Free Republic

<p>Among the Christian Right, and most Republican presidential candidates, it’s now an article of faith that the United States is persecuting Christians and Christian-owned businesses—that religion itself is under attack.</p> <p>Why has this bizarre myth that Christianity is under assault in the most religious developed country on Earth been so successful? Because, in a way, it’s true. American Christianity is in decline—not because of a “war on faith” but because of a host of demographic and social trends. The gays and liberals are just scapegoats.</p>

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Tuesday he will issue a new order imposing a moratorium on deepwater drilling after a federal judge struck down the existing one. Salazar said in a statement that the new order will contain additional information making clear why the six-month drilling pause was necessary in the wake of the Gulf oil spill. The judge in New Orleans who struck down the moratorium earlier in the day complained there wasn't enough justification for it. Salazar pointed to indications of inadequate safety precautions by industry on deepwater wells. "Based on this ever-growing evidence, I will issue a...

Some of the state's 123,000 Lutherans will gather in Rapid City Friday and Saturday for their annual synod meeting where they'll consider 13 resolutions, including several related to the gay clergy controversy that has dogged the denomination in the past year. The South Dakota Synod Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will be held at Calvary Lutheran Church in Rapid City. It will be the first statewide synod gathering since the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly voted in August 2009 to allow homosexuals in same-sex relationships to serve as clergy. Three proposed resolutions will ask the synod delegates to...

Obama, Proclaiming LGBT Pride Month, Pushes Repeal of Defense of Marriage Act Wednesday, June 02, 2010 By Jane McGrath (CNSNews.com) - Citing his commitment to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), President Obama on Friday issued a proclamation declaring June 2010 “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month.” The president also emphasized his intention to secure “adoption rights” for same-sex couples and end both employment discrimination against LGBT individuals as well as the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) compromise that bars homosexuals from serving openly in the military. This is the second year that President Obama has declared June...

Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan is unlikely to face a Republican filibuster, the Senate's second-ranking Republican said Sunday. "The filibuster should be relegated to extreme circumstances, and I don't think Elena Kagan represents that," Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told CBS’s "Face the Nation." Kyl voted to confirm Kagan to be solicitor general, the top lawyer who argues the administration's cases before the Supreme Court. But Kagan shouldn't be count on his vote again, he said. "No," he said. "I explained at the time that my vote for the temporary position as the government's...

Live from the East Room at the White House! Barack Obama announces his nomination of Solictor General Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court.10 a.m. EDT.

President Obama mandated Thursday that hospitals extend visitation rights to the partners of gay men and lesbians and allow same-sex couples to share medical power of attorney, perhaps the most significant step so far in his efforts to expand the rights of gay Americans.

The Pentagon announced on Wednesday that it would extend the bidding deadline for the Air Force's new refueling aircraft by 60 days if EADS North America formally notifies the Defense Department that it wants to compete.
 The move, announced by Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell, could essentially allow EADS North America to compete for the lucrative contract against Boeing. EADS is a European conglomerate that serves as the parent company of Airbus, which is headquartered in France. The Pentagon's announcement comes a day after President Barack Obama addressed the tanker competition in a press conference with his French counterpart Nicolas...

Health Reform: As major businesses lay out the impact of ObamaCare in dollars and jobs, two things are clear: the costs will be enormous, and the president's vow to focus on "jobs, jobs, jobs" can no longer be believed. Early returns on ObamaCare are coming in, and they belie proponents' claims of job creation and cost reduction. The costs will increase. They are merely being shifted to the states and to America's businesses, large and small. AT&T, the country's largest telephone company, announced Friday it will take a $1 billion first-quarter charge related to the new health care law. The...

Fiscal Policy: The latest data show a record number of people with no tax obligation. We also have the highest-earning nontaxpayers ever. With more riding the wagon and fewer pulling, it should soon break down. A record number of the 142 million tax returns filed in 2008 resulted in no taxes owed, according to the Tax Foundation's analysis of the latest IRS data. About 51.6 million returns, or 36.3%, were filed by those whose deductions, exemptions and tax credits wiped out any federal income-tax obligation. These aren't people who have overpaid their taxes or had so much withheld from their...

Health Care Reform: The Senate parliamentarian dims GOP hopes on a reconciliation bill that contains even more onerous taxes and even a financial incentive to lay people off. No wonder Speaker Pelosi is laughing. We'll acknowledge that the signing of ObamaCare into law is a historic event, but we think the Weather Channel broadcasting the signing ceremony was a bit much. On the other hand, stormy political weather and more dark clouds lay ahead. The cries of "repeal" and "remember in November" are rising, and state attorneys general are taking the feds to court over the unconstitutional mandates and usurpation...

My wife informs me that the Company she works for has already announced what will be a significant change to one of the programs they offer employees, and it means that many people's taxes have already gone up, proving what a liar Premier Hussein really is. Several years ago, the company started offering a type of medical savings account to employees. The employee signs up during the annual enrollment period at year end, and chooses how much that account will be worth, let's say, $2000. As soon as the new year starts, you can begin using that account to pay...

In my article from Sept 2009 titled Why Government Health Care Will Pass - IT IS A GIVEN. HERE'S WHY (vanity) I predicted it would be rammed down our throats regardless of any campaign ramifications. The reason is they win by passing it, and have now won entirely. Let me go onto to tell you what is now going to happen. They are outplaying you (or rather the republican's it's .. well, frankly, embarrasing)1) The new health bill can never be, nor ever will it be repealed, it will be the law of the land. 2) All the state lawsuits...

In another indictment of Obamacare, a congressional report has found that the IRS will have the power to penalize, by means of fines, Americans who refuse to buy required, government insurance. This further, nauseating factor of Obamacare is actually merely a symptom of what the report by the House Ways and Means Committee is really saying: greatly expanded powers for the IRS to encroach upon the lives of average Americans. In the report titled "The Wrong Prescription: Democrats' Health Overhaul Dangerously Expands IRS Authority," other ills of Obamacare are outlined in ever more shocking detail. Some of these include the...

Chrysler LLC will not repay U.S. taxpayers more than $7 billion in bailout money it received earlier this year and as part of its bankruptcy filing. This revelation was buried within Chrysler's bankruptcy filings last week and confirmed by the Obama administration Tuesday. The filings included a list of business assumptions from one of the company's key financial advisors in the bankruptcy case. Some of the main assumptions listed by Robert Manzo of Capstone Advisory Group were that the Treasury would forgive a $4 billion bridge loan given to Chrysler in the closing days of the Bush administration, a $300...

RALEIGH - North Carolina's community college system has ordered the state's 58 campuses to admit illegal immigrants, overturning a policy of letting the heavily enrolled schools set their own rules for handling undocumented applicants. David Sullivan, the system's top lawyer, dispatched a memo this month telling the community colleges that state regulations require the schools to admit illegal immigrants who meet the schools' basic requirements of being either a high school graduate or an adult in need of skills training. "That's just wrong," said Sen. Richard Stevens, a Cary Republican and co-chairman of the higher education committee. "I can't believe...

Pharmacies across the city routinely fail to help non-English speakers understand their prescriptions, raising the chances that customers could harm themselves by taking medicines incorrectly, immigrant advocacy groups charge in a discrimination complaint that they plan to file today with the New York attorney general’s office. The complaint names 16 pharmacies in Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island, most of them operated by chains. It argues that federal civil rights law and state health regulations require pharmacies to provide linguistic help to guarantee that people who speak little or no English receive equal access to health care. That assistance should include...

Another absolutely disgusting example of pre-emptive dhimmitude, in the name of tolerance and multiculturalism, right here in the US: First Jell-O, now Santa. So long, Halloween parade. Farewell, Santa’s gift shop. The holiday traditions are facing elimination in some Oak Lawn schools this year after complaints that the activities are offensive, particularly to Muslim students. Final decisions on which of the festivities will be axed will fall to the principals at each of Ridgeland School District 122’s five schools, Supt. Tom Smyth said. Parents expect that the announcement is going to add to the tension that has been building since...

An official with Kansas City International Airport apparently has tried intimidation in an effort to eliminate discussion about the recently installed footbaths, after repeated denials they are intended for Muslims to perform their footwashing ritual before their prayers. "That's the way I perceived it," Kevin Peterson told WND in a telephone interview. Peterson said he shares his name with a union steward for the Air Traffic Controllers Union at Kansas City's airport, but he is not the same individual. He was sent an e-mail from airport spokesman Joe McBride, who assumed he was writing to the union steward. "The...

MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexico warned Thursday that the U.S. proposal to build miles of border fence will damage relations between the two countries. The Foreign Relations Department said it was "deeply worried" about the proposal, which is working its way through the Senate, adding it will "increase tension in border communities." "These measures will harm the bilateral relationship. They are against the spirit of co-operation that is needed to guarantee security on the common border," the department said in a statement. The House of Representatives and Senate are maneuvering to speed construction of a 700-mile fence along the United...