Free Republic

Crude oil has topped $110/barrel. Although our largest single supplier is (surprise?!) Canada, others aren't so favorably inclined or located. Gasoline prices soar to new highs, even when adjusted for inflation (1960's 31¢/gal. should equate to $2.21/gal. today — a real bargain). Why don't we grow our own fuel? Biofuel. Full article here: http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=36&article_id=6791&print_page=y

Carl Levin has served in the United States Senate for 30 years and the first Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of his re-election bid suggest he’s likely to keep his job. Levin leads Republican state legislator Jack Hoogendyk by a 54% to 37% margin. Levin has won each of his last three re-election bids with 58% to 60% of the vote. He has not faced a serious election threat since 1984.

Three days after last Tuesday's primaries seemingly tilted the Democratic presidential nomination decisively toward Barack Obama, the surprising fact was that almost half the party's senators had not announced a choice between him and Hillary Clinton. Twenty-one of the 49 Democratic senators were publicly silent as the last six primaries approached. Those senators, along with most other Democrats, desperately want the race to be over so the winner can start focusing on John McCain. But Dick Durbin understands their reluctance to step forward ahead of the other 200-odd uncommitted superdelegates who have the power to bring this marathon to an...

The 1st Congressional District, the northernmost in the most culturally Southern state, has given the nation William Faulkner and Elvis Presley, and next Tuesday will have a special congressional election that will test the Republican hope that Barack Obama and his former pastor can be the basis of a Republican strategy to nationalize congressional races to the disadvantage of Democrats. A Senate seat also could be affected by the cascading consequences of Republican Sen. Trent Lott's December resignation. Republican Gov. Haley Barbour replaced him with 1st District Rep. Roger Wicker, who this November will be on the ballot seeking election...

The Pulitzer-Prize winning author of The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power, Daniel Yergin, has summed up what many of us are thinking: “We are living in a new age of energy anxiety.” No one feels this anxiety more than the American families who are shouldering the burden of nearly $125 per barrel oil. The average mini-van owner is now spending upwards of $70 for a tank of unleaded gasoline. And it can cost up to $80 to fill up a pickup truck! Now more than ever, we must adopt a comprehensive solution that will place more...

Anyone who enjoys cagey politicking should doff his or her cap to California's Republican legislators. That's because the Reeps have been very impressive lately in maneuvering their Democratic counterparts into a corner in this year's dance over the state budget. As we all know, Republicans make up just 39.1 percent of the Legislature, and have no illusions of increasing that percentage anytime soon. Moreover, they've been a minority for more than a decade. Traditionally, the Reeps have been content to just say no when it comes to the budget. As one of the very few substantive legislative processes in which...

"David Horowitz talked about his book Party of Defeat: How Democrats and Radicals Undermined America's War on Terror Before and After 9-11, published by Spence. In his book he criticizes members of the Democratic Party that, he says, are undermining the U.S.'s efforts in Iraq. This event was held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C." http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/index.php?main_page=product_video_info&products_id=205154-1&highlight=

The time has come for Congress to rethink ethanol, an alternative fuel that has lately fallen from favor. Specifically, it is time to end an outdated tax break for corn ethanol and to call a timeout in the fivefold increase in ethanol production mandated in the 2007 energy bill. This does not mean that Congress should give up on biofuels as an important part of the effort to reduce the country’s dependency on imported oil and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. What it does mean is that some biofuels are (or are likely to be) better than others, and that Congress...

By CARL CAMPANILE May 11, 2008 -- Defying disgusted constituents and angry Republican leaders, disgraced Rep. Vito Fossella has told pals he plans to seek re-election. And, shockingly, the Staten Island pol is feeling "pretty good," he confided to friends. "I got every indication that he's planning to run again," said Guy Molinari, Fossella's mentor, who's been in close contact with the embattled, 43-year-old politician. Fossella, a 10-year incumbent, is up for re-election in November. "He's not just inclined to run. He plans on running," said Molinari, a former congressman and Staten Island borough president who was succeeded by Fossella...

The public must pressure Republicans in the White House and Congress to change directions in the country's energy policies, which have pushed oil and gas prices to record highs, a Democratic lawmaker said Saturday. Sen. Debbie Stabenow said the rising price of oil, fostered by President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney's close ties to the oil industry, is no longer just a burden. "Now it is a crisis for every American family," the Michigan senator said in the Democrats' weekly radio address. She called the current energy situation "a crisis that doesn't just affect us at the pump, but...

Rep. Chris Cannon barely escaped with his political life Saturday. Jason Chaffetz, a former chief of staff to Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., nearly knocked off the incumbent in the Republican State Convention, but instead will face Cannon in a June 24 primary. "A win is a win," said Chaffetz. "We're going to go out and take it to Cannon right from Day 1." Chaffetz captured 563 Republican delegate votes, or 59 percent of the total. Cannon received votes from 391 delegates, 41 percent of the total. Chaffetz could have captured the nomination outright with 60 percent of the vote -...

TEHRAN (RIA Novosti) - The price of oil could reach $200 per barrel if current market conditions persist, Iran’s oil minister said on Thursday. “If the current conditions remain the same, a period when oil is supplied at $200 a barrel is not out of the question,” Gholamhossein Nozari told the IRNA news agency. He said the weak US dollar and supply concerns from Nigeria were the main reasons behind the surge in oil prices. On Wednesday, crude prices hit a record high of $123.53 a barrel. “The US dollar has weakened ... Another reason is related to problems in...

Officials from DRS Technologies, Inc. are tight-lipped regarding emerging reports that it may be acquired by an Italian aerospace and defense company. The Wall Street Journal reported late last week that Finmeccanica SpA, Italy’s largest defense company, is in advanced negotiations to acquire New Jersey-based DRS. More than 800 DRS workers, nearly 10 percent of the company’s workforce, are located at its Laurel Technologies facility in Richland Township. Officials from the local site reached on Saturday had no comment. DRS officials corporate wide have been mum on the topic. The company’s only response was a two-sentence statement issued on its...

House passes bill that will let the RIAA take away your home for downloading music Posted by Cory Doctorow, May 9, 2008 3:15 AM | permalink Glenn sez, I was just alerted that the House of Reps has passed HR 4279, with the lovely name, PRO-IP (Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008). Like the doublespeak PATRIOT Act and Peacekeeper missiles, PRO-IP puts local law enforcement in a position to demand the forfeiture in criminal proceedings of stuff used to violate copyright. Which means that instead of the RIAA simply trying to collect fines, they can also...

The Talk Shows Sunday, May 11th, 2008 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): David Axelrod, campaign adviser for Obama; Howard Wolfson, campaign adviser for Clinton; actor Ben Stein. MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn.; Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C.; Terry McAuliffe, campaign chairman for Hillary Rodham Clinton. THIS WEEK (ABC): Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.; Carly Fiorina, adviser to John McCain's campaign. LATE EDITION (CNN) : Reps. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.; Retired Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez,...

NEW YORK — Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), among Hillary Rodham Clinton’s top African-American supporters, was none too pleased with Clinton’s comments this week to USA Today that she has broader appeal with white voters. The statement was “the dumbest thing she could have said,” Rangel told reporters before a Clinton fundraiser in a midtown hotel ballroom Saturday. He called her statement “very poorly worded” but acknowledged there may be some truth to it. “In any campaign, there are groups of people that you know that you have and groups of people that you don’t,” he said. “And I don’t...

Defying disgusted constituents and angry Republican leaders, disgraced Rep. Vito Fossella has told pals he plans to seek re-election. And, shockingly, the Staten Island pol is feeling "pretty good," he confided to friends. I got every indication that he plans to run again," said Guy Molinari, Fossella's political mentor, who's been in close contact with the embattled 43-year-old politician. Fossella is up for re-election in November. "He's not just inclined to run. He plans on running," said Molinari, a former congressman and Staten Island borough president who was succeeded by Fossella as the de facto leader of the borough's GOP.

If Jeb Hensarling (R) of the 5th Congressional District of Texas, is your Congressman, I hope you folks will throw his sorry a** out of office in November. WHAT A LOW-LIFE SCUMBAG. Lou Dobbs just tore him up and the pollitical whore sat there with that crap eating grin on his face and REFUSED to stand up for consumers against the credit card companies. He has been bought off by the major credit card companies. I thought Lou Dobbs was going to reach through the monitor and punch him in his lying mouth.

Rep. William Jefferson’s (D-La.) lawyers have asked a federal judge to reconsider a ruling denying a change of venue for his corruption trial. The attorneys want to make their case for the venue transfer on June 13 before Virginia District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III. They argue that the case should be tried in Washington, D.C., because there likely will be fewer black jurors where the case is located now in Alexandria, Va. to evaluate the charges against Jefferson, who is black. Moreover, the lawyers contend, most of the alleged activities took place in Washington, D.C., not Northern Virginia. “The...

Just curious. What is everyone going to do with your new wealth you will be getting within the next couple of days?

First, the good news. Conservatives won a sweeping victory in an enormously important election the week before last. Unfortunately, it happened in England, where Boris Johnson won the race for mayor of London and Conservatives trounced Labour all across the country. Now, the bad news. Prospects for Republicans in the 2008 election here at home look grim. The political environment isn't as bad as it was in 2006 when Republicans lost both houses of Congress and a lot more. But it's close. The empirical evidence is well known. More than 80 percent of Americans believe the nation is heading in...

The single most important piece of national security legislation -- legislation that if ignored will put American lives at great risk -- languishes in the House because “Blue Dog� Democrats have apparently decided to abandon their campaign promises to be strong on national security and kowtow to Nancy Pelosi. On Jan 28, twenty-one Blue Dogs signed a letter urging Speaker Pelosi to move forward with bi-partisan FISA legislation in the House in the same form that had passed the Senate in October. “The Rockefeller-Bond FISA legislation contains satisfactory language addressing all these issues and we would fully support that measure...

OUR THREE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES SHARE THIS PECULIAR infirmity: None of them has any backbone. If they did, then instead of blaming Big Oil for soaring energy prices, they would stand up to some real culprits responsible for the run-up. These are politically powerful coastal states like Florida, New Jersey and California, which time after time have placed their parochial interests ahead of the nation's critical need for energy independence by prohibiting the offshore production of natural gas and oil. Of course, oil companies have no electoral votes. And wealthy Californians, some of whom own property overlooking the oil-rich Santa Barbara...

With the nation’s economic anxieties growing in direct proportion to oil prices, let’s not forget this fact: that the Left’s decades-long refusal to address domestic energy supply will cost Americans more than the soaring gas prices they are already paying. Who is to blame for increasing gas prices? Listening to the rhetoric on the Left, it’s the fault of George Bush, or, better yet, Dick Cheney, who must be making some money on the side. (Is it part of a Halliburton plot?) Moving rightward, a surprising number of conservatives seem to be buying into the notion that soaring oil prices...

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Pete Domenici, ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, today introduced legislation intended to dramatically increase domestic production of oil and natural gas in order to lower prices and make America less dependent on foreign sources of oil. The American Energy Production Act of 2008 (S.2958) was introduced today by Domenici and nineteen co-sponsors from across the country. By expanding production offshore and in Alaska, the legislation will produce up to 24 billion barrels of oil-enough to keep America running for five years with no foreign imports. In addition, billions more barrels of...

As Ann Coulter points out in the cover story of this week's HUMAN EVENTS, the Democratic Party has long pursued a strategy designed to force up the price of gasoline for American families. Part of this strategy is to maintain a moratorium on oil drilling off the East and West coasts of the United States, thus artificially limiting the domestic supply. Back in 1982, according to the Energy Information Agency, Congress enacted a moratorium on oil and gas drilling off the coast of Northern California. In 1990, President George H.W. Bush ordered the Department of Interior not to allow any...

The subprime mortgage meltdown has cost the world 15% of its market capitalization, about $9 trillion. The primary culprit who caused all of this financial loss, pain and suffering is not the mortgage companies. Neither is it the overextended borrowers. It is our own federal regulations interfering with the free market. ... The unintended consequences of good intentions can do more economic harm than all the mean-spirited greed within capitalism. Part of the good intention was forcing banks to be good neighbors by making altruistic loans that discriminated in favor of underprivileged communities. Any attempts by banks to set higher...

Dem Leader: It's Not 'Practical' to Stop War-Funding Vote By Josiah Ryan CNSNews.com Staff Writer May 09, 2008 (CNSNews.com) - House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told Cybercast News Service Thursday that he does not think it would be "practical" to stop the war in Iraq simply by not allowing a war-funding bill to come up for a vote on the House floor, something that it is within his power as Majority Leader to do. Hoyer also said that the troops in harm's way in Iraq need support from Congress. "I don't personally believe it's a practical alternative not to...

In its subtly mind-manipulating photographs conveying an alienated, leftist view of America, the New York Times is tops in the field, and its photo of the triumphant Barack Obama greeting people at the U.S. Capitol yesterday, by Doug Mills, is one of the Times' best. Note the artificially dim light, like one of those prime time TV dramas where all the scenes, including in courtrooms, hospitals, and the Oval Office, are in half darkness. Notice how virtually every person in the photo looks nonwhite. Notice how the photo centers on Obama, with all heads turned in unison toward him, giving...

A few weeks ago, the New York Times tried to manufacture a McCain land deal scandal and today it’s the Washington Post’s turn. The front-page headline of Post staff writer Matthew Mosk’s story is titled “McCain Pushed Land Swap that Benefits Backer.� It says McCain negotiated a land swap to allow Arizona rancher Fred Ruskin to exchange his checkerboard of property located in the Prescott National Forest for an equal piece of continuous federal land that was later sold for development. Mainly because the developer, Steven A. Betts, who purchased the land from Ruskin is a donor to McCain’s presidential...

WASHINGTON, DC, May 9 -- US Senate Democrats presented their legislative response to record high oil prices on May 7, introducing their energy bill 6 days after Republicans introduced theirs. The primary difference between the two measures was apparent in their titles. Republicans called their bill the American Energy Production Act. Democrats named theirs the Consumer-First Energy Act of 2008 and incorporated provisions similar to several in HR 5351, which the House passed by 236 to 182 votes on Feb. 27 largely along party lines. Those provisions include moving $17 billion in financial incentives from major oil companies to alternative...

"There's no way to repeal the laws of economics. Just like we had to work our way through the high-tech bubble, we're going to have to work our way through this. There have been a lot of housing speculators, and I worry that we might craft something that benefits people who were basically engaged in housing speculating." So says Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, sitting in his office just off the Senate floor. And while the Kentucky Republican and his GOP colleagues hold just 49 of the Senate's 100 seats, recent history suggests that a housing bailout is going nowhere...

Yet top House Republicans say they are willing to stand against Democratic initiatives they see as flawed, even though they might have some natural election-year appeal. “There really are things we disagree with, and we are going to work to stop,” said Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the House Republican leader, who makes no apologies for joining with Mr. Bush. “We have worked very closely together — the White House, House Republicans, Senate Republicans — to stop bad things from happening and trying to move our own agenda. We have had a very close partnership.” Democrats have learned a...

Two Democrats are seeking the nomination. Stephen A. Harrison held Fossella to the lowest winning percentage of his House career in 2006, despite being outspent 10 to 1. Also running is New York City Council member Domenic M. Recchia Jr. Recchia is on track to outraise Harrison; as of April 1, the date of the most recent campaign finance report, Recchia reported raising $350,000 while Harrison reported raising $151,000. Fossella reported raising $851,000. Several Republican names have been floated as possible replacement candidates should Fossella resign or retire, including Staten Island District Attorney Daniel M. Donovan Jr., state Sen. Andrew...

Last week President George W. Bush held a press conference on the current state of the economy and the high cost of energy. In it he made several important points. First, he noted that one reason gas prices are increasing is that global supply has not kept pace with the growing demand worldwide. Members of Congress, he noted, “have been vocal about foreign governments increasing their oil production; yet Congress has been just as vocal in opposition to efforts to expand our production here at home. They repeatedly blocked environmentally safe exploration in ANWR. The Department of Energy estimates that...

Washington - Today, the Club for Growth released its 2007 annual scorecard, awarding the Defender of Economic Freedom award to six senators and forty-nine representatives who scored a 90 or above on the Club's scorecard.... "These top-scoring members of Congress are staunch defenders of American taxpayers," said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey. "Their votes are critical to lowering taxes, cutting wasteful spending, and promoting economic growth for all Americans. The Club for Growth scorecard allows taxpayers to see how their senators and representatives are performing in Congress and find out who is truly fighting for pro-growth, limited-government policies...." The...

WASHINGTON - Sen. Barack Obama got a front-runner's welcome back at the Capitol Thursday, pressing congressional "superdelegates" to support him in a visit that had the look and feel of a campaign victory lap. On the House floor, he was quickly surrounded by well-wishers calling him, "Mr. President" and reaching out to pat him on the back or shake his hand. The glad-handers included a few Republicans and supporters of his Democratic presidential rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton. He picked up the superdelegate support of at least two lawmakers: Rep. Brad Miller of North Carolina, where Obama handily won the primary...

Ever since my congressman, Vito Fossella, was arrested on a DWI last Thursday, the local papers were spreading gossip about Fossella's love child with the woman who bailed him out of jail.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Further evidence that times are tough: It now costs more than a penny to make a penny. And the cost of a nickel is more than 7 1/2 cents. Surging prices for copper, zinc and nickel have some in Congress trying to bring back the steel-made pennies of World War II, and maybe using steel for nickels, as well. Copper and nickel prices have tripled since 2003 and the price of zinc has quadrupled, said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., whose subcommittee oversees the U.S. Mint. Keeping the coin content means "contributing to our national debt by almost...

Virginia Senator James Webb should be the Democratic candidate for vice-president. Senator Barack Obama is close to winning the Democratic nomination for president. His overwhelming victory in North Carolina and virtual tie in Indiana, with a forthcoming tide of superdelegates, will bring him within a hundred votes of the nomination. Obama has victory in sight, unless the iron laws of arithmetic are repealed by superdelegates meeting in "smoke-filled rooms" in an age of "no smoking" edicts in air-conditioned retreats. Obama must soon turn to the choice of a running mate. The best choice, in my opinion, would be Senator Webb....

WASHINGTON, (AP) -- The White House again says President Bush will veto rival House and Senate Iraq funding bills, even after Democrats made spending concessions designed to win the president's signature. White House budget office director Jim Nussle said Thursday that a plan by House Democratic leaders to send Bush a bill without domestic appropriations that would bust his $108 billion request still wouldn't satisfy the president.

Pending American Crises by: Bethany Stotts, May 08, 2008 Electricity prices increase between 35% and 65%. 1.2 million to 2.3 million American jobs are lost. Household revenues decrease as much as $1,300. No, these are not the effects of an American recession—they are an act of Congress. The Lieberman-Warner bill, also known as America’s Climate Security Act of 2007, proposes an aggressive cap-and-trade scheme for American businesses and will cost the federal government an additional $3.17 billion by 2015. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the bill will also impose an annual mandate of $90 billion on carbon-emitting private...

WASHINGTON — In a heated phone call with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi late last month, Hillary Clinton supporter Harvey Weinstein threatened to cut off campaign money to congressional Democrats unless Pelosi embraced a new plan by the movie mogul to finance a revote of the Democratic presidential primaries in Florida and Michigan, according to three officials who were briefed on the contents of the conversation. The three officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk publicly about the private phone conversation, said Weinstein, a top supporter of Clinton’s presidential campaign, appeared determined to buy...

What does that mean for all of us tax-paying angry renters and honorable homeowners who have paid their loans on time?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5UYNX_XGQA&NR=1

Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.) said Thursday that he had an extramarital affair that has resulted in a three-year-old daughter in a statement released through a public relations firm. “My personal failings and imperfections have caused enormous pain to the people I love and I am truly sorry,” Fossella said in the statement. “While I understand that there will be many questions, including those about my political future, making any political decisions right now are furthest from my mind,” the lawmaker, who was arrested for drunk driving last week, said. “Over the coming weeks and months, I will to continue to...

Despite the fact that the 2008 presidential primaries have been anything but uneventful, in terms of other campaigns across the country, it seems as if everyone else is off to an incredibly slow start. Even though it’s already May, there are still many hot-races that haven’t even come close to moving into full swing.

There will be unmelted snowballs in Hades before this Congress agrees to cut out the pork in the farm bill headed for a vote within the next week, so President Bush should get his veto pen ready. At an estimated cost of at least $285 billion over 10 years, this will be the most expensive and regressive farm bill ever. Given how Congress uses budget gimmicks these days to hide the real costs of many of the bills it approves, that $285 billion figure is almost certainly too low. If there was a truth-in-spending law with real teeth in it,...

Obama trolls House, but Altmire remains neutral TRIBUNE-REVIEW By Salena Zito Rep. Jason Altmire said his baseline for a decision to endorse Sen. Hillary Clinton over Sen. Barack Obama would be if Clinton managed to reach somewhere close to a delegate tie with him when the primaries were over. "She earned her right to continue the campaign when she won in Pennsylvania and won my district," he said. Altmire said even after her loss in North Carolina and slim win in Indiana, she still has that right. "It's a long shot, I understand that, but I still want to give...