Free Republic

Steve Hayward pointed out recently that economist Thomas Sowell shares the same birthday as Frederic Bastiat – they were both born on June 30. To recognize Bastiat’s birthday I shared some of his quotes on CD earlier this week, and I’ll now do the same today for Thomas Sowell, who turned 85 yesterday. Here is Thomas Sowell’s webpage and here is his Wikipedia entry. Milton Friedman once said, “The word ‘genius’ is thrown around so much that it’s becoming meaningless, but nevertheless I think Tom Sowell is close to being one.” And because Thomas Sowell is such a prolific...

The church is under attack today in every way imaginable – literally as well as figuratively! We still are reeling from the horrific attacks against the AME Church in Charleston. While our brothers and sisters gathered for a mid-week Bible study and prayer time, they were shot dead. We have seen an amazing display of forgiveness on their part for this cold-blooded killer. Facing the killer in court, several relatives who also attended AME Church extended their forgiveness to this young man, despite his indescribably evil act. The church has since gone back to their mid-week Bible study, saying, “This...

By our count at the Galen Institute, more than 54 significant changes have been made to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act since it was enacted in 2010 – at least 34 that the Obama administration has made unilaterally, 17 that Congress has passed and the president has signed, and three by the Supreme Court. Our latest count has added two more changes made by the Obama administration contrary to statutory language, and one rewrite of the law’s text from the latest U.S. Supreme Court decision. Our latest additions: Extension of credits to people receiving employer-sponsored coverage. Section 1511...

The United Nations rights chief Wednesday urged Nigeria to show compassion and make it easier for women and girls who became pregnant in Boko Haram captivity to access abortions. Boko Haram militants are estimated by Amnesty International to have kidnapped more than 2,000 women and girls in northeastern Nigeria since the beginning of 2014, including the 276 girls seized from their school in Chibok last year in a kidnapping that sparked global outrage. "During their captivity, lasting in many cases for months or even years, women and girls have been sexually enslaved, raped and forced into so-called 'marriages'," Zeid Ra'ad...

Activists demand answers to lawmakers' falsification of documents for ObamaCare perks. Americans fed up with the unbridled arrogance of the nation’s “ruling class” are about to be further infuriated. As American Commitment president Phil Kerpen reveals, there’s yet another outrageous scandal occurring on Capitol Hill, where the House and Senate have falsely certified themselves as small businesses so they can fund themselves and their staffs with taxpayer-funded health insurance—sidestepping ObamaCare provisions in the process. “They conspired to break the law,” Kerpen told Front Page. In an interview with Newsmax TV, Kerpen reminded viewers that Americans had “demanded” Congress enter the...

The New York Times has a consistent position on art that offends religions. 1. Mohammed cartoons will not appear 2. Works mocking Christianity and Judaism will Briefly New York Times editor Dean Baquet pretended after the Hebdo and Garland attacks that there was some consistent policy about not offending religious people. Then it began once again featuring materials that offend Catholics. After a lot of squirming, the New York Times offered these criteria A. It's impossible not to offend anyone, so we won't offend Muslims, but we will offend Catholics "There's no simple, unwavering formula we can apply in situations...

Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog Here are 334 reasons why Democrats and unions that support Obamacare want exemptions for themselves By Dan from Squirrel HillPosted on September 24, 2013. Updated on June 3, 2015.As the author of this blog post, I place it into the public domain. Anyone may freely copy it in any part or in its entirely, without asking my permission, and without paying any money. I do ask you please cite a link to https://danfromsquirrelhill.wordpress.com/2013/09/24/obamacare-59/I ask you to please show this list to as many people as possible. Sunshine really is the best disinfectant. I can’t stop Obama...

Climate change, if left unchecked, threatens to undermine the last half century of gains in global health. That's the conclusion of a study released Monday by an international commission convened by the Lancet, a prestigious medical journal based in the UK. Declaring it a "medical emergency," the authors argued that the potential impacts of global warming—such as floods, drought, heat stress, catastrophic storms, the spread of disease, and increased food insecurity—pose a "potentially catastrophic risk" to human health. The study's authors, however, highlight a potential sliver of good news: Tackling the issue immediately presents "the greatest global health opportunity of...

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy told an audience Tuesday gathered at a White House conference “normal people,” not “climate deniers” will win the debate on global warming.rWhat do you think? McCarthy’s remarks came as she was talking about the reasons why the EPA put out a report on the negative health impacts global warming will have on public health. She said the agency puts out such reports to educate the public, not answer critiques from global warming skeptics.rWhat do you think?

A recent draft of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade deal would give U.S. pharmaceutical firms unprecedented protections against competition from cheaper generic drugs, possibly transcending the patent protections in U.S. law. POLITICO has obtained a draft copy of TPP’s intellectual property chapter as it stood on May 11, at the start of the latest negotiating round in Guam. While U.S. trade officials would not confirm the authenticity of the document, they downplayed its importance, emphasizing that the terms of the deal are likely to change significantly as the talks enter their final stages. Those terms are still secret, but the public...

Don’t you hate it when your honest clarification question is mistaken for the start of a fallacious argument? Almost every time in the last year I’ve talked with pro-choice students at a pro-life outreach, I’ve had an exchange that goes something like this: Pro-Choice Student: The fetus isn’t even a person. Tim: We agreed earlier that a newborn is a person. Do you think a fetus is a person right before birth? Pro-Choice Student: *sigh* I know where you’re going with this, you’re going to try to trap me by asking if it’s a person right before that, or right...

According to a new CNN poll, majorities support both SCOTUS’ ObamaCare and its gay marriage decision: "According to a new CNN/ORC poll, 63% support the Court’s ruling upholding government assistance for lower-income Americans buying health insurance through both state-operated and federally-run health insurance exchanges. Slightly fewer, 59%, say they back the ruling which made same-sex marriages legal in all 50 states." It’s not surprising that a majority of voters like ‘free money – which is undoubtedly what they think about ObamaCare subsidies – or that they support legalizing gay marriage. Previous polls showed that already. No, what’s shocking here is...

Tomorrow President Obama will travel to my home state of Tennessee to tout the supposed successes of his signature healthcare law. The trip marks the president’s third visit to the Volunteer State in less than a year so it seems that we can agree on at least one thing: Tennessee is a great place to visit, and an even better place to call home. The president and I have profound disagreements, however, on the subject of his visit. I’ve been a nurse for more than 40 years, but you don’t need a background in healthcare to understand that if Obamacare...

When historians look back on the collapse of the United States and seek to pinpoint the beginning of the end, they will no doubt look to the election of Barack Obama to the presidency. If they want to narrow the focus they will point to the period of his reign between 10:00 AM June 25th and 11:00 AM June 26th. Ted Cruz has charitably labeled this period as “some of the darkest 24 hours in our nation’s history”. It’s slightly more than 24 hours, but he’s spot on. In fact, he’s far too charitable, they are the simply the most...

<p>Could Barack Obama's great week mark a turning point in his poll numbers?</p> <p>After months of stagnant approval ratings, a new CNN/ORC poll finds that for the first time in more than two years, 50% of Americans approve of the way Obama is handling the presidency. And his overall ratings are bolstered by increasingly positive reviews of his treatment of race relations and the economy.</p>

It’s the first post-ruling poll I’ve seen in either case. There wasn’t much mystery about where the public was on ObamaCare subsidies — “free” money! — but there was a little suspense around the SSM decision in light of this YouGov poll last week showing a plurality of the public opposed to having the Court decide the issue. That raised the question of whether a backlash might be brewing around process. Sure, Americans support gay marriage in principle, but what happens when the judiciary wrests that issue out of the states’ hands and settles it as a matter of...

Small businesses that reimburse employees for the cost of premiums for individual health insurance policies or pay their health costs directly will be fined up to $36,500 a year per employee under a new Internal Revenue Service regulation that takes effect July 1, 2015. According to the notice, an employer arrangement that reimburses or pays for employee individual health premiums is considered to be a group health plan that is subject to the $100 per-employee per-day penalty. The penalty applies whether the reimbursement is considered a before-tax or after-tax contribution. “It’s the biggest penalty no one is talking about,” said...

Last week, the Supreme Court sided 6-3 with the Obama administration’s interpretation of the Affordable Care Act, ruling the law was written with the intent to provide subsidies through federal exchanges. To put it lightly, conservatives are less than thrilled. But in our disappointment, let’s not forget that the subsidies are just one problematic element of many found in the 20,000-page law. While Congress may not be able to undo the Court’s recent ruling, that doesn’t mean they can’t address another serious issue with the Affordable Care Act: the employer mandate that defines a full-time workweek as 30 hours. The...

You may have heard about the highly offensive move of the Milwaukee Art Museum.  They displayed a “portrait” of Benedict XVI made from colored condoms.  That’s just plain nasty.The Vicar General of the Diocese of Madison, Msgr. James Bartylla, wrote a letter to the Museum.  He shared it with me.  I have his permission to share it with you.  He also wrote: [F]eel free to tell you readers that I encourage them to write to the Milwaukee Art Museum (mam@mam.org) to communicate their displeasure, with civility and respect (and with appropriate vigor and articulation), at this “artistic” display of such...

Breitbart reports that, according to a new NBC/WSJ poll released yesterday, Jeb Bush is the current leader in the crowded field of Republican presidential candidates. According to the poll, Bush is supported by 22% of primary voters. Scott Walker is second with 17%, and Marco Rubio is third with 14%. Everybody else comes behind (this includes Ben Carson and Ted Cruz). Although I saw many conservatives on Facebook explode at this news, I’m not worried at all. You see, Bush has only two strengths: 1. He’s a Bush. This is a strength because it means instant name recognition. Additionally, although...