Free Republic

When celebrity chef Paula Deen met with Michelle Obama, she was surprised at just how much food the first lady could put away. Mrs. Obama has become a driving force in preaching healthy eating for others, but according to the newspaper, Deen recalls, she packed away anything but healthy food -- both on the air and during the commercials. “She probably ate more than any other guest I've ever had on the show!" said Deen, sometimes called the "Queen of Butter" for her decidedly non-dietetic fare. According to the Food Network star, after complimenting Michelle on her slim figure, she...

“You got me!” That’s how Massachusetts Gov. Duval Patrick reacted after local news station WBZ-TV caught Patrick driving in his SUV during “car-free week” — a green initiative launched by the governor himself. “Look, it’s a great initiative for people who can make the most of it,” he told reporters. “I hope they will and I hope during the course of the week to make the most of it, too.” But he also tried to make light of the situation while quipping, “I carpooled this morning with my trooper. We both had to come together.” But some local residents aren’t...

In dealing with the press, Mayor Rahm Emanuel often tries to emulate his former boss, President Barack Obama. But Emanuel can’t match Obama’s calm demeanor. In fact Emanuel’s temper can get the best of him. I found out yesterday when I asked him a question about where his children would go to school, and he let his famous temper emerge. For some background, I had the chance to ask Barack Obama a similar question in 2008, just after he had won election and was transitioning to the White House. Since the president had sent his own children – Malia and...

It’s a general rule of thumb that whenever a politician says something negative about their opposition, they better not be guilty of the same thing, otherwise they would end up looking incredibly foolish. The latest pol to suffer from this is Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Since she began her tenure as head of the DNC, Wasserman Schultz has gone on the offensive against the Republicans. She accused the GOP of “waging war on the unemployed” and slammed their budget proposal as a “path to poverty.” But her latest attack on the opposition backfired in a major way....

Michelle Obama Cartoon: First Lady Drawn As Fat, Binging On Burgers. Presidential First Lady, Michelle Obama has been pegged as a gluttonous, portly hypocrite in a cartoon drawing posted on Biggovernment.com One year ago, Mrs. Obama initiated her "Let's Move!" campaign to thwart childhood obesity by stressing the importance of activity and nutritious eating in young adults. The problem is she has been caught on camera more than once eating foods that contradict her movement. Couple that with the recent revealing of the fatty foods served at The White House's Super Bowl party and Conservatives are having a field day...

Seniors should be older before the receive Social Security and wealthy Americans should receive less benefits across the board, says Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. He made the argument in an interview on Sunday's Meet the Press, but it's a position Graham has advocated for on the stump in South Carolina, including a 2009 stop at The Citadel with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. "What I'm going to do is challenge this country to make some hard decisions," Graham said at the time, telling the crowd of cadets, Tea Partiers, and Graham supporters that they shouldn't give Congress a pass on the...

Obama's 'Beast' Creates Stir at NATO Green Summit (Nov. 20) -- World leaders attending the NATO summit in Lisbon, Portugal, zipped around in zero-emission electric vehicles. Journalists covering the event hopped aboard electric buses to get from venue to venue. And President Barack Obama's eight-ton, diesel-fueled armored limousine dubbed "the Beast" drew even more attention than usual. Lisbon newspapers dedicated pages of coverage to the vehicle, with charts featuring every detail that the Secret Service is willing to divulge -- like the special foam in the gas tank to extinguish any fire from a direct hit, and the supply of...

Al Gore -- He did it again. Recently, Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore toured again. Or maybe he does that all the time. This time, he turned up in Gothenburg (Sweden) for the usual alarmist talk. In advance, all distinguished guests were politely advised to – if possible – use any form of public transportation to go to the event, in order to minimize CO2 emissions. Intriguingly, the Master of World Climate himself arrived in a rental car (with or without driver is unclear), from the airport, and subsequently left the engine running for the entire lecture. That is...

Check out today’s ad in The New York Times by the civil rights leader Kevin P. Chavous, chairman of the Black Alliance for Educational Options, condemning President Obama for his failure to support school choice nationwide. (The alliance advocates for vouchers and is supported by several pro school choice foundations, including the Walton Family Foundation.) Chavous asks President Obama to endorse school vouchers, saying that the president himself attended the most elite school in Hawaii because of scholarships. At the risk of being pilloried, I have to point out that the evidence is not strong that vouchers have dramatically improved...

A contagious virus may be linked to childhood obesity according to a University of California study. The study showed that majority of the children who tested positive for adenovirus 36, also known as AD36, were obese. Relatedly, First Lady Michelle Obama has pleaded with restaurants to take an active stance against childhood obesity by rethinking the food they offered and using low fat alternatives in their menus. The study conducted by Dr. Jeffrey Schwimmer, principal author of the study and an associate professor of clinical pediatrics, looked for evidence of adenovirus 36 in 124 children ages 8 to 18. The...

Summary: Barack and Michelle Obama are entitled to vacations, but they are not King, Queen or royalty such as the King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain. The Obamas should remember that US families are suffering from the horrible economy. The last time I checked, the United States of America was a constitutional republic with three co-equal branches of government. Obviously, the President and his wife missed civics class and believe we are living in a monarchy. What else can explain their outrageous behavior? They think they are the King and Queen of America, to hell with the U.S....

Sacrifice is something that many Americans are becoming all too familiar with during this economic downturn. It was a key theme in President Obama's inaugural address to the nation, and he's referenced it numerous times when lecturing the country on how to get back on its feet. But while most of the country is pinching pennies and downsizing summer sojourns - or forgoing them altogether - the Obamas don't seem to be heeding their own advice. While many of us are struggling, the First Lady is spending the next few days in a five-star hotel on the chic Costa del...

The saga of Senator John Kerry's $ 7 million sailing yacht tied up on the Newport waterfront in the tax haven of Rhode Island proved again how adept Democrats are at spending other people's money. This time the $7 million was presumably spent from his wife's inherited fortune. But the larger story here isn't about tax havens. And it isn't about hypocrisy. And it's far less about trophy wives with trust funds. It's not even about being a lifelong leech working in government jobs sucking the blood out of beleaguered taxpayers. It's about the increasing distance and disconnects between the...

First Lady Michelle Obama told the NAACP to move past the slavery narrative because something else is harming minority children more than Jim Crow. That threat is obesity. Obama is right. We’re decades beyond slavery and Jim Crow. This is not to say that those issues are not important because they are. Knowing one’s history helps one to better focus on the future, but holding on to the past and expecting reparations in some way, shape or form is hoping for that pie in the sky. Minorities may not be able to control how certain people may judge us but...

(FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - There are new details in the controversy over Sen. John Kerry's brand new boat. Kerry may still be on the hook for a half million dollars in excise taxes because he docked his yacht in Massachusetts less than six months after buying it.

Senator Kerry, do you hate the poor in Massachusetts? You may not have earned your incredible wealth from your own personal works, but you have proudly voted to raise taxes in Congress every time the opportunity presents itself. I thought surely a man of honorable military integrity would live by his word and pay his fair share in taxes when selling his 76 foot luxury yacht. However, I was distraught to read on the Boston Herald that you skipped town to avoid paying a six-figure state “sails tax”: "Sen. John Kerry, who has repeatedly voted to raise taxes while in...

This is rich. Or should I say for the rich, whom John Kerry likes to denigrate at every turn. After running on eliminating outsourcing and abolishing tax havens, we have this: "Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry is docking his family's new $7 million yacht in neighboring Rhode Island, allowing him to avoid paying roughly $500,000 in taxes to the cash-strapped Bay State. If the "Isabel" were kept at the 2008 Democratic presidential nominee's summer vacation home on Nantucket, or in Boston Harbor near his city residence, he would be liable for $437,500 in one-time sales tax. He would also have to...

BOSTON – Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry is docking his family's new $7 million yacht in neighboring Rhode Island, allowing him to avoid paying roughly $500,000 in taxes to the cash-strapped Bay State. If the "Isabel" were kept at the 2008 Democratic presidential nominee's summer vacation home on Nantucket, or in Boston Harbor near his city residence, he would be liable for $437,500 in one-time sales tax. He would also have to pay $70,000 in annual excise taxes. Rhode Island repealed those taxes in 1993. That has made the state something of a nautical tax haven.

BERKELEY — A city official who sits on Berkeley's Zoning Adjustments Board resigned from the panel Wednesday evening amid criticism over work he did at his home without permits. Ryan Lau, who also is an aide to Berkeley City Councilman Darryl Moore and was appointed by Moore to the zoning board in January, sent Moore an e-mail explaining his decision, which was effective immediately. "I apologize for any embarrassment that I may have caused to you and the city," Lau said. "I am in the process of working with the city's planning department to resolve this matter." Lau said he...

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama's choice for a top job with the Treasury Department is having tax problems. A congressional report says Obama's nominee for undersecretary of the Treasury for international affairs, Lael Brainard, was late in paying real estate taxes in 2005, 2006 and 2007. The report by the Senate Finance Committee staff also challenges the accuracy of a deduction Brainard claimed for running an office from her home. The challenge led Brainard to reduce the deduction on her 2008 return. The committee's top Republican is unhappy that the committee staff had to submit 10 sets of questions...