Free Republic

Florida’s local governments have been hit with a wave of mass resignations as the state’s new laws regarding financial disclosures have come into effect. The controversial new law requires officials to give a thorough report of their finances. Local officials were previously required to fill out a less detailed form, Form 1. Under the new rules, however, local officials are now required to report their net worth, assets, and liabilities in excess of $1,000, along with any business clients. The reform has shaken up local politics, with many local officials choosing to resign rather than complete Form 6. The law’s...

The paper's editorial board is happy to endorse the centralization of decision making when it supports their liberal policy preferences.The New York Times editorial board is furious that Republicans in state capitols are undermining democracy. This time they're doing it by passing laws that preempt policies approved by Democratic-controlled city halls. The Texas Legislature, it notes, approved a bill this session that would preempt localities from adopting regulations in areas already governed by the state codes for agriculture, natural resources, labor, finance, insurance, and occupations. If Gov. Greg Abbot signs the bill into law, localities could only regulate in those...

The new American government of 1788 served God’s kingship proxy within His creation to maintain the liberty of His people. But, as fallen beings, we can never govern at any level remotely on par to God’s kingship. The ancient Hebrews, God’s chosen people, were not able to perform in this regard either. James Madison acknowledged this in Federalist 51: “God’s rule of the universe may be monarchical,” explains Dr. Edward Erler, “but from the point of view of the Declaration of Independence it is impious to believe that God’s omnipotence can be translated into merely human hands.” Hence the necessity...

Just days after more than $10 million worth of personal protective equipment was found outside damaged by rain at a Bay Area event center, a similar discovery was made at a Hollister business where hundreds of thousands of face shields were found outside and are now headed to the landfill, never to be used. “That's a shame because if it would've gone to someplace that really needed it, it would've been used in a proper fashion, it's a downright shame,” said Antonio Rodriguez, who saw hundreds of boxes piled high. The face shields are owned by ICU Eyewear out of...

2020 punctuated the generations-long decline of our republic. Will that half of America that sent Trump to drain the swamp care anymore after believing themselves disenfranchised in 2020?“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” Never has...

Since 2015, George Soros has pumped tens of millions of dollars into local races in Texas, Colorado, California, Oregon, Washington, Florida, and New York, as well as swing states. Since 2015, George Soros has been executing a plan to reshape the country through local district attorney elections by pumping unprecedented amounts of money into races that typically only see candidates spend in the low five figures.HereÂ’s why he has an interest in these local races. Soros is exploiting the reality that all politics are local in some way. To transform America, you have to transform the way towns and cities...

Last week the National League of Cities hosted a conference in Washington, D.C. where a couple thousand mayors and other municipal leaders from around the nation met to address various challenges facing their home towns in 2018. You can debate the usefulness of such confabs all you like, but the concept of shared experiences and an opportunity to develop solutions among local leaders surely has some value. Getting a bit carried away with the concept, however, was Washington Post editorial page editor Fred Hiatt. So impressed was he with some of the ideas which came out of the meeting that...

Voter registration databases and vote-tabulation systems are maintained by state and local governments, not by any federal bureau.

A major new report, published today in the journal The New Atlantis, challenges the leading narratives that the media has pushed regarding sexual orientation and gender identity. Co-authored by two of the nation’s leading scholars on mental health and sexuality, the 143-page report discusses over 200 peer-reviewed studies in the biological, psychological, and social sciences, painstakingly documenting what scientific research shows and does not show about sexuality and gender. The major takeaway, as the editor of the journal explains, is that “some of the most frequently heard claims about sexuality and gender are not supported by scientific evidence.” Here are...

Here's a partial list of laws which were implemented to restrict Second Amendment rights in order to prevent criminal acts with firearms and which were obeyed by the shooter in Orlando. 1 Mateen was over 18 years old. 2 Mateen was a permanent U.S. resident. 3. Mateen was a resident of the state in which he purchased firearms. 4. Mateen filled out a federal firearms purchase record, 4473. 5. Mateen passed a background check. 6. Mateen had never been convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor or any felony. 7. Mateen purchased a non automatic rifle. 8. Mateen purchased a rifle...

Sandra Miller was at work in January when her daughter called from their home here on Oakridge Drive with alarming news. The house was making loud noises, as if someone had jumped off the counter and landed with a bang. For seconds afterward, the house shook. A while later, it happened again, and again. Over the next several hours, terrifying bangs rattled the house. The next morning, Ms. Miller called Bill Neal, a structural engineer, who delivered the same stunning news to her that he has now told hundreds of homeowners: The concrete foundation was crumbling and, as a result,...

Image courtesy accesswdun.com by Rob Moore On April 5th, the City Council of Demorest, Georgia voted to restore the right to bear arms to city employees.  From accesswdun.com: DEMOREST — Demorest officials say they have passed a groundbreaking personnel policy amendment believed to be the first of its kind in Georgia. Tuesday night, the city council voted unanimously to amend the city's personnel policy to allow city employees with a valid concealed carry permit to carry their weapons during the workday. The policy may be the first for a city in Georgia, but it is a growing trend in...

One clash involves those who would make America more corrupt, more violent, more drug addicted and poorer. The other involves those who would make Islam dominant, bringing us Sharia law along with the violence and social unrest now seen in Europe. Illegal immigration from South of the Borderhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHti8_guyMM Is she right or wrong? Corruption in the United States mainly (but not exclusively) enriches the political class. In the Latin Amerian countries my wife and I explored during our seven years of sailing in the Caribbean, we saw corruption in most countries. However, rather than being mainly at the top, it was...

Some of you may know a Birkenstock and tie dye wearing liberal buffoon in your family that is part of the "Buy Local" environmental movement. I have no problem with this movement itself, but there seems to be a lot of the people in it who are "neo-liberals". The ones that annoy me most are the "Buy Local, Think Global" morons. My question to them is this: I want to buy Local in all things, so how do I buy local concerning government? Instead of sending all our money via taxes to the giant "Monopoly on power Wal-Mart government" that...

Health reform is now causing job turmoil across the country in three key groups that the White House has depended on for support—local government, school workers and unions. School districts in states like Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Utah, Nebraska, and Indiana are dropping to part-time status school workers such as teacher aides, administrators, secretaries, bus drivers, gym teachers, coaches and cafeteria workers. Cities or counties in states like California, Indiana, Kansas, Texas, Michigan and Iowa are dropping to part-time status government workers such as librarians, secretaries, administrators, parks and recreation officials and public works officials. This growing trend comes as three...

The purpose of our government is to protect us from lawlessness, but history tells us that governments themselves can become lawless. When this happens we need local officials with wisdom and courage to impose on our behalf. That is why I am pleased to know Carroll County Commissioner Richard Rothschild, who is an elected official willing to stand and do his duty. I am asking you to give your attention and your support to Commissioner Rothschild. – Michael PeroutkaAcross Maryland, people are scared. They fear their government has become perverted and our Constitution is being shredded.People ask, “Why do they...

This was posted on one of GaryNorth.com forums. The battle for America’s political soul is always fought on the battlefield of federal politics. That’s why conservatives lose, generation after generation.” Dr. North, would you please elaborate on this, why you believe the battle for America’s political soul is fought in Federal politics and why it is that conservatives continue to lose, generation after generation? From the time of the ratification of the United States Constitution, American politics shifted to the national level. One of the things that I realized late in my career, even though I had been trained as...

Hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") is the process used by the energy industry to extract immense deposits of oil and natural gas from deep geologic formations that only a few years ago were unreachable. It involves injecting a solution of water and chemicals far underground, typically thousands of feet below groundwater supplies. Fracking was first used in Oklahoma in the 1940s and in the years since has been employed in more than a million oil and gas wells across the nation. There is not a single independently documented instance of groundwater contamination by fracking anywhere in the country, a fact that was...

By staff reporters Zhang Yuzhe and Zhao Jingting 09.15.2011 13:24 Highway Builders Discover Dead End for Debt Local governments that raced to start highway projects are now struggling to repay loans or even finish paving Heavy reliance on bank loans by local governments to finance a 3-year-old, nationwide highway construction boom is showing an uglier side as short-term liquidity risks emerge. Money from commercial bank loans with one- to three-year maturities poured into highway and other infrastructure projects between late 2008 and 2010. But in recent months, government financing vehicles that sponsored the projects and planned to borrow more money...

At a time when the city of Lansing is laying off police officers and contemplating raising taxes, it is losing about $400,000 a year on city-owned golf facilities. Lansing lost $431,073 in fiscal 2007-08 and another $398,452 in fiscal 2008-09 on its golf facilities, according to Angela Bennett, the city’s deputy finance director. The city also had to cover another $431,073 from golf facility deficits from prior years, Bennett wrote in an email. The city budgets for 18-hole and 9-hole golf courses and a driving range/learning center. The city covered these expenses by taking money from its general fund and...