Free Republic

Given our level of government dependency, being a confessed socialist is great cover for what I believe Obama really is – a supreme caliph-in-waiting. Haven’t we blindly spent trillions in American treasure and technology and thousands of American lives and wounded to see every country we supposedly are freeing from despots end up with Sharia law in their constitutions? The Muslim Brotherhood are persecuting, murdering and forcing out Christians wherever they gain control. They are harassing and killing Buddhists and Hindus. How dumb can we get? Don’t we have the most successful triune philosophy of government in history in the...

The gilded lifestyle of MEPs has been compared to the uncontrolled excesses of ancient Rome after research showed their perks have not been dented despite biting austerity measures. From Italian MEPs who enjoy free haircuts to Maltese ones who get 52 free gallons of petrol a month, the perks—and expenses—continue unabated for the representatives of European Union nations. MEPs from the 27 EU nations are paid salaries of £137 million ($207 million) a year, according to research by German pricing watchdog Preisvergleich.de, and some earn 740 percent more than the average citizen. …

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina’s president announced a $3.2 billion annual increase in cash handouts for the poor, students and pregnant women Wednesday, saying the programs will reach nearly 700,000 additional children, pay their families 35 percent more and encourage consumer spending in what is an election year. Cristina Fernandez said the total cost of the programs will rise to 41 billion pesos, or $7.8 billion a year at the official exchange rate. She called it a powerful boost to consumer demand. ... Earlier Wednesday, the government announced that a price freeze on 500 consumer goods would remain in place...

In writing about the ACA and our health-care problems, I started to think more and more about supply restrictions. In every other industry, costs come down when new suppliers come in and compete. Yet our health-care system is full of restrictions and protections to keep new suppliers out, and competition down. Then we wonder why hospitals won't tell you how much care will cost, and send you bills with $100 band aids on them. In that context, I was interested to learn this week about the ACA's limits on expansion of doctor-owned hospitals. The Wall Street Journal article is here,...

The Senate on Wednesday rejected a Republican bid to turn the federal food stamp program over to the states. The current program, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, is administered by the Agriculture Department and federal dollars are unlimited as long as recipients qualify. The program cost $78 billion last year, more than double the price in 2008. A proposal by Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., to a wide-ranging farm bill would have converted the program into grants to states, which could decide how to use the money, with certain restrictions. The Senate rejected the amendment 60-36. …

The Progressive believes in precisely two things: his own magnificence and the constructive power of brute force. In combination, they lead him naturally from the role of pestiferous busybody to brutal dictator. Where the productive man dreams of the things he might create if only left alone by his fellows, the Progressive dreams of the world he could create if only the lives and property of his fellows were at his disposal. The roots of his pathology lie in that oldest and most destructive of all human vices, the desire for the power to rule over other men. As...

Statism: Pope Francis seemed to have an economic blind spot, to say the least, when he urged more "state control" to cut global poverty Thursday. On the contrary — the biggest poverty-killer in history is free enterprise.Before we go further, let us say that we know that the pope does seem to have the best intentions and his devotion to the poor is indisputable. But it appears he has been infected by the local economic pathologies of his homeland, Argentina, and its liberation theology among the Jesuits, at least when he warned ambassadors about "the tyranny of money" and called...

This is an oldie but a goody by me. And considering all this hoopla over the IRS, might give you all something to chew on. Even the liberals are upset with Obama. From the post on Forbes: "The left was mostly raptured into political heaven four years ago when they elected Obama on bended knee. He spoke about things dear to their hearts: closing Guantanamo Bay. Ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Getting tough on bankers."

<p>You may be forgiven if you missed it during last week’s tsunami of scandals, but President Obama finally let slip that he is a socialist.</p> <p>Buried in the 17th paragraph of one of those mewling New York Times pieces on the woes of Obama—can we start calling him Woe-bama yet? — appeared these two words: “going Bulworth.”</p>

A nationwide drug shortage that's dogging the food and drug administration is hitting home with first responders. For emergency medical technicians, shortages can mean the difference between life and death. Nationwide, anti-seizure drugs including intravenous Valium, Versed, and Ativan are among the dozens of drugs - including cancer treatments - that are in short supply.

French president Francois has had enough of austerity but claims he "cannot do it alone". The Financial Times reports François Hollande goes on ‘offensive’ over stalled EU economy. François Hollande promised an “offensive� to bring “more growth and less austerity� to Europe as he launched a bid to resurrect his presidency. Mr Hollande said the first priority of his second-year “offensive� was a four-point plan to “get Europe out of its torpor� – concentrating on combating youth unemployment and a strategy of investment. “The number one objective is changing Europe’s direction to have more growth and less austerity,� he said....

More than 8,000 French households' tax bills topped 100 percent of their income last year, the business newspaper Les Echos reported on Saturday, citing Finance Ministry data. The newspaper said that the exceptionally high level of taxation was due to a one-off levy last year on 2011 incomes for households with assets of more than 1.3 million euros ($1.67 million). President Francois Hollande's Socialist government imposed the tax surcharge last year, shortly after taking office, to offset the impact of a rebate scheme created by its conservative predecessor to cap an individual's overall taxation at 50 percent of income. The...

In an email to supporters of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi encouraged readers to sign a petition to "declare your support" for Obamacare ahead of the House plan to hold a vote on repealing the unpopular health care law. The email, which had the subject line "this has gotten out of control,"claims that the vote to repeal is "worthless," particularly because "a real repeal would actually COST money rather than save it." Read the whole email from Pelosi below:

If President Obama were to stand before the magic mirror and chant, “Mirror, mirror, on the wall, whose is the most jobless recovery of them all?” the mirror would answer, “Yours is, Master.” We are now 46 months into our third jobless recovery since 1991, and this one is the most jobless by far. But wait! First quarter GDP growth was up from 4Q2012, and the stock market is hitting new highs almost every day. Doesn’t that mean that there is finally hope for the labor market? No, it does not. With current economic policies, the employment picture is not...

Radio host Dennis Miller and National Review columnist Mark Steyn considered Thursday the possible outcomes if the United States continues down the path of socialism. If socialism became the prevailing governing philosophy, Miller speculated, escaping it wouldn’t require a move to the Australian outback. Instead he suggested heading for the state of Texas, because it would be the first place to push back against it. “If I ever do flee, don’t think fleeing has to involve you going over to Alice Springs or something,” Miller said. “I’m going to Texas because that’ll be the first place that pushes back. They’re...

VATICAN CITY, May 16 (UPI) -- Pope Francis Thursday blamed the global economic crisis on "the cult of money" and urged reform to promote the common good and help the poor. Speaking to newly accredited ambassadors to the Vatican, the pope said money "has to serve, not to rule," Catholic News Service reported. He told his audience humanity has "created new idols" and said growing social and economic troubles result from "our relationship with money and our acceptance of its power over ourselves and our society." The pope said the "golden calf of old has found a new and heartless...

Radio host Dennis Miller and National Review columnist Mark Steyn considered Thursday the possible outcomes if the United States continues down the path of socialism. If socialism became the prevailing governing philosophy, Miller speculated, escaping it wouldn’t require a move to the Australian outback. Instead he suggested heading for the state of Texas, because it would be the first place to push back against it. “If I ever do flee, don’t think fleeing has to involve you going over to Alice Springs or something,” Miller said. “I’m going to Texas because that’ll be the first place that pushes back. They’re...

To avoid getting caught with their pants down, Venezuelan officials say they will confront a toilet paper shortage by importing 50 million rolls to meet demand. Toilet paper is just one of the basic goods and foodstuffs that have been disappearing from store shelves over the past few months, as the government and private companies blame each other for the scarcity. The government also casts blame on private companies, who they accuse of hoarding their products in hopes of selling it later at a higher price. But businesses and the political opposition say government policies, including price controls on basic...

PROGRESS OF NATIONALISM IN THE UNITED STATES. BY EDWARD BELLAMY, AUTHOR OF "LOOKING BACKWARD." Technically, the term Nationalism, as descriptive of a definite doctrine of social and industrial reform, was first used in 1888 by clubs made up of persons who sympathized with the ideas of a proper industrial organization set forth in "Looking Backward," and believed in the feasibility of their substantial adoption as the actual basis of society. Nationalism, in this strict sense, is the doctrine of those who hold that the principle of popular government by the equal voice of all for the equal benefit of all,...

Barack Obama held a campaign stop at Manor Technical High School in Austin, Texas today. He used the high school kids as props for his speech. Obama also told the high schoolers that he will need their help to push his agenda. “Every once in a while I’m going to need your help to lean on your elected representatives…” (VIDEO-AT-LINK) Here’s the transcript via the White House website: Now, there are three things that we’ve got to focus on to create more jobs and opportunity for the middle class. First of all, we’ve got to make America a magnet for...

European Commission vice-president Viviane Reding has proposed to extend EU nationals’ welfare rights despite a warning on “benefit tourism” by major EU countries. Ministers from Austria, Germany, Netherlands, and the UK in a letter to the commission in March said they want to put an end to EU nationals who go from their home state to another EU country and claim benefits. But Reding on Wednesday (8 May) told reporters in Brussels that “no member state has provided the commission with facts about a ‘perception’ [that something is wrong].” …

One of my favorite stories of all time is George Orwell's book, "Animal Farm". It was assigned reading for my 7th or 8th grade English class and my first time reading it stands out for two reasons: 1) It was the first time I had read a story about animals that did not have a happy ending, and 2) I couldn't put it down and devoured the book in one night. That last feat was one I had never done before and I don't believe I have ever repeated. It was only later that I learned that the story was an...

In Walter Lippmann's book "Public Opinion", a very interesting comment is made: (page 294) It was economic government by anybody's economic philosophy, though it was supposed to be controlled by immutable laws of political economy that must in the end produce harmony. It produced many splendid things, but enough sordid and terrible ones to start counter-currents. One of these was the trust, which established a kind of Roman peace within industry, and a Roman predatory imperialism outside. People turned to the legislature for relief. They invoked representative government, founded on the image of the township farmer, to regulate the semi-sovereign...

The total number of people in the United States now receiving federal disability benefits hit a record 10,962,532 million in April, which exceeds the 10,815,197 people who live in the nation of Greece. … April was the 195th straight month that the number of American workers collecting federal disability payments increased. The last time the number of Americans collecting disability decreased was in January 1997. …

They attend schools whose faculties hate and fear the free market. They couldn’t wait to run to the polls to vote for “Brother Barack.” Once he was elected all of their troubles would be over and they could join him and his Party in rubbing the “oppressive” White majority’s face in the dirt; or so the Black students at America’s “historical Black colleges” thought. Like virtually every other group that joined Barack Obama’s coalition and worked to get him elected, Black students at America’s Black colleges – which sport some of the worst graduation rates in the country – have...

The average German family struggles financially with large tax burdens and as a result have only 1.3 children per family due to high financial costs. One of the lowest rates in Europe Meanwhile Muslim immigrants have as many as 3-4 wives, perhaps 6-7 children from each wife, and all of this is funded by welfare as none of these wives work. 35 % of Muslims living in Germany have multiple wives, nearly all of them live comfortably on welfare funded by German taxpayers. This is not only in Germany too, nearly all of Europe has the same situation, including the...

MALELANE, South Africa, April 19 (Reuters) - Reclaiming land seized during white minority rule was a dream come true for black families in the South African farming town of Malelane. But the community had no farming experience, equipment, money or market access. In search of a plan for its 3,300 hectares (8,150 acres) of sugarcane land, it agreed a joint venture with the whites who had owned the land before. Land reform is a sensitive issue in South Africa, where some politicians are demanding a forced redistribution of white-owned farms along the lines of neighbouring Zimbabwe and twice as many...

This map of Britain (at link) reveals the “work-shy” spots around the country where people claiming incapacity benefit claimants are actually fit enough to work. The Government introduced tough new health tests for those who claimed to be too unwell to get back into employment two years ago. Since then, some 203,000 (30 percent) out of 700,000 receiving the old Incapacity Benefit were declared fit to find work. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said Birmingham had the biggest number of claimants capable of work. Of 14,640 claimants, 5,180 were fit. …

NEW DELHI: Sartorial inequality between the genders is a cause for climate change. When it comes to formal dressing, women tend to cover themselves lightly, if not minimally, while men feel obliged to wear a jacket and a tie, even in the summer warmth of tropical India. When they share the same air-conditioned room, another sort of gender inequality ensures the temperature is kept at a level that makes suited men comfortable, even if it leaves the fairer sex covered with goosebumps. If the men were to shed a few layers of clothing, the room temperature could be raised by...

Senate Budget Committee ranking member Sen. Jeff Sessions estimates about 57 million new people, immigrants and people with nonimmigrant visas, will be entering the United States to compete with middle class Americans for their jobs if the “Gang of Eight” immigration bill passes. Sessions’ staff released an analysis detailing how they reached that number on Friday morning. “This is a number that exceeds the population of the state of California, our largest state,” Sessions said on a conference call with reporters discussing the analysis. “It’s a very, very significant impact on our economy and the American people.” Sessions argued that...

The kraut thinks Obama is on the decline. History proves otherwise but worth a read. No excerpt due to copyright.

LISBON - Portugal's prime minister laid out a three-year plan Friday to reduce the country's budget deficit that would shrink the number of public employees, add more working hours and raise the retirement age by a year, to 66. The plan, which aims to save €4.8 billion ($6.1 billion) through 2015, is certain to face resistance from the Socialist-led opposition and trade unions. They accuse the conservative government of trying harder to satisfy Portugal's international creditors than to spare the country - the poorest in Western Europe - from further hardship. Portugal, entering the third year of a recession with...

The Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) was established to assist the nation’s underwater borrowers get out from under their massive mortgage debt. In a Congressional Budget Office report, both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have been found to be responsible for nearly 13 percent of underwater borrowers. The report, “Modifying Mortgages Involving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Options for Principal Forgiveness,” finds that, in order for the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) to use principal forgiveness for borrowers in an effort to provide assistance for those to benefit from HAMP: + Result in small savings to the government, + Slightly reduce mortgage...

WASHINGTON -- A NASA-led modeling study provides new evidence that global warming may increase the risk for extreme rainfall and drought. The study shows for the first time how rising carbon dioxide concentrations could affect the entire range of rainfall types on Earth. Analysis of computer simulations from 14 climate models indicates wet regions of the world, such as the equatorial Pacific Ocean and Asian monsoon regions, will see increases in heavy precipitation because of warming resulting from projected increases in carbon dioxide levels. Arid land areas outside the tropics and many regions with moderate rainfall could become drier. The...

Friday, May 03, 2013 "The Golden Apple" - A Socialist Fairy Tale Posted by Daniel Greenfield @ the Sultan Knish blog 0 Comments Once upon a time there was a street fair. It had striped awnings and bright colors and from far and near, farmers came with wagons full of produce to sell at the street fair. The produce was plentiful and cheap and the crowds it drew were huge which created all sorts of concerns for the government. So the government created a Ministry of Street Fairs which it funded by taxing the produce sold at the fair. At...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is spending $4 million to increase the use of food stamps at farmers markets, claiming it is beneficial to the economy. As a record one-out-of-five households are on the benefit, the USDA says allowing food stamp use at farmers markets is a “win-win-win situation.” … The $4-million outreach is part of a two-year project that expires Sept. 20, 2013. With the funds, farmers markets can purchase equipment to accept EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) cards and wireless access in order to operate the equipment. Already, there are 2,091 farmers markets that accept food stamps, as...

The nation's largest health insurers are far from leaping at the chance to join new state health insurance exchanges under President Barack Obama's reform law, making it likely that some markets will have little or no competition next year. A key principle of Obama's health reform is that individuals will have a robust offering of insurance plans to choose from, and that competition for new customers in each state will help keep prices down for consumers. But health insurers, some of whom fought the law before it was passed and continue to lobby to reverse parts of it, are wary....

NEW YORK — Small business owners may be experiencing sticker shock now that insurers are revealing the rates they want to charge under the new health care law.

Unemployment rates fell in nearly 90 percent of large U.S. cities in March, though most of the declines likely occurred because more Americans stopped looking for work, rather than found jobs.

Both inflation and taxes are the worst enemies of productive work and earning. Taxes, especially high ones, act as a discouragement, if not a deterrent, from working hard to acquire money that you will see taken away in front of your very own eyes. Inflation will see to it that what you are allowed to keep will be in reality much less than what appears to be. In my personal experience I have to say that, when I was earning reasonable money from my internet commercial activity, realizing that a big chunk of it was not mine at all thanks to...

Author's Note: If you don't get this, then you aren't reading enough Walter Williams. Of course, one can never read enough Walter Williams.I used to be caring and compassionate and liberal. I supported gun control and the “right” of the government to seize a large chunk of my paycheck in order to plan my retirement for me. But, somewhere, somehow, along life's twisted way, I became a greedy capitalist pig. And, truth be known, it's affecting my entire neighborhood. It all started on New Year's Eve when my friend Adam came by to help me with a small project inside...

Kim Jong Un building 'mini world' with replica Big Ben and Eiffel Tower Chubby tyrant Kim Jong Un is building a “miniature world” in North Korea – with a replica of London's Big Ben at its heart. The dictator is set to open the theme park in capital Pyongyang – and has included the iconic clock tower. The new attraction, which opens this year, will also boast a copy of Paris’ Eiffel Tower. The secretive state famously doesn’t allow its citizens to leave the country – so it appears Jong Un has decided to bring the world to his people....

The Greek government began its first mass-firing of public-sector workers in more than 100 years this week, part of an effort to lay off 180,000 by 2015 under Europe-imposed austerity. Pushed by its European creditors amid its crippling economic crisis, Greece began this week to do something it hasn't done in more than 100 years: fire public-sector workers en masse. Following weeks of tough negotiations with its lenders – the "troika" of the International Monetary Fund, the European Union, and the European Central Bank – the Greek government started laying off public-sector workers in an effort to implement the austerity...

Imagine a country that has a corrupt authoritarian government. In that country no one knows about checks and balances or an independent court system. Private property is not recognized in that country either. Neither can one buy or sell land. And businesses are reluctant to bring investments into this country. Those who have jobs usually work for the public sector. Those who don’t have jobs subsist on entitlements that provide basic food. At the same time, this country sports a free health care system and free access to education. Can you guess what country it is? It could be the...

Setting the stage for a constitutional showdown, the Obama administration on Thursday urged the Supreme Court to rule that presidents have broad authority to make certain appointments without Senate approval. In January the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that three appointments to the panel, which normally has five members, were invalid. In the brief filed on Thursday, Solicitor General Donald Verrilli defended the recess appointment powers of the president, disputing the court's conclusion that it can only be used in the period between formal sessions of the Senate. If the appeals court ruling was...

On January 10, 1963 Congressman Albert S. Herlong (D. Fla.) read the ACP’s 45 declared goals into the Congressional record: (Appendix, pp. A34-A35 January 10, 1963.) Here are some Communist Party goals. Compare them to Barack Obama’s and you decide if he is trying to destroy America. Note: some goals have been omitted to save space. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States. Develop the illusion that total disarmament [by] the United States would be a...

HARRY REID: We have a situation where this country has been driven by the Tea Party for the last number of years. When I was in school, I studied government and I learned about the anarchists. Now, they were different than the Tea Party because they were violent. But they were anarchists because they did not believe in government in any level and they acknowledged it. The Tea Party kind of hides that.

Allergy sufferers know it's spring when they start sneezing, getting itchy eyes and other symptoms. Now experts say that climate change is only making things worse. The changing climate has brought early spring, late-ending fall and large amounts of rain and snow, which are some of the contributing factors that prolong pollen seasons, according to allergists. “The planet is getting warmer,” said Melrose Park allergist and immunologist Dr. Rachna Shah. “Allergy season has been longer than usual, as plants are stronger and are able to produce more pollen. It’s a trend that we can’t deny.” “Due to tree season starting...

Our democracy has been hacked. The operating system has been taken over." That was the message former Vice President Al Gore brought to Stanford Tuesday night. The 65-year-old paced the stage as he rattled off a litany of dark news from climate change-related superstorms and droughts to the U.S. Senate's failure to pass meaningful gun safety legislation. He offered blunt assessments of the Iraq War, saying it was about "a country that just happens to have a lot of oil." He spoke of the interest in energy-intensive Canadian tar sands oil extraction, the driving force behind plans for the controversial...

Institutions Worthy of Our Parties: Should the U.S. Switch to a Parliamentary System? Efforts to curb legislative partisanship have weak track records, so maybe we should consider changing the other side of the equation in order to establish a government that can actually get things done. Rick Hasen has a really interesting paper up discussing partisan polarization and the possibility of changing the Constitution to deal with it. (And you should really read Jonathan Bernstein’s response, too.) Hasen starts off by asking whether we should be considering moving toward a more parliamentary style of government. It’s a fair question. We...