Free Republic

Years ago, Henry Kissinger dismissed Argentina (or sometimes Chile, depending on the version) as "a dagger pointed at the heart of Antarctica." In 2015, things are a bit different. It's not that this country has anything to teach us about economics, other than what not to do. But a lot of vital news is emanating from that country — from the new Argentine pope to, perhaps even more pointedly, the aftermath of the shocking death of Argentine special prosecutor Alberto Nisman, which has special relevance to our war on terror and confrontation with Iran.

When the temperature dips below freezing, reliable electricity becomes more than a matter of convenience but a matter of life and death. Unfortunately, the reliability of our electric grid is at-risk due to EPA regulations that are shutting down America’s coal plants.Existing EPA regulations already have led to the scheduled shutdown of nearly 20 percent of the U.S. coal fleet. EPA’s newest carbon regulations being finalized this summer will lead to even more shutdowns. With coal responsible for generating nearly 40 percent of America’s electricity, these shutdowns will further strain our nation’s electricity grid and could leave many Americans in...

Nearly 20 years ago, Carson argued for government-run catastrophic health care and “national guidelines” on how and when the very ill should be treated. Carson himself calls his proposals “fairly radical.” In 1996, Dr. Ben Carson, now a conservative favorite and potential presidential candidate, wrote a paper outlining his vision for U.S. health care. Some of his proposals: nationalized catastrophic care, essentially replacing Medicaid with health care food stamps, and “national guidelines” about when the elderly and terminally ill should receive care. By implementing government-run catastrophic health care, Carson argued, the price of premiums would go down so much...

President Obama believes more states are likely to legalize marijuana following efforts in Colorado and Washington state. "My suspicion is that you're going to see other states look at this," the president told YouTube blogger Hank Green. Obama said that the federal government was "not going to spend a lot of resources" enforcing federal marijuana laws in states that had decided to legalize the drug. He also noted that the Department of Justice was examining how to shift policies for nonviolent drug offenders. In an interview with The New Yorker last year, Obama appeared to tacitly endorse a Colorado referendum...

A group of Senate Republicans pressed Attorney General Eric H. Holder on Friday to explain the administration’s policy for U.S. fugitives in Cuba, including a convicted cop killer, following President Obama’s announced normalization of relations with the communist island nation. “As the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, do you support the normalization of relations with Cuba without the return of fugitives from justice for prosecution who have the blood of Americans, including law enforcement officers on their hands?” said the three senators in a letter to Mr. Holder. The letter was signed by Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, Ted Cruz...

While the streets are calmer now, tension is building again as the anniversary of the February uprising nears. Venezuela's crisis has only deepened with falling crude prices crippling the oil-dependent economy, leading to a cash crunch that has restricted imported goods to just a trickle. Basic items like flour and diapers are hard to come by even on the black market and the government has had to deploy soldiers to keep peace outside stores where people wait hours for a chance to pick through near-barren shelves. "Things are as bad as they were a year ago but now, in addition...

With the SOTU behind us, what’s left for Obama in his lame duck years? Looking at his record, it’s difficult to see any promise of accomplishment. His entire tenure has been one vast Gobi of negative achievement unparalleled in the history of this Republic. His domestic record -- to mention only the highlights -- consists of the Stimulus (“shovel-ready jobs”), ObamaCare, forcing tens of millions out of the workforce, decoupling the stock market from the economy as a whole, and a still stumbling recovery. His “post-racial presidency” is a sad joke, with race relations in a state of tension unseen...

I know there are many angered by the title of this post, but the truth hurts. I cannot tell you the number of times I have been to political events where a politician kisses babies and talks Jesus so the pro-lifers in the crowd get thigh sweats and send the politician to Washington. When the politician takes up with his mistress or pays for an abortion or, as Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC) did, undermines the pro-life cause, they are just horrified. But still they return predictable to the GOP for more abuse and disappointment. Maybe it is time for a...

A woman places flowers at a makeshift memorial in Yangon on January 23, 2015 for two school teachers found dead in a remote village in Shan state Myanmar on Thursday said it would investigate the deaths of two teachers who activists claim were raped and murdered by government troops, as crowds gathered in the country's far north amid rising anger over the killings. The battered bodies of the two women, aged 20 and 21, were found Monday in a remote village in Shan state where they were teaching children on behalf of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC), according to the...

It's not in the printed text, but the most revealing words in President Obama's seventh State of the Union address came near the end. After the scripted line, "I have no more campaigns to run," elicited Republican applause, Obama ad libbed, "I know, because I won both of them." Thus the last quarter of Obama's presidency resembles the first quarter, when he shut off discussion with House Republicans by saying, "I won." But his second winning percentage was lower than his first -- the only American president of which that can be said -- and the House now has a...

A Missouri lawmaker is pushing a measure that would require identification each time a person uses Apple Pay with their iPhone or other mobile payment systems on their non-Apple phones. “Democratic Rep. Joshua Peters of St. Louis says the bill he introduced Wednesday requires customers to show a state driver’s license or other identification when they use a mobile wallet app or other electronic payment system... ... “Merchants would have to record the license or identification number or could be responsible for the illegal purchases made if a device is reported stolen.”

“We have confidence in God but not so much Maduro. He’s to blame for all this,” says Marvelis Bazque, a housewife standing in line. She’s referencing a line from the president’s speech Wednesday night, where he assured Venezuelans that despite a big drop in the price of oil, which the nation greatly relies on, “God will provide.”

“Netanyahu spat in our face. There will be a price.” With these words, an unnamed Obama administration official declared war on Israel’s prime minister in an interview with the leftwing Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Smarting at being blindsided by the invitation to address a joint session of Congress and advocate a sanctions bill on Iran to kick in if the current round of negotiations fails, Obama is letting his anti-Israel feelings show more openly than ever before.

It turns out that Barack Obama isn’t the only one living in a world of denial this week. With the end of the Obama era in sight and Hillary Clinton hoping to make Coronation Tour 2.0 more successful than the first version, she and her team are looking for ways to distance themselves from the man who beat them to the crown in 2008. According to Ron Fournier, Team Hillary has decided to emphasize Obama’s lack of action and accomplishment as a contrast to her superior ability to get things done rather than just give speeches.You read that correctly....

"A new survey released Thursday by Grand Valley State University is showing that since the Affordable Care Act was implemented, more small businesses are deciding not to offer health insurance to their employees."

Okay, so it’s not really a “debate” per se. And it’s certainly not sanctioned by the Republican National Committee. But a panel discussion set for this weekend that will be attended by some of the 2016 election cycle’s most talked-about prospective candidates and moderated by ABC News White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl will undoubtedly be packed with presidential politics. At the group’s winter meeting Sunday in Palm Springs, California, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio will participate in a panel discussion on domestic economic issues, including health care and energy policy. ABC...

But President Obama will not be meeting with Netanyahu when he visits. “As a matter of long-standing practice and principle, we do not see heads of state or candidates in close proximity to their elections, so as to avoid the appearance of influencing a democratic election in a foreign country,” White House National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said in a statement today. “Accordingly, the president will not be meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu because of the proximity to the Israeli election, which is just two weeks after his planned address to the U.S. Congress.”

CARSON CITY — A retirement system official said Thursday a report showing that some public employees who retire collect more in pension benefits than they did while working was based on less than 2 percent of beneficiaries. The analysis also does not reflect changes to the retirement plan made in 1985 that reduced pension payouts, said Tina Leiss, executive officer of the system. The conclusions in the report issued by the Nevada Policy Research Institute, a conservative think tank based in Las Vegas, do not account for the vast majority of the members and retirees of the Public Employees’ Retirement...

A week ago, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, a Democrat, called homelessness in his city and the rest of King County a "full-blown crisis." Based on the numbers presented in coverage of the area's situation, we can certainly add the Emerald City to the list of areas where homelessness has been on the rise. Odds are that many readers here didn't know that, because the national press hardly ever pays attention to homelessness when a Democrat occupies the White House. Now imagine the firestorm which would erupt if a Republican or conservative proposed the "solution," however allegedly temporary, Murray is advancing...

Iran will have received a total of $11.9 billion in cash assets by the end of June if current releases continue on pace as scheduled Because he is, you know. In the guise of protecting “negotiations” over Iran’s soon-to-be-fully-functional nuclear program. The Obama administration on Wednesday paid $490 million in cash assets to Iran and will have released a total of $11.9 billion to the Islamic Republic by the time nuclear talks are scheduled to end in June, according to figures provided by the State Department. Today’s $490 million release, the third such payment of this amount since Dec. 10,...