Free Republic

Bicycles instead of cars? Dense apartment clusters instead of single homes? Community rituals instead of churches? "Human rights" instead of religious freedom? The UN Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) which met June 3-14 [1996]in Istanbul, painted an alarming picture of the 21st century community. The American ways-free speech, individualism, travel, and Christianity-are out. A new set of economic, environmental, and social guidelines are in. Citizenship, democracy, and education have been redefined. Handpicked civil leaders will implement UN "laws", bypassing state and national representatives to work directly with the UN. And politically correct "tolerance"-meaning "the rejection of dogmatism and absolutism"...

I'm arguing with a hardcore liberal socialist who blames free-market capitalism for the current economic crisis (and apparently the Great Depression). We've been arguing about this for a while now, well about 30 minutes ago he mentioned a bill that FDR passed called the "Glass–Steagall Act," which he hails as "the reason there were no busts in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s," which is a faulty argument in it's own right, given how last month I called him out on his claim about his so-called "1950s prosperity due to high taxes." Sorry for getting a bit off-topic there, but I...

A proposal by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker to limit bank’s proprietary trading will be either be dropped or significantly modified in the Senate, lawmakers and staffers told dealReporter. Senate Banking Committee ranking member Richard Shelby (R-AL) said he opposes the so-called Volcker rule and the Obama administration’s call to levy a USD 90bn tax on banks. His comments come as House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) predicted the proposals outlined by President Obama could be law within six months.