Free Republic

Radical socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) says American workers should be "excited" about losing their jobs to robots after "being automated out of work."During a talk at the left-leaning South by Southwest Conference & Festival in Austin, Texas on Saturday, Ocasio-Cortez also called for 90% taxes on corporations.

Today we have yet another example of what was unintended, but probably could have been seen coming had our government know-it-alls not been blinded by their ideological mission. We call these Global Warming Oops Moments. There’s no shortage of them. “While President Barack Obama is touting clean energy such as wind farms, a group of American scientists are raising alarm bells that wind turbines increase the effects of global warming, as well as killing birds that fall prey to the deadly spinning blades,” says an item from Dallasblog.com.

President Barack Obama's State of the Union message Tuesday predictably sounded like a campaign kickoff. In this election year he used the bully pulpit to advance political strategy, rather than give an even-handed accounting of where he has brought the nation. We suspect voters preferred a more candid assessment such as, to paraphrase Jimmy Carter, "Are you better off than you were three years ago?" But stumping politicians know better than to ask questions that have embarrassing answers.

A host of newspapers up and down the state have run an extremely long article that we guess is supposed to make a case for California’s boondoggle express, AKA high-speed rail. Did it occur to anyone what the bottom line is? It was 1,413 words into this epic, written by a Fresno Bee reporter and published in our paper, when the reader is given what we find to be the most pertinent of information: “There is no question whether (Spain’s system) can cover its costs. It cannot,” ...

Newt Gingrinch dramatically rewrote the 2012 nomination story for Republicans with his decisive 12-point victory over previous front-runner Mitt Romney in South Carolina. It couldn’t have been much more devastating for Mitt, who appears to have lost nearly or all the congressional districts and in just about every voter demographic. Without getting too carried away, it’s easy to draw a few pretty clear conclusions. . .

. . . o kick off the GOP candidates’ debate when last night’s moderator brought up the question of his ex’s allegation of his desire for an “open marriage,” Gingrich seemed to turn the tables by blasting the questioner and mainstream media generally for zeroing in on tawdry affairs in a presidential campaign. Gingrich’s retaliation drew a standing ovation from the debate audience. Not even the Ron Paulites have shown that kind of passion. Knight in shining armor If there’s a point in this it may be that each candidate is a complicated mix . . .

With one week left before the Iowa caucuses, Texas Governor Rick Perry is touting his outsider status in a new ad that highlights his opponents' combined 63 years of congressional experience. As the narrator says, "If Washington's the problem, why trust a congressman to fix it?" Prominently featuring fellow GOP contenders Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum; the ad reminds voters that federal legislators are responsible for the earmarks and deficit spending that have led to our unsustainable national debt and that the nation needs a leader who will provide real solutions.

It's that tme of year again and in the spirit of the (political) season, we here at TalkingSides.com offer these somewhat less than traditional verses to some holiday classics. It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas (In Iowa) It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas On the campaign trail Take a look at your tv screen, see what we really mean The nasty ads and talking heads galore It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas Iowa's under seige But it's all cause we want to see a Republican will be Who we all vote for!

As his never-ending campaign goes on, President Barack Obama keeps trying to mimic past presidents who were able to succeed at the job. Unable to run on his own dismal record; he is stealing their strategies, imitating their rhetoric and co-opting locations they made famous in a desperate attempt to wrap his weak and ineffectual presidency in their achievements.

Businessman Herman Cain has officially suspended his presidential campaign citing "false and unproved allegations" and "distractions and hurt" to himself and his family. He is moving on to what he calls Plan B - pushing his solutions to the nation's problems from outside the electoral process. But before his presidential campaign fades into history, there are some lessons to be learned from how the Cain train turned into the Cain train wreck.

In the gloomy Officers’ Mess of a rain-swept Royal Marines base on a miserable October morning, choirmaster Gareth Malone is chatting animatedly about the importance of encouraging people to sing, when he is interrupted by a very large, rather menacing individual in green Army fatigues. “I just wanted to shake your hand,” the marine says, thrusting out his own massive mitt towards Malone. “My wife thinks you’re the dog’s bollocks” The contrast between the fresh-faced, bespectacled, slightly fogey-ish choirmaster and this gruff giant of British military manhood borders on the comical. Yet the encounter illustrates the degree to which Malone,...

In January of 2010, then-Senators Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut) and Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota) announced they would not be seeking re-election that year. The New York Times reported on the sudden retirements saying they "signaled that President Obama is facing a perilous political environment that could hold major implications for this year's midterm elections and his own agenda." We now refer to those major implications as what Mr. Obama himself called the "shellacking" of his party in those elections. Does today's announcement that 16-term Congressman Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts) will not seek re-election send a similar signal about 2012?

First Occupy Los Angeles was negotiating with its "host" city for 10,000 square feet of free office space, free farmland and free housing in exchange for abandoning its City Hall encampment. Now San Francisco is negotiating with its occupiers to move from the heart of the city's financial district to a currently empty school in the Mission district. Growing desperation on the part of liberal politicians to defuse a situation they originally supported is leading to yet another stupid decision on their part - incentivizing these small groups of people to disrupt the lives and endanger the safety of others.

GOP presidential contender Rick Perry has challenged House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California) to a public debate about his Overhaul Washington plan versus the congressional status quo. In a letter to the former Speaker of the House, Governor Perry writes, "I think it would be a tremendous service to the American people to see a public airing of these differences." He may be onto something. With the number of GOP primary debates already in double digits, voters have a pretty clear picture of the policy differences between the Republican candidates. But when it comes to whose ideas will stand up...

The writing is on the wall, and it is anything but Greek. Greece. What a country! From being the cradle of democracy to leadership in modern security (allowing stray dogs to sleep atop airport x-ray machines - no joke), from novel solutions to reduce speeding (traffic lights are routinely ignored, resulting in a seven miles-per-hour average speed in Athens) to having a good old-fashioned rivalry (hating the Turks), there’s something for everyone in Greece. Topping it all, the legendary Greek work ethic (clock in, coffee, siesta, set up construction cones, break, coffee, siesta, lunch, siesta, ouzo, siesta, afternoon break, double...

According to a new poll, almost 70% of Americans think Congress has done nothing to address the problems facing America. One major reason for that might be President Barack Obama and his congressional cronies are using the legislative process as a campaign tool. After months of campaign events disguised as presidential duty, Mr. Obama's American Jobs Act was defeated in the Democratic-controlled Senate. This $447 billion stimulus bill had no better chance of stimulating the economy than its 2009 predecessor that failed at twice the price. The tax increases that the president demanded to pay for his latest spending spree...

One Tuesday, President Obama was interviewed by ABC’s Jake Tapper. Tapper has been the only journalist in the White House Press Corp who has been willing to ask tough questions and his relationship with Press Secretary Jay Carney has been contentious at best. The White House has been curt not only with Tapper but any journalist who dares confront the administration about an ever growing list of scandals and failed policy decisions which is why the President’s decision to sit down with Tapper was so surprising. During the interview they discussed a variety of topics ranging from the economy and...

Pennsylvania's prevailing wage law passed in 1961 requires all local governments and state agencies to pay workers a rate determined by the state's Secretary of Labor for any "construction, reconstruction, demolition, alteration and/or repair work." This law has been shown to hike labor costs for school additions and such by as much as 44 percent. Seven bills, some which would radically reform how prevailing wage is handled in Pennsylvania, were voted out of the Labor and Industry Committee of the State House chaired by Rep. Ron Miller (R- 93) on Oct. 3. The most significant would be HB 1191 sponsored...

A young belligerent union member hurls anti-Semitic remarks at an old Jewish man. He claims to be enlightening people intellectually but I’ll let you be the judge…

There is no question that America has a range of difficult problems facing her; the economy, unemployment, Social Security, Medicare, and healthcare are pushing our great country to the brink. However, there is an underlying problem which is a contributing factor to all of these problems – illegal immigration. The U.S. Government estimates that there are between 8 to 12 million illegal immigrants currently residing within our borders but independent studies have shown that number is significantly higher. The Californians for Population Study (CAPS) released a report by four leading immigration experts who believe that there is somewhere between 20...