Free Republic

On April 11, The Washington Post ran an article about plans being made to reopen the economy. The article complains that state governors (rather than the White House) are leading the planning, which has resulted in a “mind-boggling level of disorganization,” according to a Centers for Disease Control director. The incessant bleating of prominent health leaders over the lack of federal control in this crisis only underscores how little they understand or respect this country’s Constitution and the freedoms it seeks to protect. Although the White House certainly has emergency authority to mandate all number of efforts to respond to...

There is an exceptional amount of lying in Washington these days, and our media and politicians are entranced by it. Lies must achieve extraordinary bulk and quality to impress the sport’s most ardent practitioners: Only a particularly nasty outbreak of mendacity could draw Washington’s attention to a subject it knows with such intimacy and depth. Most Americans are unsurprised. Long ago, they learned lies are the oxygen of the political world. They know the phrase “political deception” is a redundancy, like “false pretense,” “free gift,” or “foreign imports.” Most electoral lies, they’ve found, are dandruff on the body politic, pedestrian...

The fact that we celebrate the Every Student Succeeds Act for shifting education policy back to the states is an alarming indicator of federal dysfunction. Instead of rejoicing about a reduced extent of unauthorized federal meddling in state affairs, we should work to remove the heavy hand of centralized government entirely from every sphere in which it has no legitimate authority. A quick visit to the U.S. Department of Education’s website reveals just how thoroughly the feds have burst the seams of their constitutional pants. There we find the agency reminding states about deadlines for submitting “State plans” for education...

Yesterday the Trump administration preserved federalism, respected the principle of local control over local schools, and corrected one of the Obama administration’s many lawless and radical executive actions. With a simple, two-page letter, the Departments of Education and Justice withdrew and rescinded two Obama-administration letters that purported to unilaterally redefine Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The Obama administration had expanded Title IX’s explicit ban on sex discrimination in federally funded educational institutions to encompass “gender identity” discrimination and then imposed intrusive “guidance” on every federally funded school in the nation, on matters ranging from pronoun usage to...

NEW YORK (AP) -- For the combatants in America's long-running culture wars, the triumph of Donald Trump and congressional Republicans was stunning - sparking elation on one side, deep dismay on the other. Advocates of LGBT rights and abortion rights now fear setbacks instead of further gains. But the outcome emboldened the anti-abortion movement and breathed new life into the religious right's campaign for broad exemptions from same-sex marriage and other laws. Kelly Shackelford, head of First Liberty Institute, a legal group that specializes in religious freedom cases, said that, for his cause, the environment will transform from "brutal" under...

Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, doesn’t talk all that much about education issues, but when he does, it is usually about the Common Core, rankings and spending. And usually he is wrong, wrong and wrong. In one Trump ad this year, he hit all three in just a few sentences: “I’m a tremendous believer in education. But education has to be at a local level. We cannot have the bureaucrats in Washington telling you how to manage your child’s education. So Common Core is a total disaster. We can’t let it continue. We are rated 28th in the...

Joy Pullmann, a nationally-recognized education expert, claims that "normal people in fly-over country" feel exploited by cultural and political elites who have moved from not listening to the people, to exploiting them. What worries the education expert - who is now the managing editor of The Federalist - the most about a Hillary Clinton presidency is "the distaste factor" stemming from the former secretary of state raising her child with nannies. According to Pullmann, Hillary is "so out of touch" with so little to share with parents. Pullmann continues in the exclusive interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation by...

Florida's Lee County school board has rescinded its vote to opt-out of the state's standardized testing. At a meeting Tuesday morning, the board voted 3-2 in favor of resuming testing....

From school board races to Senate primaries, the education reform package known as Common Core is proving uncommonly divisive this campaign season, popping up as an issue in primary elections all over the country. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a Republican, cites opposition to Common Core as a key reason for her endorsement of state Rep. Chris McDaniel over incumbent Sen. Thad Cochran in Mississippi’s hotly contested Republican Senate primary. Former Oklahoma state House Speaker T.W. Shannon, a Republican, says Obama administration pressure on states to adopt Common Core “is a prime example of why I’m running for the Senate.”

Sounds like the very definition of elitism. The elites in Washington DC, most of whom have never set foot in Nevada (outside a casino), controlling what the local citizens can or cannot do on the land within their state boundaries? This is not the way America was intended to be governed. Ever heard of local control? Self-government? States rights? To many of us out here in the West, pursuit of happiness means ranching, farming, logging, mining, drilling, hunting, fishing, or just living in and enjoying God's great outdoors. It's un-American and unconstitutional for unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats in Washington DC to...

The Pioneer Institute in cooperation with American Principles Project and Pacific Research Institute released late last month a white paper written by Robert Scott, the former Texas Commissioner of Education.  It is entitled “A Republic of Republics: How Common Core Undermines State and Local Autonomy over K-12 Education.” Here is the executive summary: In three years’ time, the United States has witnessed a sweeping effort to dramatically alter how educational systems are governed and standards and curricula are developed. With the 2009 announcement of an initiative to develop and implement common standards and assessments across all states, and with subsequent...

This week marks the beginning of the end of the long national nightmare known as the 111th Congress.  Republicans were given a second chance—by default—through a national effort to stop the destructive Obama/Pelosi/Reid agenda. House Republicans are poised to begin making the same kind of business-as-usual mistakes that relegated the party to minority status in 2006.  The most glaring example is the looming threat of having Rep. Fred Upton (RINO-Mich.) become chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, despite his liberal voting record, simply because he’s next in line.  If there is one thing voters made absolutely clear...

Days after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the New America Foundation presented a plan to Congress to relocate its members to their home districts and conduct business via teleconference. The impetus for the plan at that time was national security. To this day, there remains speculation regarding the intended target of United Airlines Flight 93. Had it crashed into Capitol Hill, the legislative branch may have been critically affected. Decentralizing Congress, it was argued, would ensure the continuity of government against a localized attack.Obviously, the plan went no where. Congress continues to conduct business in a localized setting....

Students begin research project at Big Springs - By: Nancy Stidham, Special to The Independent PINETOP-LAKESIDE - Hiking the trails from Big Springs along Walnut Creek to Woodland Lake was the assignment in Connie Mayo's language arts class on Friday, Oct. 2. There were about 60 seventh and eighth grade Blue Ridge Junior High students who participated in the field trip. Before the hike students were asked to record their opinions about the possible sale of the park acreage. The students spent the morning hiking from Big Springs to Woodland Park where they ate sack lunches. After lunch, the students...

Americans are too soft. We so desperately want to help people that we end up hurting ourselves. We did it with welfare, we do it in the war on terror, and we do it when it comes to Illegal immigration. Too many people on the liberal side of the fence argue that illegal immigration is a racial issue. Those of us that want to protect the US boarders inspired by racism, trying to keep out Hispanics. This is simply not true. Illegal immigration is a Law and Order Issue and a anti-terrorism issue. President Obama's Justice Department and the Department...

OLYMPIA - The Washington State Supreme Court on Thursday struck down Pierce County's smoking ban. The ban was the strictest in the state, covering bars, restaurants, bowling alleys, casinos, hotels, private clubs and most other nontribal businesses. The Tacoma-Pierce County Board of Health imposed the ban in January of last year, but three weeks later it was overturned by Pierce County Superior Court Judge Ronald E. Culpepper, who said the agency lacked the authority to enact it. The state Supreme Court agreed, saying the health board's smoking ban conflicted with the state law. The state's less restrictive Clean Indoor Air...

Equipped with an abundant knowledge of history, Michael Tuggle has cast a discerning eye on the trends of the present. Not the 'trendy' trends but the real ones, those which can guide our steps into the future (as far as the future can be known to us mortals). The trends suggest to him something very hopeful - the probability and suitability of a change in the principle by which human affairs are governed. We have been living for a long time by the organising principle of command from the top down - something the American Founding Fathers decried as 'consolidation'-...

Ore. County Set For Timber Showdown Thursday May 23, 2002 4:50 AM PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Voters in an eastern Oregon county overwhelmingly approved a measure to allow residents to cut trees on federal land without permission, setting up a potential showdown with forest officials. The measure in Grant County passed 1,512 to 745 Tuesday despite cautions that local laws cannot override federal regulations. Herb Brusman, who helped write the measure, said Wednesday it would reduce the threat of wildfire by letting residents thin trees, remove trees in danger of falling onto roads and provide income to loggers and mills....

THE VERMONT MIRACLE-COMING SOON TO A STATE NEAR YOU! GOVERNOR HOWARD DEAN FOR PRESIDENT OF THE USSA! LET'S BRING "THE VERMONT MIRACLE" TO ALL AMERICANS! Sponsored by Citizens NOT Just Like You! The NGO Coalition For Dean For President! We, of The NGO Coalition For Dean For President!, read with enthusiasm that Dr. Howard Dean, MD, the Governor of The Peoples' Socialist Republic of Vermont, is exploring the possibility of running for President of the USSA! Consider some of the success stories of THE VERMONT MIRACLE under Governor Dean, and how fortunate all Americans would be if we could bring...