Free Republic

After 36 years in Congress, all of it on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I can confidently say this is the most transformative session of Congress for our transportation system since President Eisenhower established the Interstate Highway System. Let’s review the tape. Last fall we passed the historic bipartisan infrastructure law. This transformational legislation provides $660 billion for transportation—the largest ever one-time infusion of federal funds into our nation’s transportation system. It will provide over $400 billion in funding for roads, bridges, and major multimodal projects. In my state of Oregon alone, that means over $3.7 billion to rebuild and...

Virginia lost about 2,000 acres of productive farmland per week in 2021, according to data released in February by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. There are many reasons why farmers sell off their land, including development pressures, lack of interest by younger members of farming families, and the difficulties of turning a profit in the face of ever-changing market and weather conditions. But there is now a new threat to Virginia’s agricultural base, which has a $70 billion economic impact on the commonwealth annually, according to the Virginia Farm Bureau. In 2015, there were no utility-sized solar “farms” in Virginia....

A study conducted by a Professor at San Diego State University has discovered that people who are easily offended make terrible employees because they never get anything done. The study, conducted by Dr. Jeremy Berneth, involved asking almost 400 employees, aged 25.9 on average, across seven US colleges about different events that have recently gotten “substantial media attention”. The study notes that the events consisted of “17 items developed to assess the proclivity to be offended, eight moral outrage items, 11 microagression items and nine political correctness items.” It noted that some people have a high “proclivity to be offended”...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told reporters following his meeting Monday with President Barack Obama that the meeting had been one of the better ones the two have had. "The conversation took place in a pleasant atmosphere, I would say constructive and businesslike," he said in a briefing following the meeting in Washington. "What was seen on the outside, was evident inside as well. [It was ] one of the best meetings I have had with Obama and I think the other side felt the same way." The prime minister said that "the conversation was very relaxed, and honest. No one...

Obama claims he was the most productive US president in 50 years – until Republicans took partial control of Congress and 'stuff got blocked' President Barack Obama presented a rose-colored version of congressional history to a liberal-leaning online audience on Monday, as he claimed that he was the most productive president since Jyndon Johnson until Republicans got in the way. Asked by the news website Vox if he had a prescription for the political polarization of Washington since his arrival in 2009, he blamed the GOP. 'You know,' he said, 'my first two years in office when I had a...

Reporting from Washington — Freshman Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte is often asked what surprises her most about serving in the esteemed upper chamber of Congress. The earnest, 43-year-old conservative from New Hampshire has come up with an uncomplicated reply: "I thought that we would vote on a lot more bills." She most recently offered this answer from her Senate office at 3:45 on a Thursday afternoon. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) had just announced that the Senate was done voting for the week. Senators wouldn't be needed until the following Tuesday. In the lobby outside Ayotte's office, a television...

The Obama team on the ground at the NATO Summit in Portugal is flying home pleased. It has been, the president declared, "an extremely productive two days" in Lisbon. Indeed major goals for the future of Afghanistan and the relationship with Russia have been met. For the former, there will be an ongoing, integrated relationship, a continued flow of aid, assistance, and training. For the latter, Russia, there's been a "restart" of relations, on ice for the last two years. Europeans and Americans hope that the chilly period between the U.S. and Russia has ended and will be significantly warmer...

CANCUN, Mexico - President Bush, closing a three-nation summit Friday, defended requiring secure documents from border-crossing Canadians and pushed Mexico to prevent more of its people from illegally entering America Despite obvious divisions, Bush, Mexican President Vicente Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper emphasized North American unity and the productivity of their two days of meetings in this sunny spring-break area along Mexico's Mayan Riviera. From a luxury hotel's indoor tennis court, gussied up with carpet, custom podiums and large video screens, the men emerged from joint sessions to laud the increased trade brought about by the 12-year-old tariff-reducing...

Assets held by Iranian nationals residing in the United States reached $800 bln last year, said an economic expert. Bijan Bidabad told Fars news agency that the latest estimates by University of Massachusetts show that the Iranian American community held $600 bln in 2003. He further noted that restrictive laws have put investment security at stake in Iran, stressing that the country has failed to encourage investors to keep their capital at home. Investments usually seek places with adequate security, because capital always moves away from the insecure areas gradually, he noted, adding that when investors see their capital at...

I have been arranging my extensive CD collection which lead me to play some of those long forgotten CD. This afternoon it was Mendelssohn "Reformation" Symphony. This might not be the best symphony of this rather underrated composer. The 5th popularity has suffered from being a "heftier" work, more intellectual, less crafted and vital than the "Italian". As if trying to encompass the reformation movement in music were possible. Still, the last movement opening is one of the most stirring moments of the repertoire, and a powerful musical image of the liberation of the spirit, no matter what religious connotation...

"El Charcote," a cattle ranch owned by the British Vestey Group, is to be seized on Saturday "with state machinery, to settle a first group of men participating in the Mission Land and Mission Free Men," said Alexis Ortiz, solicitor general of rich farmland Cojedes State. After a meeting at the Executive Vice President's Office, he explained that the move is to be supported by "the National Armed Force and local police corps, as well as officials from Governor Johnny Yánez Rangel's Office."