Free Republic

With Congress continuing to extend the FAA reauthorization rather than address a long-term measures, the airline industry has been held captive by the whims of hostile lawmakers. Now the debt limit negotiations have provided another moving front in the fight. It has been suggested that the Joint Committee may consider targeted taxes on the airline industry in the form of new fees in order to reach their $1.5 trillion deficit reduction goal. While we have outlined before why we believe a tax-hike would be a non-starter for the Committee, suggestion of "user fees" as code for tax hikes has been...

Few doubt that President Obama has been working himself to the bone during the nation’s fiscal and economic crisis. The deaths of 30 American soldiers in a Taliban-downed helicopter in Afghanistan last Saturday also hit him very hard. Obama looks haggard, his hair’s going gray and, as revealed recently by top White House aide Valerie Jarrett, the 50-year-old leader of the free world has been losing sleep. So surely he deserves a little R&R with his family in Martha’s Vineyard, right? Not necessarily, according to a growing Greek chorus of political kibitzers. “Don't go,” veteran Republican media strategist Mike Murphy...

In 2009, the Michigan Department of State Police wanted to charge the Mackinac Center for Public Policy $6.8 million for a Freedom of Information Act regarding the state’s handling of federal homeland security grant money from 2002 to 2009. But not all eyebrow raising costs for FOIA replies come with such a hefty price tag. Consider the County of Muskegon’s reply to the Mackinac Center’s FOIA request for the CEO’s salary and benefits for the past two years at the Muskegon Area Transit System. The County of Muskegon said they no longer had the 2009-10 information and the 2010-11 information...

Citing the need to counter the “baleful influence” of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s bus tour, the Obama Administration announced that the President will soon embark upon his own “Jobs for America” bus tour. One objective of the tour will be an attempt to build popular support for another extension of unemployment benefits. “Unemployment compensation is a key component of the President’s program for a transformed America,” said Press Secretary Jay Carney. “Not everyone who is out of work can find a job. Nor should we expect them to. The notion that every person ought to be required to support...

In a deal reached on Thursday, the Senate passed a temporary Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization, ending a Congressional stand-off that has allowed the FAA’s official authority to lapse. The Senate agreed to pass the House version of the Bill which included $16.5 million in cuts to Extended Air Service (EAS) subsidies- a program which provides subsidized air travel to several secondary airports, particularly those frequently used by prominent congressional leaders. The Senate had refused to pass the House measure because of the EAS cuts before adjourning for the August recess, prepared to furlough tens of thousands of FAA workers to...

Senator Rockefeller and Senate Democrats said NO to the White House, said NO to the Transportation Secretary, FAA and Jobs. And insist on continued subsidies and favors for Union allies and a partial shut down of the FAAMajority Leader Harry Reid On August 2, 2011: QUESTION: Senator, if [Senate] Republicans don't accept a clean extension, temporary extension to the FAA act here on the floor by the end of the day, will you guys accept the House version and reopen the FAA? REID : Yes. I have said that we have 80,000 jobs at least on the line…The Essential Air...

In Saginaw, the bus authority had fewer passengers in 2010 than a year previous, but it still translated into buses on the road longer and a 20 percent jump in overtime. The Saginaw Transit Authority Regional Services (STARS) had its ridership drop from 1,016,387 in 2009 to 982,424 in 2010 but saw its overtime costs climb from $164,377 in 2009 to $200,320 in 2010. The main line transportation employees, including unionized bus drivers, accounted for 80 percent of the overtime in 2010, according to payroll documents received in a Freedom of Information Act request. Four Saginaw transit employees were paid...

It’s hot. It’s 100 degrees over a large portion of the country and that means you probably wont’ be wearing a lot of clothes. Since concealed carry means your gun will be out of sight you won’t have much clothing to cover up your great equalizer. For many years I’ve been asking people about their concealed carry guns. Many folks switch up their arms depending on what they wear. Here are ten lightweight carry guns that are easy to conceal. The criteria for this list are guns less than 15 ounces and 5.5” in length – easy enough to fit...

Cpt. Pamela Barnett: Obama said that he visited Pakistan in 1981 in trying to boast his "international" experience. However, according to school records Obama was not attending Columbia University as he has said. SO WHERE WAS OBAMA IN 1981???? Obama was most likely on an Indonesian passport when he visited Pakistan as the DHS and DOJ redact all records that point to him being adopted by Lo Lo Soetoro. Obama was in Pakistan when a murderous muslim ruler was in control of Pakistan and warring with the Soviet communists.

The source url is only the doorway. Walk through and meet some amazing Americans. Like Valentin Prieto who is very familiar with FreeRepublic.

What is going on with airlines? I clearly don’t have all the facts, don’t even know where to start investigating, but something IS wrong with airlines in the US. Years ago, when reading PJ O’Rourke’s Eat The Rich, I came across his description of train travel in Siberia, where the train seemed to have been built to maximize discomfort and lack of hygiene. He compared this to travel in the US and I realized suddenly that Portugal, while not as bad as Siberian trains in the USSR was about halfway there: i.e. Portuguese trains had a restroom, but you’d not...

A recent article in the Jakarta Globe states that some backpacker hostels in Singapore are going upmarket, to cater to a rising number of backpackers with bigger budgets.   Well, this isn't entirely true.   It isn't just backpackers looking for reasonably priced place to stay but businessmen and tourists as well who have been looking for a decent place to stay without having to pay an arm and a leg. If you are looking for a hotel room in Singapore expect to pay anywhere from S$200 (US$165) to S$600 (US$493) a night.  On the high end, Singapore has some of...

The California Transportation agency (CalTrans) will be shutting down a major Los Angeles traffic artery this weekend. Interstate 405 will be completely closed to all travelers while they do construction on the road and its bridges. The media and the public is calling the impending congestion ‘Carmageddon.’ Commutes in and around Los Angeles are expected to be so horrendous, JetBlue will be offering flights from Burbank to Long Beach for $4. Helicopter rides will be available for $150. Richard Grenell, former San Diego Communications Director, pointed out that this is an issue that should concern all Americans, not just folks...

Michel Thibodeau’s attempt to order 7Up in French during a flight on Air Canada went awry and the flight attendant brought him a Sprite instead. Mr. Thibodeau sued and won an award of $12,000 for “pain and suffering.” The airline was also ordered to apologize. “Even though the airline, as well as most consumers, might find these two lemon-based soft drinks equivalent, that cannot excuse the humiliation and degradation inflicted upon Mr. Thibodeau,” the Federal Court of Canada wrote in its ruling. “Air Canada’s effort to pass this off as a ‘simple mistake’ does not absolve them of responsibility. Neither...

My first shift in the Indian Hospital ER was over, and I walked the short distance back to my house with a lot on my mind. I entered the house, walked to the refrigerator and pulled out a Guinness. Tossing my keys on the desk in my room, I changed out of my scrubs and into a ratty old T-shirt and baggy shorts. I opened the bottle, flopped into a chair, put my feet up, and took a drink. The ice-cold stout was like a balm for my dry throat. I opened up the orientation folder and waded through the...

Scientists in Israel say they have invented a way of turning traffic into electricity. The bright sparks at the country's Technion Institute of Technology in Haifa have developed a road that generates power when vehicles pass over it. And they hope the technology will reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. In a university car park, Haim Abramovich and his team run a heavy truck repeatedly over a special stretch of tarmac. "The name of the game is harvesting," he told Sky News. "Harvesting means energy which is available but is going to waste. "So what I want to is to...

My wife and I are thinking of an October trip that would include Gettysburg. We want to fly into the area and would probably take a bus or some type of shuttle, not a rental car, into Gettysburg for however many days we need to stay. So I need some advice from knowledgeable FReepers (Is there any other kind of FReeper?): First of all what city should we fly into? Baltimore and Harrisburg look most likely. I know Gettysburg has an airport but it doesn't appear to have major carriers. Does anybody know if bus or shuttle service is available...

The U.S. State Department warned yesterday that the Juarez Cartel may target its consulate office in Ciudad Juarez -- just over the border from El Paso, TX -- or other U.S. interests as reported by Mary Forgione for the Los Angeles Times. The "emergency message" states: Information has come to light that suggests a cartel may be targeting the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez or U.S. Ports of Entry. In the past, cartels have been willing to utilize car bombs in attacks. Earlier this month a drug cartel in Ciudad Juarez spray painted a public warning to U.S. DEA agents...

In 1939, Albert Einstein sent a letter (written largely by Leó Szilárd) to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The pressing concern was that Nazi Germany might be conducting research to create atomic bombs, and the letter suggested that the United States should begin researching the possibility itself. This was the impetus for the Manhattan project, which culminated in the explosion of the first atomic bomb at the Trinity Site in New Mexico. Socorro, New Mexico, a little more than an hour’s drive south of Albuquerque, is one of the meeting places for those who plan to visit the Trinity Site. Socorro,...

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