Free Republic

Author of Durbin amendment doesnt like a bank reacting to the negative effect of his amendment. “Bank of America customers, vote with your feet, get the heck out of that bank,” Durbin said on the Senate floor.

Advocates for the unemployed have cheered a push by the Obama administration to ban discrimination against the jobless. But business groups and their allies are calling the effort unnecessary and counterproductive. The job creation bill that President Obama sent to Congress earlier this month includes a provision that would allow unsuccessful job applicants to sue if they think a company of 15 more employees denied them a job because they were unemployed. The provision would ban employment ads that explicitly declare the unemployed ineligible, with phrases like "Jobless need not apply." As The Lookout has reported, such ads appear to...

OK I had to turn off the tv. Listened to as much of Obama as I could stand at one time. He's stuck on stupid. He's proposing more "shovel ready" nonsense.

(VIDEO AT LINK) While addressing college students in Richmond, VA, President Obama was surprised to learn that schools use trailers, also called 'modular buildings' or 'modular classrooms.' During his visit Obama said he was approached by an educator who mentioned she teaches in a trailer. Obama did not mention that the teacher had a problem with her situation, but he made it clear this was unacceptable. "I just -- in the back, I was taking some photos with folks who had helped out to organize this event, and there was a young lady who is a teacher. And she said,...

Recent polling has shown huge gaps between the Political Class and Mainstream Americans on issues ranging from immigration to health care to the virtues of free markets. The gap is just as big when it comes to the traditional right direction/wrong track polling question. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 67% of Political Class voters believe the United States is generally heading in the right direction. However, things look a lot different to Mainstream Americans. Among these voters, 84% say the country has gotten off on the wrong track. Twenty-four percent (24%) of Mainstream voters consider fiscal policy...

FULL TITLE: George Stephanopoulos Scolds Companies Who Relocate Overseas Because of High Taxes: 'Unpatriotic' According to Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos, companies that go overseas as a result of high taxes in America are "unpatriotic." The ABC host, who has repeatedly lobbied for higher taxes throughout his journalistic career, endorsed Warren Buffett's call for the rich to pay a higher percentage in taxes. Talking to Donald Trump, Stephanopoulos cajoled, "Warren Buffett made another splash, saying it's not right, he a billionaire, pays 17 percent in taxes when his secretaries and receptionists pay more. Isn't he right about that?"

This Democratic Web ad accuses GOP presidential candidates for "putting the ideology of the Tea Party first."

Rockwell City, IA -- Michele Bachmann just killed here deep in the corn country of Calhoun County (two-plus hours northwest of Des Moines). Standing ovation from 80 people after about a 35-minute chat Monday. Nary a word about social issues. No questions from the audience -- BUT a hand-over-the-camera snubbing of our own Shaky Hand Productions when we tried to question her...but more on that in a minute. No, this was a take-down of President Obama. As in "This man has no clue what the problem is." Plus more of what she'd do -- dismantle the EPA (except for "conservation"...

Late Friday afternoon, an employee of the Whole Foods Market in Toronto sent this epic resignation letter to the entire company. It's an alternatingly amusing, enlightening, and occasionally infuriating read — but a good read, nonetheless. ------------------------------------------------------- Dear Whole Foods Market, My experience at Whole Foods was like an increasingly sped up fall down a really long hill. That got rockier with every metre. And eventually, just really spiky ... With fire, acid and Nickleback music. I was hired about five or six years ago. I appreciated and respected what the company said it's philosophies were at that time. The...

<p>Bernanke said in prepared remarks that the economy is growing more slowly than expected, and should that continue the central bank stands at the ready with more accommodative measures.</p> <p>"However, given the range of uncertainties about the strength of the recovery and prospects for inflation over the medium term, the Federal Reserve remains prepared to respond should economic developments indicate that an adjustment in the stance of monetary policy would be appropriate."</p>

Meager 18,000 increase in June heightens worries over economyWASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — A disappointing U.S. jobs report has stunned Wall Street and triggered a fresh round of political recriminations as to who and what’s to blame. The economy added a meager 18,000 jobs in June, stoking worries the U.S. economy is slumping again. See story on June jobs data. Here is a sample of reaction on Wall Street and in Washington. • “Today’s report is more evidence that the misguided ‘stimulus’ spending binge, excessive regulations, and an overwhelming national debt continue to hold back private-sector job creation in our country.” —...

In his second post-FOMC press conference, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke touched on every topic, admitting that the recovery was weaker than expected and that beyond temporary factors like supply chain disruptions in Japan and high energy prices, he was at a loss as to what was causing the soft patch. In a Q&A session with reporters, Bernanke said a disorderly default in Greece would have significant effects on the U.S. economy, while adding that the Fed still had several tools at its disposal to pump up the economy. (Snip) Brutally honest, Bernanke admitted that he had no clue what was...

Modern day Democrats talk often about ‘progress’. If you listen to your Democratic Congressman or Senator or President talk, they’ll mention how they want to move society forward, advance the ball, create or grow jobs through government spending, or in some way improve humanity by using the power of the state to hammer the backward among us into the future. Liberal blogs support Democrats by arguing and mocking conservatives and Republicans as ‘backwards’ and falling behind an advancing liberal society.

US presidential candidate Herman Cain is trying to recover from an embarassing stumble over the question of the Palestinian Right of Return on Sunday. “Right of Return?,” Cain blankly asked twice in response to being questioned about his position on the vital issue on FOX News Sunday. The second or two of deafening silence that lasted before host Chris Wallace repeated “The Palestinian Right of Return” to the Republican hopeful seemed to last forever.

Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, who made her first foray into politics with a bid for California governor last year, said that after losing that race, she’s probably out of politics for good. “I doubt it,” she said Wednesday on Fox Business Network when asked whether she’d run for elected office again. Some had speculated that Whitman, who lost to Democrat Jerry Brown by 13 points in November, might consider a run for Senate. Last month, she said she was “definitely not” plotting a 2012 Senate bid challenging Democrat Dianne Feinstein.

The current military intervention in Libya by the West has been marketed with the claim that its purpose, as French President Sarkozy put it, is “to protect the civilian population from the murderous madness of a regime that has forfeited all claim to legitimacy.” Behind this humanitarian idealism, however, lurk a host of questions and dangers, reflecting wishful thinking rather than a prudent foreign policy. First we should acknowledge that the intervention is an American show. The French and British, and perhaps a few Arab nations like Qatar, may provide some warplanes and a few missiles, but the bulk of...

"In my opinion, any future defense secretary who advises the President to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should have his head examined, as General MacArthur so delicately put it."-Gates [Now does that send a message of comfort and emboldenment to dangerous hostile anti-American regimes?] [Also, Gates is no Douglas McArthur!]

President Obama recounts an anecdote about the 2004 Democratic National Convention at White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs' final press briefing:"The most challenging problem was what tie to wear. And this went up to the very last minute I mean, 10 minutes before we were about to go on stage we were still having an argument about ties. I had bought five, six ties. And Michelle didn't like any of them, Axelrod didn't like a couple of them -- him being one of the best dressed men in the world. So we really valued his opinion."And then somebody -- I...

The White House said Monday that the former ambassador President Obama sent to Cairo doesn’t speak for the administration, even after he carried a message from Obama to Hosni Mubarak. The envoy, Frank Wisner, said over the weekend that Mubarak’s “continued leadership is critical” in Egypt and that “it’s his opportunity to write his own legacy,” while the White House has suggested that Mubarak needs to leave power sooner rather than later. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters on Monday that Wisner “is not an employee of the government” and that he wasn’t speaking for the administration when...

The Washington A-List was out in force Saturday night at the farewell party for senior adviser David Axelrod, with a roster of guests featuring Cabinet secretaries, big shot journos and – President Obama. As revolution threatened to sweep Egypt and possibly other allies – with the horrifying prospect of Islamism replacing reliable friends – the president was on view partying with the IN crowd. The skepticism beyond the Beltway about whether Washington is just one big Love-In certainly gets fed by the sight – as conveyed by the press pool report – of reporters like ABC’s Jake Tapper, NBC’s Chuck...