Free Republic

A vote on a the financial rescue plan will be on Monday.

It is difficult to believe that the U.S. government is contemplating taking on the bad assets of these institutions at probable taxpayer loss and effectively immunizing the bondholders (and shareholders) of these companies. . . the Treasury proposal to address current financial difficulties places corporate bondholders ahead of the public, rewards irresponsible risk-taking, and sets a precedent for future bailouts. Moreover, we know from a long history of economic experience across countries that a major expansion of government liabilities is invariably followed by multi-year periods of extremely high inflation, particularly when it is not matched by a similar expansion of...

CenterPoint Energy executives issued a timeline for power restoration, indicating it will be after Monday before most lights shine in a huge swath of the Houston area from Spring to Pearland to Baytown. CenterPoint reported Wednesday it had restored power to 42 percent of its 2.2 million customers. Entergy, which serves areas in the northern and eastern portions of the region struck by Ike, had restored 18 percent of its 395,000 customers. And Texas-New Mexico Power Co., which serves coast communities including Angleton and Texas City, reported 58 percent of its 113,000 customers had power.

Gov. Sarah Palin's church is promoting a conference that promises to convert gays into heterosexuals through the power of prayer."You'll be encouraged by the power of God's love and His desire to transform the lives of those impacted by homosexuality," according to the insert in the bulletin of the Wasilla Bible Church, where Palin has prayed for about six years. Palin's conservative Christian views have energized that part of the GOP electorate, which was lukewarm to John McCain's candidacy before he named her as his vice presidential choice. She is staunchly anti-abortion, opposing exceptions for rape and incest, and opposes...

Remarks as prepared for delivery to the Republican National Convention on Tuesday by former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn.

Tropical Storm Hanna killed at least 13 people in northern Haiti. Hanna's maximum sustained winds slipped to 65 mph (100 kph), but the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said it could regain hurricane strength and turn toward the east coast of Florida, Georgia or South Carolina in two to three days. . . Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Ike was cruising westward across the Atlantic with top winds of 60 mph (95 kph), projected to near the Bahamas by Sunday as a hurricane. Just behind it was Tropical Storm Josephine, with top winds of about 40 mph (65 kph), and forecasters...