Free Republic

Senior Bush administration officials are preparing to ask lawmakers for the second half of the $700 billion financial rescue package despite intense opposition in Congress and then have President Bush use his veto if the request is voted down, three sources familiar with the matter said. The initiative, which is being coordinated with the Obama transition team, may be taken within days, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity because no announcement has been made. Democratic Senate aides were notified in a meeting this afternoon that the request could come as soon as this weekend and that a vote...

"It is no surprise that Venezuela has once again made clear to the world that we are on the side of life, of justice, of peoples, of sovereignty, of peace," says Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, then inquiring where does US President-Elect Barack Obama stand on this? CARACAS – President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela threw down the gauntlet to his soon-to-be counterpart in the United States, Barack Obama, demanding to know where he stood on Israel's military action in the Gaza Strip. Chávez made it clear he didn't hold out much hope Washington's stance would significantly shift after January 20, when...

Thomas Jefferson once said, “Whenever people are well-informed they can be trusted with their own government.” On another occasion he spoke even more clearly; he said, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be.” The election of Barack Obama on November 4 illustrates precisely what Jefferson had in mind. In a November 13-15 Zogby poll of 512 Obama voters... 97.1% high school graduates and 55% college graduates... we learned that: ▪ 57.4% could not identify which party now controls Congress. ▪ 71.8% could not identify Joe Biden as the candidate...

Obama Team Owes Americans An Explanation David Brooks points out today in his column in the Times that Obama's chief economic advisor, Christina Romer, has executed a major flip-flop on her previous position that fiscal stimulus efforts have no measurable impact on economic recovery. Christina Romer is Barack Obama’s choice to lead his Council of Economic Advisers. In 1994, Romer and her husband, David, wrote an essay entitled “What Ends Recessions?� ... The Romers surveyed the recessions of the previous 50 years to try to reach some conclusions about what works. “Our central conclusion is that monetary policy alone is...

George Soros is the biggest sugar daddy of the Democratic Party, and naturally wants to ensure that the Democrats have a monopoly of power in America. Recently, I wrote an article for American Thinker on the role that George Soros has played in helping the Democrat Al Franken in his race against the Republican incumbent Norm Coleman for a Senate seat in Minnesota. However, there may be one other reason that Soros was determined that Norm Coleman in particular lose his seat. This was personal. Norm Coleman was the chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and as...

With only days until the Inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States, there is speculation about retirement of several liberal justices from the United States Supreme Court and the appointment of new justices by Obama. The Supreme Court is considered to be an evenly divided court between four liberal and four conservative justices with Justice Kennedy as the swing vote. The oldest two liberal justices on the court are Justices Stevens, age 88, and Ginsberg, age 75. During Obama’s presidency there will be pressure on these two justices to resign to allow Obama to fill these positions....

Bush administration officials will host senior Obama officials for a three-hour joint exercise next week that consists of “a hypothetical scenario that is designed to test and tax the capabilities of the federal government.” White House spokesman Scott Stanzel declined to offer many details about the exercise, but he did say that Tuesday’s exercise will be “a disaster scenario where the government would be very much tested.” The joint exercise is “intended to familiarize the incoming administration with domestic and international instant management procedures used by the current administration.” Stanzel said the exercise is part of a realization that this...

In May 1939, Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau testified: “We are spending more money than we have ever spent before, and it does not work. … I want to see this country prosperous. I want to see people get a job. I want to see people get enough to eat. We have never made good on our promises. … I say after eight years of this administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started … and an enormous debt, to boot.”

If the liberal media ever had any pretense of objectivity regarding Barack Obama, it is crumbling as the Inauguration of the 44th President draws near. This is vide of PBS's Tavis Smiley, who regards himself as a journalist, appearing on Morning Joe with Joe Scarborough today. Smiley blatantly says that he sees it as his job to "help make Obama a great President." Smiley begins talking about Obama at the 2:58 mark of the video. It is one thing, as an American, to want the nation's President to do what is best for America, and to want him/her to do...

The Nov. 6 Reuters headline, "Media bias largely unseen in U.S. presidential race," was laughable because almost everyone saw it. American voters by an 8-1 margin said they witnessed a pro-Obama press, and even Time's Mark Halperin said the "extreme pro-Obama coverage" represented a "disgusting failure of people in our business." Sadly funny examples galore make up the evidence. The most famous was MSNBC's Chris Matthews saying on Feb. 12 that when Obama spoke, "I felt this thrill going up my leg." But during 2008 other journalists fell in love: New York Times reporter Michael Powell in January: "He has...

Just a quick question really. I was talking to a colleague today, and we were musing over some postings on a friends facebook page. Some students, having a ferocious argument back and forth regarding Politics, and voting for different Parties. The argument was started around current affairs, in particular opinions on the Israel and Gaza conflict. Most were adamant that the aggressive bombing should cease immediately and a dialogue should start to end all the problems in the Middle East. *sigh*. What I'd like to know is, do you think that the Legal age for voting should be considerably higher...

WYANDOTTE, Mich. (AP) -- Members of the Wyandotte Marching Chiefs high school band plan to perform in the inaugural parade in Washington, but they won't be known by the name they've had since the 1950s. The Detroit Free Press reports Thursday that the band from Roosevelt High School will perform as the Roosevelt High School Marching Band. Patches will be sewn over logos on band uniform sleeves and the band's Marching Chiefs banner won't be carried. The decision was in response to a letter from a group that opposes the use of American Indian nicknames and logos.

With a comic book aficionado about to be sworn in as the president of the United States, it’s no surprise that comic book makers are eager to capitalize on their new inside-in-the-beltway connection. But is it true that comic books are now turning partisan? It’s been all over the news this week that Marvel Comics is planning a special issue Jan. 14 , 2009, issue of Amazing Spider-Man #583 with Obama on the cover. Inside are five pages of Obama-Spider-Man escapades, as Spider-Man stops the Chameleon from spoiling Obama’s swearing-in....“Even Comic Books Crawling with Pro-Obama Bias?,” asks Ken Shepherd at...

n a way this is a better example of the excesses of the Obama stimulus plan than the bailout of the Porn industry we all laughed at the other day. Edwardsville, Alabama, Population 194 has asked for the federal government to include in the stimulus plan 33 projects which cost $375 MILLION Dollars,that comes out to almost $1,933,000 PER PERSON. THATS IT !!! I am going to ask for a bailout, with a family of four I can get $7,750,000 for my family and that doesn't even count the dog. She is a cute dog and should be worth a...

Instead of reading so much about FDR and Lincoln, Bambi would do well to recall the 1986 Reagan-Gorbachev Summit in Reykjavik. Includes links to previously classified docs form this important summit

Impeachment Investigation Live on C-Span Roland "Tombstone" Burris on the very hot seat.

William Perry, who headed the Pentagon during a 1994 nuclear standoff with North Korea, predicted on Thursday that President-elect Barack Obama will soon face a nuclear crisis with Iran. Iran is "moving inexorably toward becoming a nuclear power," with ominous implications for the Middle East, Perry said. "It seems clear that Israel will not sit by idle while Iran takes the final steps toward becoming a nuclear power," Perry told a conference on foreign policy challenges facing the incoming Obama administration.

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline)-All of the nation's state attorneys general have signed onto a brief to include references to God in President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration this month. Authored by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, the amicus brief was filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in the case of atheist Michael Newdow v. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. Newdow, a Sacramento physician, seeks to eliminate prayer from the ceremony and prevent Obama from being able to say "so help me God" in the presidential oath of office.

Click here.

Just saw a headline that a town of 174 people wants $275 million from the "stimulus package". And isn't a lot of it to go for "infrastructure" such as roads and bridges? Oh, and the porn industry wants a "stimulus" that's a good one. Every democrat city and state wants a chunk of this. How is this not the case of that one Alaskan bridge to nowhere, only on a much larger scale? I guess if we fund every liberal bridge to nowhere, every democrat financial rat hole, somehow this is different. Obama isn't even being smart about his own...

I voted for Gore in 2000 and watched with disbelief when the Supreme Court decided to take on Bush v Gore . . . disbelief because the method Florida decided to use to count the 2000 election votes should have remained with Florida. Federal intervention was not necessary, period. It was an unprincipled decision that the Supremes in their “infinite wisdom” decided should apply solely to this case [...] With this as a back drop, should anyone really be surprised that the Supremes are, again, turning backs on the Constitution? Are we really so surprised that there isn’t a single...

Obama: Iran as threat but US should try diplomacy 09 Jan 2009 16:24:03 GMT Source: Reuters WASHINGTON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama said on Friday he views Iran as a "genuine threat" but still favors initiating a dialogue with the Islamic republic. Asked about Iran at a news conference, Obama said he would not go into detail on his policy toward Tehran because of the principle that there is only one president at a time. But he said, "I have said in the past during the course of the campaign that Iran is a genuine threat to...

Henry Kissinger made headlines on January 5 by proclaiming Barack Obama to be the architect of a “New World Order.” He told CNBC that “His task will be to develop an overall strategy for America in this period when, really, a new world order can be created. It’s a great opportunity, it isn’t just a crisis.” But even more important than this eye-opening statement was where Kissinger made it―the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Kissinger, a former Secretary of State, was alongside Stephen Orlins, president of the U.S. National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, and two Chinese officials,...

Like millions of my fellow Americans I want Barack Obama to succeed in governing America and reviving the economy, despite my opposition to his candidacy. I had hoped that being the cautious man he appears to be, President-elect Obama would avoid taking extreme positions and policies vis-à-vis the economy and settle for the tried-and-true approaches to economic stability. It appears that I was wrong. In an era when it is essential for out-of-control government spending to be halted and drastically cut back, Barack Obama wants to spend at least $800 billion on a so-called stimulus package which many predict will...

A legal challenge that alleges Barack Obama isn't a "natural born" citizen and therefore constitutionally ineligible to be president of the United States will follow the Democrat into the Oval Office, with a U.S. Supreme Court conference on the dispute set after the Jan. 20 inauguration. The court's website today announced that a fourth case on the issue will be reviewed by justices Jan. 23.

Obama's Choice: FDR or Reagan by Patrick J. Buchanan (more by this author) Posted 01/09/2009 ET Barack Obama, it is said, will inherit the worst times since the Great Depression. Not to minimize the crisis we are in, but we need a little perspective here. The Great Depression began with the Great Crash of 1929. By 1931, unemployment had reached 16 percent.By 1933, 89 percent of stock value had been wiped out, the economy had shrunk by one-third, thousands of banks had closed, a third of the money supply had vanished, and unemployment had reached 25 percent -- among...

Satire That photo of the five U.S. presidents, past and future, together at the White House this week reminded me of two profound truths about America and our chief executives: 1. When it comes to presidents, crime does indeed pay, and 2. Mother Nature is most unkind when it comes to the aging of presidents. In particular, the two former Democrat presidents, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, seem to have grown the most wrinkles, gray hair, and bloat during their turns in the White House. Unrepentant socialism does that to people, to say nothing of non-sex sex with an intern...

Rules-link only http://www.wkyc.com/news/local/news_article.aspx?storyid=104707&catid=3

Any Obama Decision to Fund Embryonic Stem Cells Goes Against Best Scienceby Helen M. Alvaré January 8, 2009LifeNews.com Note: Helen Alvare is a professor at George Mason University School of Law and she has her J.D. from Cornell University. joining the faculty at George Mason, Professor Alvare was an associate professor at Catholic University of America-Columbus School of Law. Since 1987 she has worked at the National Conference of Catholic Bishops as an attorney and pro-life spokeswoman. This article originally appeared in the publication of the Culture of Life Foundation. Email RSSPrint Incoming President Barack Obama’s strenuous support for...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack Obama is officially the next president of the United States, Congress declared Thursday in fulfilling its centuries-old constitutional duty to certify and tally the electoral college vote from each state. Republicans joined Democrats in a standing ovation as Vice President Dick Cheney, in his role as president of the Senate, announced from the podium that Obama had achieved a majority of votes and would be the 44th president on Jan. 20.

The new Congress has arrived in Washington with grand plans to spend a trillion dollars in an endless Christmas, a bailout for anyone in need, in want, and in line. Now that America has seen how easy it was for the financial powerhouses to walk away with hundreds of billions, one segment of the population after another is getting into the queue. The auto industry drove itself into the ground and wants billions. The mayors mismanaged their cities, and they want billions. It was only a matter of time before the governors would wave their "me, too!" voices, with California's...

A vulnerable patient starved to death in an NHS hospital after 26 days without proper nourishment. Martin Ryan, 43, had suffered a stroke which left him unable to swallow. But a 'total breakdown in communication' meant he was never fitted with a feeding tube. It was one of a number of horrific cases where the NHS fatally failed patients with learning difficulties, a health watchdog is expected to rule later this month. Tragedy: Martin Ryan died starving and 'in agony' in an NHS hospital after a 'communication breakdown' meant he was not fitted with a feeding tube Tragedy: Martin Ryan...

It will be massive, unprecedented, and historic. The One will summon the masses from near and far to witness an event for the ages. And there will be 5 million people there to watch it, said the Chicago Sun-Times. In November, in the afterglow of a satisfying election victory, the Washington Post agreed that it would certainly be huge, but thought it might be more like, say 4 million. But hey, what's a million people between friendly MSM rags? The Denver Post piped up and said that actually it could be a little more like 3 million. But that is...

national security should drive the meaning of an Article II "natural born Citizen"

It turns out you don’t have to look very hard to find the fault lines in President-elect Barack Obama’s bid for a massive stimulus bill. He tried to scare Congress into acting quickly on Thursday -- and more pressure is coming Friday and beyond -- but there’s still no measure to act on, or even the outlines of one. Now there may not be one for a while. For the moment, at least, he’s got more to worry about on his left than on his right. (And if leaving Howard Dean feeling snubbed helps sell the package -- please explain...

Mobile's Azalea Trail Maids might be representing Alabama at the inauguration parade for president-elect Barack Obama but another president is trying to rain on their parade. Alabama's NAACP President Edward Vaughn says the dresses represent slave times and the girls will be the laughing stock of the big event. All 50 maids hope to attend the event in the nation's capitol.... complete with their pastel-colored hoop dresses and bonnets! Vaughn spoke to News 5 about the issue. "I just think that we needed something that could show Alabama's great progress rather than something that shows a shameful past. Alabama should...

Luckily we know that all the responsible politicians are against pork-barrel spending, and John McCain and Barack Obama are both on record as taking stands against it. So we probably don't need to look into Edwardsville, Alabama's bid for almost $2Mil per resident in stimulus cash any further. I mean, $375 Million for a town of 194 residents sounds like a lot of money, but our government must have it's reasons to entertain ideas like this. I mean, a town in rural Alabama wouldn't propose that our federal government spend money irresponsibly, would it? And our leaders in Washington would...

Chickens dancing, roosting in 5th District John Kass January 9, 2009 With the eyes of the nation on the saga of Tombstone Burris—and our Illinois politicians hopping predictably toward impeaching the governor like those dancing chickens at the state fair—don't forget another vacant congressional seat of prime importance to the Obama White House. Until last week, it belonged to U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Tomczak), now chief of staff to President-elect Barack Obama, who ran on the platform of bringing reform to American politics. With so many new readers from strange lands finally getting interested in how Chicago works—and by this...

Barack Hussein Obama Jr.’s political team is demonstrating its fine sense of Chicago ethics as it sells access to the presidential inaugural on Jan. 20. for a mere $5. The above-cited graphic is part of an e-mail being sent out by former campaign manager David Plouffe, asking for a money for inaugural tickets. Apparently learning from friend Democrat Rod Blagojevich, the disgraced governor of Illinois, who tried, allegedly, to sell Obama’s own senate seat to the highest bidder, Team Obama is now selling access for bargain basement prices. This stuff is #@@ *ing valuable!

Across the Washington region, homeowners' dreams of a quick and easy payday are evaporating as the days tick down to President-elect Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony Jan. 20: The inaugural housing market has gone bust in record time. Those who listed their properties within a week or two of Obama's Nov. 4 election victory were able to score deals, but those who jumped on the bandwagon after that have largely been left without offers. Take Tim Tate, for instance. When he heard that a neighbor had rented out his condo in the trendy Mather Studios in downtown Washington for $3,000 for...

John Sowell left his job as a truck driver in Louisville, Ky., last fall to move to Charlotte. He has family here, he said, and he'd heard it was a booming city with plenty of jobs. Now, three months and about 100 applications later, Sowell is still searching. “It's the grace of God if you get hired,” said Sowell, 43, who's been working at a temp agency. “It's hard. I don't know what to do now. I just pray a lot.” Though he has more than a decade of experience, he's having a hard time finding work – just like...

Chi-Town: The Big, Bad AppleRoland Burris, who was appointed by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (D-Illin') to the Senate, said yesterday he deserves a refund for the bribe after he was turned away by fellow Senate Democrats earlier this week."I paid good money to get in that Senate," said Burris. "I think I should get some type of compensation for these missed days."Burris said that with each day he's missing out on opportunities for graft, corruption and illegal influence that grease the wheels of his fellow federal administrators.

Never mind that Virginia was the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents. Or that it was here that representative democracy took its first fledgling steps in the New World. When Virginians learned that the U.S. Secret Service and other top officials had decided to bar personal vehicles from every bridge from the commonwealth into the District on Inauguration Day, many felt the underlying message to them was this: Drop dead. Or: Stay home. Or: If you're going to try to come and see the first African American sworn in as president of the United States, well, good luck. "First was the...

Predict the following: 1) 1st Cabinet member to resign 2) 1st Cabinet member to require a "special counsel" 3) Country of first international crises 4) Date of first editorial in the NY Times or Washington Post that is openly critical of Obama administration. 5) 1st member of the Black Congressional Caucus to criticize Obama. 6) First moonbat celebrity to call Obama an Uncle Tom. 7) First SCOTUS member to step down under Obama - all bets are on Justice Stevens.

Note: The following text is a quote: Obama to Nominate Deputy Secretary, Three Other Top Defense Officials By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Jan. 8, 2009 – President-elect Barack Obama today announced his choices for four key Defense Department positions: deputy defense secretary, two undersecretary positions and general counsel. William J. Lynn III was named as Obama’s nominee for deputy defense secretary. The president-elect also announced his intention to nominate: -- Robert F. Hale as undersecretary of defense (comptroller); -- Michèle Flournoy as undersecretary of defense for policy; and -- Jeh Charles Johnson as general counsel. “I am...

The rockstar status of our president in waiting continues to blast into new and disturbing areas of our pop culture. Barack Hussein Obama is being unleashed in the cartoon universe. In the latest edition of Marvel's Spiderman comic book series, Barack Obama shows up out of nowhere, with no past or history inside the series at all, similar to how he appeared on the scene in American politics in 2004.

Have a questions for President-Elect Barack Obama? Email me here and I may ask your question this Sunday on "This Week." Barack Obama on This Week (Reuters ) Join me Sunday morning for our exclusive interview with the president-elect -- his first Sunday morning interview since coming to Washington, D.C. Our exclusive one-on-one with the president-elect kicks off our series on the economy. I sit down with Obama just as Congress is on the verge of introducing the economic stimulus package. We'll cover all the big issues facing Obama in his first hundred days. We'll also find out how his...

The incoming administration, lead by head-honcho-in-training, Obama, is poised to take office and immediately hold talks with the terror group, Hamas. I offer my opinion of this dangerous policy.

WASHINGTON -- During the course of the past two months, President-elect Barack Obama and the presidential transition team have replaced their campaign maxim, "Change We Can Believe In," with a new mantra: "We Only Have One President at a Time." It is a slogan that already is worn out. PEBO and the PTT have used this phrase repeatedly in response to reporters' questions on the economy, federal bailouts, foreign policy, national security, the military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, the future of "Gitmo," and the Russian decision to shut down the delivery of natural gas to Western Europe through Ukrainian...

As part of his stimulus package Obama is planning to throw billions of dollars at America's school system. The only thing this will stimulate is contractors' accounts and teachers' salaries. America is spending more per student in real terms then it has ever done and the result is dismal. If Obama was really interested in education he would move to raise standards and introduce choice for the poor who want the best for their children. (When it comes to choice and children, it's only allowed in Obama's world when it comes to abortion). Apart from his outrageous hypocrisy (there is...