Free Republic

Next time you run into a group of Democrats, offer to splash water on their faces. They've spent 2009 in a dream state, and it's time they wake up. They're convinced that they can subsidize health insurance for millions of people while also "bending the cost curve" of health care spending. They want to sign us up for the political equivalent of one of those three-step "eat more to lose weight" diets. Step one: Pile on the expenditures, regulations, taxes, and fees. Step two: Close your eyes. Step three: Pray it all works out in the end. Sorry, it won't....

Byron York of the Examiner doesn't think so: "Democratic Sen. Richard Durbin recently was asked if a national health care bill would pass the Senate by the end of the year. 'It must,' Durbin responded. 'We have to finish it.' Many other top Democrats share Durbin's determination to meet this deadline. But it's almost certainly not going to happen, for three reasons: the calendar, the Senate's other business, and, most importantly, growing public opposition to the health bill itself. Start with the calendar. No matter what Durbin says, there's not enough time to get a bill of the scope and...

I hereby forfeit my claim to a right-wing- conspiracy-decoder ring by offering two cheers for the Democrats. I congratulate them on their victory last Saturday night in the Senate, and while I can't quite wish them success on the course they are following, I'm beginning to make peace with the possibility that they'll win. For years, conservatives and liberals have flirted with the idea of disposing of the fool's errand of bipartisanship. Seeking compromise with partisans across the aisle is a recipe for getting nothing important done. For liberals, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman has been a leader of...

Well, it's not quite as bad as Paul Krugman critiquing the Fox Business Network, but a little troubling because tax dollars are being spent to undertake such an effort. A Nov. 27 post by incoming White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer on the The White House Blog attempted to fact check a Nov. 27 column by Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer, proving the left-wing noise machine isn't the only shop in Washington, D.C. criticizing conservative voices (h/t Amanda Carpenter of The Washington Times). "In today's Washington Post, Charles Krauthammer takes great pains to paint a bleak picture of health care...

Unreal. Team Obama may allow US soldiers to be tried in the Hague for war crimes. The Wall Street Journal reported, via Jihad Watch: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed “great regret” in August that the U.S. is not a signatory to the International Criminal Court (ICC). This has fueled speculation that the Obama administration may reverse another Bush policy and sign up for what could lead to the trial of Americans for war crimes in The Hague. The ICC’s chief prosecutor, though, has no intention of waiting for Washington to submit to the court’s authority. Luis Moreno Ocampo says...

The decision by Obama administration officials to bring a terrorist who admits to plotting the Sept. 11 attacks and four others to New York City for criminal trials amounts to a public relations bonanza for terrorists and a disaster for U.S. security interests. At the same time, the trials will present terrorists with a venue and a reason to launch further attacks... They will draw just as much attention if similar to, for instance, the shootings by another Islamic extremist at Fort Hood just a few weeks ago. The trials also will give U.S. enemies valuable insights into vital national...

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - President Obama's brief proclamation of Thanksgiving Day on November 26 was unique among all recorded Thanksgiving proclamations by his predecessors: it is the first one that fails to directly acknowledge the existence of God. The beneficence shown by God to America is a theme that traditionally defines the Thanksgiving holiday, and this theme is strongly emphasized in the original Thanksgiving Day proclamations and consistently acknowledged even by modern presidents. Obama's unprecedented proclamation, however, only makes indirect mention of God by quoting George Washington, stating: "Today, we recall President George Washington, who proclaimed our...

In the spring of 1964, Sarah Heath, then just three months old, flew into backwater Skagway, Alaska (population 650) aboard a 1930s-era Grumman Goose to start a new life with her parents, brother, and sister. At that same time, in America's other new outlier state, Hawaii, two-year-old Barry Obama was just getting used to a fatherless existence in the otherwise-comfortable world his white grandparents and occasionally his mother would make for him. At the time, not even Nostradamus could have foretold that the paths of Barry and Sarah would intersect in the "historic" 2008 election, Barry as the first major...

The Cash for Clunkers program was widely touted as a major success by the Obama Administration and the Progressives in Congress but like most comments coming out of Washington that "success," was nothing but pure spin. The Automotive research website Edmunds.com did a simple business analysis of the cash for clunkers program and discovered that American Tax Payers payed an average of $24,000 to sell each additional car in the clunkers program. A total of 690,000 new vehicles were sold under the program, all but 125,000 would have been sold anyway. Divide the the total cost of $3 billion by...

Imelda Obama and her husband are living large on our dime.

With a rapidly changing political atmosphere, the 36 Senate seats up for election in 2010 are drawing a big field of office seekers. But before Republicans can try their luck after eight years of Democratic gains, both parties have to settle their own internal struggles. A look at three key primaries: Florida Republican primary Aug. 24, 2010 The combatants Former state House Speaker Marco Rubio is a conservative darling and the face of a possible new generation of Republicans. He's 38, the son of Cuban immigrants and a strong retail politician. His campaign to take the seat formerly held by...

-- snip --Mr. Obama's spending choices are dragging congressional Democrats into ugly electoral territory where many are likely to meet a brutal fate next fall.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed "great regret" in August that the U.S. is not a signatory to the International Criminal Court (ICC). This has fueled speculation that the Obama administration may reverse another Bush policy and sign up for what could lead to the trial of Americans for war crimes in The Hague. The ICC's chief prosecutor, though, has no intention of waiting for Washington to submit to the court's authority. Luis Moreno Ocampo says he already has jurisdiction—at least with respect to Afghanistan. Because Kabul in 2003 ratified the Rome Statute—the ICC's founding treaty—all soldiers on Afghan territory,...

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, who leaves office in January, today encouraged people with nonviolent felony convictions who have paid their debt to society to apply to have their voting rights restored. Speaking on his monthly call-in radio show on WTOP in Washington, Kaine noted that both he and his predecessor as governor, Mark R. Warner, have restored the rights of more Virginians than any of the previous governors of the commonwealth combined. Virginia and Kentucky are the only states that require people who have lost their rights through felony convictions to apply for reinstatement. In addition to voting rights, convicted...

The Democrats are at it again.With unemployment passing 10% the President's party is looking at fixing a problem the only way they know how, throw some money at it. Yes we are talking Porkulus II. The Democrats are working on a growing list of relief efforts, leaving for later how to pay for them, or whether even to bother. If you are looking at tax cuts to be part of the package, I wouldn't hold my breath. Here's an Idea maybe they have Charlie Rangel pay the taxes he forgot about and we can use that for a tax rebate....

New Geography, the online magazine created by Joel Kotkin and others with a special focus on demographics and trends, has been tracking the implosion of California in an interesting way: by comparing it to Texas. Texas and California are America’s two most populous states, together numbering approximately 55 million people, which is only about 6 million less than the United Kingdom, where I live. California, as everyone knows, has a coolness factor that Texas cannot match. Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and wine. Say no more. But, unless one has been living in a cave, everyone knows that the cool state is...

So, will the state-run media be bold enough to hide this, too? Obama’s socialist Science Czar John Holdren, who once said that forced abortions were needed to save the planet, is also involved in the Climategate Scandal. Holdren, another socialist in the White House, was pushing global cooling before he was pushing man-made global warming. NewsBusters and Canada Free Press are doing the work the state-run media would rather ignore and hide: New Climategate revelations made by the Canada Free Press about a White House connection to the scandal will soon make it much more difficult (and ridiculous) for the...

Note: The following text is a quote: Home • Briefing Room • Presidential Actions • Executive Orders The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release November 23, 2009 Executive Order-- Reducing Improper Payments and Eliminating Waste in Federal Programs EXECUTIVE ORDER By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in the interest of reducing payment errors and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in Federal programs, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Purpose. When the Federal Government makes payments to individuals and businesses...

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) – Honduras' Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that ousted President Manuel Zelaya cannot legally return to office, dimming the possibility of his reinstatement after a June coup, court sources said. The Court did not release the full text of its non-binding ruling, but a court source and a lawyer close to the proceedings said it closely follows earlier decisions upholding Zelaya's ouster after he moved to change the constitution.

1 hr 36 mins ago "The rituals of Hajj and Eid-ul-Adha both serve as reminders of the shared Abrahamic roots of three of the world's major religions," read a White House statement. "On behalf of the American people, we would like to extend our greetings during this Hajj season -- Eid Mubarak," Obama said, using a traditional Muslim greeting.

John Bolton has referred to President Obama as America's first post-American President. By this he means that instead of pursuing America's interests in relation to the rest of the world, President Obama is pursuing the rest of the world's interests in relation to America. In other words, Obama is imposing on America the policies the rest of the world would like to see stuffed down our throats. This is why it seems like we are losing our country piece by piece, and that America is in an accelerating downward spiral. To those who are paying attention, and not just blindly...

David Plouffe, one of Barack Obama's closest advisers, has urged Democrats to stick with the president's reform agenda, even though he conceded Republicans would make electoral gains next year. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, David Plouffe, the backroom mastermind of Mr Obama's historic 2008 victory, said the party needed to show some of the president's renowned calm and determination ahead of the 2010 mid-term elections. His remarks underlined the conviction among the president and his confidants that he is on the right track despite worsening polls and rising criticism from within his own party. Right-wing Democrats think his...

Syndicated talk-radio host Mark Levin spoke with former Assistant United States Attorney Andrew McCarthy this evening about AG Eric Holder's decision to prosecute 9/11’s conspirators, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four lieutenants, in federal court a mere 6 blocks from Ground Zero. "The Cole bombing did not prompt a military war against al-Qaeda. It eventually resulted in a civilian indictment that is still pending. The Pentagon is the ultimate military target, and the attack against it spurred both the war we are now fighting and the implementation of military commissions to try jihadist war criminals. Yet, Holder has decided to give...

On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee met to question Attorney General Eric Holder about his decision to prosecute Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others in criminal courts rather than military tribunals. As the father of Todd Beamer, who died on United Airlines Flight 93, I was able to attend that hearing. What transpired caused me great concern and shook my confidence in our current administration....How can we be assured that these enemies will be found guilty? Given that criminal courts are now the presumed venue for those captured on the battlefield, will soldiers need to read them their rights at...

"White House Defends Stimulus Act Despite Government Audit Questioning the Job Numbers" SNIPPET: "(CNSNews.com) - The White House defended the effectiveness of the economic stimulus act on Monday after a government audit last week called many of the reported job numbers into question. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that $173 billion of the $787 billion stimulus package had been paid out by the federal government as of Sept. 30. That’s about 22 percent of the total, and it indicates that 78 percent of the stimulus funds have not been paid out – at a time when unemployment was rising."

FILE- Archbishop of Washington Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl walks with United States Chief Justice John Roberts after the Red Mass at Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, in Washington, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009. (AP photo) (CNSNews.com) – A longtime Washington, D.C., liberal Internet activist has founded a Web site that he says will collect accounts of homosexuals in the Catholic priesthood--accounts he will use to “encourage� them to change their views on homosexual marriage and other issues. “Outing� the priests--publicly revealing their homosexuality--is “not off the table,� Phil Attey, founder of the Web site ChurchOuting.com, told CNSNews.com. The site will also collect information on straight...

ACORN’s San Diego office isn’t the only place its been careless with sensitive documents. Late last year, ACORN abandoned an office in Oklahoma. In its haste to vacate the office–and skip out on the landlord’s claim of back-rent–ACORN abandoned piles of documents, as well as a computer. Below is a copy of ACORN’s “Oklahoma Power Plan,” a long-term political plan to reshape politics in the Sooner State. (Document at link) The “Power Plan” is a very interesting document. First, it provides another example for how ACORN’s political operation thinks strategically. The plan is focused on impacting state legislative races to...

Ban Lifted For Green-Card Applicants With HIV A two-decade-old rule kept those with the virus out of the U.S. Now such immigrants will be able to visit the country and apply for legal status. By Anna Gorman November 25, 2009 A stamp in Heidemarie Kremer's passport reveals her health status as HIV-positive. Because of the disease, Kremer -- a native of Germany -- has been barred from becoming a legal resident of the United States. She and her two children are fighting possible deportation, and their plans for the future are on hold. But that soon may change. This month,...

Current poll data are brutal for the Democrats. In the Rasmussen survey, President Obama's approval index, the difference between those who strongly approve and strongly disapprove of his performance, has hit a record low of -15. Overall, voters disapprove of Obama by 54-45%. That's no doubt in part because voters have also turned decisively against the Democrats' health care proposals, opposing them, currently, by 56-38%. Meanwhile, voters now favor Republicans over Democrats by seven points on the generic ballot, 44-37%. Byron York examines the numbers behind Obama's slumping Gallup rating and finds that Obama is now at 39% with whites...

For discussion only! Should the criminal case of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (aka KSM) be dismissed? Some potential motions: 1) Judicial Misconduct: Violations of Miranda, violations of Escobedo, as stated by the President of the United States, KSM was "tortured". Violations of the right to a speedy trial. Detained by federal agents for more than 24 hours without being formally charged. 2) Double Jeopardy: In the case of Dr. Jeffrey McDonald: Source:http://www.altlaw.org/v1/cases/534614 Quote: "Since MacDonald was not put to trial before a military tribunal authorized to convict or acquit him, jeopardy never attached. Serfass v. United States, 420 U.S. 377, 387-89,...

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) has been mailing out fundraising letters on behalf of Bill Clinton accusing the GOP of lying and "playing politics with our lives." Oh my goodness! A politician lying? or a whole political group? Is that even possible? Maybe it is. It's kind of sad and pathetic, but isn't that what we kind of know and suspect from all politicians? And even though it's a sin, isn't that the pot calling the kettle black? Bill Clinton accusing someone else of being a liar? It would almost be laughable if it weren't so hypocritical. For those...

After more than five months of going it alone, Iran's opposition Green Movement is reaching out to the United States for help. Via public and private channels, the Obama Administration has received several appeals in recent weeks to take a stronger stand against human-rights abuses in Iran, avoid military action and impose more aggressive and rapid-fire sanctions against the Revolutionary Guards and its vast business interests. [snip] Washington has struggled since the disputed June 12 presidential election to figure out how to engage the regime without undermining the opposition. Now it has begun to hear answers from the Green Movement...

Today, Michael Bloomberg's coalition against illegal guns placed a full-page ad in the Washington Post urging lawmakers to prevent suspects on a federally maintained "terror watch list" from being allowed to purchase guns. "500 mayors agree with the Obama and Bush Administrations: stop terror suspects from getting guns," the ad says. It's also been an issue that Rahm Emanuel voiced support for back in 2007, according to this video clip. "We got to make this a number one issue, as a test vote, and take it into the election." He added, "If it's between that terrorist list and the NRA,...

(CNSNews.com) - When asked whether al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden should have the right to remain silent and be given a lawyer, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) told CNSNews.com that everyone who is accused of a crime should have the same "basic rights" afforded by the U.S. Constitution.. On Capitol Hill on Nov. 19, CNSNews.com asked Kucinich, “If and when the U.S. captures Osama Bin Laden, should he have the right to remain silent and be given a lawyer--told he can get a lawyer?” Kucinich said: “I think that America does best when the values that we want other nations...

On September 12, 2001, Americans were nearly unanimous in their belief that terrorism was a very real and serious threat to our country. September 11, 2009, eight years later, after not only no new terrorist attacks on the United States, but some thwarted terrorist activities, we have grown complacent on terrorism, and we have adopted attitudes along the way that are so soft on terrorism that the likelihood of an attack inside the United States is as great today as it was in 2001. Since the eighth anniversary of 9-11 two months ago we may, in fact, have already experienced...

Democrats at odds over health billMonday, November 23, 2009 8:43 AM CST WASHINGTON (AP) — Moderate Senate Democrats threatened Sunday to scuttle health-care legislation if their demands aren’t met, while more liberal members warned their party leaders not to bend. The dispute among Democrats foretells of a rowdy floor debate next month on legislation that would extend health care coverage to roughly 31 million Americans. Republicans have already made clear they aren’t supporting the bill. Final passage is in jeopardy, even after the chamber’s historic 60-39 vote Saturday night to begin debate. “I don’t want a big-government, Washington-run operation that...

Not that it matters politically because obviously she's a female Republican dunce and he's obviously a male Democratic genius. But Sarah Palin's poll numbers are strengthening. And President Obama's are sliding. Guess what? They're about to meet in the 40s. Depending, of course, on which recent set of numbers you peruse and how the questions are phrased, 307 days into his allotted 1,461 the 44th president's approval rating among Americans has slid to 49% or 48%, showing no popularity bounce from his many happy trips, foreign and domestic. Riding the wave of immense publicity and symbiotic media interest over her...

Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., chairman of the purse string-controlling House Appropriations Committee, is calling the idea a "war surtax."

It is a TIME to CHALLENGE EVERYONE involved with taking over 1/7th of the economy. Challenge the media. Challenge your friends. Challenge the congress-critters. And yes, challenge yourself. We’ve pointed out specific sections of current health care legislation that will make things worse for Americans. We’ve given you the page numbers. We’ve told you exactly what it means and what it will do. Why don’t the statists (lefties) point out sections that will make things better? You might think they don’t care, but in reality the sections we have pointed out that will increase costs, decrease quality and yes, ration...

Last week, the body of Chicago school board president Michael Scott was found in the Chicago River with a single bullet wound in his head. The big story was that this powerful, well-connected public official had, according to the Cook County medical examiner, committed suicide. The less-noticed story was that he did it with an illegal weapon. After all, handgun ownership is not allowed in Chicago, which has one of the strictest gun control laws in the country, and Scott killed himself with a .380-caliber sidearm. Unlike most Chicagoans, Scott could have been a legal handgun owner. Because he had...

Last week had to be a bit awkward for Democrats. They labored to pass a health care bill that, among other things, establishes a government advisory panel to curb health care costs with industrywide medical recommendations. And at just the wrong moment, a similar government advisory panel provoked outrage by recommending that women stop getting so many breast cancer screenings. Unruffled, the Democrats pressed on with their 2,000-page health care bill, going so far as to hold a rare Saturday night vote on whether to proceed to debate. There's a good reason they are in such a rush to pass...

The truth is out. Illegal immigrants commit crimes at a much higher rate than Americans and legal immigrants. A new Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) report nails it. It proves the lies and smashes the myths of the “noble” illegal immigrant who only wants to “do the jobs Americans won’t do.” Using Freedom of Information Act requests to access otherwise embargoed government data on immigrant crime, the CIS establishes the fact that illegals commit “relatively high rates of crime.” The phony “academics” that’ve made careers of lying about the destructive impact of illegal aliens on our society are proved wrong....

Rob Port at Say Anything noticed this story yesterday, which may explain to Barack Obama why his Porkulus bill hasn’t generated new jobs … well, one of the reasons, at least. The Associated Press reports that the increases in unemployment benefits have placed new burdens on businesses in the form of higher unemployment taxes — in Florida, a twelve-fold increase for next year. The result? Capital that may have gone towards hiring new employees will get sucked up by government instead:

The Service Employees International Union on Sunday reported spending nearly $1 million on an independent expenditure television campaign praising eight House Democrats for backing a health care bill earlier this month. Here's how the SEIU spent $998,000 among the eight districts: Baron P. Hill, Indiana's 9th district ($162,000); Dina Titus, Nevada's 3rd ($157,000);

Rep. Obey Warns President Obama He Will Ask Taxpayers to Pay for War, Should More Troops Be SentThe powerful chairman of the House Appropriations Committee has a stark message for President Obama about Afghanistan -- sending more troops would be a mistake that could "wipe out every initiative we have to rebuild our own economy." "There ain't going to be no money for nothing if we pour it all into Afghanistan," House Appropriations Chairman David Obey told ABC News in an exclusive interview. "If they ask for an increased troop commitment in Afghanistan, I am going to ask them to...

U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore, a Democrat who confounded the GOP by winning six consecutive elections in a heavily Republican district, will not seek re-election next year, key Democrats said Sunday.

Or....."How liberalism screws the economy"! The Master Conservative Economist of our time explains what happened in the Great Depression; quite to the contrary of what you may have been led to believe.

The Obama Democratic Party demonstrated their desire to help the poor, unfortunate victims of Hurricane Katrina by giving them $100 million - provided that their U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu votes in favor of legislation they want enacted. How's that for hope and change. Makes the Visitors in the television series seem downright altruistic. These Obama Democrats are the same people who derided Bush and the Republicans as racist and callous to the problems of Louisianans. They ridiculed Bush's response. They clamored for more federal money because of Hurricane Katrina when Bush was in office. Now the only way the Katrina...

More than 150 Christian leaders, most of them conservative evangelicals and traditionalist Roman Catholics, issued a joint declaration Friday reaffirming their opposition to abortion and gay marriage and pledging to protect religious freedoms. The 4,700-word document, called "The Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience," sounds familiar themes from political and social debates over the health care overhaul and gay marriage battles. While acknowledging that "Christians and our institutions have too often scandalously failed to uphold the institution of marriage," the group rejects same-sex marriage. The declaration states that opening a legal door for gay marriage would do the same...

Sometimes, not even a politician can be all things to all people. With Saturday night's vote to bring Harry Reid's health-care bill to the floor, "moderate" Senate Democrats like Ben Nelson (Neb.), Mary Landrieu (La.), and Blanche Lincoln (Ark.) had to choose between pleasing party leaders and their reputations for moderation. Moderation lost. Of course, some will say that this was merely a vote to proceed, not a vote on the merits of the bill. They were just "moving the debate forward," will try to improve the bill on the floor, and, as Seinfeld would say, yada, yada, yada. But...