Free Republic

AS the holiday season approaches, the major airlines are signaling to some passengers to take a hike. At least that’s what travelers might infer from the smaller number of flights being scheduled at many of the nation’s airports. Between 2007 and 2012, airlines cut the number of domestic passenger flights by 14 percent, ... The reason is simple: airlines have decided that the best way to earn a healthy return on their investment is to maintain tight discipline on capacity. That’s a fancy way of saying they want their planes to fly as full as sardine cans. ... But this,...

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) – When you make a return this holiday season you may have to hand over more than just your receipt, as retailers try to prevent repeated returns. “I was required to provide them a copy of my driver’s license, where they actually took the information and scanned it into their database,” said a shopper who asked to be identified only as Leslie. Leslie told the sales associate at The Children’s Place that she was uncomfortable handing over her ID just to make an exchange, but she was told that the requirement is corporate policy. In fact,...

They Are Going To Make It Nearly Impossible To Pass On A Farm Or A Business To Your Children By Michael Snyder on November 20th, 2012 If you have a farm or a small business, would you like to pass it on to your children when you die? Well, unless Congress does something, it is going to become much, much harder to do that starting next year. Right now, there is a 5 million dollar estate tax exemption and anything above that is taxed at 35 percent. But on January 1st, the exemption will go down to 1 million dollars...

A corporate bankruptcy is a paper death. The underlying assets live on. Killers of paper structures, in this light, are devalued villains, but a cry has gone up to identify the villain behind the pending liquidation of Hostess Brands, maker of Twinkies, Devil Dogs, Wonder Bread and other déclassé delights. Everyone knows the answer: It was the bakers—i.e., the branch of the AFL-CIO formally known as the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union. The bakers are guilty of a perfectly justifiable attempted homicide. Don't believe any guff about how chubby Americans are gnawing on carrot sticks. Forget...

On Sunday, Eustace and dozens of fellow firefighter volunteers served 800 free hot meals from a steamy Army tent in this hemorrhaging beach community, where there are no longer stores or restaurants, where most people have no gas to cook with, no heat or hot water and no hot food. That afternoon, a freon-blooded inspector from the city’s Department of Health issued Eustace a notice of violation for not meeting the same food-handling standards as, say, the Four Seasons. This is beyond outrageous. This is Emperor Bloomberg’s bureaucracy gone completely mad in a time of death and destruction in the...

I keep thinking, "Christie can't possibly come back from this." And then I think, "Wait, did we actually just nominate John McCain and the guy responsible for RomneyCare?"Never underestimate the Republican capacity to forgive, my friends. But behind the scenes, the intensity of the reaction from those in Mr. ChristieÂ’s party caught him by surprise, interviews show, requiring a rising Republican star to try to contain a tempest that left him feeling deeply misunderstood and wounded... The tensions followed Mr. Christie to the annual meeting of the Republican Governors Association in Las Vegas last week. At a gathering where he...

Now that the election is over, nine Republican and nine Democrats have asked the president to stop making excuses and build a job-creating pipeline that will close the revenue gap through economic growth. The truly bipartisan group of senators, led by Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat and powerful chair of the Senate Finance Committee, and John Hoeven, a North Dakota Republican, wrote President Obama on Friday urging him to quickly issue a permit for the northern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline that would bring over 830,000 barrels of crude from Canada's oil sands to American refineries every day. "Setting...

The Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee is demanding an immediate explanation from the nation’s top intelligence official, James Clapper, for what the chairman says were inconsistent statements to Congress and to the public on who was behind changes to the CIA talking points on the Libya consulate attack in September. Critics say the Obama administration initially minimized the role of terrorism despite evidence of a coordinated attack on the consulate in Benghazi. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the assault. Testimony last week on Capitol Hill raised additional questions about the administration's changing story...

Jeff Kuhner Podcast: An immature girl takes a crude photo at the Arlington National Cemetry, and now people are calling for her to be fired from her job.

The European Parliament has voted to separate regulation on motorized and non-motorized bicycles, a move two-wheeler associations say will safeguard investment in cycling. In the plenary session, European lawmakers decided on Tuesday (20 November) that any electronically power assisted cycle (EPAC) under 250 watts (0.335 hp) and a maximum speed of 25 kilometers per hour (15.5 mph) would remain a bicycle. Anything more powerful is considered a motorbike, in line with the European Commission’s original proposal. …

TAMPA — Soon after she was appointed honorary consul to South Korea, Jill Kelley of Tampa went to work trying to establish a relationship between that country and the University of South Florida's medical school. "I was nominated for this diplomatic appointment, for the purpose to facilitate new agreements in the USA with my contacts," Kelley wrote in a Sept. 7 email to USF medical school dean Stephen Klasko. "I have a unique opportunity to propose bids because of my relationship with the top executive branch of Korea, and in addition, the President of the Free Trade Act is my...

As talk of tax increases and deep cuts to government programs dominate Washington, adoption advocates are warning of another crisis should the adoption tax credit be allowed to expire at the end of the year — a potentially “disastrous” outcome for more than 400,000 children in the U.S. foster care system. Among the so-called Bush tax cuts set to expire at the end of 2012 is a one-time adoption tax credit that gave $12,650 this year to families who took in a parentless child. But unless Congress acts to extend it, the only tax credit for adoptive parents on Jan....

President Obama's signature healthcare law has to be on the table for cuts as Congress tried to negotiate a deal to avoid the "fiscal cliff," House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) wrote in an op-ed. "We can’t afford it, and we can’t afford to leave it intact," Boehner wrote in the Cincinnati Enquirer. "That’s why I’ve been clear that the law has to stay on the table as both parties discuss ways to solve our nation’s massive debt challenge." Republicans have already made clear that they hope to go after the law's insurance subsidies in upcoming debt talks. The subsidies represent...

The sky is not falling. That's according to Steven Kyle, an expert in macroeconomics and government policy, and a professor of management at Cornell University's Dyson School of Applied Economics, who offered his comments on the potential economic implications of Congress and President Barack Obama failing to come to an agreement ahead of the Jan. 1, 2013 "Fiscal Cliff" deadline. “The fiscal cliff isn't an emergency that requires most people to take immediate action," he said. "Actually, it is more of a slope than a cliff. The "Fiscal Cliff" refers to the effect of laws that, if unchanged, could result...

Feinstein: Petraeus Cheated Because He Had 'No Entourage,' 'No Driver,' Had to Wash Own Dishes By Elizabeth Harrington November 21, 2012 (CNSNews.com) – Senate Intelligence Chairman Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) explained on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that former CIA Director David Petraeus cheated on his wife because after retiring from the U.S. Army as a four star general he no longer had an entourage and a driver and had to wash his own dishes when he got home from work. “Here’s a man, and you see Time Magazine, and you see the medals he has. You see the stars,”...

Terror groups may no longer be able to do transactions in US dollars after a groundbreaking ruling by the highest state court in New York, the New York Court of Appeals, announced Shurat Hadin, the Israel Law Center, on Wednesday. The ruling was issued on Tuesday in favor of victims of Hezbollah rocket attacks from the 2006 Lebanon War and could be a “game changer” in the global financial war on terror financing. Until now, terror financing could avoid scrutiny in the US by making fund transfers through American correspondent banks. A correspondent bank essentially serves as a middle bank...

CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo ---- Authorities are investigating a home invasion in which the suspect may have shot himself in the stomach. According to the Caruthersville Police Department, on Thursday, November 15, 2012, Caruthersville Officers responded to shots being fired at approximately 8 p.m., at 1400 Vest Avenue in Caruthersville. Upon the arrival of Chief of Police, Tony L. Jones, officers made contact with the residents and were advised that a black male, wearing a ski mask had entered the home with a loaded firearm and pointed at the subjects inside of the residents demanding money. One of the subjects in the...

New York Times Asks Is Limbaugh's America Gone? Liberals Reply Yes, Time for 'Growing Class Warfare' By Tim Graham Created 11/21/2012 - 11:10am In a piece for The New York Times “Campaign Stops” blog, liberal political writer Thomas Edsall asked “Is Rush Limbaugh’s Country Gone?” In other words, is Rush right in his post-election analysis that America is in danger of its producers being outnumbered and outvoted by the government dependents? Did we just prove the old George Bernard Shaw aphorism that “A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul”? Leftists enthusiastically...

Are right-wing gun owners aching to start a race war? The Daily Caller brings us a story today about a Ivory Tower leftist philosophy professor at the City University of New York who has warned her fellow leftists that yes, those crazy, right-wing white folks with guns may just start a race war against Latinos as a result of President Barack Hussein “Santa Claus” Obama’s re-election. Continuing the recent trend of liberals to divide America by race, gender, religion, income, job type, national origin, ear lobe type, and dialect style, Linda Martin Alcoff contends “No other group can realistically pose...

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: [Snip] For more on Hamas, we're joined now by Professor Rashid Khalidi of Columbia University. Welcome to the program once again. [Snip] SIEGEL: I mean, one reading of what's happening now is that Israel has demonstrated to Hamas that in exchange for rocket attacks on southern Israel, there will be the same kind of retaliation that there was at the end of 2008. How does that play with the Palestinian people? I mean, is Hamas regarded as a defender, as a resistant movement or is it in some way regarded as bringing down these terrible air attacks...