Free Republic

<p>A new book by Barron’s reporter Erin Arvedlund asserts that banking giant JPMorgan Chase became aware of Madoff’s Ponzi scheme months before his arrest, prompting the bank to liquidate its positions in a Madoff-related fund. Yet, the bank continued to accept deposits into Madoff’s main account at the bank from unsuspecting investors who were about to lose everything.</p>

bullet Summary of the eRumor The eRumor is from the American Family Association and says that Procter & Gamble has published a print ad that shows two men in bed after an apparent sexual encounter. The email encourages a boycott of Procter & Gamble for the ad and for other statements in support of homosexuality. Another email campaign urged protest against Procter & Gamble for advertising on the "Will and Grace" television show as well as "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.". bullet The Truth The ad is real. It is for a Procter & Gamble product called Downey Wrinkle...

One of our sources at the David Wu protest Monday found this. I suspect a direct connection between Pelosi's vineyard in Napa, WWV and Acorn.

Oligarch George Soros is sending a $5 million check to Health Care For America Now, the leading coalition of pro-reform groups, unions and providers, reports Greg Sargent. Among the 21 members of HCAN's steering committee are ACORN, MoveOn.org, the Center for American Progress and the Campaign for America’s Future (CAF). CAF is another institution that has received funding from Soros and the Rockefeller Family Fund. (The Rockefellers have always been major investors in the pharmaceutical industry, and have always been instrumental in directing legislation in a direction that benefits there pharma investments.) CAF also pushes for national health care as...

Talk about "manufactured outrage!" These people could give the right lessons in how to do it!Thanks "Missy" for passing this along: Now is our chance to make health care work. America’s health care system is broken. Health care costs are spiraling out of control, throwing families, businesses and government into financial crisis. Families are worried their health coverage won’t be there when they need it. Our country can’t afford to wait for health reform that keeps costs down and protects consumers. We can’t wait for affordable, dependable health care. We’re fighting for health care that will protect families’ financial health,...

LEWISTON - Maine's Democratic Party rode several large donations to a healthy fundraising advantage over Republicans early in this election year. In financial disclosure forms filed Wednesday, Democrats reported raising more than $199,000, compared to $105,000 by Republicans for the period between April 1 and June 1. Reports from candidates, political action committees and parties were all due Wednesday. Large donations - several from out-of-state interests - accounted for the vast majority of the Democrats' fundraising. Of the $199,000 total, $179,000 came from contributions of $5,000 or more. The Republican Party reported just seven contributions of more than $2,000, accounting...

WASHINGTON - Organized labor gave more money to congressional campaigns than any other interest group at a time when overhauling health care and easing the ability of unions to organize sit atop Congress’ agenda. Union political action committees shelled out $11 million to lawmakers during the first six months of this year. Ranking second were health care interests, which gave $9.5 million from Jan. 1 through June 30, according to a CQ MoneyLine analysis of the latest filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). While labor PACs were the top contributors in the previous election cycle, the health care industry...

However, Free Press, at this May 14 summit, didn't say one word about the well-documented liberal bias that has contributed to the decline in readers and viewers for traditional media outlets and has enabled the rise of the Fox News Channel, conservative talk radio, and the Internet. Instead, Josh Silver of Free Press attacked the "bellowing ideologues" on the air and declared that "The entire dial is empty of local news in many communities." New Strategy This was a tip-off that, in order to take conservative radio hosts off the air, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will be flooded with...

Over the past five years, taxpayers have paid about $8 million to 117 administrators who either returned to the faculty or left the university. In 24 cases, the payouts were for $100,000 or more. A News & Observer review found that these agreements, along with other transitional payments, offered sizable sums of money with few or no strings attached, in at least three cases violated UNC system policies and in some cases rewarded administrators with as much as a year's salary for a job poorly done.

There was a time, not long ago, when on-air contributors with expertise on a particular topic would command lucrative contracts from networks, sometimes earning as much as $5,000 for one appearance on a network morning show. But the financial contraction has choked off many of these deals. Now, networks pony up very little or, in most cases, nothing at all for talking heads. “It's a legitimate sign of the times,” says Hayden Meyer, who runs the alternative television department at APA. And in today's cacophonous media universe, where airtime on a national program like NBC's Today or ABC's Good Morning...

Dems: "We must stand against this tiny, vocal minority."

PBS chief Paula Kerger (KUR'-gur) says budget numbers tell the tale of how public TV is faring under the Obama administration, compared to that of former President George W. Bush. Kerger said that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's $430 million budget for this year was left intact by President Barack Obama, in contrast to the Bush administration's repeated bids to reduce or eliminate the federal subsidy. Kerger says Congress countered Bush's actions.

The National Endowment for the Arts may be spending some of the money it received from the Recovery and Reinvestment Act to fund nude simulated-sex dances, Saturday night "pervert" revues and the airing of pornographic horror films at art houses in San Francisco. ... [S]ome of the NEA's grants are spicing up more than the economy. A few of their more risque choices have some taxpayer advocates hot under the collar, including a $50,000 infusion for the Frameline film house, which recently screened Thundercrack, "the world's only underground kinky art porno horror film, complete with four men, three women and...

Gay Activists Bankroll Opposition to Pro-Marriage State Senator by Kim Trobee, editor Pennsylvania state Sen. John Eichelberger, R-Hollidaysburg, sponsored a constitutional amendment in May that would protect marriage from redefinition. In response, activists set up Keystone Progress, an entity dedicated to "progressive" politics in the state, but specializing in bringing down the Republican freshman. The group has ties to Tim Gill and others who have set up similar organizations in other states. The tactic, according to Eichelberger, is designed to send a message to other lawmakers. "They're going to be afraid to come forward, they're going to be afraid to...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Bill Clinton may no longer occupy the White House, but the abortion advocate can still make use of his fundraising prowess. Clinton penned an email fundraising pitch for the big pro-abortion group Emily's List that it sent out today to its members. The email focuses on the 2010 Congressional elections and Clinton asks abortion advocates to give Emily's List money to supports it efforts to keep pro-abortion stalwarts in control of the House. "We can't afford to lose our Democratic majority in 2010, and women -- our nation's most progressive force -- will be crucial to...

Stimulus Bill Funds Go to Art Houses Showing 'Pervert' Revues, Underground Pornography Thursday, July 30, 2009 By Joseph Abrams Talk about a stimulus package. The National Endowment for the Arts may be spending some of the money it received from the Recovery and Reinvestment Act to fund nude simulated-sex dances, Saturday night "pervert" revues and the airing of pornographic horror films at art houses in San Francisco. The NEA was given $80 million of the government's $787 billion economic stimulus bill to spread around to needy artists nationwide, and most of the money is being spent to help preserve jobs...

The National Endowment for the Arts may be spending some of the money it received from the Recovery and Reinvestment Act to fund nude simulated-sex dances, Saturday night "pervert" revues and the airing of pornographic horror films at art houses in San Francisco. The NEA was given $80 million of the government's $787 billion economic stimulus bill to spread around to needy artists nationwide, and most of the money is being spent to help preserve jobs in museums, orchestras, theaters and dance troupes that have been hit hard by the recession.

Rather than holding their ground, the Obama administration has decided to revise the restriction that did not allow lobbyists to meet with government officials to discuss potential uses for the Federal stimulus money they have been allocated. Under the..

A charity headed by star Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. is filing an amended 2007 report to the Internal Revenue Service because $11,000 it paid to foundation officers as compensation was mischaracterized as being for research grants. Questions about Inkwell Foundation emerged over the weekend, part of a tsunami of attention Gates has received since July 16, when he was arrested at his home by a police officer responding to a report about a possible burglary in progress. The incident ignited a national debate over racial profiling, further magnified when President Obama jumped into it.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr controls a tax-exempt, non-profit charity, Inkwell Foundation, Inc, that managed to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in direct support in one year, yet only gave out $27,500 in grants, the bulk of which went to Gates' employees and Harvard colleagues. Also, as recently as September 2008, the Boston Globe reported that Gates' charity was not in compliance with the law for failing to register the proper paperwork, despite the charity existing since 2005. The charge at the time was that it was "bogus," as you'll see below. In fact, the state Attorney General's office told...

THE OTHER GATES FOUNDATION In 2005, Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., known to all as "Skip," set up the nonprofit Inkwell Foundation, named after a famous beach/gathering place for African-Americans on Martha's Vineyard. Skip talked about the foundation in a recent interview with Martha's Vineyard magazine and touted it when he launched his for-profit business, AfricanDNA.com, last year. "The precedent-setting site is the only company in the field of genetic genealogy that will provide African Americans with family tree research in addition to DNA testing," its initial press release declared, adding that "a percentage of all profits will be...

In a pilot program, the charitable arm of Citigroup is giving the National Council of La Raza money to help buy foreclosed homes in Phoenix for rehabilitation and ultimate purchase by low-and moderate-income Latino families. In all, New York-based Citi Foundation is providing $1.75 million to the NCLR, of which $235,000 will go to its Raza Development Fund. That'll allow the fund to acquire, maintain and rehab properties to sell or lease. Raza Development Fund chief Tom Espinoza says the fund will add about $4 million and federal stimulus program money will boost the total to about $12 million to...

Just heard on the nationwide pro-life teleconference organized by StopTheAbortionMandate.com that the Pence Amendment is up for a vote tomorrow in the House. The Rules Committee's decision was apparently announced earlier this evening. The Pence Amendment would cut all Title X funding for Planned Parenthood, which amounts to over a third of their budget. Planned Parenthood performs over 300,000 abortions each year. Call or write your reps TONIGHT and tell them to vote YES on the Pence Amendment. Write Your Reps Text of Pence Amendment (PDF)Press Release from Rep. Mike Pence earlier today

Despite bipartisan efforts from pro-life congressmen, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed legislation allowing taxpayer-funded abortion in the District of Columbia. One pro-lifer charged that opponents had been “muzzled” by Nancy Pelosi. The Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act passed by a vote of 219 to 208. It contained provisions which allowed local D.C. taxpayer money to be used on abortions and expanded the exemptions to fund abortions “where a woman suffers from a physical disorder, physical injury or physical illness.” The House refused to consider a bipartisan amendment by Reps. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) and Lincoln Davis (D-TN)....

According to the Nashville Gay Pride website, Home Depot gave over $5,000 to be a major sponsor of its 2009 Gay Pride Festival in June. But simply financing the event wasn't enough for the big box chain. Home Depot also signed on as a vendor, conducting kid's craft workshops for children via a special booth set up just for them. To this end, Home Depot is basically encouraging the attendance of children at events which openly expose them to transvestites, cross-dressers, and homosexual activities. Unfortunately, Home Depot's participation in the Nashville Pride Festival doesn't stand alone. It has also sponsored...

MONTREAL, Quebec, July 22, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Montreal's gay festival, Divers/Cité, has been denied a grant under the Conservatives new tourism stimulus program, a decision that is being connected to the harsh criticism levied by concerned citizens against the Tory government last month over its nearly $400,000 grant to the Toronto Pride festival. The Montreal festival promotes homosexuality through art and music, advertising lewd drama and drag queen performances, and is scheduled this year for July 26 - August 2. The organizers of the $2 million event applied to Industry Canada for a $155,000 grant under the new $100 million...

The latest congressional campaign reports are in and Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd's re-election campaign manager, Jay Howser, says his boy's numbers represent "a substantial investment by Connecticut residents." It's just the latest claim from the Dodd camp that withers under the light of truth. In the second quarter, Sen. Dodd reported raking in $1.2 million, about $100,000 less than his Republican challengers. Of the total, almost 40 percent came from political-action committees controlled by vested interests with business before his Banking Committee; health insurance and pharmaceutical companies looking to influence the shape of KennedyDoddCare; and his Democratic congressional colleagues. Sen....

PepsiCo has given thousands of dollars to become a sponsor of the homosexual "Out & Equal Workplace Summit" scheduled for Oct. 6-9 at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort in Florida. The Out & Equal Workshop meetings are designed to show corporate leaders how they can promote the homosexual agenda in their corporation. In becoming a sponsor of the Out & Equal conference PepsiCo has once again refused to give any support to those who are hurting and want to come out of this destructive and aberrant lifestyle. In fact, homosexual activists continually tell corporate leaders (including PepsiCo) that it is impossible...

Almost $10 million in union contributions went to the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN), and its affiliates according to U.S. Department of Labor financial disclosure forms called LM-2’s. The bulk of the donations came from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which contributed $7.4 million between 2005 and 2008 to the national organization, state chapters and allied groups. SEIU’s single largest donation of $1.5 million went to the ACORN Community Labor Organizing Center (ACLOC) in 2006. SEIU also made a $1.3 million donation to ACORN International in 2005.

If you need another reason to hate Harvard University, here's a good one: the elite politically correct school that has more money than God was the ninth-biggest donor to Senator-elect Al Franken's 2008 campaign, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Harvard gave $21,900 to the Franken campaign.

In Troy, New York, where a quarter of the children live below the poverty level and the average household makes less than $30,000 a year, the 29th richest man in the world is being given more than 300,000 taxpayer dollars to open a restaurant. They call it economic development. What it is is a sin. What it is is welfare for the wealthy, proof positive that raping the taxpayer is what the government does best. Meet George Soros. He owns Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. Specifically, his company – Soros Strategic Partners – owns 70 percent of Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. He also owns a...

In Troy, New York, where a quarter of the children live below the poverty level and the average household makes less than $30,000 a year, the 29th richest man in the world is being given more than 300,000 taxpayer dollars to open a restaurant. They call it economic development. What it is is a sin. What it is is welfare for the wealthy, proof positive that raping the taxpayer is what the government does best. Meet George Soros. He owns Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. Specifically, his company – Soros Strategic Partners – owns 70 percent of Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. He also owns a...

When Congress gets back from its 4th of July, an important Subcommittee will make a decision that could impact taxpayer funded-abortions for years to come. The Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, headed by Rep. José Serrano (D-NY), will vote on whether or not to include legislation that would permit government-funded abortions in the District of Columbia as long as they were paid for by local taxes and not federal funds. President Obama is directly responsible for the change, as wording in the “Dornan Amendment” was altered through a direct budget recommendation that came from his office. The Dornan...

Embezzler Bernard Madoff, who swindled clients out of at least $50 billion, was sentenced to 150 years imprisonment Monday. Very few media reports have focused on the damage that Madoff did to left-leaning foundations and political causes. I wrote about this topic in the American Spectator in January. The record-breaking fraud is forcing the closing of the JEHT and Picower foundations, longtime supporters of leftist groups. Left-wing groups funded by those charities include ACORN (known for its massive voter-fraud campaigns), the Center for Constitutional Rights (a pro-Castro member of the open borders lobby), and Alliance for Justice (which supports habeas...

If you believe the White House, there are 30 million Americans who support a government health care takeover. But if you look at the funding behind the Obamacare campaign, it's the same few leftist billionaires, union bosses and partisan community organizers pushing the socialized medicine agenda. Let's connect the dots. On Thursday, a national grass-roots coalition called Health Care for America Now (HCAN) marched on Capitol Hill to demand universal health care. The ground troops didn't have to march very far. HCAN, you see, is no heartland network. It is headquartered at 1825 K St. NW in Washington - smack...

WHILE Roe v. Wade ensures legal abortion in every state, the reality of abortion access today increasingly depends upon a woman's socioeconomic status and geographic location. The average cost of an abortion for a woman up to 12 weeks pregnant is $450 to $600 in the Northwest region, and costs increase markedly after 12 weeks. The Hyde Amendment, passed in 1976, ended the use of federal Medicaid funding for abortion, except when the woman's life would be endangered by a full-term pregnancy, or in cases of rape or incest. As the debate about the direction of health-care reform takes off,...

The House of Representatives will vote Friday(Today) on the so-called “American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009” -- a.k.a the “Waxman-Markey” global warming bill. But whatever you want to call this legislative atrocity, if enacted into law, it will go down in history as the death knell of the American standard of living and way of life. If you hate America, this bill is for you. After decades of fierce battling between rabid greens -- that is, left-wingers masquerading as “environmentalists” -- and the global warming skeptics, few Americans seem to have bought into the bill’s premise ­ that...

It appears that years of debate about climate change and energy may now come down to a vote on an actual bill, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES). As I write this, the vote is scheduled for Friday. If it occurs, you will be asked to vote to implement carbon rationing in the United States.   Without regard to party or ideology, I believe that the evidence is clear that this law would be contrary to the public interest. Here is why, in a nutshell: 1.  It would be a terrible deal for American taxpayers. According to the...

Last week, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released their analysis of the Waxman-Markey climate change bill that had proponents of the bill claiming Americans could save the planet for just $175 per household. That was the figure CBO estimated cap and trade would cost households in 2020 alone.[1]Both the CBO's analysis and the subsequent legislation are troubled: The analysis grossly underestimates economic costs while the legislation will have virtually no impact on climate. Overall, there are a number of basic problems with CBO's analysis: Their allowance cost numbers do not add up; They ignore economic costs such as the decrease...

WASHINGTON – America’s third largest party urged the U.S. House Tuesday to defeat plans for a $1.9 trillion energy tax hike over eight years. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is attempting to rush H.R. 2454, the Waxman-Markey energy tax bill, to a vote this week. “With unemployment rising above and beyond what President Obama said it would be with the multi-hundred billion dollar stimulus bill, now is not the time to dismantle our economy with a multi-hundred billion dollar energy tax hike,” said William Redpath, Libertarian National Committee Chairman. “Libertarians urge House members to defeat this job-killing tax hike on Americans,”...

ABSTRACT: Democratic leaders in the House have scheduled a Friday vote on a climate change bill that would establish a complex cap-and-trade system to limit the nation's greenhouse gas emissions, a priority for President Obama. The House Rules Committee unveiled the latest version of the bill, which weighs in at 1,201 pages. It features new items such as $7.5 billion in "green bonds" for a new federal financing agency called the Clean Energy Deployment Administration, extra emission allowances for politically powerful rural electric cooperatives, greater flexibility for states that want to use free allowances for mass transit, and tweaks benefiting...

A U.S. organization has been receiving money from perhaps unsuspecting Jewish donors to support blatantly anti-Israel groups. American Jews wishing to donate money to Israeli causes routinely utilize local city Jewish federations as a middleman. Hundreds of millions of dollars per year are sent to Jewish federations across the country with the expectation contributions will be used to aid worthy causes in Israel. Many U.S. Jewish federations as well as individual Jewish donors give to the New Israel Fund, or NIF, a Washington, D.C.-based foundation dedicated to fostering social change and progressive causes in Israel. The NIF budget comes from...

Is an imperfect climate bill (Waxman-Markey) better than no bill at all? Al Gore says yes.To bring environment supporters together, Gore will host a nationwide conference call on June 23 at 8 p.m. ET. The purpose, according to his Repower America e-mail sent to a selected audience, is “to build urgency around this bill and make sure it passes. We have to go to the grassroots – we have to continue building support in communities across the nation.”“As this climate legislation moves before the full Congress this summer, we have an opportunity unlike anything we’ve seen yet,” the e-mail concludes.Gore...

Monday June 22, 2009 Undercover Videos Prompt Tennessee Lawmakers to End Preferential Treatment for Planned Parenthood LOS ANGELES, CA, June 22, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Tennessee legislators passed a law Thursday that threatens to strip Planned Parenthood of over $1 million in federal grant funding. Under the new statute, local community health clinics will be given priority for Title X family planning funds instead of Planned Parenthood.Live Action Films says that the move was inspired by undercover videos by the group from a Planned Parenthood clinic in Memphis released earlier this year. The videos show a counselor urging a 14-year-old girl...

Funding for homosexual programs in the schools in next year's state Massachusetts budget has been hugely derailed by a flood of pro-family pressure -- including hundreds of faxes, emails, and phone calls -- over the last several weeks directed at the committee deciding on final budget allocations. All required funding for the "GLBT commission" -- earmarked or un-earmarked -- has been severely scaled back from last year. This represents a victory for pro-family forces over the powerful homosexual lobby, which put considerable pressure on the committee to require funding for the GLBT commission.

Monday, June 22, 2009 Shining a Light on the Palin Administration? Linda Kellen Biegel's Own Transparency Is Questionable By I A Crowther Shining a light on the Palin Administration. The fight for government transparency. I want an open and transparent government! Of benefit to the public interest. Linda Kellen Biegel, aka Celtic Diva, has called on the help of her readership to shine “a light on the Palin Administration” by asking for donations to the tune of more than $5,500 to fund a request for the email records of six members of the Office of the Governor, dating back more...

Ya know how investigator general Gerald Walpin was just fired by Barack Obama curiously after he discovered the misuse of funds by prominent Obama-supporter, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson? Well, how's this for misuse of funds? Mark's opening monologue in the first hour of Friday's show was bone chilling. He retells how, as a young law school graduate in the early 80's, he was part of an organization that discovered how tax dollars were being laundered through front groups to reach counter-revolutionary left-wing organizations, one of them being ACORN and other groups run by radical 60's leftists such as Tom Hayden...

If a group of United States citizens trekked to another country, formed an organization called “The Race,” which demanded open borders, unfettered immigration and citizenship, billions of dollars for bilingual education, health care, housing, job and wage guarantees, and anti-discrimination protection, they would likely soon be jailed or deported in a display of righteous sovereign indignation. But the National Council of La Raza engages in all these activities in the United States, and it receives taxpayer dollars to help promote its radical views. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is a member of La Raza. That membership and her own statements...

Rep. Jack Kingston and Rep. Ken Calvart proposed two separate E-Verify amendments to the House Appropriations bill for FY2010, but both amendments failed earlier today. The Kingston amendment would have required government contractors to run all employees and new hires through E-Verify. Rep. Kingston's amendment would have required all federal contractors to verify all employees and new hires through the E-Verify system. The amendment would have countered a new executive order that the Administration is expected to announce today that weakens the 2008 executive order making requiring all government contractors to use E-Verify.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a controversial bill that pro-life groups say would promote abortion around the world on the taxpayer's dime. Congressional representatives voted 235-187 to approve H.R. 2410 on Wednesday, with 11 members abstaining. The bill, known as the "Foreign Relations Authorization Act," would create a new Office for Global Women's Issues that would "coordinate efforts of the United States Government regarding gender integration and women’s empowerment in United States foreign policy." Concerned Women for America’s Legislative Action Committee called the legislation the "Ambassador for Abortion" bill because it would designate "ambassadors" to implement "women's empowerment"...