Free Republic

With Congress saying “get the lead out,” local retailers and librarians are wondering if common sense gets chucked along with it. The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which goes into effect Feb. 10, is meant to protect children from lead-laden products. But when the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission gave libraries two options, get rid of all your children’s books or ban anyone under 12 from entering the library, librarians across the country waited for the punch line. But it never came. “I was speechless,” said Mary Beth Revels, director of the St. Joseph Public Library. “To know it wasn’t...

We are all socialists now! crows Newsweek.

I'm running the excerpt to my blog because I can't excerpt to bloomberg. Republican Senators are questioning whether President Barack Obama’s stimulus bill contains the right mix of tax breaks and cash infusions to jump-start the economy. Tragically, no one from either party is objecting to the health provisions slipped in without discussion. These provisions reflect the handiwork of Tom Daschle, until recently the nominee to head the Health and Human Services Department.

What It Feels Like To Be A Libertarian (posted January 2009) Political analysts frequently consider what it means to be a libertarian. In fact, in 1997, Charles Murray published a short book entitled "What It Means to Be a Libertarian" that does an excellent job of presenting the core principles of libertarian political philosophy. But almost no one ever discusses what it feels like to be a libertarian. How does it actually feel to be someone who holds the principles described in Murray’s book? I’ll tell you. It feels bad. Being a libertarian means living with an almost unendurable level...

President Obama signed an executive order last week continuing the faith-based initiatives program created by former President Bush. When the program was created, I warned that giving taxpayer money to private religious organizations would eventually lead to political control and manipulation of them. This week has provided some evidence that this was a justified concern. The logic behind funding faith-based initiatives seemed reasonable to some. Private organizations are much more effective in charitable endeavors than government programs and bureaucracies. Therefore, why not “outsource” some of the government’s welfare-state activities to these worthy organizations? This appealed to many conservatives, especially after...

WASHINGTON (CNN) – As many state and local officials clamor for their share of the billions of dollars in federal aid in the stimulus bill under consideration in Washington, South Carolina’s Republican governor is sounding a note of dissent about federal efforts to help the economy. “A problem that was created by building up of too much debt will not be solved with yet more debt,” Gov. Mark Sanford said Sunday, making a reference to the federal deficit spending that will likely finance the federal stimulus package. “We’re moving precipitously close to what I would call a savior-based economy,” Sanford...

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was set up to combat fraudulent practices. The SEC's website explains that "Ponzi schemes are a type of illegal pyramid scheme named for Charles Ponzi, who duped thousands of New England residents into investing in a postage stamp speculation scheme back in the 1920s." It goes on to say, "Decades later, the Ponzi scheme continues to work on the 'rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul' principle, as money from new investors is used to pay off earlier investors until the whole scheme collapses." That is how the SEC described the recent Bernard Madoff $50 billion Ponzi scheme, "a...

SPRINGFIELD -- Illinois gun owners could fall prey to a state bureaucracy that fails to process firearm owner's identification cards promptly. The state's tardiness leaves some otherwise law-abiding firearm owners vulnerable to criminal charges because FOID cards often expire while the state police are still processing renewals. Criminal charges can be filed against any resident who possesses a gun but does not have a valid FOID card. The Illinois State Police agency is required by law to process FOID applications within 30 days. But the process is taking up to 60 business days, according to agency spokesman Lt. Scott Compton....

Whereas, a number of proposals from previous administrations and some now pending from the present administration and from Congress may further violate the Constitution of the United States. Therefore Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of Arizona, the Senate concurring, that: 1. That the State of Arizona hereby claims sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States. 2. That this Resolution serves as notice and demand to the federal government, as our...

The Republican Party of the 1920's swept into power during a financial crisis. Errors in the Fed’s monetary policy in 1919 in kept rates too low to benefit the sale of Victory bonds. The Fed then tightened excessively due to inflation, creating a financial shock and depression from 1920 to 1921. At that time, the Republican Party viewed increasing tariffs as good policy. Thus, during the sixty seventh Congress, the Emergency Tariff Act of 1921 was passed as a temporary measure until a more comprehensive measure could be drafted. Ultimately, Fordney-McCumber passed in 1922, imposing an ad valorem rate of...

Republican Sen. Jim DeMint proposed an amendment Thursday to overturn a provision in the stimulus bill that prohibits renovation funding for schools that allow religious worship in their facilities. BY CRISTINA CORBIN Republican Sen. Jim DeMint proposed an amendment Thursday to kill a provision in the Senate stimulus bill that prohibits renovation money for schools that allow religious groups to meet on campus. DeMint proposed the amendment after the provision was passed in the Democratic-controlled House despite unanimous Republican opposition. The amendment is expected to be voted on Thursday, an aide to the senator told FOXNews.com. DeMint and others who...

BY BONNIE ALBA In just six months the so-called movers and shakers in our nation's Capitol have managed to, and continue to add to, an impossible burden of National Debt on the backs of present and future generations. In effect they have murdered the "Republic for which we stand." The most serious questions that can be asked: Does the U.S. Constitution provide the Congress and the President 1) this unprecedented power? 2) bailing out all manner of capitalist businesses, the banking system, homeowners or any other combo you might name? Throughout the 20th century, thoughtful citizens observed as Congress and...

Statement of Congressman Ron Paul United States House of Representatives Statement on Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act Madame Speaker, I rise to introduce legislation to restore financial stability to America's economy by abolishing the Federal Reserve. Since the creation of the Federal Reserve, middle and working-class Americans have been victimized by a boom-and-bust monetary policy. In addition, most Americans have suffered a steadily eroding purchasing power because of the Federal Reserve's inflationary policies. This represents a real, if hidden, tax imposed on the American people. From the Great Depression, to the stagflation of the seventies, to the current economic crisis...

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and House Republican leaders announced an agreement Thursday on a bill that would curb smoking in most public eateries and bars. The bill represents a compromise between the Democratic governor's longtime backing for an outright ban on all smoking in bars and restaurants and traditional Republican opposition to mandated smoking restrictions. If passed, the measure will ban smoking except in private clubs and inside walled-off areas of restaurants designated for smoking and served by a ventilation system separate from the one that serves nonsmoking parts of the establishment. In announcing the accord, House Speaker William J....

Collateral raid damage In January 2007, a SWAT team in Lima, Ohio, shot and killed Tarika Wilson, a 26-year-old mother, during a drug raid at the home of her boyfriend, Anthony Terry. When the unarmed Wilson was shot, she was kneeling on the ground, complying with police orders. She was holding her 1-year-old son, Sincere, who was also shot, losing his left hand. A subsequent investigation revealed that Officer Joseph Chavalia heard another officer shooting Terry’s two dogs, mistook the noise for hostile gunfire, panicked, and fired blindly into the room where Wilson was kneeling. Chavalia was charged with involuntary...

In defending this stimulus, President Obama made this remarkable statement. So then you get the argument, well, this is not a stimulus bill, this is a spending bill. What do you think a stimulus is? (Laughter and applause.) That's the whole point. No, seriously. (Laughter.) That's the point. So, President Obama believes that government spending is stimulus. If he really does believe this then we are all in trouble. Now, government spending could be stimulative however 1) it depends on where and when it is spent and 2)government spending is NOT the only way to be stimulative.

An IRS survey finds that nearly nine in 10 Americans think it is "not at all" acceptable to cheat on your taxes. Although the survey was conducted in late August, its release comes as Tom Daschle, President Barack Obama's nominee to be Health and Human Services secretary, has acknowledged failing to pay more than $120,000 in taxes. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner had similar problems on a smaller scale.

"They hit the door right here and the door flew open," says Mike Hasenei, standing outside his Elkridge home. His wife, Phyllis, was watching television with her 12-year old daughter when members of the Howard County Police Tactical Team came through the door. "They had guns pointed at us. You have 25 guys coming in here all dressed in black and all that we saw were their eyes, and they're screaming 'Hands in the air!'" Members of the team were acting upon a tip that an assault rifle, magazines and hollow-point bullets stolen from a marked police car the night...

NEW YORK – As the Obama administration attempts to push through Congress a nearly $1 trillion deficit spending plan that is weighted heavily toward advancing typically Democratic-supported social welfare programs, a rebellion against the growing dominance of federal control is beginning to spread at the state level. So far, eight states have introduced resolutions declaring state sovereignty under the Ninth and Tenth Amendment to the Constitution, including Arizona, Hawaii, Montana, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Washington. Analysts expect that in addition, another 20 states may see similar measures introduced this year, including Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho,...

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Former presidential candidate Ron Paul criticized President Obama's economic recovery proposal but said Saturday that blame for the financial crisis is deep-seated and includes Republicans who failed to hold the line on spending during the Bush administration. He also offered a harsh critique of the three Republican senators who have said they will vote for the economic recovery proposal. A vote is scheduled for early next week. Paul, a Republican representative from Texas who sought the GOP nomination for president, said that although some people call Obama's plan to jumpstart the economy a "stimulus package," he...