Free Republic

Barack Obama's campaign changed the rules of a highly publicized fundraiser Tuesday, after gambling regulators said the contest — a chance at one of 10 trips to the Democratic National Convention — was an illegal lottery. "We are happy to have resolved this issue working closely with state officials," said Nick Kimball, spokesman for the Obama campaign ... A spokesman for the Colorado Secretary of State said Democrats would have to get a license if they were conducting "a standard raffle where they're buying tickets" in order to win. But under the new rules, supporters don't have to donate money...

The percentage of voters who give Congress good or excellent ratings has fallen to single digits for the first time in Rasmussen Reports tracking history. This month, just 9% say Congress is doing a good or excellent job. Most voters (52%) say Congress is doing a poor job, which ties the record high in that dubious category. Last month, 11% of voters gave the legislature good or excellent ratings. Congress has not received higher than a 15% approval rating since the beginning of 2008. The percentage of Democrats who give Congress positive ratings fell from 17% last month to 13%...

For the first time in recent years Cameron County's Democratic Party may not have a candidate on the ballot for a constable's race in the November general election. Precinct 1 Constable Saul P. Ochoa was to represent the party in the election, but after pleading guilty last month to a charge of distributing marijuana, it knocks him out of the race. The Democratic Party has until Aug. 26 to nominate another candidate in his place. However, with Ochoa's sentencing on the drug charge not scheduled until Sept. 22, this leaves the party without a candidate in this election. "I don't...

Governor will use cornhole to fund campaign Strickland holds games throughout the state and even plays himself By Stephanie Warsmith Beacon Journal staff writer Published on Friday, Jul 04, 2008 Forget the rubber chicken dinners. There's a new game in town: cornhole. And Gov. Ted Strickland has let it be known he will soon hold a cornhole tournament to raise money for his campaign, with regional competitions around Ohio, including one in North Canton. Not familiar with cornhole? It's a bean bag-tossing game that's popular on campuses and at tailgate parties. ''The tournament is a fun way of bringing Ohioans...

Richard Blumenthal and Susan Bysiewicz marched to the VA, ready to break the door down to rescue veterans like Mike Onieal — but found out they may not have needed such a dramatic rescue. The event had all the makings of a perfect photo op: Two of Connecticut’s top Democrats defy President Bush, slam an unconstitutional policy statement and come to the aid of deprived veterans who sacrificed their limbs in the war only to be stripped of their basic rights. The VA, it turns out, does have a voting access problem, but not the one that the top Dems...

Satanic Ritual Sex Crime Leads to Arrest of North Carolina Democratic Activist... "She seemed to be a very open, reasonable, responsible person, but certainly, the allegations that have been made are shocking to everybody who has known her."

Sweetheart mortgage loans to Senators are much in the news of late, with calls for increased scrutiny of the solons' dealings with their mortgage lenders. In this spirit, I took a look at some of the publicly available information on Senator and Mrs. Obama's mortgage, obtained in 2005 when they purchased their mansion in Chicago's upscale Hyde Park district. The Obamas purchased their home with the help of his friend Tony Rezko, recently convicted of a felony. His wife Rita purchased the adjoining lot, the former side yard of the mansion, to seal the deal. According to the mortgage documents...

Republicans are saying Democratic strategist Paul Begala went “over the line” when, in a fundraising appeal, he called the attendees of a GOP fundraiser “dirtbags.” Begala, who worked for Bill Clinton in the White House, discussed the annual Republican President’s Dinner in an e-mail to supporters that seeks to raise funds for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). “You should have seen the joint: wall to wall fat-cats. The limos were lined up around the block. If you’d stood in the middle of the ballroom and yelled, ‘Hey dirtbag!’ a thousand necks would have snapped around,” Begala wrote. The strategist...

Honoring the Red Army of Josef Stalin Posted at 3:12pm on Jun. 30, 2008 Democrat Congressman Tim Mahoney (FL-16): Honoring Those Who Defended the Soviet Union By Jeff Emanuel Tim Mahoney, freshman Democrat Congressman from Florida, really, really loves the troops. Remember last March, when he responded to questions about whether or not the 'surge' in Iraq would work by famously saying "So what"? Well, forget it -- Tim Mahoney loves the troops, and don't you dare think otherwise.He loves them so much that he wants every person in his district to know how much he loves, and honors, the...

Clout and corruption scandals that have plagued Chicago and Illinois politics in recent years have not laid a glove on Barack Obama, he told reporters here Wednesday. "You will recall that for my entire political career here, I was not the the endorsed candidate of any political organization here," the Democratic presidential hopeful said at the Westin Hotel downtown. "I didn't go around wielding a bunch of clout. My reputation in Springfield was as an independent. There is no doubt I had friends and continue to have friends who come out of the more traditional school of Chicago politics but...

For three days, members of the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Miami this weekend shared their problems and successes, heard experts discuss challenges facing them and compiled a list of issues their representatives will take to Washington, D.C., and to state capitols. It so happens that the top representative for the coming year is Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, newly installed as the group's president. As such, he'll be pushing the mayors' agenda in Congress, at the White House and in the federal agencies that interact with city governments. Greener cities It is an ambitious agenda. The Mayors Conference, for...

The US Attorney's office in Boston yesterday brought a raft of criminal charges against the Big Dig's largest contractor, saying it knew that bolts were coming loose in the ceiling of the Interstate 90 tunnel but glossed over the problem until panels came crashing down in 2006, killing motorist Milena Del Valle. The government also accused the company, Modern Continental Corp., of systematically cheating on the bills for labor and materials it submitted. And it said a water-gushing wall breach in 2004 was a result of shoddy concrete workmanship, which it said Modern Continental knew about but ignored. Prosecutors said...

We thought Jessie James rode a horse. But apparently he now sits in a House office building. And instead of robbing banks, he bankrolls robbers. Enter Representative James Clyburn (D-SC), the Majority Whip. He has come under fire in the past week for revelations by The Sun News, based out of Myrtle Beach, that some of his earmarks have directly benefited friends, business associates, political allies, family members—and anybody else he apparently has taken a special liking to. The November 2007 Citizens Against Government Waste “Porker of the Month” winner is at it again. And for this year, he has...

The Chicago press mostly overlooked Obama’s worst scandals, instead griping about the trivial. Chicago papers, radio, and television haven’t been hagiographic in their coverage of local-rising-star-turned-Democratic-nominee Barack Obama. They dug deep into Obama’s real-estate dealings with developer/felon Tony Rezko, and provided gavel-to-gavel coverage of Rezko’s trial. But if one were to assemble a list of the revelations that have most damaged Obama’s efforts to win the presidency, two at or near the top would be the video of Obama’s pastor, Jeremiah Wright; and Obama’s long, working relationship with William Ayers, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and...

The world must embrace a "carbon-neutral lifestyle." So says Al Gore. To do otherwise, he says, will result in a cataclysmic catastrophe. "Humanity is sitting on a ticking time bomb," warns the website for his film, An Inconvenient Truth. "We have just 10 years to avert a major catastrophe that could send our entire planet into a tailspin." Graciously, Gore tells consumers how to change their lives to curb their carbon-gobbling ways: Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs, use a clothesline, drive a hybrid, use renewable energy, dramatically cut back on consumption. Better still, responsible global citizens can follow Gore's...

Two Muslim women at Barack Obama's rally in Detroit Monday were barred from sitting behind the podium by campaign volunteers seeking to prevent the women's headscarves from appearing in photographs or on television with the candidate. The campaign has apologized to the women, all Obama supporters who said they felt betrayed by their treatment at the rally. "This is of course not the policy of the campaign. It is offensive and counter to Obama's commitment to bring Americans together and simply not the kind of campaign we run," said Obama spokesman Bill Burton, who added that the volunteers were acting...

Flider favors recall vote, not impeachmentBy RON INGRAM & MIKE FRAZIER - H&R StaffWriters Monday, June 16, 2008 7:57 AM CDT State Rep. Bob Flider, D-Mount Zion, has voiced frustrations and disagreements with Gov. Rod Blagojevich, but he thinks talk of impeaching the governor is "premature." During a meeting with Herald & Review editors last week, Flider reacted to news reports that House Speaker Michael Madigan had circulated a memo to legislative candidates spelling out how to call for impeachment hearings. The memo provided talking points that compared corruption under Blagojevich's administration with a tumor that must be removed. A...

While liberal journalists have moved on from the Christopher Dodd-Countrywide Financial scandal, questions linger about the sweetheart loans he got in 2003 from Angelo Mozilo. At the time, Mr. Mozilo was chairman and CEO of Countrywide, which would become a leading player in the subprime-mortgage crisis and would benefit greatly if Congress passes Sen. Dodd's lending-industry bailout bill. Does anyone believe Sen. Dodd when he says he and his wife did not "anticipate any special treatment" from Countrywide and were unaware they got it? A senator get treated royally everywhere he goes. He gets his jollies from the rump kissing...

"Subcommittee chairwoman Maxine Waters Monday participates in a congressional panel for an up-close look at the foreclosure crisis in Ohio, June 16, 2008, in Cleveland."

ELYRIA -- Framed posters of Barack Obama, Che Guevara and Henry David Thoreau hang in the office of Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Burge. The judge, who is conducting hearings on the constitutionality of Ohio's method for putting prisoners to death, said he respects those who back up words with action and that Thoreau, the 19th-century philosopher, was his first role model. ''I tend to admire people who in my opinion go beyond their speech -- they actually do what they say,'' Burge said. For Burge, that will mean putting aside personal opinions on the death penalty -- he...

The Obama campaign might want to add another "smear" to their web page: the idea that some Obama backers, at least, have an odd affinity for murderous Communists. It started in Houston, and apparently has spread to Ohio. This photo of an Ohio judge (!) appeared in USA Today this morning:

CHICAGO — James A. Johnson, the consummate Washington insider whom Senator Barack Obama tapped to head his vice-presidential search effort, resigned abruptly on Wednesday to try to silence a growing furor over his business activities. Mr. Johnson’s departure deprives Mr. Obama of decades of experience and access to Washington’s power elite. Mr. Johnson has been a fixture in Washington political and legal circles for three decades, and he led the vice-presidential search team for Senator John Kerry, the Democrats’ presidential nominee in 2004. His resignation, at the start of a general election contest in which the candidates have pledged to...

... McCain's campaign and the Republican National Committee (RNC) fastened on a Wall Street Journal report that said that Jim Johnson, the mortgage executive leading Obama's vice presidential hunt, had received preferential home loans. ... the Republican's chief economic adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin said the reported loans to Johnson from Countrywide Financial raised troubling questions. "And I thought it was remarkable that Senator Obama could talk about housing, talk about ethics, and fail to mention that he entrusted the single most important decision in his campaign, the choice of the vice presidentil running mate, to a gentlemen, Mr. Johnson, who benifitted...

Jane Drury voted last year in an election in Stonington, Conn. The only problem is, she died eight years ago. Her daughter Jane Gumpel thought someone must have goofed. “I was surprised because this is not possible,” she said. But it did happen. The town clerk’s record clearly shows Drury’s vote, marked by a horizontal line poll workers put next to her name. And it turns out, Drury isn’t the only voter to apparently cast a ballot from the grave. [snip] 8,558 deceased people who were still registered on Connecticut’s voter rolls. They discovered more than 300 of them appeared...

Federal agents seized bank statements, tax records and correspondence, and found marijuana during a search at the home of state Sen. Ulysses Currie, according to court documents. The documents show agents found marijuana and "drug packaging materials" in a bag on a dresser and in other bags on the floor of a room in the house last week. * * * Currie, 70, is one of the most influential lawmakers in Maryland. The Democrat leads the budget-writing committee that steers state spending.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- MSNBC pundit Keith Olbermann, who spotlights misbehavior nightly with his "Worst Person in the World" recognition, owes New York state for unpaid business taxes, according to a tax warrant notice. And his conservative counterparts and bloggers are making sure the debt is fodder in the ongoing political commentators' feud. Olbermann, the host of "Countdown," owes New York $2,269.50, according to a tax warrant obtained by The Associated Press. State Tax and Finance Department spokesman Tom Bergin said the debt recorded against the TV host's Olbermann Broadcasting Empire Inc., based in Los Angeles, is still open. MSNBC spokesman...

BOSTON, (AP) -- A Massachusetts state senator recently arrested on charges that he groped and made lewd comments to two women says he will not seek re-election. The Arlington Democrat said in a statement Thursday that he would not seek another term this fall. He spent 17 years in the House before winning a special election in December to fill a vacant seat in the Senate. The 50-year-old Marzilli pleaded not guilty . . .

TROY -- An attorney for U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow's husband objected to a defense attempt to make his client appear at a preliminary court hearing Tuesday for a former Westland woman charged with prostitution. Prosecutors say the senator's husband, Tom Athans, will appear as a prosecution witness if the case goes to trial; they agreed he shouldn't have to testify before that. Alycia L. Martin, 21, is accused taking $150 from Athans, 47, for sex at the Residence Inn on Livernois in Troy on Feb. 26. Martin's attorney, Frank Cusumano, Jr., attempted to subpoena Athans to appear at an evidentiary...

In yet another in the series of "guess the missing party label" we once again present the case of imprisoned former Broward County (FL) sheriff, Ken Jenne. As we have seen before, the South Florida news media is extremely reluctant to apply a party label to the disgraced Jenne, who was convicted of mail fraud and tax evasion while in office, despite the fact that the Broward sheriff  office is most most important political post in the county. A hint as to what  is Jenne's political label is the fact that if he had been a Republican, we would have seen that fact...

OBAMA hijacks Media at exact point millions would be waiting for WALLACE SPECIAL ON CONGRESS USE OF EARMARKS ON FOX NEWS. What is wrong with the news media that they allow a CANDIDATE for a Nomination, and NOT a PRESIDENT to hijack their news media channel when millions are wanting to see the illegal use of their tax dollars for EARMARKS that benefit congressmen/women. Now people had prepared for 8 PM to hear Wallace Special, so OBAMA picks that very time to make a statement about resigning his church...THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS to give Obama an advantage to the viewers at...

A federal judge has refused to dismiss bribery charges against Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.). Jefferson is accused of orchestrating a complicated, and multi-layered scheme to receive bribes from companies seeking business in Western Africa. Proving bribery against a lawmaker is difficult because prosecutors must show that the defendant provided an “official act” such as a voting a certain way or sponsoring legislation in return for money or items he received. His lawyers argued that Jefferson didn’t do anything in his capacity as a congressman that could be considered a bribe. U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III turned that legal...

Detroit Mayor Vetoes Resolution to Impeach Him Wednesday, May 28, 2008 DETROIT — Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has vetoed the City Council's resolution asking Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to remove him from office.

EAGAN, Minn. — On a laptop at a kitchen table in this cheery Twin Cities suburb, headlines ripping into Al Franken ... are written up day after day for Minnesota Democrats Exposed, a political blog created by a former Republican Party researcher. * * * But Minnesota Democrats Exposed has dealt several blows to Mr. Franken’s campaign lately: revelations that he owed $25,000 to the State of New York for failing to pay workers’ compensation insurance and that his corporation was in forfeiture in California. With only weeks until the state Democratic Party’s convention, where Mr. Franken is expected to...

Extreme lefty Senator Lautenberg changes his commercial. The original attacks "big Oil" for wanting to drill off New Jerseys Coast. I guess now with $4 gas, he realizes that the public may like that idea. Api remains a pig!!!! the original: http://www.lautenbergfornj.com/multimedia/video?id=0005

City Hall Reporter One set of rules for aldermen, one set for rest of us, he says Fraternal Order of Police President Mark Donahue today decried the "double standard" that prompted Mayor Daley to endorse the idea of temporarily re-opening gun registration in Chicago after a request from Ald. Richard Mell (33rd). "We have retired police officers who have a right to carry concealed weapons across the country, and they're being barred from registering their weapons in Chicago. We've taken one of these cases to Circuit Court. Dick Mell has taken his case to the City Council," the union president...

Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) has been a fairly undistinguished member of the House of Representatives for nearly a quarter of a century. He is a career member of the Financial Services Committee who has made little or no name for himself since his first electoral victory, and has maintained incumbency through the funneling of pork back to his district. Even his Wikipedia entry says that Kanjorski "usually plays behind-the-scenes roles in the advocacy or defeat of legislation and steers appropriations money toward improving the infrastructure and economic needs of his district." “But [in] the temptation to want to win back...

US Rep. James McGovern (D-Mass) was offering the Marxist FARC terrorists assistance in undermining the Colombian government. This information was discovered on the computer of FARC rebel leader Raul Reyes after his death in March at an Ecuadorean FARC camp.Last week Interpol confirmed the the computers were not tampered with or manufactured by the Colombian government.Interpol confirmed that documents on the captured computer of FARC leader had not been manufactured by the Colombian government. One of the documents shows that US Congressman James McGovern (D., Mass.) (pictured), a leading opponent of the Colombia free-trade deal has been working with...

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio's attorney general has resigned amid the scandal of a sexual harassment investigation in his office and his extramarital affair. Marc Dann has been under pressure of possible impeachment and announced he was stepping down on Wednesday. The 46-year-old Democrat at first refused to resign, despite demands by Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland and others within his party. Dann admitted May 2 to an extramarital affair with an employee that he said contributed to an atmosphere leading to sexual harassment claims against a top aide. Three aides were forced out in the harassment investigation, which showed managers encouraged...

A federal jury has found Los Angeles private detective Anthony Pellicano guilty of racketeering and conspiracy. The verdict, which could mean a penalty of eight to 10 years in federal prison, effectively brings to a close the career of the most infamous private eye in Los Angeles -- a man who insinuated himself into the loftiest legal and entertainment circles in town and even consulted on law enforcement cases, until he became the subject of one. Pellicano sat grinning and looking around room before the verdicts were read. But when he realized the jury had found him guilty, he crossed...

DNC Superdelegate Puts His Vote Up For Sale Steven Ybarra Wants $20 Million For His Vote SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CBS13) ― In this tight battle for the Democratic nomination we've heard a lot about the candidates courting superdelegates. But, one superdelegate is courting the candidates. He says he'll sell his vote for a price. A very high price: $20 million. Steven Ybarra of Sacramento says that eight-figure price is peanuts for the presidency.

... Only you can do that. You know how important this is! I know I don’t have to ask, but I will one last time – please join us tomorrow. Call in sick if you have to and help us all day by canvassing or offering rides to the polls. ...

Sen. Barack Obama won the endorsement of the Teamsters earlier this year after privately telling the union he supported ending the strict federal oversight imposed to root out corruption, according to officials from the union and the Obama campaign. It's an unusual stance for a presidential candidate. Policy makers have largely treated monitoring of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters as a legal matter left to the Justice Department since an independent review board was set up in 1992 to eliminate mob influence in the union.

Senate candidate Al Franken wants to talk about jobs, health care and global warming. Republican blogger Michael Brodkorb wants to talk about Franken's failure to pay all his income taxes on time. Guess what everyone is talking about? From the kitchen table in his tranquil suburban neighborhood, Brodkorb for the last year has used his blog "Minnesota Democrats Exposed" to launch a furious political assault on Franken. He's labeled the former comedian and liberal commentator a "mean-spirited and un-Minnesotan" candidate who's running a "desperate and ridiculous" campaign. That's routine stuff in the world of political blogging, but in the last...

ADMITTED TO AFFAIRS BEFORE PROBE Associated Press May 2, 2008 -- Gov. David Paterson said Friday that he admitted past marital affairs in part because he feared an "out-of-control" element in the state police that he says was investigating politicians. The Democrat, who took office in March after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer amid a prostitution scandal, had already called for an investigation into lawmakers' claims that a state police unit was keeping tabs on elected officials. At that time, though, he wouldn't say if he believed there was such a unit and the state police union said it doubted...

"Senate President Pro Tem Sen. Robert Byrd., D-W.Va., talks with Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 30, 2008, following Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern's address to a joint meeting of Congress.""House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., hands Senate President Pro Tem Sen. Robert Byrd., D-W.Va., a gavel on Capitol Hill in Washington.""Senate President Pro Tem Sen. Robert Byrd., D-W.Va., talks with Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., on Capitol Hill in Washington."

Part 1 In just one year. Remember the election in 2006? Thought you might like to read the following: A little over one year ago: 1) Consumer confidence stood at a 2 1/2 year high; 2) Regular gasoline sold for $2.19 a gallon; 3) The unemployment rate was 4.5%. Since voting in a Democratic Congress in 2006 we have seen: 1) Consumer confidence plummet; 2) The cost of regular gasoline soar to over $3.50 a gallon; 3) Unemployment is up to 5% (a 10% increase); 4) American households have seen $2.3 trillion in equity value evaporate (stock and mutual fund...

Citing numerous instances of professional misconduct, the State Bar of Texas this month suspended local civil rights attorney James Myart Jr., a once acid-tongued critic of law enforcement who in recent months has fallen conspicuously silent. The three-year suspension, beginning May 1, will commence about three weeks before Myart, 54, is scheduled to face trial in state district court on an unrelated charge of aggravated perjury. On Oct. 31, he'll be placed on probation for 30 months. Myart agreed April 1 to the judgment, which marks the fourth time in less than a decade that the association has sanctioned the...

BEIJING, April 12 (Xinhua) -- If an opinion poll were to be carried out on the Internet in China to choose the most disgusting figure, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would probably be on top of the list, as she confused right with wrong on the issue of Tibet, held double standards to interfere in China's internal affairs, hurt the feelings of the Chinese people and impaired China-U.S. relations. The fact that Pelosi is detested by the Chinese people is closely connected with her recent move to clamor for "Tibet independence" and instigate "boycotting the Olympic Games".

A Gannett New Jersey study finds the number of government employees with two or more public jobs that paid more than $100,000 together swelled by 20 percent last year. Those multiple job holders had a collective salary of $107.8 million. My colleague James W. Prado Roberts reports there were 6,271 multiple job holders including one woman who had 12 jobs. Sen. Stephen Sweeney asks "Is it really right for part-time workers to be in the pension system?" Does the question really have to be asked? To take a look at the double-dippers click here.... http://php.app.com/NJpublicemployees/results2.php

Fourteen months into a campaign that has the feel of a movement, Sen. Barack Obama has collided with the gritty political traditions of Philadelphia, where ward bosses love their candidates, but also expect them to pay up. The dispute centers on the dispensing of "street money," a long-standing Philadelphia ritual in which candidates deliver cash to the city's Democratic operatives in return for getting out the vote. Flush with payments from well-funded campaigns, the ward leaders and Democratic Party bosses typically spread out the cash in the days before the election, handing $10, $20 and $50 bills to the foot...