Free Republic

Link to streaming live video feed on the contempt hearing on Holder and Fast and Furious.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House plans to ask Congress for an increase in the debt limit before the end of the week, according to a senior Treasury Department official. The debt limit is projected to fall within $100 billion of the current cap by December 30. President Barack Obama is expected to ask for additional borrowing authority to increase the limit by $1.2 trillion. Under the new budget, Congress can only vote to block the debt-ceiling extension with a disapproval resolution. Lawmakers have 15 days within receiving the request to vote down the debt limit increase. The debt limit...

Denial — it ain’t just a river in Egypt. Appearing on Fox News this morning, DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz insisted that unemployment didn’t go up in Barack Obama’s term of office, a hilarious argument on several levels. Debbie Downer then lectures Gretchen Carlson that “you’re narrative doesn’t work any longer,” to which a bemused Carlson responds that she’s just relating the facts:

The Penn State legend tried to do an end-run around the trustees, but they still fired him for doing nothing to stop the alleged sexual abuse of young boys. Now it’s time to ditch the rotten college football system, says Buzz Bissinger.Like everyone else, I cannot get the scandal of Pennsylvania State University out of my mind. The story is unfolding at the speed of sound, not just the worst sports scandal in modern history but also one of the worst scandals in modern history: A former Penn State assistant coach for 29 years and alleged sexual predator, Jerry Sandusky,...

A last-ditch drive ends in disappointment for Penn State, which loses to Nebraska, 17-14. Not having any timeouts crippled the offense, which completed two passes short of a first down, including one with seconds left, but couldn't stop the clock. This is a different Saturday in State College. Immediately after McGloin's final pass fell incomplete, the Penn State crowd cheered the team's effort: the cheering grew to a roar as the two teams again met a midfield, such as they did right before the game. Again, as occurred several times during the game, there were chants of "We love JoePa."...

What he said was twice as shocking as anything that's been released thus far. "I can give you a rumor and I can give you something I think might happen," Madden told John Dennis and Gerry Callahan. "I hear there's a rumor that there will be a more shocking development from the Second Mile Foundation -- and hold on to your stomachs, boys, this is gross, I will use the only language I can -- that Jerry Sandusky and Second Mile were pimping out young boys to rich donors. That was being investigated by two prominent columnists even as I...

A former USAID worker claims Herman Cain asked her to set up dinner with a woman who attended a speech he gave in 2002, the Washington Examiner is reporting tonight. The worker - 40-year-old Donna Donella, of Arlington - told the paper that the moment came after Cain gave a paid speech in Egypt that year. A woman in the crowd posed a query to Cain during the speech, the Examiner said. Continue Reading Donella told them “And after the seminar was over, Cain came over to me and a colleague and said, ‘Could you put me in touch with...

As a way to solve the national debt crisis, North Carolina Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue recommends suspending Congressional elections for the next couple of years. “I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won’t hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover,” Perdue said at a rotary club event in Cary, North Carolina, according to the Raleigh News and Observer. “I really hope that someone can agree with me on that.” Perdue said she thinks that temporarily halting elections would allow members...

CNBC just broke in and told the audience that the President has requested airtime and will speak to the nation at 1300hrs EST (12 noon central, 10 AM PST) on the US national debt downgrade.Developing...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Tuesday that if Republicans insist on passage of their budget plan as a condition for approving an increase in the nation's borrowing limit, they will be responsible for the consequences. Speaking to a New York audience, Geithner said that Republicans would bear responsibility for the first debt default in the nation's history if they insist they will not vote for an increase in the $14.3 billion borrowing limit unless they win approval of a House Republican budget plan. "If Republicans try to impose that plan on this country as a condition...

BHO's statement contained 74 sentences. In 24 out of 74 sentences, he said "I", "me" or "my." This is not about the military, or even the CIA, which were mentioned in just 4 of the sentences. It's about BHO, and BHO alone. Congratulations, BHO, here are a few things for which you took credit in the 74 sentences: "I directed Leon Panetta... to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority..." "I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden." "I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility...

Washington (CNSNews.com) – In what the White House calls a push for transparency, a pending executive order would require companies doing business with the federal government to disclose political contributions to independent groups, but would not place the same requirement on public employee unions or federal grant recipients that typically donate to Democrats. Entitled the “Disclosure of Political Spending By Government Contractors,” the order would implement parts of the DISCLOSE Act, which failed to get through Congress last year. The legislation sought to restrict campaign speech after the landmark Citizens United vs. Federal Elections Commission U.S. Supreme Court ruling that...

Question: In what circumstances, if any, would the president have constitutional authority to bomb Iran without seeking a use-of-force authorization from Congress? (Specifically, what about the strategic bombing of suspected nuclear sites -- a situation that does not involve stopping an IMMINENT threat?) Obama: The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation. As Commander-in-Chief, the President does have a duty to protect and defend the United States. In instances of self-defense, the President would be within his...

Practitioner Loses License, Killed Woman in Failed Abortion Andrew Rutland, a southern California abortion practitioner, has agreed to give up his medical license a second time over a case involving his killing a woman in a botched abortion. Rutland killed an Asian woman in a failed abortion — as the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office ruled the death of Ying Chen a homicide. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/01/26/practitioner-loses-license-killed-woman-in-failed-abortion/

Last week, I detailed seven occasions in the past few months at which President Barack Obama omitted the words "by their Creator" from direct quotes of the Declaration of Independence: "that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." Though you can read the actual quotes in detail in Part 1, let me briefly remind readers where and when they occurred: --On Oct. 21 at a rally for Sen. Patty Murray in Seattle. --On Oct. 18 at a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee dinner in Rockville, Md. --On...

LifeNews.com Note: Tim Graham is the director of media analysis for the Media Research Center, a media watchdog group. He was a White House correspondent for World magazine in 2001 and 2002. The following originally appeared on the NewsBusters web site.It's clear that abortionists think of themselves as saviors of women, but would anyone really dare to suggest that infamous late-term abortionist George Tiller was like.... a crucified Jesus Christ? Yes. There it was on Daily Kos on Tuesday (albeit republished from the blog RH Reality Check), plainly headlined "Dr. Tiller's Crucifixion and Resurrection," a brazen rant on how Tiller...

The United States has begun denying visas to Israel's nuclear scientists, according to the Hebrew-language daily Maariv. Workers at the reactor in Dimona told the paper that they had been treated poorly by US representatives, and had been told they could not travel to the States. For the past 20 years it has been common for scientists working at the Dimona reactor to travel to universities in the U.S. to enhance their knowledge in the fields of physics, chemistry, and nuclear engineering. The only reason the Dimona scientists' visa requests were refused was their work at the reactor, sources in...

Legislation introduced last week could shift costs of union pension plans to taxpayers in an attempt to stave off organized labor’s pension funding crisis.Senator Bob Casey, Pennsylvania Democrat, introduced the Create Jobs & Save Benefits Act of 2010 to address the funding problems faced by union-administered multi-employer pension plans.Multi-employer pension plans have to cover the benefits of members, even if their companies are defunct.

Not long after President Barack Obama gave his conciliatory speeches to the Islamic world, he chose not to meddle in the sham election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In fact, he offered not a word of support for the men and women who took to the streets against that totalitarian regime. Then, as "manmade disasters" continued to erupt spontaneously around the world -- including at a United States military base -- the administration held steadfast in using non-offensive euphemisms, lest anyone be slighted by our jingoist need to use words that mean something. And when the president was given a...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Employees at the U.S. liberal grass-roots group ACORN who were caught on video giving tax advice to a couple posing as a pimp and a prostitute have been cleared of criminal wrongdoing, New York prosecutors said on Monday. The organization has been reeling since a YouTube video was disseminated last September showing ACORN workers giving advice on how to flout the law to two conservative activists who posed as a pimp and a prostitute. The U.S. Congress then voted by wide margins to prohibit the federal government from funding ACORN, and the U.S. Census Bureau ended...