Free Republic

The Drug War, with an impact stretching far beyond the inner cities, is one of America’s worst policies. It costs billions we don’t have; it promotes the growth of transnational criminal gangs and supports large black markets in money and arms that terrorists as well as drug lords can use; if fills the prisons and it hasn’t stopped either the use of existing illegal drugs or the development of new ones. Furthermore, as a Cato Institute paper estimates that legalizing and taxing drugs would yield more than $80 billion a year in savings and new revenue. (Something tells me that...

In his ongoing mission to declare Republicans who dare question America’s foreign policy “isolationist,” Sen. John McCain asked recently concerning Libya: “I wonder what Ronald Reagan would be saying today.” Columnist George Will answered McCain: “Wondering is speculation; we know this: When a terrorist attack that killed 241 Marines and other troops taught Reagan the folly of deploying them at Beirut airport with a vague mission and dangerous rules of engagement, he was strong enough to reverse this intervention in a civil war.” Will added: “Would that he had heeded a freshman congressman from Arizona who opposed the House resolution...

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 8, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The right to life was the foundation of American liberty, but a widespread moral change must occur before abortion is made illegal again, Republican lawmaker and presidential candidate Ron Paul told religious conservative activists on Friday. “If we do not have high respect for life, how can we be dealing with our personal freedom, personal privacy, our rights to homeschool our kids, the right to pick our religion and make personal choices on what we do?” Paul asked the audience at the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference in downtown Washington, D.C.“Life is precious,...

At the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference, presidential candidate Ron Paul used the Bible to show evangelicals why big government is bad and how their fight to protect faith and family are all rooted in liberty. Paul roused the conservative Christian crowd on Friday as he recounted the story of the Israelites and their pleas for an earthly king. He used that story, found in 1 Samuel chapter eight, to explain to the faith conference why big government is morally wrong for America. He told the crowd that the Israelites had a perfectly good family system prior to their first...

WILMINGTON, NC – Former U.S. congressional candidate for North Carolina’s 11th District, Dr. Dan Eichenbaum, will give the keynote address at the 2011 Republican Liberty Caucus Convention. The convention will take place Saturday, June 4, at 11:30am at the Front Street Brewery at 9 N. Front Street in Wilmington.

Most people can’t imagine an America without a minimum wage. Without such wage regulation many believe poverty would run rampant, families would become homeless and children would be starving in the streets. Yet conservatives have rightly recognized that these are moralistic and emotional responses to what is essentially an economic problem. Pointing out the policy’s failure, National Review founder William F. Buckley wrote: “The minimum wage is about as discredited as the Flat Earth Society…” Yet the very notion of getting rid of it remains something most Americans simply cannot fathom. Most people can’t imagine an America without the War...

The Texas congressman announced on "Good Morning America" that he is launching an official campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. As the founding father of a libertarian movement that paved the way for the tea party, Mr. Paul thinks his odds have improved since his last campaign in 2008. He said people are finally “agreeing with much of what I’ve been saying for 30 years. The time is right.” What do you think? Could Ron Paul be the nominee?

John King who is anchoring with Wolf Blitzer on CNN the Bin Laden coverage is clearly 3 sheets to the wind--and falling all over himself to give Obama all the credit. By the way, why are libs celebrating Bin Laden's death? I thought Bush carried out 9-11 according to them. Now that they have the death of Bin Laden to give the credit to Obama for, I guess Bush is no longer the culprit. It's nauseating listening to Obama claim he tasked the CIA with killing Bin Laden as it's number one goal the killing of Bin Laden as if...

When Florida pastor Terry Jones decided to “send a message” to Muslims by burning a Koran last week, it incited outrage and violence throughout the Arab world. American leaders rightly responded by condemning the senseless and dangerous act. Yet in the end, and despite the pastor’s obvious and irresponsible recklessness, Jones used his free speech and political leaders used theirs. Such is the nature of free expression in a free society. But one politician’s condemnation of Jones contained a suggested remedy far more dangerous to American freedom than burning the Koran. Said Sen. Lindsey Graham on CBS’ Face the Nation:...

Last week I wrote of the religion of power. This linked article contains a doctoral level diagnosis of America's problems with herself, and, I dare add, the foreplay to American Suicide. We had best get out, hunt and find or beg for some readable version of the Judeo-Christian Bible. Only there can you find The Divine POV through which to ingest, digest and eventually comprehend this diabolically doomed marriage between Marxism and Islamic Jihadists. That Infernally Odd Couple now threatens to destroy the entire Free World as we know it. But, given my own estimate of the child-aborting Free World,...

As we initiate new military action in another Arab country (Libya), we must question and demand answers from this administration about the goals of the mission. How realistic are the chances for success? What is the true risk to our military personnel and what exit strategy is in place?

Congressman, Wake Up Mr, or Ms, Freshman (or any Congressman seeking tea party support): Please Vote against the Continuing Resolution. The eyes of the Tea Party are watching. The Continuing Resolution is a Democrat Trojan Horse that contains $105 BILLION life support for Obamacare. Mr. Congressman, don’t get fooled by the laid back Republicans who don’t see this as a golden opportunity. This is your chance. Don’t blow it. Pay attention to Michele Bachmann. Forget about Boehner. It will take courage. Do you have the right stuff? Don’t fall under the spell of the go-along, get-along crowd. You were sent...

California Reapportionment A call to arms, CALIFORNIA REPUBLICANS! Are you interested in California Reapportionment? You’d better be. The latest issue of The American Spectator has an article by Grover Norquist on page 52 titled “The Battle Moves to the States.” Near the end of his piece, Norquist comments: Perhaps the most important task for state-level Republicans will be redistricting.In California, reapportionment is being done by a committee consisting of five state senators, three liberal Democrats, and two apparently conservative Republicans. California has 53 Congressional Districts. The Democrats could, feasibly, put 20 districts in Los Angeles, 10 in San Francisco, 3...

The terrible violence in Arizona last weekend prompted much national discussion on many issues. All Americans are united in their sympathies for the victims and their families. All wonder what could motivate such a horrible act. However, some have attempted to use this tragedy to discredit philosophical adversaries or score political points. This sort of opportunism is simply despicable. We are fortunate to live in a society where violence is universally denounced. Not one public official or commentator has attempted to justify this reprehensible act, yet the newspapers, internet, and airwaves are full of people trying to claim it was...

I am pleased that the Constitution has received a lot of attention in recent weeks, thanks to the tea party movement. The 112th Congress kicked off with a reading of the Constitution on the floor of the House. It goes without saying that Members of Congress should have read the Constitution many times, and should continue to study it. Citing the particular clause of the Constitution that authorizes newly introduced legislation is a reasonable suggestion, yet in reality it will do little to restrain unconstitutional growth of the federal government. We have had such rules in the past and no...

In the 1980’s the United States funded Iraq’s Saddam Hussein yet considered Palestine’s Yasser Arafat and Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi terrorists. And they were. But so was Saddam, who at that time was terrorizing his own people, gassing Iraqi Kurds while receiving America’s financial and political support. In the 1990’s, the US declared Hussein a menace and we apparently changed our mind about Arafat, who was even invited to the White House to shake hands with Bill Clinton. In the 2000’s George W. Bush went back to calling Arafat a terrorist, went to war with Saddam, who we also began calling...

State of the Union speeches are sort of like listening to cheating husbands apologize to their wives. Not only are we told that any past mistakes are yesterday’s news and the worst is behind us, but in an effort to show how things will be different we are given a laundry list of promises that paint a rosier future. Nobody paints rhetorically better than Obama and the smooth talking president’s oratory skills were on full display this week-just as they likely will be next year when things won’t have substantively changed one bit. The most significant change Tuesday night was...

Consider first a static economy, with no inflation, no population growth, and stable wages. Under these conditions the rate of return for a pay as you go system is exactly zero, the same as putting money in a mattress. Social Security is purely insurance against living longer than average, with the benefits paid for by those who die younger than average. (Social Security also transfers some wealth between those making upper middle class wages over a long career to those making lower class wages.)

Unvetted (i.e., without credentials) individuals such as the Wright brothers and Thomas Edison have had a far more beneficial effect on mankind than have all the vaunted, vetted collectives such as the Service Employees International Union, or Napoleon's Army for that matter. Here are a few unvetted individuals I have in mind: Wright brothers, A. Einstein, H. Ford, Thomas Alva Edison, Moses, Abraham Lincoln, Jesus of Nazareth, John Adams, Benito Juarez, Robert Goddard, Ronald Reagan, Frederick Douglass. Often they were at odds with the Establishment and the power structure. They were likely to be dismissed as unusual or strange. On...

As the 2012 election begins to heat up, conservatives will be looking to find alternate ways of getting information, since much of the so-called mainstream press tilts heavily to the left. One way conservatives can connect is through the use of "microblogging". Microblogging is defined as a web service that lets subscribers broadcast short messages to other subscribers of the service. These short posts can be made public on a Web site and/or distributed to a private group. One example of a microblog is Twitter, currently in use by thousands worldwide. Barack Obama used Twitter heavily during the 2008 election,...