Free Republic

Climate Change: A switch of four Republican votes would have defeated Waxman-Markey, the Democrats' global warming legislation. But like the Clinton Btu tax, the bill could die in the Senate and turn the House over to the GOP. What were these RINOs thinking? The GOP is supposed to be the party of low taxes and free markets. Rep. Mike Castle, one of the eight offered an explanation right off of President Obama's teleprompter...Illinois Republican Mark Kirk, who has senatorial ambitions to replace the choice of impeached former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Sen. Roland Burris, demonstrates why GOP fortunes in the Land...

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del., June 29, 2009 – It was enough to make even the calmest airline passengers nervous: an irate man pacing the aisles of a commercial flight shouting, “I want to slit the captain’s throat!” Col. Thomas Kauth, Logistics Assessment Branch chief, presents Senior Airman Nicholas Barker, 436th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron crew chief, a certificate of appreciation for his excellence during Dover Air Force Base’s Logistics Standardization and Evaluation Program inspection. Two months later, Barker showed his excellence again by subduing an irate man on an international commercial flight. U.S. Air Force photo by Tom Randle  (Click photo...

Just called Castle's office. I asked if he read the bill. He said most of the bill was out. The 300 pages that came out the night before he did the best he could do to read it. (but implying he didn't finish reading it) We need to help pass a law to STRIP THE PENSION OF CONGRESSMAN who don't fully read bills.

House Republicans who received campaign donations from environmental groups helped make up the narrow margin of votes needed to send the Waxman-Markey “cap and trade” bill over to the U.S. Senate. The legislation passed by a vote of just 219 to 212 on Friday with critical assistance from eight Republicans. They are: Mary Bono Mack (Calif.), Mike Castle (Del.), Mark Kirk (Ill.), Leonard Lance (N.J.), Frank LoBiondo (N.J.), John McHugh (N.Y.), Dave Reichert (Wash.), Chris Smith (N.J.). This support proved critical with 44 Democrats voting against the regulatory scheme.

Washington - "My priorities, as I represent Delaware in the U.S. House of Representatives today, begin with the economic opportunities and security for all who live here. We are facing serious challenges in both areas. With state budget shortfalls, rising unemployment and stagnant growth in many of the industries on which we typically rely-- new ideas and bold strategies for the future are required. Simultaneously, our nation's military is spread thin across the world in an effort to confront those who seek to do us harm. One major threat to our security and theirs is the current reliance we have...

Eight so-called republicans voted “Yes” for the Cap and Trade (American Clean Energy and Security Act) tax bill that goes against the most basic of core conservative principles.Four of the eight RINO’s active Twitter accounts, so we checked their page at 6:00PM PST, more than 24 hours after they helped the democrats pass what was no doubt the most devastating vote they have ever made in the House of Representatives. Let’s see what they tweeted (posted, for those of you not fluent in the language of the bird). Mary Bono Mack (R-CA) @markbonomackNot even a mention of Cap and Trade,...

The following republicans voted FOR the largest tax bill ever passed by a session of Congress. Any good work they have done has been for naught. Unless they change their votes by the deadline, Wed, July 2nd, they will for ever be a member of the Cap and Tr8tors. HR 2454 RECORDED VOTE 26-Jun-2009 7:17 PM BILL TITLE: American Clean Energy and Security Act Time left for the Cap and Tr8tors to change their vote. 04 Days, 07 Hours, 44 Minutes, 15 Seconds. 1) Click on their link. 2) Select the 'Contact' tab. Contact their local office as they are...

...The 8 Republicans who voted FOR HR 2454 have 5 days to change their votes. ...

GOP defectors face conservative wrath @ 11:18 am by Eric Zimmermann Meet the eight Republicans who will now incur the wrath of every conservative blog on the internet: Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.) Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.) Rep. Frank LoBiondo Rep. Leonard Lance (R-N.J.) Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Wash.) Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) These are the Republicans who voted for Waxman-Markey last night, and without whose support the bill would have been defeated. (44 Democrats voted against it.) Conservative bloggers are already up in arms. Michelle Malkin has put up a "WANTED" poster...

CASTLE STATEMENT ON PASSAGE OF AMERICAN CLEAN ENERGY AND SECURITY ACT Washington - "My priorities, as I represent Delaware in the U.S. House of Representatives today, begin with the economic opportunities and security for all who live here. We are facing serious challenges in both areas. With state budget shortfalls, rising unemployment and stagnant growth in many of the industries on which we typically rely-- new ideas and bold strategies for the future are required. Simultaneously, our nation's military is spread thin across the world in an effort to confront those who seek to do us harm. One major threat...

Vice President Joe Biden told gay and lesbian Democrats that he doesn't blame them for their impatience and promised that the Obama administration will begin to push more strongly on the issues they care about, including the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Speaking at a LGBT fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee, Biden acknowledged the anger many gays and lesbians have toward the White House, and he pledged to "put some pace on the ball."

Last week, Sen. Charles Grassley raised questions about the sudden “retirement” of Amtrak IG Fred Weiderhold: As a senior member of the United States Senate and as the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Finance (Committee), it is my duty under the Constitution to ensure that Inspectors General, which were created by Congress, are permitted to operate without political pressure or interference from their respective agencies. Inspectors General were designed for the express purpose of combating waste, fraud, and abuse and to be independent watchdogs ensuring that federal agencies were held accountable for their actions. I understand that Inspector...

This letter appeared in today's Wilmington News Journal, followed by my response. Based on past experience, it may get published in August - or lost. Angry conservatives should accept new liberal reality June 23, 2009 According to a recent article “irate” conservatives of Sussex County are up in arms against the liberal tendencies of both the federal and Delaware’s state governments (“In face of liberal government, irate conservatives speak up,” June 11). They apparently have forgotten that they are now a small minority, a status that was amply confirmed by the elections in 2008. Indeed, the nation is now liberal...

Vice President Joe Biden broke form and did everyone a favor during his June 14 Meet the Press interview when he told the country that “no one realized how bad the economy was” in the run-up to February’s passage of the so-called “economic stimulus” package that nobody read. The former presidential candidate and proven serial plagiarizer (far beyond the infamous Neil Kinnock incident) is still the best reason for hoping that President Barack Obama, for all his very considerable faults, has an ever-vigilant Secret Service detail. As long as Obama’s protection is in place, Biden can continue to be the...

"I'm pleased that in our quest to reform the health care system, I have gained the support of the American Medical Association," Obama told the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner Friday night. "It proves true the old expression that it's easier to catch flies with honey. And if honey doesn't work, feel free to use an open palm and a swift, downward wrist motion." President Obama said he and Mika Brzezinski both had partners named "Joe" who "don't know when to stop talking."

Theboard of directors of the National Stonewall Democrats are dropping their support for a June 25 DNC fundraiser with Vice President Joe Biden over, they wrote in an email obtained by POLITICO, a combination of policy slights and the claim that they've been cut off from traditional party funding. In the email to Tom Petrillo, who runs the party's substantial gay fundraising operation, the board members write: [W]e are incredibly disappointed that the DNC has made a decision to withhold any financial support to National Stonewall Democrats this year but is in turn asking us to help raise money for...

In Washington, Joe Biden says, problems flow uphill. And in this Washington, they've got plenty of them. " I don't think any (House) speaker has had as much laid on her plate at the front end of a Congress -- maybe there's been a time in history, but I don't -- I can't think of -- for real, for real,'' the vice president said today, at a fundraiser for the Democrats' Senate and House campaigns at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington. "It's not hyperbole, literally,'' Biden said. "This president has had more laid on his plate than any president...

Vice President Joe Biden, going further than any other high-ranking American official to date in questioning the validity of last Friday’s election, said Sunday that “there's some real doubt" that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was legitimately re-elected as president of Iran.

Biden tells "Meet the Press" that "everyone guessed wrong" on the impact of the stimulus, economy was worse off than anyone thought. Backs away from the estimate that the funds could create or save 3.5 million jobs, instead promises 600,000 by the end of the summer.

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Joe Biden said Sunday that "everyone guessed wrong" on the impact of the economic stimulus, but he defended the administration's spending designed to combat rising joblessness. Biden said inaccuracies in unemployment predictions shouldn't undercut the White House's support of the $787 billion economic revival plan that has not met the expectations of President Obama's team. Instead, the vice president urged skeptics to look at teachers who kept their classroom assignments and police officers who kept their beats because of financial assistance from Washington.

Biden Says 'Everyone Guessed Wrong' on Unemployment Numbers Vice President Biden says inaccuracies in unemployment predictions shouldn't undercut the White House's support of the $787 billion economic revival plan that has not met the expectations of President Obama's team. Sunday, June 14, 2009 WASHINGTON -- Vice President Joe Biden said Sunday that "everyone guessed wrong" on the impact of the economic stimulus, but he defended the administration's spending designed to combat rising joblessness. Biden said inaccuracies in unemployment predictions shouldn't undercut the White House's support of the $787 billion economic revival plan that has not met the expectations of President...

Vice President Joe Biden said on a Monday conference call with reporters that it was “above [his] pay grade” to explain in detail the methodology the White House uses to estimate the number of jobs created or saved by the economic stimulus legislation, but stressed that there had been no “reasonable” challenges to the estimates. **** “I’m sorry I’m not an economist,” Biden said as he was describing the methodology. “My background is foreign policy and the constitution. “

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Dover Air Force Base, DelawareDover Air Force Base or Dover AFB (IATA: DOV, ICAO: KDOV, FAA LID: DOV) is a United States Air Force base located two miles south of the city of Dover, Delaware.Dover AFB is home to the 436th Airlift Wing (436 AW) of the Air Mobility Command (AMC), known as the "Eagle Wing", and the AMC-gained 512th Airlift Wing (512 AW) of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC), referred to as the "Liberty Wing". It was the only base to solely operate the massive C-5 Galaxy, with two...

The Obama administration has riled corporate America by cracking down on secretive offshore tax havens. But now a big onshore refuge — Delaware — is drawing scrutiny, too. Squeezed by hard times, states are pushing to collect taxes that corporations are avoiding through Delaware shell companies. Maryland has reclaimed $267 million in such taxes, including interest and penalties, and has assessed an additional $143 million. About 20 states have adopted laws that would effectively keep companies from using the decades-old tax loopholes in Delaware. At stake are tens of billions of dollars in annual tax receipts, funds that states say...

Former President George W. Bush will probably be remembered as the unlikable dunce, a bumbling buffoon whose approval ratings were as low as his arrogance was high. A cartoon-like caricature, crafted by opponents and comedians, depicting him as the unsophisticated, privileged son of a defeated president will forever be a part of Dubya’s legacy. Granted, Bush was sometimes embarrassing, and sometimes I was more nervous for him than he seemed to be. His forthcoming book will probably need a ghostwriter to help him articulate his thoughts, and when it’s released I’ll probably loathe the promotional interviews, knowing I’ll tense up...

Biden takes dig at Obama over teleprompter use Posted: 04:32 PM ET From CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney (CNN) — Joe Biden couldn't help but take a dig at his boss Wednesday when one of the vice president's teleprompter screens fell down during his commencement speech at the U.S. Air Force Academy. "What am I gonna tell the president?" Biden said as a gust of wind knocked down his left teleprompter. "I'm gonna tell him his teleprompter is broken. What will he do then?" The off-handed quip immediately drew laughter and some the loudest cheers of day from the graduates....

After the wind blows down the teleprompter of Vice President Biden at the Air Force Academy graduation he joked "what am I going to tell the President when I tell him his teleprompter is broken? What will he do then?"

For Joe Biden, gab is no gift. America’s garrulous vice president has a long record of verbal gaffes and a knack for saying exactly the wrong thing at the wrong time. Indeed, his flapping tongue has cost him dearly. Biden sank his own bid for the presidency in 1988 with a series of inflated claims about his academic credentials and a partially plagiarized speech. Twenty years later, on the day he joined the 2008 presidential race, he eclipsed the news of his own candidacy and reinforced the notion that he represented the political past by describing a black challenger named...

The vice president can't complain if Republicans object to Obama's Supreme Court nominee. Vice President Joe Biden is widely praised for the expertise he brings in helping Barack Obama choose a replacement for retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter. Having served for three decades on the Senate Judiciary Committee, he is considered an asset both for his relationships with committee members and his familiarity with the nuts and bolts of judicial nominations. So let's have a look at how the confirmation process actually fared under Mr. Biden's leadership. As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mr. Biden was present...

DOVER, Del. -- The murder case against a man charged in a shooting two years ago at Delaware State University that left one student dead and another injured will be dismissed because prosecutors withheld key evidence, a judge ruled Tuesday. Loyer Braden, 20, of East Orange, N.J., had been charged with second-degree murder, assault and other crimes after a September 2007 campus shooting that killed 17-year-old Shalita Middleton of Washington, D.C. Braden's mother says her son works for a water quality testing company and is taking real estate classes. Defense attorney James Liguori said a witness walking with Middleton when...

Good news for Vice President Biden’s office! The Veep successfully delivered the commencement address at Wake Forest University without disclosing top secret information.

Vice President Joe Biden, well-known for his verbal gaffes, may have finally outdone himself, divulging potentially classified information meant to save the life of a sitting vice president. According to a report, while recently attending the Gridiron Club dinner in Washington, an annual event where powerful politicians and media elite get a chance to cozy up to one another, Biden told his dinnermates about the existence of a secret bunker under the old U.S. Naval Observatory, which is now the home of the vice president. The bunker is believed to be the secure, undisclosed location former Vice President Dick Cheney...

Massive explosions rocked the Sunoco refinery in the Marcus Hook area tonight, sending flames shooting into the night and sounding alarms in three states. The actual explosions were in Delaware but close to the Pennsylvania border. Some officials were reporting that the chemicals in the explosion could waft into South Jersey. The explosions were first heard shortly after 10 p.m. The flames could be seen as far as 10 miles away at the Philadelphia airport. Safety officials were considering widespread evacuations and police were blocking off roads around the refineries, one of the largest on the East Coast, according TV...

A series of loud explosions has been reported in the area of a Sun Oil ethylene facility in New Castle County.

Vice President Joe Biden, well-known for his verbal gaffes, may have finally outdone himself, divulging potentially classified information meant to save the life of a sitting vice president. According to a report, while recently attending the Gridiron Club dinner in Washington, an annual event where powerful politicians and media elite get a chance to cozy up to one another, Biden told his dinnermates about the existence of a secret bunker under the old U.S. Naval Observatory, which is now the home of the vice president. The bunker is believed to be the secure, undisclosed location former Vice President Dick Cheney...

Joe Biden is proving impossible to parody. In one of the few funny jokes at the White House correspondents dinner, Wanda Sykes won loud laughter when she joked that terrorists interested in learning America's most important secrets would only have to ask Biden how he's doing. According to an account in Newsweek, Biden did give up one of the country's secrets at another dinner where journalists and politicians make fun of Republicans (and occasionally laugh at each other). Biden told his dinnermates about the existence of a secret bunker under the Vice President's Residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory.

Vice President Joe Biden says that nearly $100 million in federal stimulus dollars will go to a program to remove lead-based paint from low-income homes. Biden announced the plan Friday at a Los Angeles affordable-housing development operated by a community group that is getting $875,000 to remove toxic paint from 225 homes.

(CNN) -- The bodies of five U.S. servicemen fatally shot by a comrade at a stress clinic in Iraq were returned to the United States late Wednesday. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met the bodies -- contained in flag-draped cases -- when they arrived at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. Family members of three of those killed permitted photographers to document the return of their loved ones. They were Army Maj. Matthew P. Houseal, 54, of Amarillo, Texas; Army Sgt. Christian E. Bueno-Galdos, 25, of Paterson, New Jersey; and Army Private First Class Michael...

Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) would start off as the front-runner in a 2010 Senate race against state Attorney General Beau Biden, the vice president’s son, according to a new poll. The automated survey, conducted by the GOP firm Susquehanna Polling and Research, shows Castle leading Biden by 21 points, 55 percent to 34 percent. Neither has announced plans to run for the seat now held by Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-Del.), who is not running for reelection, though both appear to be leaning in that direction. Castle, a leading Republican moderate, has comfortably won reelection since first winning the House seat...

Site last updated May 3, 2009, 12:00 PM ET U.S. Human Cases of H1N1 Flu Infection(As of May 3, 2009 11:00 AM ET) States # of laboratory confirmed cases Deaths Alabama 1   Arizona 18   California 26   Colorado 4   Connecticut 2   Delaware 10   Florida 3   Illinois 3   Indiana 3   Iowa 1   Kansas 2   Kentucky* 1   Massachusetts 7   Michigan 2   Minnesota 1   Missouri 1   Nebraska 1   Nevada 1   New Hampshire 1   New Jersey 7   New Mexico 1   New York 63...

Joe Biden’s not a loose cannon, an undisciplined, motor-mouthed gaffe-machine on wheels. Nope. He’s just “known for speaking freely.” Just ask the Associated Press. From AP’s story of today, After his flu warning, Biden takes the train home [emphasis added]: "One day after saying he wouldn’t travel in tight quarters because of the swine flu scare, Vice President Joe Biden rode a train Friday from Washington to Delaware. "Known for speaking freely, Biden told NBC’s “Today” show on Thursday that he had urged family members to avoid airplanes and subways for fear of contracting the H1N1 flu virus." Well, alright...

Vice President Joe Biden may also have some difficult questions to answer, according to John Hempton who blogs at Bronte Capital. Tyler Durden at Zero Hedge says: John Hempton, who writes the insightful blog Bronte Capital, has done some amazing dot connecting in what, if true, and not swept promptly under the carpet by the powers that be, could expose a hedge fund scandal that could rival the Madoff fiasco, for the simple reason that it implicates none other than Barack Obama’s right hand man: Joe Biden.... This is an intricate story. And it is my no means conclusive. But...

Despite His Own Flu Warning, Biden Takes Train Home Known for speaking freely, Biden told NBC's "Today" show on Thursday that he had urged family members to avoid airplanes and subways for fear of contracting the H1N1 flu virus FOXNews.com Friday, May 01, 2009 WASHINGTON -- One day after saying he wouldn't travel in tight quarters because of the swine flu scare, Vice President Joe Biden rode a train Friday from Washington to Delaware.

WASHINGTON (AP) — One day after saying he wouldn't travel in tight quarters because of the swine flu scare, Vice President Joe Biden rode a train Friday from Washington to Delaware. Known for speaking freely, Biden told NBC's "Today" show on Thursday that he had urged family members to avoid airplanes and subways for fear of contracting the H1N1 flu virus. "I wouldn't go anywhere in confined places now," Biden said. The comments infuriated the travel industry and triggered several revisions from the Obama administration, whose official advice is less severe. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano commented, "If he could...

Things have gotten so bad for the vice president following his disastrous Today Show appearance that he’s been exiled? No. It’s just coincidental that the day after he strayed way off message on how to deal with the flu virus that his office announced he’s going on an overseas trip. The veep is headed for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Kosovo beginning on May 18. “During the visit, the Vice President will meet with the political leadership in all three countries, as well as U.S. officials and military personnel stationed in the region,” the vice president’s office announced. Yesterday That’s...

Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday that he would not recommend taking any commercial flight or riding in a subway car “at this point” because swine flu virus can spread “in confined places.” A little more than one hour later, Biden rushed out a statement backing off. “I would tell members of my family — and I have — I wouldn’t go anywhere in confined places now,” Biden said on NBC’s “Today” show.. “It’s not that it’s going to Mexico. It’s [that] you’re in a confined aircraft. When one person sneezes, it goes all the way through the aircraft. That’s...

While network evening news broadcasts were covering for Joe Biden's swine flu gaffe, Fox News's Chris Wallace called the Vice President's advise that folks avoid getting on airplanes or riding subways "a serious mistake" and "reckless" leading the "Fox News Sunday" host to ask, "Is he nuts?" Appearing on WOR radio's "Steve Malzberg Show" Thursday, Wallace also discussed how "exquisitely sensitive to anything that's negative, any criticism" President Obama is, adding how the recent attacks of Tea Party attendees and Fox News commentators "doesn't strike me as very presidential." Wallace also said Obama's press conference Wednesday night wasn't "very newsy"...

Pigs can’t fly yet, but the swine flu is still a reason to stay out of the sky. At least, that is, if you ask Vice President Joe Biden. And most Southwest Floridians aren’t. Nor are their travel agents. Or their airlines. Or the rest of the federal government. “I would tell members of my family — and I have — that I wouldn’t go anywhere in confined places now,” Biden said on NBC’s “Today” show Thursday morning. Only problem is, Biden’s advice is not in line with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official message, which is...

Biden: Don't Ride The Subway! (VIDEO) Joe Weisenthal|Apr. 30, 2009, 8:22 AM| Tags: Economy, Health, The Way We Live Now, New York swineflusubway.jpgHey New Yorkers, take a cab to work today. Or walk. Your Vice President Joe Biden says you should avoid both planes and subways. NBC New York: "I would not be at this point ... [be] suggesting they ride the subway," Biden said when asked whether he would advise family members to use public transportation. Biden made his comments during a brief interview on NBC's "Today" show during an interview with Matt Lauer. The vice president said if...

Vice president Joe Biden said today he would tell his family members not to use subways in the U.S. and implied schools should be shuttered as the swine flu outbreak spread to 11 states and forced school closures amid confirmation of the first U.S. death. Biden made his comments during a brief interview on NBC's "Today" show during an interview with Matt Lauer. "I would tell members of my family, and I have, I wouldn't go anywhere in confined places now. It's not that it's going to Mexico, it's you're in a confined aircraft when one person sneezes it goes...