Free Republic

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=%5EGSPC+Basic+Chart&t=1d http://chart.finance.yahoo.com/z?s=%5eGSPC&t=1d&q=&l=&z=l&a=v&p=s&lang=en-US&region=US

I don't know about you, but I voted in November to send a message to stop run-away spending, stop government expansion, and defend our country from our enemies. I voted against incumbents, both Republican and Democrats, who voted against my wishes. Yes, I celebrated with my compatriots across the country who voted the same way I did. Unfortunately I am sensing that this new class of politicians may disappoint just like the last one! Already I am getting a sinking feeling in my gut that this new crop of politicians may fall prey to the same inside the beltway disease....

Title: "Sitting Out The Elections? Think Again"

Gay marriage is not going away as a highly emotional, contested issue. Proposition 8, the California ballot measure that bans same-sex marriage, has seen to that, as it winds its way through the federal courts. But perhaps the public has reached a turning point. A CNN poll this month found that a narrow majority of Americans supported same-sex marriage--the first poll to find majority support. Other poll results did not go that far, but still, on average, showed that support for gay marriage had risen to 45 percent or more (with the rest either opposed or undecided). That’s a big...

Ronald Reagan Speaks Out Against Socialized Medicine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRdLpem-AAs

When I arrived at his cramped state senate offices, Scott Brown had just opened one of the many packages he's received since his stunning U.S. Senate victory 11 days ago. A local artist has done up a version of the iconic red, white and blue collage from the 2008 presidential campaign that shows Barack Obama with the word "Hope." This one features a smiling Mr. Brown instead, but the word below is different. It reads "Change."

The White House is encouraging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to cut a deal with Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and eliminate the proposed Medicare expansion in the health reform bill, according to an official close to the negotiations. But Reid is described as so frustrated with Lieberman that he is not ready to sacrifice a key element of the health care bill, and first wants to see the Congressional Budget Office cost analysis of the Medicare buy-in. The analysis is expected early this week. "There is a weariness and a lot of frustration that one person is holding up...

As a panelist on Fox News Sunday, Liz Cheney, a potential bright future star of the conservative movement, declared that the job Senate republicans have been doing to derail ObamaCare was "masterful." I agree. I realize there are some conservatives out there who are disappointed that our GOP Senators aren't initiating legislative Armageddon to stop this latest Obamination. They don't want the Senate GOP to be the "party of no" they want the GOP to be the party of HELL NO! I have a great deal of sympathy with that point of view and did have the chance to express...

WASHINGTON -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed support Thursday for a Senate Democratic proposal to expand Medicare, raising prospects that the two chambers of Congress can work out differences on health-care legislation. The proposal would open Medicare to some people ages 55 to 64, and is a key feature of a deal among senior Senate Democrats that would abandon efforts to enact a big government-run health-insurance program. The deal would also empower the government's Office of Personnel Management to contract with private insurers to offer new low-cost insurance plans. The deal is a key difference between the Senate bill and...

Senate Democrats looking to find a way to pass health care legislation have proposed a a Medicare "buy-in" proposal as part of the health care legislation. A major aspect of the proposal would be that individuals between the ages of 55 and 64 would be able to enroll in the medicare program. The Federation of American Hospitals opposes it as does the Mayo Clinic. Senator Lamar Alexander (R - Tenn.) told reporters Republicans were not being allowed into the discussions on the Medicare proposal, but he gave his concerns.

WASHINGTON – Senate Democratic liberals are seeking expansion of two large federal programs, Medicare and Medicaid, in exchange for dropping a government-sold insurance option from health care legislation sought by President Barack Obama, several lawmakers said Monday. Under the potential trade-off with party moderates, near-retirees beginning at age 55 or 60 who lack affordable insurance would be permitted to purchase coverage under Medicare, which generally provides medical care beginning at 65. Medicaid, the federal-state health care program for the poor, would be open to all comers under 300 percent of poverty, or slightly over $66,000 for a family of four....

In spite of unexpected public opposition, President Barack Obama continues to unflinchingly "guarantee" that he will "reform" healthcare this year. Recently, he said the Democrats will get it "done one way or another," hinting of the nuclear option. By invoking arcane rules in the Senate, the President could force through a bill with only 51 votes, instead of the required 60. Such a partisan, bully-move would eliminate the need for dissenting Democrats -- not Republicans, as the administration frames it and the media dutifully reports. Although Obama has ample Democrat majorities, he can't even secure the necessary Democrat votes --...

During the 1970s and 1980s, the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), then based in the United Methodist Building on Capitol Hill, vigorously lobbied for Nicaragua's Sandinista regime, the Cuban-style Marxist regime that shot its way to power in 1979. Today, WOLA pretends it is concerned about the rule of law in Honduras after the Honduran Congress and Supreme Court supported removing the leftist president for defying its constitution. WOLA and Jim Wallis' publication Sojourners have teamed up to spin Honduras' defense of its democracy as another example of a U.S.-supported, imperialist military coup. The constitutional coup in Honduras was...

“If you got health insurance, then you can keep it . . . and we won’t do anything about that,” at least that was what President Obama promised during the campaign last year. Well, add that to a very long list of broken campaign promises, including: cutting government spending, reducing the deficit, and “no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase.” Just as bad, on Friday it was revealed that Obama and the Democrats have no problem pushing through Senate votes on these radical health care changes that strip away normal procedural protections...

Two states have legalized same-sex marriage in the past two weeks, but when it comes to public opinion, supporters of gay marriage are still a minority. That minority is on an upward trajectory though and Scott Barclay, political scientist at the State University of New York at Albany, explains why: newspapers. In the last two weeks, two states have legalized same-sex marriage. First, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that a law banning same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. Then Vermont became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage through its legislature. When it comes to public opinion, supporters of gay marriage are...

Rasmussen Poll: Just 53% of Americans Say Capitalism Better Than Socialism... Developing...

Abortion Advocates May Try Low-Key Piecemeal Strategy for Approving FOCA by Steven ErteltLifeNews.com Editor February 2, 2009 Email RSSPrint Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Since pro-abortion presidential candidate Barack Obama became the president, the number one warning from pro-life groups has concerned the radical Freedom of Choice Act. To counter the outpouring of opposition and make it more palatable for members of Congress, it appears abortion advocates may try to split up the FOCA bill into pieces to make it easier to pass.That's the concern of Charmaine Yoest , the president of Americans United for Life.Yoest writes that abortion advocates...

A prominent House Democrat said he doesn't expect a comprehensive healthcare reform bill to pass Congress in 2009, saying an incremental approach to covering the uninsured would be better "than to go out and just bite something you can't chew." House Majority Whip James Clyburn's (D-S.C.) timeline on tackling healthcare is at odds with the timetable proposed by Senate Democrats and could represent a major shift in the House Democrats' strategy of dealing with the uninsured.During an interview on C-SPAN's "Newsmakers" program that aired on Sunday, Clyburn said he doesn't anticipate that comprehensive healthcare legislation will be approved in 2009....

Conservatism may be a busted flush south of the border (as the experts assure us), but up north Stephen Harper has survived as Prime Minister and modestly improved his position by some 20 or so seats. He was on course for a Tory majority government until the global financial Armageddon hijacked the news cycle halfway through the campaign. Still, he's an incrementalist and he'll be reasonably satisfied not just with the Conservative gains but also with the vote-splitting among the opposition. After all, one unstated goal of his campaign was to weaken Canadians' assumption that the Liberals are the country's...

Where are Harry and Frodo when you really need them? Here is a magical-mystery movie with everything money can eagerly buy: big-name stars, boffo effects, a story pre-sold in a mass-cult fantasy novel. The only thing "The Golden Compass" lacks, alas, is magic. And its mystery is a little too mysterious. The picture looks great — director Chris Weitz and his town-size team of digital technicians have created a fantasy world of misty cities, gleaming dirigibles and intricate steampunk gadgetry that really pops. But in attempting to cram as much as possible of Philip Pullman's 400-page novel into a two-hour...