Free Republic

Mother Jones published a “secret” video of Mitt Romney speaking at a private fundraising event in which the Republican candidate discussed the entitlement mentality: There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they...

A state program created to redevelop polluted areas is doling out tax breaks for companies that lease offices in downtown high-rises, build on pastureland and open restaurants on busy highways, even when there is no proof they are on contaminated land. From January 2011 through April 2012 alone, about $11 million in tax refunds have been approved for dozens of businesses, according to a database accidentally released in June by the state Department of Economic Opportunity.... .....Companies are getting the breaks largely because Florida's brownfield initiative has a major loophole, critics say. To be eligible, there is no need to...

Loyal Consumerist readers and retail-watchers may remember the 2010 incident in which a 16-year-old took over the PA system of a New Jersey Walmart and announced, "Attention Walmart customers: all black people must leave the store." The prankster had done the same thing a few months before, and was charged with harassment and bias intimidation for each incident. Now, more than two years later, someone has filed a lawsuit against the store over the incident. He claims to have been in the store at the time of the prank, and that the incident led to "depression, anxiety, anger, loss of...

It was in 1850 that a French economist, Frédéric Bastiat, warned that “under pretense of organization, regulation, protection or encouragement, the law may take from one party in order to give to another, help itself to the wealth acquired by all the classes that it may increase that of one class, whether that of the agriculturists, the manufacturers, the ship owners, or artists and comedians.” He said of this “lawful plunder” that the people may end it “or they may desire to take part in it. Woe to the nation where this latter thought prevails amongst the masses.” Woe, in...

A wealthy chiropractor who has been in practice for more than 20 years and his wife were living in a $1.2million waterfront home while claiming almost $2,000-a-month welfare benefits and even food stamps, according to documents.

    In 2008 Barack Obama’s campaign shtick was “change.” That resonated because President Bush was spending too much and the country meant to change Washington. But Obama meant to change the country. In response the Tea Party movement has arisen to implement the real change, putting brakes on that out of control big government growth. Our message to Washington is simple: you have run out of our money, stop excessive spending. You cannot borrow your way out of debt; you cannot spend your way out of deficits. What is President Obama’s response to our message of fiscal responsibility? Shared...

Trick-or-treaters marched up the White House driveway on a wet, snowy Saturday, past the spider web-like gauze, the pumpkins and the costumed actors to the mansion's north portico where President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama handed out treats, an annual tradition. "What's this? Look at this guy," the president said at the sight of one costumed child. "A headless man. Terrifying!" And yes, the sweets included signature boxes of White House M&Ms, signaling a temporary respite from the first lady's healthy eating campaign. Dried fruit and White House baked cookies rounded out the handouts. Earlier this week, in...

A video about the occupy wall street bums. CAUTION! SCARY PHOTOS w/Nudity and violence! Viewer discretion advised!

Genna Saucedo supervises cashiers at a Wal-Mart in Pico Rivera, California, but her wages aren't enough to feed herself and her 12-year-old son. Saucedo, who earns $9.70 an hour for about 26 hours a week and lives with her mother, is one of the many Americans who survive because of government handouts in what has rapidly become a food stamp nation. Altogether, there are now almost 46 million people in the United States on food stamps, roughly 15 percent of the population. That's an increase of 74 percent since 2007, just before the financial crisis and a deep recession led...

The above title should say it all. It is a currently unheard of social program but one that will become widely known just like Social security and Universal health care. The Universal Basic Income is essentially getting free money for life with no strings attached. ABSOLUTELY NONE! It is already beginning to take hold in New Zealand and is being contemplated (not surprisingly) by that Communist liberal utopia that Democrats want us to emulate, the European Union. According to websites such as basic income.com and similar websites advocating the implementation of UBI, everyone would receive somewhere between six hundred to...

Nearly 20 cents of every dollar of disposable income comes from the government, often in the form of Social Security, Medicare or unemployment benefits. Government social benefits accounted for almost 20% -- or 20 cents of every dollar -- of Americans' disposable income in March, a figure that's been growing amid a weak economy, stubbornly high unemployment and an aging population. As recently as the 1980s, that figure was closer to 12% or 13%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. "That (20%) is a pretty big chunk of what people have as their disposable income," says Chris Christopher,...

Everybody knows that libertarians are greedy capitalists who favor the maximization of profit above all else. “Taxation is theft!” they cry, but the exploitation of the working classes fails to elicit any similar moral outrage. Libertarians, everybody knows, care about the rich to the utter neglect of the poor and vulnerable. But everybody is wrong. The reason for the common misperception, of course, is that libertarians oppose many of the governmental policies that are commonly thought to benefit the poor and working classes. Libertarians oppose redistributive taxation, oppose the minimum wage, oppose workplace safety regulations, antitrust laws, and many other...

Every hour of every day, hundreds of people need essential human services - they are looking for training, employment, food pantries, help for an aging parent, addiction prevention programs for their teenage children, affordable housing options, support groups and ways of becoming part of their community. 2-1-1 allows people to give help and to get help. 2-1-1 is an easy to remember telephone number that, where available, connects people with important community services and volunteer opportunities. In 2010, 2-1-1 services in the United States answered more than 16.4 million calls. The implementation of 2-1-1 is spearheaded by United Ways and...

Lavish aid to Africa is turning the continent into a ‘spoilt child’, according to the head of a charity backed by Nelson Mandela. Mike Kendrick, founder of the respected Mineseeker Foundation, warned that aid often increased the hardship faced by the world’s poorest people. In a devastating verdict, he told the Daily Mail last night: ‘I sometimes use the analogy of a spoilt child. We have all seen rich parents give their child everything they need, without earning it.

In America today, the biggest recipients of handouts are not poor people. They're corporations. General Electric CEO Jeffrey R. Immelt is super-close to President Obama. The president named Immelt chairman of his Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. Before that, Immelt was on Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board. He's a regular companion when Obama travels abroad to hawk American exports. (Why does business need government to do that?) "Jeff Immelt is perhaps the CEO who is most cozy with President Obama," says journalist Tim Carney. "General Electric is structuring their business around where government is going ... high-speed rail, solar, wind....

The king, who had been convalescing in Morocco after back surgery in New York in November, stood as he descended from the plane in a special lift. He then took to a wheelchair. Hundreds of men in white robes performed a traditional Bedouin sword dance on carpets laid out at Riyadh airport for the return of the monarch, thought to be 87. Abdullah left his ailing octogenarian half-brother, Crown Prince Sultan, in charge during his absence. Before Abdullah arrived, state media announced an action plan to help lower- and middle-income people among the 18 million Saudi nationals. It includes pay...

The House of Representatives approved a decades-old settlement worth $4.6 billion Tuesday that resolves two class-action suits filed against the federal government by black farmers and Native Americans. The thousands who joined the suit argued that the government discriminated against them as they applied for loans for agricultural ventures. The House approved the package 256-to-152. Black farmers would receive $1.2 billion, after they alleged they were cheated out of loans from the Agriculture Department. The government will direct $3.4 billion to American Indians who say the Interior Department swindled them out of royalties from natural resources like gas and timber.

Gov. Deval Patrick says he’ll use his second term to try to implement the rest of an advisory panel’s recent recommendations on immigration reform, including in-state tuition for illegal immigrant students and more English classes. Patrick told immigrant advocates Tuesday that the moves will help better integrate the state’s immigrant population, seventh largest in the country. Last year, an advisory panel released a report on possible Massachusetts immigration reforms, and advocates have been pressing Patrick to push for dozens of recommendations in the report.

The newly reelected governor who created a special council to help illegal immigrants integrate into society promises to spend his second term pushing for measures to benefit undocumented aliens in his state. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, former Clinton Administration official, assured open borders advocates this week that he’ll advance an ambitious agenda launched during his first term to assist illegal aliens... In all, the governor’s council offered 131 ideas aimed at integrating immigrants and refugees into the civic and economic life of the Commonwealth...Among the key recommendations is granting illegal immigrants drivers’ licenses and discounted in-state-tuition at public colleges and...

Home buyers can once again purchase a home using FHA financing with a zero down payment. Previous zero down payment FHA loan programs were funded by seller contributions funneled through a nonprofit group which then donated the down payment to the purchaser. These seller-financed down payment programs were terminated in 2008 after the FHA experienced default rates three times higher than when buyers made a cash down payment. The innovative zero down payment FHA home purchase program was recently introduced by The Lending Company of Phoenix, Arizona. In order to meet the FHA required 3.5% down payment, the borrower receives...