Free Republic

Regardless of how President Barack Obama's health-care agenda plays out in Congress, it has not been a success in public opinion. Opposition to ObamaCare has risen all year.--snip--The health-care debate is part of a moral struggle currently being played out over the free enterprise system. It will be replayed in every major policy debate in the coming months, from financial regulatory reform to a cap-and-trade system for limiting carbon emissions. The choices will ultimately always come down to competing visions of America's future. Will we strengthen freedom, individual opportunity and enterprise? Or will we expand the role of the state...

President Obama is on a path toward establishing a one-world government. This is the warning of Christopher Monckton, a former major policy adviser to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. In December, world leaders will descend upon Copenhagen to sign a United Nations climate change treaty that will succeed the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which is aimed at reducing greenhouse gases and set to expire in 2012. An agreement has been drafted. The goal of the Copenhagen treaty is to erect an international cap-and-trade regime to curb carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, said to be responsible for man-made global warming. Recently, British Prime...

The crucial Nov. 3 special election in upstate New York features two candidaties -- liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava and Democrat Bill Owens -- connected to the Working Families Party (WFP) which is the New York political arm of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). <snip> With both Big Labor and ACORN working to defeat the Conservative -- who is also being attacked by the national GOP Establishment -- Hoffman's campaign is sending out a nationwide call for volunteers to help match the "community organizers" being brought into the 23rd District by his major-party opponents. "We need boots...

If Congress establishes proper oversight of a carbon market, New York's financial talent, expertise and institutions are uniquely suited to provide the tools and innovation for a new commodities market of this size. Firms wishing to invest over the long term will need to turn to our financial sector to create the emerging products and provide the capital that would allow them to make green energy investments. An infrastructure is already beginning to form, as entities like the New York Stock Exchange, J.P. Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and the new Green Exchange are developing carbon trading platforms or expanding their...

(snip) U.S. leadership is crucial. That is why I am encouraged by the spirit of compromise shown in the bipartisan initiative announced last week by John Kerry and Lindsey Graham. Here was a pair of U.S. senators — one Republican, the other Democratic — coming together to bridge their parties’ differences to address climate change in a spirit of genuine give-and-take. We cannot afford another period where the United States stands on the sidelines. An engaged United States can lead the world to seal a deal to combat climate change in Copenhagen. An indecisive or insufficiently engaged United States will...

Dear Friends,             Gene Malvino is a very unusual person.  He is a retired college professor who actually believes in the free enterprise system, and the values that made America great.  He has continued to work tirelessly to bring out the truth of those issues that are important to us as a nation.              The attached letter appeared in the Coeur d’Alene Press on Friday, October 23.  This is the original, unedited version. I trust you will find it instructional.             Jim Hollingsworth Gene J. Malvino If the readers of this newspaper believe that the much discussed and debated Obamacare...

Senate Democrats are looking to restart momentum for climate legislation, which has taken a backseat to healthcare. The Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee next week opens debate on the Kerry-Boxer bill with three hearings over three days in which more than 50 witnesses are scheduled to testify. Not much has happened since the House passed its climate bill in late June on a tight vote, but Senate Democrats hope to make progress on one of the administration’s highest priorities before global climate talks in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December. One marathon session set for Thursday on the Clean Energy...

In the October 2, 2009 Virginia Attorney General’s debate, my opponent and I had the opportunity to ask each other one question regarding our top priorities. His top priority - “global warming,” which of course comes along with a raft of legislative and regulatory burdens and taxes. At the federal level, this legislation is called “cap and trade.” The (so-called) “Cap and Trade” legislation is meant to restrict greenhouse gas emissions from industry, mainly carbon dioxide from the combustion of coal, oil, and natural gas. A better name for this legislation would be “Ration and Tax.” This is because under...

WASHINGTON - During consideration of H.R. 3126, legislation to establish a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA), Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee voted to pass an amendment offered by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) that will make ACORN eligible to play a role in setting regulations for financial institutions. The Waters amendment adds to the CFPA Oversight Board 5 representatives from the fields of "consumer protection, fair lending and civil rights, representatives of depository institutions that primarily serve underserved communities, or representatives of communities that have been significantly impacted by higher-priced mortgages" to join Federal banking regulators in advising the...

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) says openly that Wall Street speculators will profit from "climate legislation"Senator Gillibrand's own words, from yesterday's Wall Street Journal, show that the real purpose of Barack Obama's climate change legislation is to give Wall Street speculators yet another tulip bulb scheme to replace the mess (mortgage backed securities) for which we are still paying with a $750 billion stimulus package, various bailouts at the taxpayers' expense, and ten percent unemployment. We encourage our readers to circulate this article, and Senator Gillibrand's own words, as widely as possible to show that Barack Obama's cap and trade agenda...

Just how effective has Sarah Palin’s intervention in the NY23 special election been? Douglas Hoffman, the Conservative Party candidate that got Palin’s endorsement, raised $116,000 in a single day, according to a source within the campaign. The source told me to refer back to Chris Cillizza’s coverage of the race at the Washington Post blog The Fix, which noted that Hoffman had raised $210,000 … over the course of a week. Stacy McCain confirmed this with another source in the campaign. He has a few updates as well on Democratic fundraising in the contest. If nothing else, this confirms the...

Latin music ‘tends to make us move a little bit ourselves,’ says ObamaWASHINGTON - The White House became "La Casa Blanca" on Tuesday, celebrating Hispanic musical heritage with a South Lawn concert and such guests as Gloria Estefan, George Lopez, the Bachata music group Aventura, Jose Feliciano and more. President Barack Obama said Latin music, while hard to define because it comes in so many forms — from salsa to merengue and Bachata to reggaeton — speaks to everyone in a language they can all understand. "It moves us, and it tends to make us move a little bit ourselves,"...

Yesterday, the so called Doctor Fix failed in the Senate. This was the measure that would stop Medicare cuts set to go into effect next year. The measure would have cost $247 billion over the next ten years. Harry Reid wanted to pass it on its own mostly in order to not have the cost be included in the final health care bill. The AMA was strongly behind the measure and the Democrats were hoping to get them aboard health care reform. Thirteen Democrats joined all the Republicans to defeat the measure.

A former Clinton State Department official named Nigel Purvis laid out the extremely detailed blue-print for passing climate-treaties without Senate approval in a paper he wrote entitled "Paving the Way for U.S. Climate Leadership: The Case for Executive Agreements and Climate Protection Authority.” written in April 2008. That document is attached to this email, and can also be downloaded directly from [link to www.rff.org] -- It is worth noting that Mr. Purvis is now an Obama aid. The paper written by Mr. Purvis explores “whether some international agreements are inherently treaties under the Constitution, or whether the President and Congress...

Tennessee is urging 49 other states to come together and create a "joint working group between the states" to combat unconstitutional federal legislation and assert state rights. Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen signed HJR 108, the State Sovereignty Resolution on June 23. According to the Tenth Amendment Center, the resolution created a committee to form a joint working group between the states to enumerate the abuses of authority by the federal government and seek repeal of imposed mandates. State Rep. Susan Lynn recently wrote a letter to the other 49 state legislatures, inviting them to join the group and warning that...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GOODLAND HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM MDT THURSDAY. THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT. SNOWFALL REPORTS OF 4 TO 5 INCHES WERE RECEIVED WEDNESDAY EVENING WEST OF VONA ACROSS KIT CARSON COUNTY AND NEAR KIRK IN SOUTHWEST YUMA COUNTY. SNOW, HEAVY AT TIMES WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS BEFORE DIMINISHING WITH ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES EXPECTED. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS THURSDAY MORNING ARE EXPECTED TO RANGE FROM 6 TO 8 INCHES WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS ACROSS WESTERN KIT CARSON...

"Propaganda is not an end in itself, but a means to an end. If the means achieves the end then the means is good.........the new Ministry has no other aim than to unite the nation behind the ideal of the national revolution." Joseph Goebbels President Obama is a bully, he doesn't like being questioned or crossed. Like most of the bullying kind, if you disagree with him he will go after you with personal attacks full guns blaring. Just look at some examples of the people who have crossed the President and got smack down by the Bully-in-Chief or his...

CNN: 51% disagree with the messiah, 48% do: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/10/20/cnn-poll-half-the-country-disagrees-with-obama-on-issues/ RASMUSSEN: The messiah loses on 10 out of 10 issues. GOP increased its lead in 9 out of 10 categories since last month. But particularly note the Health Care, Social Security, Economy, and Taxes numbers. Does the Democratic Party feel like demonizing their opponents on health care rationing some more? http://www.rasmussenreports.com/scoreboards/by_the_numbers2/by_the_numbers HARRIS INTERACTIVE POLL: Majorities of Americans give the messiah Negative Ratings on his Handling of 12 Major issues. Among the lowest are unemployment, the federal deficit and the war in Afghanistan. http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/pubs/Harris_Poll_2009_10_19.pdf

CHARLESTON -- The governor of the country's second-largest coal-producing state is angling for a sit-down with President Barack Obama over his administration's stance on climate change and its pursuit of cap-and-trade legislation. West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin told The Associated Press on Tuesday that his state has a role to play as the nation considers cutting climate-affecting energy sources. Carbon dioxide traps heat in the atmosphere, and coal releases that gas when burned. The White House wishes to curb carbon emissions and reduce the use of fossil-derived fuel, though that goal also dovetails with the push to replace foreign oil...

There's something the Democratic lawmakers who are pushing cap-and-trade legislation don't want the public to know. The controversial climate-change legislation winding its way through Congress will impose a massive new national gas tax on the American people. We discovered this by analyzing what the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill would do to gas prices and what Americans spend on gasoline, diesel and jet fuels. We found that cap-and-trade legislation will levy a $3.6 trillion gas-tax increase that will impact every American and important segments of our economy. Americans travel more than 200 million vehicle miles each month, and annually we spend nearly...

Sending Anita Dunn—who is probably not enjoying her proverbial 15 minutes of fame—out onto the north lawn of the White House to attack Fox News is serving its purpose. The responsibility for determining which of the national news networks are legitimate and which ones are not is something the founders did not include in the executive powers section of the Constitution. One might even argue that the inclusion of the First Amendment to the Bill of Rights is a pretty clear sign they thought that giving any part of the federal government the power to do so would not, to...

For the first time since he took over in the White House, Americans don't see eye to eye with President Barack on the important issues, according to a new national poll. But the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey does indicate that a majority approve of how Obama's handling his duties as president. According to the poll, which was released Tuesday, 48 percent of people questioned say that they agree with Obama on the issues that matter most to them, with 51 percent saying no. That's a switch from April, when 57 percent said they agreed with the president on important issues,...

Patriotic music belted from speakers Monday afternoon ... The Western Slope Conservative Alliance and other local conservative groups staged demonstrations at all four corners on city sidewalks to again voice opposition to nationalized health care reform. Alliance members have gathered at least six times since summer to stage rallies, the most recent protests near Grand Junction City Hall and the Federal Building. the group gathers at the intersection because it is near the Alpine Bank building offices of Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., and Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo. Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., has an office around the corner at the Federal...

"Benefit" is not the correct word, as Cap and Trade will not be a net benefit to any state, being a direct tax on productivity and business in the name of warding off the scam of man-made global warming. That being said, the Waxman-Baucus Bill, Waxman (D-MA) and Baucus (D-CA), will aid special interests in Massachusetts and California more than it will special interests from other states. A little noticed Environmental Protection Agency analysis shows that the pending climate-change bill in Congress would particularly benefit the states represented by its primary authors. The analysis, obtained by The Washington Times, shows...

Earth: An environmental writer mainstreams an idea floating around the green fringe — save the earth by population control and give carbon credits to one-child families. Are we threatened by the patter of little carbon footprints? New York Times environmental writer Andrew Revkin participated in an Oct. 14 panel discussion on climate change with other media pundits titled "Covering Climate: What's Population Got To Do With It?" People who need people they are not. In a recently rediscovered book, "Ecoscience: Population, Resources, Environment," co-authored with Malthus fans Paul and Anne Ehrlich, Holdren wrote that families "contribute to general social deterioration...

Politics: Move over, John McCain and Olympia Snowe. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is fast becoming the Democrats' favorite Republican as he partners with John Kerry to push cap-and-trade through the Senate. Earlier this year, eight Republican congressmen made it possible for Waxman-Markey, the 1,400-page job- and economy-killing cap-and-trade legislation, to barely pass the House of Representatives. At the time it seemed dead on arrival in the Senate if it was brought up there this year. Once again, as with their medical plan, the Democrats seek to better the odds by putting a GOP hood ornament on a Democratic clunker....

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said it was the victim of fraud Monday after a group claiming to represent the organization said the Chamber had switched its position on climate change. A Chamber of Commerce spokesman said he broke up a group holding a fake press briefing at the National Press Club stating that the Chamber now supports the science of climate change and stringent legislation to curb greenhouse gas emissions. He said the group used a chamber emblem at the briefing. The spokesman said the Chamber hasn't questioned the science of climate change but rather some of...

Since taking office as the President of the United States, President Obama has encountered crisis after crisis. His next major crisis will be oil prices. Since taking office as the President of the United States, President Obama has encountered crisis after crisis. His next major crisis will be oil prices. If you listen to this White House this President has faced and solved more major crisis than any former President has faced during the 1st year of their Presidencies. People are getting tired of the boy who cried wolf and beginning to wonder if maybe some of these so called...

Population growth is the real driver for higher greenhouse gas emission, so why don't more mainstream solutions start there? Andrew Revkin, an environmental reporter for The New York Times and author of the paper's Dot Earth blog, warns that the math is pretty depressing. There are about 6.8 billion people on the planet today, a number projected to get to 9 billion by 2050. Americans, the world's greatest per-capita emitters of greenhouse gas emissions, produce about 20 tons of the stuff per person, per year. If we were to cut that in half, as emissions rose with the quality of...

According to most conservatives in South Carolina, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has officially gone over to the dark side. Under the guise of 'bipartisanship,' Graham has signed on to one of the left's most ambitious plans to impose a socialist agenda in America - government control of the formerly free market through implementation of cap-and trade, the 1,400 plus page Waxman-Markey bill approved earlier this year by the House.   The main (scientifically unproven) premise of cap and trade is that the earth is melting and government must step in to save the world. Of course, it will be expensive,...

Tom Borelli October 15, 2009 Nike, Starbucks and Other Team Up With the Left to Sell Cap-and-Trade Every day we have an opportunity to vote with our wallets by letting companies know there is a price to pay for colluding with those who oppose our values. "Yes We Can!" the slogan used by then-Senator Obama during last year’s presidential campaign – is now being used by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.) to launch a last ditch effort to jumpstart cap-and-trade legislation in the Senate. Graham and Kerry’s commentary, “Yes We Can (Pass Climate Change Legislation)” published in...

Now that the Senate Finance Committee has approved its health care bill, it’s a good time to step back and take a look at the long term consequences should its provisions be enacted into law. The bill prohibits insurance companies from refusing coverage to people with pre-existing conditions and from charging sick people higher premiums. [1] It attempts to offset the costs this will impose on insurance companies by requiring everyone to purchase coverage, which in theory would expand the pool of paying policy holders. However, the maximum fine for those who refuse to purchase health insurance is $750. [2]...

Now that the Senate Finance Committee has approved its health care bill, it’s a good time to step back and take a look at the long term consequences should its provisions be enacted into law. The bill prohibits insurance companies from refusing coverage to people with pre-existing conditions and from charging sick people higher premiums. [1] It attempts to offset the costs this will impose on insurance companies by requiring everyone to purchase coverage, which in theory would expand the pool of paying policy holders. However, the maximum fine for those who refuse to purchase health insurance is $750. [2]...

Harper's inconvenient truth The prime minister knows cap-and-trade is wrong for Canada and bad for Canadians. He should say it By LORRIE GOLDSTEIN, ASSOCIATE EDITORPrime Minister Stephen Harper is too clever by half on global warming. Politically, he's taken the smart position -- Canada will match whatever U.S. President Barack Obama does. That's not only clever, but true. We have to match what the U.S. does because it's our major trading partner. The problem is with the centrepiece of Obama's plan -- creating a U.S. cap-and-trade market in carbon dioxide emissions into which Canada will be sucked, along with the...

Now that the Senate Finance Committee has approved its health care bill, it’s a good time to step back and take a look at the long term consequences should its provisions be enacted into law. The bill prohibits insurance companies from refusing coverage to people with pre-existing conditions and from charging sick people higher premiums. [1] It attempts to offset the costs this will impose on insurance companies by requiring everyone to purchase coverage, which in theory would expand the pool of paying policy holders. However, the maximum fine for those who refuse to purchase health insurance is $750. [2]...

The ranking Republican on the Senate's energy committee on Saturday signaled she could vote for a revised version of Democrats' forthcoming cap-and-trade bill. In an interview to air Sunday on C-SPAN, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) explained she would "keep her mind open" during debate over the hotly contested carbon-reduction proposal, a version of which has already passed the House. The Alaska Republican also suggested she could vote for the final bill if it expands domestic oil drilling and better funds nuclear power. "When you see changes to the land coming about ... what is causing the loss of...

According to most conservatives in South Carolina, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has officially gone over to the dark side. Under the guise of 'bipartisanship,' Graham has signed on to one of the left's most ambitious plans to impose a socialist agenda in America - government control of the formerly free market through implementation of cap-and trade, the 1,400 plus page Waxman-Markey bill approved earlier this year by the House. The main (scientifically unproven) premise of cap and trade is that the earth is melting and government must step in to save the world. Of course, it will be expensive, but...

A new video from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation details the effect that a Value-Added Tax, recently proposed by Nancy Pelosi as a way to pay for unfunded liabilities, would have on the American economy. Very, very well done.

In case news of the dramatic costs to you and your family in the healthcare “reform” proposals circulating through Congress hasn’t scared you enough, another unprecedented tax lurks under the radar. It will punish you every time you flip on a light switch or start your car. In June, the House of Representatives narrowly passed the Waxman-Markey energy bill, which aims to increase investment in renewable energy and slash carbon emissions by 17 percent by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050. In early October Senators John Kerry and Barbara Boxer unveiled the Senate’s version of the bill. It is even...

The Culver City Council on Monday unanimously approved a moratorium to halt drilling in the Inglewood Oil Field until next August, by when city officials hope to have drafted a new ordinance that ensures the public’s safety and welfare. The new moratorium will extend one that expires Oct. 8 by 10 months, until Aug. 23, 2010. Plains, Exploration & Production Company, the primary operator of the oil field, has already sent four notices of intent to drill new wells to the State Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources, even though the oil company agreed with the Los Angeles County...

Given that we’re spending billions of stimulus dollars to rebuild our highways, it makes sense to think about what we’ll be driving on them. For years to come, most of what we drive will be powered, at least in part, by diesel fuel or gasoline. To fuel that driving, we need access to oil. The less use we make of our own reserves, the more we will have to import, which leads to a number of harmful consequences. That means we need to drill here and drill now.

Given that weÂ’re spending billions of stimulus dollars to rebuild our highways, it makes sense to think about what weÂ’ll be driving on them. For years to come, most of what we drive will be powered, at least in part, by diesel fuel or gasoline. To fuel that driving, we need access to oil. The less use we make of our own reserves, the more we will have to import, which leads to a number of harmful consequences. That means we need to drill here and drill now. We rely on petroleum for much more than just powering our vehicles:...

Governor Daniels warns the pursuit of "green jobs" and alternative fuels could send energy costs soaring without helping the environment. Daniels' administration has emphasized production of ethanol, biodiesel and other alternative energy sources. But the governor told a conference of industrial energy customers at IUPUI it's an "illusion, or even fantasy" to believe green energy can replace fossil fuels completely. "This isn't policy; this is arithmetic," Daniels says. "We could be the fastest growing state in wind power for the next 25 years, and I hope we are. At that point, it may be somewhat meaningful, but it will not...

The CBO just scored the house version of cap and trade. A House-passed bill that targets climate change through a cap-and-trade system of pollution credits would slow the nation's economic growth slightly over the next few decades and would create "significant" job losses from fossil fuel industries as the country shifts to renewable energy, the head of the Congressional Budget Office told a Senate energy panel Wednesday. CBO Director Douglas W. Elmendorf emphasized that his estimates contained significant uncertainties and "do not include any benefits from averting climate change," but his message nevertheless contrasted sharply with those of President Obama...

As an entrepreneur and resident of Ohio I am used to swimming upstream. Ohio's economy never actually recovered from the 2001 recession. We have been hemorrhaging jobs and population for over a decade. Except for two nuclear power stations and some tiny "green energy" pilot projects, our state is powered by coal fired power plants dotting our lakes and rivers. With our energy intensive manufacturing economy there are few places in the country which will be more affected by Cap and Trade legislation than Ohio. Short of a nuke-wielding dictator threatening to wipe us off the map, it is hard...

Executive Summary The massive energy-regulating bill (H.R. 2454) the House of Representatives passed in June 2009 is now before the Senate. Though the cap-and trade program has received most of the media and public attention surrounding Waxman-Markey, the rest of the bill (at least 628 pages) could create economic harm just as great as cap-and-trade. Without cap-and-trade, H.R. 2454 might still be the most far-reaching, counterproductive package of new taxes, transfers and obstacles to economic growth and liberty ever assembled in one bill. The bill affects so many facets of energy and the economy that simply summarizing its major provisions...

Sarah Palin fans can expect to see a new Palin political organization surface as her memoir, “Going Rogue: An American Life,” hits the shelves next month. The New York Post reported this week that Palin’s new group will be called “Stand Up For Our Nation.” (News Corp. owns both the Post and The Wall Street Journal.) Crawford, who is treasurer of Palin’s existing political-action committee, SarahPAC, refused to provide any details about the new organization’s purpose or structure.

Those angry town hall meetings are back. Last night, at a forum at Furman University, South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham was pilloried by protesters for his decision to back Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and for his support for climate change legislation. During the 75-minute event, one man told Graham he had “betrayed” conservatism and made a “pact with the devil” by working with Democrats, and asked when the senator planned to change parties. . . . . . Maybe what really ticked off the conservatives was when Graham argued that the problem should be addressed as soon as...

Periodically, a Republican senator is seized with desire to be the front man for the Democrats' latest regulatory monstrosity in Washington. Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina is now in the throes of this pathological urge, which usually appears just when defeat seems imminent for a big-government scheme like the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade energy bill. Democrats and their liberal buddies in the mainstream media need only whisper the magic word "bipartisanship" and soon enough along comes a gullible GOPer to take the bait. Graham made clear in a Sunday New York Times op-ed written with Sen. John Kerry, D-MA, that he...

Over the next five years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) plans to make climate change its “highest priority.” According to its new “Action Plan” released last month, the branch of the U.S. Department of Interior charged with protecting fish, wildlife and plants will focus first and foremost on the global weather. “Climate change must become our highest priority,” the plan said. “Consequently, we will deploy our resources, creativity and energy in a long-term campaign to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and safeguard fish, wildlife and their habitats.” The Fish and Wildlife Service said it plans to “reach out to...