Free Republic

It is protest day, for the Left and the Right, on Capitol Hill. First out of the gate - 9 Protesters backing a universal health care system briefly occupied Sen. Joe Lieberman's office this morning. Protesters were arrested, one by one, and dragged out of his office amid chants of "Everyone in and noone out, universal healthcare now!" and "Represent Connecticut, not AETNA!"

The military psychiatrist accused of gunning down 12 people in Texas lived most of his life in the D.C. area where he was considered a caring Muslim by friends -- but he had recently made disturbing statements about suicide attacks. U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, earned a degree from Virginia Tech, completed a residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and attended prayer services nearly every day in Silver Spring for several years. He was described as a caring person by a local Muslim leader, but those who got to know him after he was transferred to Fort...

Thousands Rally To Protest Health Care Bill Obama praises AARP, AMA support; Hoyer predicts bill's passage Saturday WASHINGTON - Chanting "Kill the bill," thousands of conservatives rallied at the Capitol on Thursday against the Democrats' health care overhaul plan. The campaign-style event kicked off a daylong, Republican protest against the legislation. "This bill is the greatest threat to freedom that I have seen," House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio told the crowd gathered on the lawn near the West Front of the Capitol. Said Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa: "We're not going to leave this Hill until we kill this...

With the help of Steve McGough's mother, Carol, who was in D.C. today to give a report to Jim Vicevich. Taped report on the blog. We’ll try to get some pictures posted in the next two days, but for now you can find images over at Gateway Pundit. I’ve also got the audio posted below from Carol’s (mom’s) live report from the capital steps this morning minutes before the health care rally got started. If you’ve got links to more information and photos, post them in the comments section to share with everyone.

LIVE THREAD!! Post comments and pics here. See you all down there. Look for the tall U.S./yellow "Don't Tread On ME" flag

Mark Levin announced on his radio program this evening that tomorrow's rally point (at noon, Thursday, November 5) has been moved to the west steps of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.

I've written recently about how courts in New Jersey and Illinois have concluded that the Second Amendment poses no obstacle to local governments enacting stringent anti-gun laws. Now a Maryland appeals court has followed suit. A three-judge panel ruled last Thursday that the Second Amendment does not interfere with a Maryland law that generally restricts state residents from carrying handguns. That's not much of a surprise. What is remarkable is that Judge Albert Matricciani went out of his way to write that even if the Second Amendment applied to state laws, Maryland's statute would be perfectly constitutional in the wake...

In court papers filed Tuesday, Muhammad's attorneys say the execution should be put off while the court considers whether his trial lawyer was ineffective.

A power outage at Metro's headquarters has led to massive problems systemwide, allowing people to ride some buses for free and shutting down WMATA's Web site, call center and e-mail alert system. Metro said it experienced a power outage at about 2:45 a.m. that took down the data center responsible for communication functions. Besides the Customer Call Center not being able to make or receive calls, Metro said the following problems have developed: Some Metrobus fareboxes are not functioning and if that is the case, customers are being allowed to ride without paying a fare. The NextBus system is not...

Students Protest at Planned Parenthood Clinic to Conclude 40 Days for LifeNovember 3, 2009 Christendom College's pro-life student group, Shield of Roses, held its biggest protest in over 30 years of existence. On October 31, over 200 students, faculty, staff, and visitors traveled to Washington, D.C., to peacefully protest their opposition to abortion at the Planned Parenthood clinic, located just north of the White House, on 16th Street. The group protests at this same clinic each Saturday morning during the academic year, but normally only around 20-30 students make the trek into D.C. on a weekly basis. Once a semester,...

Here it is ... http://docs.house.gov/rules/health/111_ahcaa.pdf

Talk radio host and best selling author Mark Levin will join with Michelle Bachmann on the Capital Steps on Thursday at noon. Concerned Americans will join the top conservatives to protest the Pelosi nationalized health care disaster. From the Representative Bachmann’s website: Bachmann Calls on the American People to Bring the Town Hall To Washington “This is the deciding moment and the people need to make sure their representatives know where they stand.” Washington, D.C., Nov 2 - WHAT: Health Care “House Call” on Washington Press Conference WHO: Republican Members of Congress Americans concerned about our health care future Other...

Lawmakers are calling on Americans to storm the Capitol on Thursday in an "Emergency House Call on Congress" to stop the House from passing the Democrats' health-care bill this week. A group of legislators led by Reps. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., and Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., will be holding an emergency town-hall meeting outside the Capitol at 12 p.m. to protest the health-care bill set to hit the House floor. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has indicated that a vote on the bill could take place as soon as Thursday. Bachmann told WND she is urging citizens to come to Washington and "pay...

According to a new Climate Confidence Monitor survey released today, support for action on climate change is plummeting in Canada. Just 26% of Canadians consider global warming among their chief concerns, down from 34% in 2008. Concern in the U.S. is even lower - just 18% , down from 26% in 2008. The UK's level of concern is the lowest of all, a mere 15%, down from 26% in 2008. Worldwide, the drop in concern over climate change has also dropped by 8 percentage points, from 42% to 34%...

Bachmann asks for patriots to call Congress and meet up with her at the Capitol next Thursday at High Noon. Time to mobilize! Stop Socialized Medicine Now!!! It's the 11th hour....Let's pay Nancy Pelosi a House Call... and tell her what she can do with the "Pelosi Health Care Plan"

Alright folks, let's pool our resources and our know how. Do you have the cash and are you willing to donate to help increase body count because you can't be in DC? Do you have a willing participatory spirit but you're broke?(all you'll need is a bus ticket) Do you know of a reputable website that is facilitating this, so as to bring the willing people and the cash together to make it all happen?

Doug Hoffman, the third-party upstart now backed by the Republican Party, has pulled ahead in Tuesday's special House election in upstate New York, according to two polls conducted over the weekend. A Siena College poll conducted Nov. 1 concluded that Hoffman now leads Democrat Bill Owens 41 percent to 36 percent, after the two were essentially tied in a Siena poll released Saturday morning. That poll's margin of error is 4 percent... --snip-- A survey by Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling pegs Hoffman's lead at 51 percent to 34 percent, with a margin of error of 2.3 percent. The PPP poll...

Week 233 (Oct 2) Week 232 (Sep 25) [Mr] Trooprally Me and Fraxinus Cindy-True-Supporter RonGKirby Week 233 (Oct 2)   Week 232 (Sep 25) CTS and Dennis from Families United [Mrs]texaschip Sep 25: A woman pulled over and asked Dennis does he think "we", meaning herself and her ilk, don’t support the troops. Cindy suggested she pull into the parking lot to talk. So she did and they talked for about 30 minutes. She had an Obama sticker on her car window. Said she graduated from Howard University. She said we don’t read enough to see how good Obama...

Thursday night Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed for cloture on the bill extending unemployment benefits, together with a substitute amendment including expansion and extension of the home buyer tax credit and extension of tax loss carry back time periods. The cloture filing fills the tree on the substitute amendment, meaning that Republican amendments on the floor will be prohibited. The need for floor votes today on the Interior – Environment appropriations bill including the continuing resolution through December 18, 2009, and the fact that the cloture petition will be voted on at 5:00 p.m. Monday, a Senate floor vote...

Its make-it or break-it time next week when investors look to the Labor Department's Unemployment Report for October, let's hope its good. With the market jumping 200 points in either direction on bascially "headlines" this week, the October payrolls report that is delivered next Friday (Nov 6th) could really jolt the system. Even as other parts of the economy show signs of stabilizing, rising unemployment may keep overall wages and benefits subdued and weigh on consumer spending. The U.S. has lost 7.2 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007, and the government is scheduled to release the October...

WASHINGTON — Elected a year ago on a pledge to rescue a sinking economy, President Barack Obama is credited with helping avert a depression, but now faces a growing unemployment crisis that could torpedo both the recovery and his political fortunes. Economists say the Obama administration's swift action along with a barrage of measures from the Federal Reserve allowed the world's biggest economy to avert deeper problems. But the jobless nature of the recovery is proving more difficult to address and threatens to undermine progress in lifting the economy out of recession, say analysts. "I think the administration handled the...

The D.C. City Council Washington D.C., Nov 1, 2009 / 03:10 am (CNA).- A Washington, D.C. City Council proposal to recognize same-sex “marriage” would redefine marriage and could force Catholic educational and charitable institutions to close or face lawsuits, burdensome regulation and the compromising of their faith, the Archdiocese of Washington has warned.The proposed law, called the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009, redefines marriage as “the legally recognized union of two people.” It says a religious association or a non-profit associated with a religion shall not be required to provide services, accommodations, facilities or...

I'm going to let the cat out of the bag. I confess. The bulk of the folks attending the Tea Parties across America are good old fashion God fearing Christians. They work hard, love their families and their country. If they are racist, you can not prove it by me. I'm traveling across America on Tea Party Express II. The mostly white audiences at every rally embrace me with open arms, especially after hearing me proclaim myself to be an American rather than a politically correct hyphenated African American. These people love me and call me brother because we share...

Michelle Bachmann has asked that as many as possible meet with her on Thursday to chase down congressmen and look them in the eye and tell them NO on the health care bill. It would really be great if lots and lots of people answered her call.

Attorney General Eric Holder tries to kill a TV ad supporting D.C. school vouchers. President Obama isn't taking kindly to a television ad that criticizes his opposition to a popular scholarship program for poor children, and his administration wants the ad pulled. Former D.C. Councilmember Kevin Chavous of D.C. Children First said October 16 that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder had recently approached him and told him to kill the ad. The 30-second ad, which has been airing on FOX News, CNN, MSNBC, and News Channel 8 to viewers in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, urges the president to reauthorize the...

"New York 23" ... Them's fightin' words. These days, whether you're a conservative activist, or a Republican Party official, saying "New York 23" out loud leads to a shortening of breath, a quickening of the pulse, and a tightening of the muscles. Heads whip around to see who said it, and in what context -- friend, or foe? With less than a week to go before the special election in New York's 23rd Congressional District, tempers are flaring on the campaign trail -- and fingers are being pointed in, and at, a big white building at 310 First Street SE....

ALBANY—Former House speaker Newt Gingrich never mentioned Doug Hoffman's name during a radio appearance this morning, but had a clear message for Republicans in the 23rd Congressional District: "The vote you're going to cast for a third-party candidate is going to guarantee the election of a Democrat. If you think that adding another vote to Nancy Pelosi's majority is a good idea, that keeping Nancy Pelosi as speaker is a good idea, then it's fine. But don't kid yourself.""John McHugh is a moderate Republican, he's held the seat for a very long time, I think 20 years," Gingrich, who has...

Three Republican lawmakers on Wednesday endorsed Doug Hoffman's third-party campaign for the special House election in New York -- a slap in the face to the party's leadership and the current top brass at the National Republican Congressional Committee. Endorsing Hoffman in the 23rd District contest were Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Reps. Dana Rohrabacher of California and Tom Cole of Oklahoma, who also served as NRCC chairman from 2006 to 2008. The party's preferred candidate is GOP nominee Dede Scozzafava. Hoffman's name will appear on the upstate ballots as the Conservative Party nominee. The nods from the three...

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The mastermind of the 2002 Washington, DC-area sniper attacks will die by lethal injection next month, Virginia officials said Tuesday. John Allen Muhammad declined to choose between lethal injection and electrocution, so under state law the method defaults to lethal injection, Virginia Department of Corrections spokesman Larry Traylor said. Muhammad is scheduled to be executed Nov. 10 for the October 2002 slaying of Dean Harold Meyers at a Manassas gas station during a string of shootings. The three-week killing spree in October 2002 left 10 dead in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad will die by lethal injection when he is executed next month, Virginia officials said Tuesday. Muhammad declined to choose between lethal injection and electrocution, so under state law the method defaults to lethal injection, Virginia Department of Corrections spokesman Larry Traylor said. Muhammad is scheduled to be executed Nov. 10 for the October 2002 slaying of Dean Harold Meyers at a Manassas gas station during a string of shootings.

Although more than 75 witnesses testified at the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics hearing Monday on a proposed voter initiative to define marriage in the District as being between a man and a woman, there were few legal arguments presented. Most who came before the board spoke based on emotion. And the majority of the witnesses were in favor of getting the issue before the District's nearly 400,000 registered voters. The push from the city's religious community comes as the D.C. Council considers legalizing same-sex marriage, with 10 of 13 council members in support of at-large Councilman David Catania's...

Kevin Chavous is an African American and former Democratic city council member from Washington, D.C. He says he’s an Obama supporter, but he is distinctly unhappy with the president. Elections may have consequences, but no one expected that the White House would be so brazenly petty as to allow poor minority children in the nation’s worst school district to become the victims of political score-settling. That’s exactly what happened when the Obama administration killed off the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program several months ago. Of course, if the White House thought that it could pay off the powerful teachers’ unions, and...

The Washington, D.C., City Council will hold hearings Monday on whether it should legalize gay marriage in the district. So far, city leaders have rejected the call for a public vote, saying marriage is a civil rights issue that should not be on the ballot. But some local pastors and other citizens believe the voters should decide in a referendum. Wendy Wright, President of Concerned Women for America, joined the CBN News Channel’s Midday program to discuss the national implications should the law be passed. Click play to watch the interview. Also, click here for more on concern surrounding gay...

Conservatives do not always have obvious choices when deciding whether or not to support a RINO.  Who, today, thinks we would be worse off if John McCain were president?  Ideally, conservatives should have united early behind a solid candidate, but when the meetings of conservative Republicans I attended keep focusing on not nominating "Rudy McRomney," then it was hard to see who our best standard bearer should be.  The situation is entirely different in the 23rd Congressional District of New York in the special election which will decide on November 3, 2009 whether a liberal Republican or a conservative should...

The attorneys representing Ingmar Guandique told a D.C. Superior Court judge on Friday that they believe that Chandra Levy was killed somewhere other than Rock Creek Park, where the former congressional intern's remains were found.

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The Office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has observed about 90,000 ineligible and suspicious claims of tax credits totaling over $600 million under the federal tax credit program for first-time home buyers.Treasury Inspector General Russell George revealed his agency's findings in a hearing this week of the Subcommittee on Oversight of the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Ways and Means. The tax credits are granted under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, which initially allowed a maximum $7,500 one-time tax credit to Americans who bought a principal residence from April...

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told citizens Wednesday to limit their showers to three minutes because the country is having problems supplying water and electricity. "Some people sing in the shower, in the shower half an hour," he said during a televised cabinet meeting. "No kids, three minutes is more than enough. I've counted, three minutes, and I don't stink."

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683   The "Junkiest" Junk Science That Taxpayers' Money Can Buy   Friday, October 09, 2009   Now, more than at any other time in anyone's memory, the federal government is in no position to waste taxpayer dollars on gun control advocacy "research."  Nevertheless, the National Institutes of Health recently gave anti-gun researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine $639,586 to conduct a survey intended to prove that possessing a gun doesn't benefit assault victims. Criminologist Gary Kleck calls the resulting survey "the very epitome of junk science in the guns-and-violence field—poor...

Washington, D.C. – The issue is resolved, but it means an Idaho Congressman no longer has an excuse to slip out his pocketknife at a committee meeting. Last week, the House of Representatives approved the conference report setting appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security. This final bill included language preventing spring-assisted knives from being classified by the Department as switchblades. The language was first championed by Rep. Walt Minnick (D-Idaho) and Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio.) “This amendment was necessary to prevent commonly-used pocketknives from being branded as illegal switchblades,” said Chris W. Cox, NRA chief lobbyist. “The National Rifle...

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - First-time jobless claims reversed a two-week decline, rising more than forecast, the Labor Department reported Thursday in its weekly jobless report.Initial claims for the week ended Oct. 17 were up 11,000 to 531,000 from a revised 520,000 the week before.The four-week rolling average was 532,250, a drop of 750 from the week before. The number of people still receiving unemployment benefits fell 98,000 to 5.92 million for the week ended Oct. 10. Those on extended benefits rose 3.86 million for the week ended Oct. 3 from 3.83 million the previous week, according to the report. Claims...

xxxx -- Virginia, it's time to get fired up. I've just announced that I'll be visiting next Tuesday to rally you and your neighbors in support of Creigh Deeds and our movement for change. Creigh Deeds has offered real solutions to address Virginia's challenges in transportation and the economy, and it's up to us now to build the support that will make those solutions a reality. We made history here in Virginia last year. Together with your neighbors, you built a movement in order to move this commonwealth and our country forward. But from day one, we knew we were...

What a phone call for health care may sound like in the near future

Washington D.C. had the highest percentage rise in unemployment in September, with the jobless rate jumping from 11.1 percent to 11.4 percent, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported moments ago in its monthly state-by-state jobless report. New York experienced the most jobs lost in the month, but D.C. had the highest percentage loss relative to population. D.C. lost 10,000 jobs from August to September, the Bureau said. The national unemployment rate is 9.8 percent. In Maryland, the unemployment rate is 7.2 percent, up from 4.6 this time last year. In Virginia, the rate is 6.7 percent, up from...

NEW YORK -- Even as the nation's biggest financial firms were struggling and the federal government was spending hundreds of billions of dollars to save many of them, the companies as a group were boosting the perks and benefits they pay their chief executives. The firms, accounting for more $350 billion in federal bailout funds, increased these perks and benefits 4 percent on average last year, according to an analysis of corporate disclosures filed in recent months. Some chief executives, such as Kenneth D. Lewis of Bank of America and Jeffrey M. Peek of CIT Group, the major small-business lender...

DALLAS — Canada’s trade minister said Monday that some progress is being made on a nagging trade issue with the United States, while U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said a tangled dispute with Mexico over cross-border trucking and California Christmas trees might resolve itself next year. Welcoming Cabinet-level Mexican and Canadian trade officials to the city where he served as mayor, Kirk said language that removed funding for the Mexican truck program has been restored in next year’s budget bill. "We won’t be handcuffed by prohibitory language," he said. When the border was closed to 500 U.S.-certified trucks in a...

Rep. Patrick McHenry (R., N.C.) is the head of the House Conservatives Fund (HCF), a non-connected federal PAC supported by more than 100 fiscally and socially conservative members of Congress. Here’s how the group describes its mission: Our mission is two-fold: 1. To regain the Republican majority in Congress. 2. To assure that principled conservatives are elected (and re-elected). When evaluating candidates, the House Conservatives Fund considers economic and social issues. We are focused on finding candidates who support fiscal responsibility, lower and simpler taxes, fewer obstacles to job creation, a smaller and more efficient federal government, a strong national...

In a city ravaged by the highest rate of AIDS cases in the nation, the D.C. Health Department paid millions to nonprofit groups that delivered substandard services or failed to account for any work at all, even as sick people searched for care or died waiting. More than $1 million in AIDS money went to a housing group whose ailing boarders sometimes struggled without electricity, gas or food. A supervisor said she was ordered to create records for ghost employees. More than $500,000 was earmarked for a housing program whose executive director had a string of convictions for theft, drugs...

First Daughters Not Vaccinated Against H1N1 President Obama's school age daughters have not been vaccinated against the H1N1 flu virus. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says the vaccine is not available to them based on their risk. The Centers for Disease Control recommend that children ages 6 months through 18 years of age receive a vaccination against the H1N1 flu virus. At this time only children with chronic medical conditions are receiving the vaccination because their immune system is not strong enough to fight off the strain. The CDC also says a regular seasonal flu shot does not protect...

Independent expenditures continue to flood into the three-way special election to replace former Rep. John M. McHugh in New York's 23rd District, according to new filings with the Federal Election Commission. On Oct. 16, the National Republican Congressional Committee dropped $102,000 for attack ads against the Democratic nominee, attorney Bill Owens, and paid another $21,000 for a survey by Public Opinion Strategies, a leading GOP polling firm. Meanwhile, the Service Employees International Union dropped $100,000 into the upstate New York district Oct. 15 for two radio ads on Owens' behalf. Owens is battling Republican state Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava and Doug...

Washington, DC (AHN) - The Pentagon has decided not to send about 4,000 troops to Iraq to replace a unit scheduled to leave the country in January. The Defense Department announced that it would not be sending the 3,500-member brigade from Fort Drum, New York because the security situation continues to improve, despite some recently-reported violence. The brigade was from the 10th Mountain Division, which was going to replace a unit from the North Carolina National Guard. The Guard unit is still coming home in January, Lt. Col. Eric Butterbaugh told CNN. Almost 120,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, while...