Free Republic

April 28, 2012 Triple Play! Obama Blows Off Congress, Funds Palestinians, Lies About PA Stance on Israel Andrew C. McCarthy Friday night news dump: President Obama has decided to provide $192 million to the Palestinian Authority despite Congress’s freeze on PA funding after its president, Mahmoud Abbas, attempted to declare statehood unilaterally last September, in violation of the PA’s treaty commitments.Obama’s “waiver” of the restrictions on Congress’s Palestinian Accountability Act was first reported in the foreign press (AFP), which is where Americans generally need to go to get news about what the U.S. administration is up to. A report from...

Lieutenant General John Allen told the Senate Armed Services Committee today that the Afghanistan decision President Obama announced last week was not among the range of options the military provided to the commander in chief. Allen’s testimony directly contradicts claims from senior Obama administration officials from a background briefing before the president’s announcement. In response to questioning from Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Allen testified that Obama’s decision on the pace and size of Afghanistan withdrawals was “a more aggressive option than that which was presented.” Graham pressed him. “My question is: Was that a option?” Allen: “It was not.” Allen's...

President Barack Obama's guarantee on $1 billion of Egyptian Eurobonds is poised to reduce the country's borrowing costs, helping the transition to democracy after six decades of autocratic rule. The support that Obama pledged last month may cut yields on the five-year debt by 200 basis points, or the equivalent of $100 million, according to the median estimate of five fund managers surveyed by Bloomberg. Yields on Egypt's one-year bills jumped to the highest level since November 2008 following the uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak in February. The country last sold international debt in April 2010. "The American backing...