Free Republic

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Those were Abe Lincoln’s words in his first inaugural in 1861, as America was running headlong into civil war. Now we’re a house divided again and another civil war is coming, with the 2012 election as its Gettysburg. Call it America’s coming civil war between the Makers and the Takers. On one side are those who create wealth, America’s private sector–the very ones targeted by President Obama’s tax hikes announced Monday. On the other are the public employee unions; left-leaning intelligentsia who see the growth of government as index of progress; and the...

Media pundits have often tried to point out the similarities between the Tea Party and the Occupy movement, in a futile attempt to get the two groups to merge. Unfortunately, the differences were too great, and we have yet to see the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street protesting against the same thing side-by-side at the same protest. That is, until now. The unthinkable finally happened last night in San Francisco: the Tea Party shared a protest with the Occupiers, both groups angry with the same person. And who was this unifier, the only man who can bridge the divide...

If you're going to be involved in conversations with others about why 2012 is such an important election, and how to frame the issues quick and painlessly and unable to be refuted. 1. Makers vs. Takers. Barry's whole presidency has been about taking from the makers and giving to the takers. 2. A second Obama term is an Obama term without limits on ANYTHING. He hasn't gone full bore because he needs to get re-elected. You ain't seen nothing yet if he gets 4 more years and doesn't have to care about answering to ANYONE for ANYTHING. He will be...

If you want to understand better why so many states—from New York to Wisconsin to California—are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, consider this depressing statistic: Today in America there are nearly twice as many people working for the government (22.5 million) than in all of manufacturing (11.5 million). This is an almost exact reversal of the situation in 1960, when there were 15 million workers in manufacturing and 8.7 million collecting a paycheck from the government. It gets worse. More Americans work for the government than work in construction, farming, fishing, forestry, manufacturing, mining and utilities combined. We have...

EDGARTOWN, Mass. -- President Barack Obama is wrapping up his vacation on Martha's Vineyard and heading for New Orleans to mark the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

The Ant and the Grasshopper - modern version (I got this in an email today. Again, I am not claiming to have written this) Old version: The ant worked hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thought the ant was a fool and laughed and danced and played the summer away. Come winter, the ant was warm and well fed. The grasshopper had no food or shelter, so he died out in the cold. Moral of the story: Be responsible for yourself! Modern version: The ant worked...

Analysis: The hostage-takers Stephen Mulvey BBC News Online Russian affairs analyst Confusion reigns over the identity of the group who seized the school in North Ossetia taking hostage more than 1,000 children and their parents and teachers. Russia says there were at least 30 hostage-takers The Russian authorities are telling one story, and Chechen sources are telling another. It may take time for the truth to emerge. The Russian version says the hostage-takers were a multi-national group linked to the radical Chechen rebel commanders Shamil Basayev and Doku Umarov, funded by al-Qaeda. The Chechen version, as put forward by the...