Free Republic

Congressional candidate Allen West, a Plantation Republican who wants to unseat Democratic U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, sent out new mail to voters telling them that "if Allen West can stand up to Al-Qaeda, he can stand up to the special interests in Washington.'' In the ad the retired lieutenant colonel from the Army is wearing his uniform, and telling voters that he "has faced down the world's terrorists'' in Iraq, and helped train officers in Afghanistan. West and Klein running in District 22, which spans from Broward County through Palm Beach County. Klein is defending the seat he...

........ A Cat Fund that cannot borrow is, under Florida law, a Cat Fund that does not have to pay claims. If Florida is unable to raise enough cash, it can default on its contracts, leaving insurers to their own devices. That jeopardizes the checks for storm victims to rebuild and communities to recover. "Let's hope we don't have a storm," said Alex Sink, the state's chief financial officer. Failing that, she said, hope for a multibillion-dollar federal bailout. "We have to recognize that if we have a big enough storm, just like the guys in Wall Street this week,...

ENGLEWOOD, CO- At a fundraiser, here in this battle ground state, that concluded just minutes ago, Gov. Sarah Palin “takes of the gloves” and hits Senator Obama on his past relation with 60’s militant Bill Ayers. “Our opponent though is someone who sees America it seems as being so imperfect, imperfect enough that he’s palling around with terrorists who would target their own country. Americans need to know this.Talk about taking the gloves off, I too being that outsider and only being a part of this for 5 weeks now, I think ok we gotta get the word out.This is...

Sep 30th, 2008 (Boca Raton, FL.) Lt. Col. Allen West gave the following statement concerning the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, and the inability of our Congress to address the economic issues facing our nation: "The recent failure by Congress to pass a $700 billion bailout has proven that they deserve the name, "Do-nothing Congress". It was clear from the beginning that most Americans did not support this bailout. Many Congressmen like my opponent, Rep. Ron Klein, assumed the American people weren't supporting the bailout because of ignorance and an inability to, "connect the dots" concerning the economy. But...

By popular demand we are posting the text of the provision in the House bailout bill that requires Treasury to divert 20% of all profits away from taxpayers and to left-wing advocacy groups like the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). SEC. 105. RIGHTS; MANAGEMENT; SALE OF TROUBLED ASSETS; REVENUES AND SALE PROCEEDS. … (d) TRANSFER OF A PERCENTAGE OF PROFITS.— (1) DEPOSITS.—Not less than 20 percent of any profit realized on the sale of each troubled asset purchased under this Act shall be deposited as provided in paragraph (2). (2) USE OF DEPOSITS.—Of the amount referred to...

.....Biden told a group of Wisconsin firefighters that some news he got on his daily campaign conference call has him a rattled. “I’m a little concerned today. We badly need Wisconsin,” he said. “I was on a call this morning with the national campaign folks, which we do every morning, and they didn’t know I was on the call, and I heard, I heard Ryan Braun’s name being mentioned.” “And there was a suggestion made that maybe, they wanted to know whether the constitution allows you to change Vice Presidents at the very end here.”

(CNN) — John McCain will attend the first presidential debate in Oxford, Mississippi, a senior campaign aide tells CNN.

With the debris from the current financial storm still swirling, Congress must not overlook the other massive spending bill speeding its way through Congress. As a result of Congress’s stubborn refusal to fulfill their constitutional responsibility to fund the government (not passing a single appropriations bill this session) they must now pass a continuing resolution (CR) to avoid a government shutdown. Unfortunately, instead of crafting a well thought out clean bill, Congress predictably larded it up with billions of dollars in false “emergency” spending, and believe it or not, even included a multi-billion dollar bailout of privately owned automotive companies....

An organic wine from Chile has oenophiles in San Francisco turning up their noses. But there’s nothing wrong with the wine. It’s the name that bothers them: Palin Syrah. The wine from a boutique vineyard in Chile was once a strong seller, but now it’s an outcast in the City by the Bay because its name comes way too close to a certain governor from the state of Alaska, says Celine Guillou, co-owner of the Yield Wine Bar. Palin Syrah — pronounced Pay-LEEN — takes its name from a ball used in a Chilean-style hockey game, and it has been...

CINCINNATI, OH - Barack Obama will debate John McCain on foreign policy later this week, but his running mate is already taking on the Republican nominee. In what the campaign is billing as a “major speech,” Biden will say that only Obama has the foreign policy judgment to take the United States in the right direction — and that his good friend John McCain would be a disaster. “The policies he would pursue as president would be wrong for America – nowhere more so than with our security and standing in the world,” Biden will say, according to prepared remarks...

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WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson will address the House Republican Conference Wednesday morning as the White House continues in full battle mode to spur dubious House conservatives into supporting a $700 billion Wall Street bailout. The White House is also deploying economic "jump" teams to the House side of the Capitol to answer questions from skeptical Republicans to try to gin up support for the measure. Among those already dispatched to the Capitol Tuesday were Eddie Lazear, head of the Council of Economic Advisers, and Keith Hennessey of the National Economic Council.

Anyone who tries to explain the Wall Street crisis in a single sound-bite is foolish…or worse. But House Democratic Leaders have found a culprit they can agree on: deregulation. “This is the fruit of decades of ‘leave the market alone, don’t regulate it. It will take care of itself,” Says House Banking Committee Chairman Barney Frank. His solution? “Clearly we’ve got to get some regulation here.” “The Bush Administration’s eight long years of failed deregulation policies” is the problem, declares House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “A stark failure of the economy and this administration’s laissez faire, take the referee off the...

The campaign of Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney, who’s been under fire for registering to vote at a barn with an apartment rather than at his homesteaded primary residence, called Republican challenger Tom Rooney a hypocrite today upon learning that Rooney was registered to vote for five years at the Palm Beach Kennel Club dog track. While Rooney was in law school and then in the Army in Texas and at West Point from 1998 to 2003, the address on his voter registration was the Kennel Club, which is owned by the Rooney family. “He used his father’s office address...

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama moved to claim the mantle of fiscal responsibility in a roiling economy, vowing on Monday to slash federal spending on contractors by 10 percent and saving $40 billion. Urging members of his own party to be just as fiscally tough as the most conservative Republicans, Obama said the $700 billion economic bailout plan proposed by the Bush administration and congressional leaders is forcing a renewed look at federal spending. As president, Obama said he would create a White House team headed by a chief performance officer to monitor the efficiency of...

Former Republican prez hopeful Fred Thompson and one of the GOP's most prominent black figures, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, will be in South Florida in coming weeks to raise money for Republican congressional hopeful Allen West, who's challenging freshman Democratic U.S. Rep. Ron Klein.

Now there's news of a sex scandal... Apparently, Rep. Mahoney is caught up in his own sex scandal: The discrepancies in where Mahoney claims his primary residence and the address listed on his voter I.D. card (a barn) are supposedly due to the fact that Mahoney and his wife no longer share the same address. Apparently, Tim Mahoney, through one of his consultants, has paid a former staffer, Trish Allen, $250,000 in hush money to keep a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by Mrs. Allen against Congressman Mahoney from the public view. This is the reason for the conflicting addresses. Mrs....

JACKSONVILLE, FL - Protesters are as common to the campaign trail as supporters - from those waving McCain signs at the entrance of events, to the more subtle passersby who flash the thumbs down gesture (or worse) along the motorcade route, to the occasional group that infiltrates and interrupts an event. But this afternoon, someone went all out to get his or her message out at Obama’s rally in northern Florida. A single engine plane pulling a banner behind it - like those you’d see at the shore - circled Obama’s rally, which was held at Metropolitan Park along the...

LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL FOR TREASURY AUTHORITY TO PURCHASE MORTGAGE-RELATED ASSETS Section 1. Short Title. This Act may be cited as ____________________. Sec. 2. Purchases of Mortgage-Related Assets. (a) Authority to Purchase.--The Secretary is authorized to purchase, and to make and fund commitments to purchase, on such terms and conditions as determined by the Secretary, mortgage-related assets from any financial institution having its headquarters in the United States. (b) Necessary Actions.--The Secretary is authorized to take such actions as the Secretary deems necessary to carry out the authorities in this Act, including, without limitation: (1) appointing such employees as may be required...

Drilling Survey I need your immediate help. As you know, the twenty-five year ban on offshore drilling will expire on October 1st. In the coming days the Senate will be debating on whether or not to renew the ban. I believe that we should not renew the ban and begin drilling in our territories to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, but I need to know what you think. Will you please take the time and answer these two quick questions: Should we let the twenty-five year ban on offshore drilling expire? Yes No Should we stop frivolous lawsuits from...