Free Republic

During the 2004 campaign our Executive Director contacted the candidates running for Congress from the 5th and 8th Districts to ask about their support for passenger rail. When he reached an aide to the Republican candidate for the 5th District seat, he received the answer, "We support passenger rail only if it pays for itself." Our Executive Director works with political figures day in and day out, so he's something of a diplomat. Had I been on the phone, I would have shot back, "When did I-90 ever pay for itself?" Hanging around conservative Republicans like I do, time and...

PARIS (AFP) - Hundreds of thousands of French people took part in demonstrations across the country to protest against government plans to reform the 35-hour work week. AFP Photo Related Quotes DJIA NASDAQ S&P 500 10716.13 2086.66 1203.03 +123.03 +29.02 +13.14 Delayed Data Providers - Disclaimer -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sponsored by: New Pro Platform Organized by an alliance of trade-unions and backed by the opposition Socialist party (PS), more than half a million people took part in marches in 100 towns and cities -- with 90,000 joining the largest demonstration in Paris. Police put the overall figure at slightly more than 250,000....

In the sour innards of Men's Central Jail, Alice Scott watched with pride as trays of her chicken casserole dinner were delivered like mail through slots in the cell doors. Prisoners began devouring the fare as soon as they had it in their grasp. "The inmates like the food, and that makes me happy," said Scott, a sheriff's lieutenant who oversees meal preparations for the jail. Then came the reviews. "It stinks," said Bobby Love, 46, a Compton resident jailed for a probation violation. Like his five cellmates, he spooned up the casserole, carrots and green beans while standing in...

Prediction: The Social Security debate is going to turn pretty ugly pretty fast. It's quite civilized at the moment, with reporters and op-ed types jousting over economic assumptions and actuarial rates. But New Year's Day brought a Washington Post report that the coming campaign over Bush's privatization plan will take on the coloration of a full-fledged political war, complete with television ads. Such groups as Progress for America (which spent millions on Bush's reelection), the Club for Growth and the National Association of Manufacturers are planning big-budget campaigns, and the AARP is already spending 5 mil on full-page opposition ads...

  Y'know... I like to make jokes that the Left can only get the crowds via Castro-style "bus rides and sandwiches", but this is getting ridiculous.   Clinton's book isn't flying off local shelves The buzz is there -- and it's No. 1 on Amazon -- but area stores stay calm. By M.S. Enkoji -- Bee Staff WriterPublished 2:15 am PDT Wednesday, June 23, 2004 (excerpt)   At the Sacramento store, Norma Valencia bypassed Clinton for a book on personal finance. She had been in Manhattan Monday on business when people began lining up at the other Barnes & Noble,...

Pell grants aid confined sex offenders A stretched grant program is giving college money to offenders who served their time but are deemed unfit to rejoin society. By LEONORA LaPETER, Times Staff Writer Published October 27, 2003 David Depuy is a twice-convicted rapist who has been behind bars all but two of the last 31 years. In prison, he turned to education, and the government helped. He began taking classes in 1973 and continued on and off until 1994, when politicians decided that giving criminals financial aid grants for college wasn't a good idea. Then in 1999, Depuy finished his...

Following is a letter sent a few weeks ago to a local newspaper reporter, at her request, to facilitate a potential article on the extent of fraud in the National School Lunch Program After our discussion a couple of days ago, I consolidated some of my notes from searching a few internet sites for relevant data on the National School Lunch Program (mostly using USDA and Census Bureau sites). Since you said you might discuss this matter with one of your colleagues who is adept at using Census data, I thought I'd send you the following info to share with...

SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Nineteen-year-old Francisco Urenda wants to become a doctor. The state of Oregon may help him make his dream come true - even though he is an illegal immigrant. Oregon may be about to join a growing number states that are offering cheaper, in-state college tuition rates to illegal immigrants in a move supporters say will help them become productive, taxpaying members of society. Opponents say the idea will only encourage illegal immigration. Without the change in Oregon's law, Urenda, who came to the United States from Mexico after being orphaned at 10 and is now a...

3 Libertarians got really liberal with Clean Election money; but let's not overreact May. 2, 2003 12:00 AM There is a Hollywood script treatment here. Three political party boys gone wild - a trio of fun-loving, libertine Libertarians - tap into Arizona's new system for publicly funding campaigns, Clean Elections, to the tune of $104,000. Overnight, they literally reinvent the concept of the political campaign. And they do it badly: spending thousands at nightclubs outside their districts, thousands on really cool office and computer equipment, tens of thousands on postage for mailings that were never mailed and tens of thousands...

Family upset over 'field trip' of convicted sex offender 01/04/2003 By MARY ANN RAZZUK / WFAA-TV The mother of a Texas prison inmate is speaking out about an unscheduled trip home her son made - a trip which has sparked a statewide investigation. Jeffrey Paul Hale is serving a life sentence for the sexual assault of a child. And now, the family of one of Hale's victims is demanding some answers. An area parent felt a rush of emotions as she read an article about a field trip authorities said Hale got to take recently while in law enforcement...

Clean Elections officials will recommend an investigation of three Libertarian legislative candidates for their use of taxpayer funds for computers, outings to Scottsdale nightclubs and consulting by a relative. "It is the first time we would be doing an investigation on the use of funds," said Colleen Connor, executive director of the Citizens Clean Elections Commission. She hinted audits of more candidates in the Nov. 5 election could be on the way. The case involves Senate candidate Yuri C. Downing, 32, and House candidates Trevor O. Clevenger, 29, and Paul DeDonati, 33, Scottsdale roommates. All ran in District 17 in...

April 8, 2002 Why economists are not popular One of the many reasons why economists are unpopular is that they keep reminding people that things have costs, that there is no free lunch. People already know that -- but they like to forget it when there is something they have their hearts set on. Economists don't have to say anything when people are buying things at a shopping mall or at an automobile dealership. The price tags convey the situation in unmistakable terms. It is when people are voting for nice-sounding things that politicians have dreamed up that economists are...

One of the many reasons why economists are unpopular is that they keep reminding people that things have costs, that there is no free lunch. People already know that -- but they like to forget it when there is something they have their hearts set on. Economists don't have to say anything when people are buying things at a shopping mall or at an automobile dealership. The price tags convey the situation in unmistakable terms. It is when people are voting for nice-sounding things that politicians have dreamed up that economists are likely to point out that the costs...

One of every five youngsters who gets free or discounted meals at school may be ineligible because the family's income is too high, a government-commissioned study says. The Agriculture Department, which runs the lunch program, says billions of dollars in education aid, including grants for computer hookups, are divided up on the basis of the lunch numbers, encouraging school officials to push the figures higher. About 13 million children received free meals last year, and an additional 2.6 million paid a discounted price, a maximum of 40 cents per meal. "I don't want to decrease the number of kids that...