Free Republic

9,680 more to go. More than 60% there. If gun-free zones are good enough for our children, they should be good enough for our feral government overlords. Link to petition

The stalling of Illinois’ gay-marriage push—at least for now—shows the difficulty of approving legislation to legalize it, even with a nudge from the home-state president, steadily rising support in the polls and national momentum from the November elections. Democrats control both chambers of the General Assembly and the governor’s office in the solidly blue state. Yet the margin of support Senate Democrats were able to pull together for a bill last week was so thin that a death in one lawmaker’s family and another senator’s extended trip to Israel were enough to push the issue into the next legislative session....

Republicans in Congress who took the politically risky step of voting to raise taxes now find themselves trying to fend off potential primary challenges next year from angry conservatives. These lawmakers wasted little time in attempting to deliver an explanation that would be acceptable to the tea party and the GOP’s right flank, and, perhaps, insulate themselves from a re-election battle against a fellow Republican. They’ve started defending last week’s vote as one that preserves tax cuts for most Americans, while also promising to fight for spending cuts in upcoming debates over raising the nation’s borrowing limit. … It was...

The president can thank Republican congresswoman Michelle Bachmann for introducing bill H.R. 35, which she says would repeal Obamacare "in its entirety." MyFOX8 stated that CNN contributor and Princeton University historian Julian Zelizer says this just proves that the president and Republicans in congress are still on bad terms and that it appears that "they are going to fight the president tooth and nail," despite his reelection.

recent reports indicate the entire program may have actually hurt the environment far more than it helped. According to E Magazine, the “Clunkers” program, which is officially known as the Car Allowance Rebates System (CARS), produced tons of unnecessary waste while doing little to curb greenhouse gas emissions. The program's first mistake seems to have been its focus on car shredding, instead of car recycling. With 690,000 vehicles traded in, that's a pretty big mistake. According to the Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA), automobiles are almost completely recyclable, down to their engine oil and brake fluid. But many of the “Cash...

Scaffolding climbs the walls of the new elementary school in Salinas, an agricultural city celebrated as John Steinbeck's birthplace but plagued by gang violence. Although still under construction, the school is already embroiled in controversy because the school board decided to name it after Tiburcio Vasquez, one of the state's most notorious Old West bandidos. Critics say he was a 19th-century outlaw who robbed and terrorized Californians before he was convicted and hanged for murder. They say naming a school after him glorifies crime. In a city where two-thirds of residents are Latino, some Mexican-Americans say Vasquez was defending his...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) -- Four gun shows, all about an hour's drive from Newtown, Conn., all canceled. A show in White Plains, N.Y., - brought back a few years ago after being called off for a decade because of the Columbine shooting - is off because officials decided it didn't seem appropriate now, either. In Danbury, Conn. - about 10 miles west of Newtown - the venue backed out. Same with three other shows in New York's Hudson Valley, according to the organizer. Gun advocates aren't backing down from their insistence on the right to keep and bear arms....

President Obama announces he is appointing Vice President Joe Biden to craft new policies within the next month to curb gun violence.President Obama announces he is appointing Vice President Joe Biden to craft new policies within the next month to curb gun violence. 0 The White House and gun control supporters are gearing up for a whirlwind month, with plans to pass reform legislation before outrage over the Sandy Hook massacre has a chance to fade. While the fiscal cliff has dominated Washington’s attention in recent weeks, lawmakers and activists are laying the groundwork for their big push. Vice President...

A senior official in the Indian Forest Service has been in the United States since July, awaiting a hearing in Pennsylvania's Pike County Court concerning an incident in a Westfall Township, Pa., hotel. Surendra Prasad Mohapatra, 52, was charged with indecent assault and false imprisonment on July 24 while staying at the Hampton Inn, an Eastern Pike Regional Police report says. According to the criminal complaint, Mohapatra called the front desk at 10:20 p.m. on July 23 to ask for help connecting his computer to the Internet. An employee tried to give instructions over the phone but was quickly cut...

Evidence is mounting that the map of pistol permit owners, published by New York-based Journal News, could be causing unintended consequences as law abiding citizens are being put in danger, according to a NewsBusters report. At least two media reports have surfaced with specific references to people who are most vulnerable as a result of the map. Fox News reports that reformed criminals have said the map can help thieves in two ways. “Crooks looking to avoid getting shot now know which targets are soft and those who need weapons know where they can steal them,” the report says. Also...

It's open season on the House Republicans these days, and the incoming fire isn't just coming from the left. Chris Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey, blasted House Speaker John Boehner for delaying a vote on Hurricane Sandy relief; the conservative commentator John Podhoretz accused right-wing members of Congress of "literally embracing chaos" with their ill-fated attempt to oust Boehner from the speakership on Thursday. Even within the GOP, it seems, the House GOP's actions of late seem beyond the pale. So I set out to find someone to defend them. I called former Rep. Steve LaTourette, an outspoken...

Anyone still need a reason to abandon "grand bargains" and deals negotiated between this President and GOP Congressional leaders? Here it is: The revival of two dormant provisions of the tax code means the much ballyhooed $450,000 income threshold for the highest tax rate is largely fake. The two provisions are the infamous PEP and Pease, which aficionados of stealth tax increases will recognize immediately as relics of the 1990 tax increase. Those measures, which limit deductions and exemptions for higher-income taxpayers, expired in 2010. The Obama tax bill revived them this week. It isn't going to be pretty. Under...

Speaker Boehner has announced he won't negotiate one on one with the president anymore. Obama has said repeatedly that he won't negotiate on raising the debt limit. The two sides are speeding toward each other waiting for the other guy to blink. ABC News: President Obama was pretty clear late on New Year's night as he reacted to Congress's passage of a bill to take a turn away from the fiscal cliff. He won't negotiate with Republicans about the debt ceiling. "Now, one last point I want to make," said the president, before wrapping up and hopping on Air Force...

Historically, the second worst record of job creation. New York Times: For jobs, the past four years have been a wash. The December jobs figures out today indicate that there were 725,000 more jobs in the private sector than at the end of 2008 - and 697,000 fewer government jobs. That works into a private-sector gain of 0.6 percent, and a government sector decline of 3.1 percent. In total, the number of people with jobs is up by 28,000, or 0.02 percent. How does that compare? It is by far the largest four-year decline in government employment since the 1944-48...

The politics of the “fiscal cliff” deal is debatable: On the one hand, Boehner got the “Bush tax cuts” made permanent for most Americans; Obama was forced to abandon his goal of increasing rates for those earning $250,000. On the other, on taxes Republicans caved to the same class-warfare premises (the rich need to pay their “fair share”) they’d successfully fought off a mere two years ago; while on spending the Democrats not only refused to make cuts, they refused to make cuts even part of the discussion. Which of the above is correct? Who cares? As I said, the...

ST. LOUIS- The Northeast region leads the United States in outbound migration, according to the results of United Van Lines’ 36th annual “migration” study, which tracks which states the company’s customers move to and from during the course of the year. Washington, D.C., continues to lead the nation in inbound moves based on the study findings released today, which analyzed moves from the full year 2012. “As the nation’s largest household goods mover, United’s data is an accurate reflection of the overall U.S. moving trends,” explained Carl Walter, vice president of United Van Lines. “Tracking the number of inbound and...

We're told Friday's jobs report is evidence of slow and steady progress. But it actually documents the new normal of Obama's economy - anemic job growth, chronic long-term unemployment and falling wages. Given how long the economy has been underperforming, even the smallest bit of good news is welcome. But the latest jobs report offers little of even that. The 155,000 new jobs created in December weren't enough to make a dent in unemployment. And at this pace, it will take more than two years just to reach the previous jobs peak set back in January 2008. And while the...

US treasure hunters ready to snatch gold from the jaws of Victory US treasure hunters should be banned from raising the wreck of one of Britain’s greatest warships and taking some of the millions of pounds of gold coins she is believed to contain, leading archaeologists and descendants of the crew demand today. By Victoria Ward 8:00AM GMT 05 Jan 2013 They said that allowing HMS Victory, predecessor to Nelson’s flagship, to be exploited for commercial gain would be a “flagrant breach” of the military covenant and an “appalling betrayal” of more than 1,000 Royal Navy sailors who died. The...

January 1, 2013 brought a host of new taxes, fees, and charges to the American people. Some of them were anticipated. Others, like the (Medical Device Excise Tax) (MDET), were not — at least not in this way. How so? Well, the MDET has started showing up on the receipts for purchases made at sporting goods giant Cabela’s. This receipt from one such store in Texas is making the rounds on the web. It shows an additional tax has been added to the purchase, after the local sales tax of nearly 10% was charged. [snip] What is a Medical Excise...

SNIP Her health scare, though, has reinforced the concerns of friends and colleagues that the years of punishing work and travel have taken a heavy toll. Even among her peers at the highest levels of government, Mrs. Clinton, 65, is renowned for her grueling schedule. Over the past four years, she was on the road for 401 days and spent the equivalent of 87 full days on a plane, according to the State Department’s Web site. SNIP “So many people who know her have urged me to tell her not to work so hard,” said Melanne S. Verveer, who was...