Free Republic

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Eleven months before crucial midterm elections, a new national poll indicates that the public is divided over whether the country would be better off with Democrats or Republicans controlling Congress. According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Thursday, 40 percent of people questioned say the U.S. would be better off if Democrats ran Congress; 39 percent feel things would be better if Republicans took charge on Capitol Hill. The one point margin for Democrats is a statistical tie, and it's a big drop from a 10 point advantage in August and a 25 point margin in...

Seventy-one percent (71%) of voters nationwide say they’re at least somewhat angry about the current policies of the federal government. That figure includes 46% who are Very Angry. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only 27% are not angry about the government's policies, including 10% who are Not at All Angry........ The data suggests that the level of anger is growing. The 71% who are angry at federal government policies today is up five percentage points since September. Even more stunning, the 46% who are Very Angry is up 10 percentage points from September.

In a bold but risky year-end strategy, Democrats are preparing to raise the federal debt ceiling by as much as $1.8 trillion before New Year’s rather than have to face the issue again prior to the 2010 elections. “We’ve incurred this debt. We have to pay our bills,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told POLITICO Wednesday. And the Maryland Democrat confirmed that the anticipated increase could be as high as $1.8 trillion — nearly twice what had been assumed in last spring’s budget resolution for the 2010 fiscal year.

Via the New York Sun: A surprising thing is taking place as Sarah Palin starts speaking out on the issues in recent speeches, internet postings, and in the book tour she is now undertaking for her memoir “Going Rogue.” An outline is starting to appear in respect of the substance of her world view — call it “Palinism” — and it is far more substantive than her detractors suggest or than we gained a glimpse of during the campaign. She has been, in a straightforward way, stepping up on certain issues that her fellow Republicans would do well to emulate....

The deliberate setup for the White House power grab is built into the each of the health care bills and, if they fail, little-known twin bills called “MedPAC Reform of 2009” are waiting in the wings. The bills, S.B. 1110 and H.R. 2718, craftily amend the Social Security Act and transfer the Medicare guideline and rule setting processes, from the legislative branch to the executive branch. These bills offer cover to one another in case one doesn’t pass the House or Senate, respectively. Remember, Democrats need to gain executive branch authority by amending the Social Security Act over Medicare regulations...

With the publication of damaging e-mails from a climate research center in Britain, the radical environmental movement appears to face a tipping point. The revelation of appalling actions by so-called climate change experts allows the American public to finally understand the concerns so many of us have articulated on this issue. “Climate-gate,” as the e-mails and other documents from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia have become known, exposes a highly politicized scientific circle -- the same circle whose work underlies efforts at the Copenhagen climate change conference. The agenda-driven policies being pushed in Copenhagen won’t...

OSLO (AFP) – A majority of Norwegians consider "impolite" US President Barack Obama's decision to snub parts of the official Nobel Peace Prize programme in Oslo this week, a poll showed on Wednesday. Obama, who will formally receive the award at a ceremony at Oslo's City Hall on Thursday, will limit his attendance at the normally-scheduled events to a strict minimum. Faced with two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the fallout of the economic crisis, the US leader has declined the traditional lunch with the king of Norway, and, unlike previous laureates, will not hold a press conference nor...

Obama is so transparent, petty and small, he is an embarrassment. O's latest Chicago way payback? He has nominated Larry Persily, who writes hit pieces on Palin for the Puff Ho, got that? Obama defines the hatred of the good for being the good. You go Sarah. W'vee got your back. Obama nominates former Palin aide to pipeline job [note lefturd Reuters headline -- as if he was part of her camp /not] WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama nominated Larry Persily, a former aide to ex-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, on Wednesday to be federal coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas...

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Wednesday moved to extend the government's $700 billion bailout fund into October 2010 and pledged to deploy no more than $550 billion of it. Geithner, in letters to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, said the extension of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) until Oct 3, 2010, would allow the Obama administration to use bailout funds to fight home foreclosures and boost small business lending.

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, frustrated by the Justice Department's failure to explain the dismissal of charges against New Black Panther Party members who disrupted a Philadelphia polling place during last year's elections, has subpoenaed the department demanding records showing how the case was handled. David P. Blackwood, the commission's general counsel, said Tuesday in a letter to the Justice Department that efforts since June to obtain an explanation had proceeded "without any success" and the "dearth of cooperation" had prompted the commission to issue subpoenas. "We are both mindful of the sensitivity of the subject matter involved and...

Kevin Jennings, Safe Schools Czar, Homosexuality, and the Obama administration Kevin Jennings, the appointed "Safe School" Czar by the Obama administration, has a depraved, sick, and perverted sense of safety in American schools. The organization he directed for many years, the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network was designed to attract otherwise "straight" children and recruit them into the Gay Lesbian lifestyle. Jennings became the "Safe School" Czar after holding the position of Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual fund-raising co-chair in the Obama campaign. In a 1990 "report" for the Massachusetts Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, Jennings is the individual who proposed taking...

Treasury Department Releases Text of Letter from Secretary Geithner to Hill Leadership on Administration’s Exit Strategy for TARP WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury released the text of identical letters sent today from Secretary Tim Geithner to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Harry Reid outlining the Administration's exit strategy for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) established by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA). The text of the letter to Speaker Pelosi follows. December 9, 2009 The Honorable Nancy Pelosi Speaker U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 Dear Madam Speaker: I am writing to update...

The second leg of Quinnipiac's big national poll dropped this morning -- and it shows a serious erosion of support for Congressional health reform efforts and the president's performance on the issue -- along with an all-time low 46 percent approval rating for the POTUS. Most ominously for Dems: Nearly two-thirds of registered voters polled said extending coverage to 30 million-plus people will result in a decline in the quality of their own health care. That gives plenty of room to the GOP to personalize attacks on the plan, Obama and Congress. The lowlights for Dems: --O approval/disapproval: 46/44 percent....

The majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, refused on Tuesday night to provide any details about the preliminary agreement among a group of 10 Democratic senators to resolve a bitter dispute over a proposed government-run insurance plan, or “public option.” But in a brief interview as he climbed into his black S.U.V. to head home for the night, Mr. Reid insisted that the proposal could unify his caucus, even as he acknowledged that most Senate Democrats had not seen it yet.

It’s not uncommon for people convicted of crimes to proclaim their innocence. Most deserve to be ignored, but not Army Ranger 1st Lt. Michael Behenna. On July 31, 2008, Lieutenant Behenna was charged with the premeditated murder of Ali Mansur, a known Al-Qaeda operative operating in the area of Albu Toma, north of Baghdad. Seven months later, the 26 -year-old leader of the 18-member Delta Company, 5th platoon of the Army 101st Airborne Infantry Division, was sentenced to 25 years confinement at Fort Leavenworth after being convicted by a military court-martial panel of unpremeditated murder in violation of Article 118...

Being a member of Congress rates as the least ethical and honest professions – faring worse than car salesmen by 4 percent – according to a new Gallup poll out Wednesday.

Congress has, in their beneficence, decided that there will be no cost of living raise in 2010 for social security recipients. Congress and the Senate on the other hand will receive a $4,700.00 cost of living allowance or whatever you want to call it in 2010. The really dastardly part of it is that they have it fixed so that it is automatic and they, claiming plausible deniability, can say I didn’t vote for it. A lot of people have been crying for relief from these parasites for a long time and the numbers are growing daily. This is just...

We had frigid weather and several inches of Goreflakes on the ground here in Colorado Springs, but Sarah Palin lit up the town for a Borders signing earlier this evening that drew yet another massive crowd on her nationwide “Going Rogue” book tour. My family and I had the great honor and pleasure of meeting the governor, her husband Todd, adorable baby Trig, her lovely parents, relatives, and friends from near and far. Sarah’s energy is boundless and her ability to connect is unparalleled with any public figure I’ve met in covering politics over the last 17 years. I spoke,...

With the publication of damaging e-mails from a climate research center in Britain, the radical environmental movement appears to face a tipping point. The revelation of appalling actions by so-called climate change experts allows the American public to finally understand the concerns so many of us have articulated on this issue. "Climate-gate," as the e-mails and other documents from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia have become known, exposes a highly politicized scientific circle -- the same circle whose work underlies efforts at the Copenhagen climate change conference. The agenda-driven policies being pushed in Copenhagen won't...

Republican Jimmy Higdon has won today’s special election for the 14th state Senate District seat, the Lexington Herald-Leader is reporting. The newspaper says Democrat Jodie Haydon, who was backed by the thoroughbred horse industry, called to concede. (Here are the results by county.) The win deals Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear a major blow in his bid to pave the way for legislation to allow video lottery terminals at racetracks, which passed the Democrat-controlled House during June’s special legislative session but died in committee in the Republican controlled Senate. With tonight’s election, Republicans hold a two-seat majority in the Senate heading...

Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, look what the pollsters just brought in. A pair of new surveys revealing that Democrat President Obama is still declining and has hit a new low in job approval among Americans just 56 weeks after they elected him with a decided margin. And -- wait for it -- Republican Sarah Palin is successfully selling a whole lot more than books out there on the road. Even among those not lining up in 10-degree weather to catch a glimpse of pretty much the only political celebrity the GOP has these days. First, el jefe. Facing double-digit unemployment, rising...

Outgoing Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, recently told participants at the 11th annual American Democracy Conference in Charlottesville that the "corrosive" Tea Party movement was "devouring" the Republican Party. A recent Rasmussen poll, which found "Tea Party" more popular than the GOP, seemed to confirm Kaine's point. The growing grass-roots movement will indeed destroy the political careers of many politicians who fail to heed the warning it delivered Sept. 12, when 1.7 million angry voters (according to a crowd estimate by Zac Moilanen of Indiana University) descended on Washington to say they were totally fed...

John McCain’s choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate is sitting very well with a lot of American voters, according to the latest FOX News poll. The new survey also shows that—among all four candidates running—Palin (at 33 percent) is seen as most likely to understand “the problems of everyday life”—barely outpacing Barack Obama (32 percent), and finishing significantly ahead of both McCain (17 percent) and Joe Biden (10 percent). Among independent voters, Palin’s lead over Obama on this score widens to 13 points (35 percent to 22 percent). -——snip-——A solid majority of voters (54 percent) say...

A new Rasmussen poll finds that the tea party movement's popularity is growing, so much so that it garners more support than the Republican party on a generic Congressional ballot. The poll hints that the burgeoning discontent among conservatives within the GOP threatens to splinter the party at a time when the popularity of President Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress are waning as we head into an election year.

LOS ANGELES (PIO) -- This past week, all across America -- from Marietta, Georgia to Davenport, Iowa to Beverly Hills, California -- sightings of the newest poster featuring President Barack Obama have been made. Simultaneously, many have become convinced that the poster's inscrutable label, TWAP, stands for The Worst American President. In what may well be an ominous sign for President Obama, the posters have appeared on many unleased stores, highlighting the devastating effect the recession has had on commercial real estate and small businesses across the country, the sector which most often leads the way out of bad economic...

In my piece about Randall Terry’s Tea Party-driven comeback, I broke the news that Terry’s activists were going to mount congressional campaigns in 2010 for the express purpose of putting anti-abortion rights TV ads on the air inside the beltway. Along those same lines, the persistent Obama conspiracy figure Larry Sinclair — a felon who managed to get 1 million YouTube viewers to watch a video about his off-the-wall sex and drugs allegations about the president — has transitioned into a run for Congress in Florida’s 24th district, a swing seat that elected a Democrat in 2008. I found out...

Today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid showed his fear of losing the health care vote. He let go an outburst that was as offense as it was historically inaccurate: Instead of joining us on the right side of history, all the Republicans can come up with is this:, 'slow down, stop everything, let's start over.' If you think you've heard these same excuses before, you're right. When this country belatedly recognized the wrongs of slavery, there were those who dug in their heels and said, 'Slow down, it's too early, let's wait, things aren't bad enough.' When women spoke up...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took his GOP-blasting rhetoric to a new level Monday, comparing Republicans who oppose health care reform to lawmakers who clung to the institution of slavery more than a century ago. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took his GOP-blasting rhetoric to a new level Monday, comparing Republicans who oppose health care reform to lawmakers who clung to the institution of slavery more than a century ago. The Nevada Democrat, in a sweeping set of accusations on the Senate floor, also compared health care foes to those who opposed women's suffrage and the civil rights movement. "Instead...

"The stunning Rasmussen Poll showing the Republican Party finishing a decided third to a hypothetical 'Tea Party' candidate should send shock waves through the GOP. It demonstrates once again that the timid, tepid Republican leadership is leading its party to the brink of disaster. Tens of millions of Americans are looking for strong leadership to stand up to the Obama-Reid-Pelosi leftwing onslaught. Instead, the Republican Party is giving them the same shilly-shally two-step that cost it a majority in Congress, and the Oval Office. Looks like the American people are telling the GOP in no uncertain terms, 'Lead, follow --...

Tuesday, Dec 8, is the primary election for the US Senate seat, formerly held by Ted Kennedy. There are contested elections for both the Democrat and Republican candidates. The general election will be on January 19. The seat is currently held by Kennedy's former aide, Paul Kirk, who was appointed by the governor after well-publicized (and pretty sleazy) vote by the Legislature to have an interim appointee because of their fear that a vote on the Obama health care package might come up before a special election could be held. We were going to wait until the general election in...

When spontaneous street demonstrations broke out following the fraudulent Iranian presidential election last June, the Mullah’s lost no time in unleashing the security forces and their allied militias upon the protesters. Scores were killed, and images of the carnage made the rounds of YouTube and other outlets.

Cap and trade legislation may be one of the biggest issues facing the oil and gas industry according to Dr. Daniel Fine, Associate of Policy, Strategy and Development at New Mexico Tech. He also serves on the New Mexico Center for Energy Policy which is hosting the presentation by former Shell Oil executive, John Hofmeister tonight. “What is the purpose to cap and trade?” asks Fine. “Is the purpose to raise revenue? Is the purpose to lower CO2? Or both?” The bill (Waxman-Markey) coming out of the U.S. House of Representatives claims both purposes without a clear policy declaration.

History's most notorious Georgian-turned-Russian, the politically astute Joseph Stalin once remarked, "The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything." The lesson has not been lost on the increasingly notorious Hungarian-cum-American George Soros. A group backed by Soros is gearing up to steal the 2012 election for President Obama and congressional Democrats by installing left-wing Democrats as secretaries of state across the nation. From such posts, secretaries of state can help tilt the electoral playing field. This is, of course, the same Soros, the same hyperpolitical left-wing philanthropist who makes no secret of...

DALLAS (AP) - The U.S. Justice Department made the right call in dismissing a voter intimidation lawsuit against the New Black Panther Party and recent questions about that ruling are a "political witch hunt" to discredit Attorney General Eric Holder, the party's leader said this week. Malik Zulu Shabazz, national chairman of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, told The Associated Press the civil lawsuit filed by the federal government had "no merit" because the party doesn't condone voter intimidation. Shabazz said he was speaking publicly about the issue for the first time because he wanted to set the...

A new poll suggests even more trouble for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in his home state. Only 38 percent of the 625 registered Nevada voters polled had a favorable opinion of Reid in the poll released by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research that was commissioned by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Forty-nine percent of respondents had an unfavorable opinion of Reid in the poll with 13 percent remaining neutral. The results follow an aggressive early advertising campaign by Reid.

Scott Baker from Breitbart-TV.com and Co-Host of ‘The B-Cast‘ submitted this shocking report today on Obama’s deviant Safe Schools Czar Kevin Jennings. —-Warning on Content—– I was recently approached by a team of independent researchers that I have known for some time and have come to trust. They prepared this report involving ‘Safe Schools Czar’ Kevin Jennings and the organization he founded, GLSEN, and asked that I find a way to help draw attention to what they uncovered. Knowing that Gateway Pundit has followed Kevin Jennings since his appointment, as we have on The B-Cast (here, here, and here), and...

"SEIU is the largest union of immigrant workers in the country..."

"The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything." Joseph Stalin It was reminiscent of one of those Halloween or Freddie Kruger Movies. Just when a victim thinks are safe behind a closed door the find out they they have locked themselves in a room with the monster. And that's just what happened to Norm Coleman and the GOP in Minnesota this past election. The "Monster" is Minneapolis Secretary of State Mark Ritchie. Like most Secretary of States, one of Richie's responsibilities is counting a confirming the votes. Richie a former Community Organizer,...

Voters have every right to ask candidates for information if they so choose. I’ve pointed out that it was seemingly fair game during the 2008 election for many on the left to badger my doctor and lawyer for proof that Trig is in fact my child. Conspiracy-minded reporters and voters had a right to ask... which they have repeatedly. But at no point – not during the campaign, and not during recent interviews – have I asked the president to produce his birth certificate or suggested that he was not born in the United States.

Sarah Palin, everyone's favorite Christian conservative hockey mom turned ex-Governor of Alaska, is headed to the Dallas-Fort Worth area for a book signing event in Plano. This is the only book signing scheduled for North Texas to promote Sarah's new book "Going Rogue - An American Life." And which lucky store gets the honor? Legacy Books, a massive three-level 24,000 sq. foot independently owned bookstore located at 7300 Dallas Parkway, Plano, TX 75024. Legacy Book's website states: "Tickets to Sarah Palin's GOING ROGUE book signing at Legacy Books sold out completely in November in just two days ... Access to...

As Sarah Palin begins what at least appears to be a testing—if not a parting—of the waters in anticipation of a potential presidential run, she has waded into the murky stuff that is the Israel/Palestine quagmire. One of the stops on her “Going Rogue” book promotional tour last week was ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Noting that the Obama administration doesn’t want Israel to build any more settlements on what it considers Palestinian territory, interviewer Barbara Walters asked the former Alaska governor/Vice Presidential candidate for her view. Palin’s response. The politician responded, “I disagree with the Obama administration on that. I...

Just about every blockbuster movie is followed by a sequel, or two. The tea party cross country caravan, it appears, is no different. A Tea Party Express official tells CNN that they're planning a third national tour in late March and early April that will culminate in the nation's capitol on April 15, tax deadline day. Levi Russell, a spokesman for the group, which is organized by the conservative political action committee Our Country Deserves Better, says the slogan for the tour is "just vote them out." Russell says that with the crucial 2010 midterm elections just months away, the...

When I completed the journey that is Going Rogue, I wrote down five things: –She is a positive role model for all Americans –She is an executive, takes on hard problems and makes tough decisions –She has tremendous energy, balance and intellect –America shafted itself in this last election –Alaska is lucky to have her Oh, and a sixth, Sarah Palin could be the next president of the United States.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a darling of the Tea Party crowd, credited that movement with blocking Democratic health care reform efforts and predicted the conservative activists behind the movement could ultimately thwart the passage of that bill and others.. "The only reason we don't have national health care right now is you - is the people outside of Washington," DeMint told a gathering of Tea Party activists gathered Wednesday night in Washington for the premiere of a documentary about the movement. "I think we do have a shot at stopping this thing," he said of the health care reform bill...

Conservatives are feeling their oats right now. Yet we should beware. Overconfidence is a real danger to the cause. It's a danger that is threatening to break out throughout the conservative movement. Yes, Barack Obama's poll numbers are down. Yes, the Democratic Congress is vastly unpopular, and leaders Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid more unpopular still. Yes, the "generic ballot" test for Congress has Republicans in the lead. Yes, the measures of voter "intensity" greatly favor the right, including the Daily Kos finding that 40 percent of Democrats may not vote in 2010. But national politics is like the weather...

SEIU Funneling Cash from Illegals Into US Elections http://www.breitbart.tv/is-seiu-funneling-cash-from-illegals-into-us-elections/

Recently Jim Robinson posted two threads declaring Free Republic’s determination to see Conservatives elected and ousting Rino's from government. Jim and a great many Freepers believe that we need to take back control. But the RNC is not hearing us. Activism is called for NOW. 2010 is nearing and we need Conservative candidates to run. The time is ripe and people are ready for another 1994 type election. But we need to make the RNC hear us loud and clear. This is the Rino Free America Project. Get involved. Make them listen. Write a letter and MAIL it. Republican...

Thousands of fans waited in line to hear Sarah Palin in southern Missouri. Several women spoke about their support for Sarah in this terrific video: VIDEO Her parents Chuck and Sally Heath joined her at the book signing. Sarah Palin will be in Arkansas tomorrow. Tonight, over 5,000 Missourians packed the University of the Ozarks gymnasium to hear Sarah Palin speak. The News Leader reported: Palin told an estimated crowd of 5,000 packed in Keeter Gymnasium at College of the Ozarks that despite her resignation, she is moving on “in the battle with new strategy.” Or as her father, Chuck...

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin spoke at College of the Ozarks Tuesday night. In her 50-minute speech before a crowd of several thousand people at the Point Lookout, Mo., campus, Palin stressed the importance of people speaking out, even if it's not popular. Quoting former Sen. Margaret Chase Smith, Palin said standing up for "what's right when it's unpopular is a true moral test." She said the United States is in a "crisis of confidence" and spoke of "economic, military and values-oriented battles" ahead. Palin was at College of the Ozarks to speak on patriotism, citizenship and civic engagement. Earlier...

People shouldn't think that all ACORN does is help pimps and hookers buy houses, they serve the community in so many other ways, including embezzlement of donated funds, voter fraud, and using tax exempt dollars to help get liberal candidates elected. Yesterday the Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a forum to discuss ACORN and urge the Attorney General to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the Democratic Party's favorite criminal enterprise. Congressmen Smith and Issa presented documentation indicating that ACORN already transferred many of its resources to several other left-wing advocacy and political groups...