Managers Association, says the federal workforce is highly paid because the government employs skilled people such as scientists, physicians and...

111, to be exact. Here's the full text if you want to open two windows and view. The House Republican Conference has compiled a list of all the new boards, bureaucracies, commissions, and programs created in H.R. 3962, Speaker Pelosi's government takeover of health care: 1. Retiree Reserve Trust Fund (Section 111(d), p. 61) ...

WASHINGTON -- Federal drug agents won't pursue pot-smoking patients or their sanctioned suppliers in states that allow medical marijuana, under new legal guidelines to be issued Monday by the Obama administration. Two Justice Department officials described the new policy to The Associated Press, saying prosecutors will be told it is not a good use of their time to arrest people who use or provide medical marijuana in strict compliance with state law. The guidelines to be issued by the department do, however, make it clear that agents will go after people whose marijuana distribution goes beyond what is permitted under...

The latest installment of "change we can believe in" is sweeping reform of the financial services industry. Central to proposed Democrat reforms is the establishment of a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency. This agency would have broad authority to oversee and regulate financial service products like mortgages and credit cards and will be responsible to protect consumers from "unfair" and "abusive" products.

DHS strips Arizona sheriff of authority to patrol for illegal immigrants

The Oklahoma congressional delegation wants U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to explain why the Justice Department got involved in a debate by the Oklahoma Legislature this year over making English the state’s official language. The delegation sent a letter to Holder on Tuesday questioning why his Civil Rights division sent a letter to Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson in the midst of the English-only debate reminding him that state entities receiving federal funds have to observe certain laws regarding people with limited proficiency in English. The letter, sent by all seven members of the delegation, asks Holder to explain his...

Section 1. Extension of Identified Benefits. The Secretary of State and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall, in consultation with the Department of Justice, extend the benefits they have respectively identified to qualified same-sex domestic partners of Federal employees where doing so can be achieved and is consistent with Federal law.