Free Republic

Cardinal Dolan. BALTIMORE, November 16, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The head of America’s Catholic bishops’ conference declared Tuesday that the Catholic Church will “not obey” the Obama administration’s HHS mandate, a policy he classified as “immoral.” The mandate, which takes effect in eight months, forces employers to cover sterilizations, contraception, and abortifacient medications. Although churches themselves are exempt the mandate applies to religiously affiliated institutions such as hospitals, colleges, charities, and social service agencies. Asked if the Church is prepared to close its hospitals and other agencies, or instead pay the exorbitant fines levied for non-compliance, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New...

Several former workers at a Hostess Brands plant in Rocky Mount said Friday they were relieved after the company filed for bankruptcy, seeking to close its operations. The closings will mean the loss of about 18,500 jobs overall. “They’ve been holding this over our head for a long time and now it’s here,” said Lamont Phillips, an oven operator and the president of the local union. “They had to do it. “I don’t have to deal with that anymore. The things that they were trying to do to us, it wasn’t fair. “They always hold that over our heads, that...

The Competitive Enterprise Institute thinks so and [Tues]day “filed suit to force the Treasury Department to release more than 7,300 emails believed to discuss a new ‘carbon tax’ Obama administration allies in Congress are expected to propose in the upcoming lame duck session.” The CEI press release continues, “the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., seeks emails on official government accounts that CEI had requested under the Freedom of Information Act. Treasury has said nothing about this topic publicly, but the existence of such extensive email traffic likely reflects serious ongoing discussions between Treasury officials, outside pressure...

The corporate closure will eliminate not only jobs, but 33 bakeries, 565 distribution centers, 5,500 delivery routes and 570 bakery outlet stores in the United States. While some workers bucked threats from union bosses and returned to work, it was not enough. "The problem is we don't have enough crossing those lines to maintain normal production,” said Rayburn. So, this ends a company that has been in business since 1930 providing delicious treats to generations of customers. While it is a sad day for most Americans, one person who will be celebrating is First Lady Michelle Obama, who is the...

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan decried Israel's airstrikes on Gaza on Friday as a pre-election stunt and said he would discuss the crisis with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi in Cairo this weekend. Under Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AK Party, Turkey has sought to use its clout as a rising democratic power in the Muslim world to increase its influence in the Middle East, distancing itself from former ally Israel. Erdogan said he would speak by phone with US President Barack Obama later on Friday and that Ankara was also seeking talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the prospect of a full...

A top American bishop said Tuesday the Roman Catholic church will not comply with the Obama administration requirement that most employers provide health insurance covering birth control.New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said church leaders are open to working toward a resolution with federal officials, but will meanwhile press ahead with challenges to the mandate in legislatures and in court.“The only thing we’re certainly not prepared to do is give in. We’re not violating our consciences,� Dolan told reporters at a national bishops’ meeting. “I would say no door is closed except for...

I've wondered before about how this new, more "flexible" second-term Obama is going to approach climate change, energy policy, and environmental issues --- I remain unconvinced that "all of the above" was anything more than a rhetorical stalling tactic. I'm betting that we're going to see President Obama's more zealous nature re-reveal itself --- and the Keystone XL pipeline battle that the administration left unresolved before the election is likely to force the issue pretty quick here.Environmentalists (who long ago determined that the pipeline proposal warranted their especial fanatical attention) are planning demonstrations in DC next week to ask the...

The Electoral College will cast votes in the fifty states on December 17th. About half of the states require their electors by law, more or less to vote for the popular vote winner or political party winner. The rest do not require electors to vote for a specific candidate. Obama apparently won the popular vote on November 6th. What if it becomes clear before the Electoral College vote that Obama was running weapons from Libya to Al Queda in Syria and Egypt for use against Israel and perhaps against our American servicemen? I say popular vote be d@mned.

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Employees at Los Angeles International Airport were considering plans on Friday to walk off the job ahead on what is traditionally the busiest traveling day of the year. A coalition of Southland labor and community leaders are calling for the protest of alleged violations by LAX contractor Aviation Safeguards (AVSG) after breaking their contract with the airport earlier this year. Andrew Gross-Gaitan, the director of the Southern California Airports Division of SEIU, told KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO that AVSG over 400 LAX workers without affordable family health care when it failed to comply with the city’s Living...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) - A group of Wal-Mart workers are planning to stage a walkout next week on Black Friday, arguably the biggest holiday shopping day for the world's largest retail store. The walkout builds on an October strike that started at a Wal-Mart in Los Angeles and spread to stores in 12 other cities. More than 100 workers joined in the October actions. One of the workers who plans to join next week's walkout is William Fletcher, who works at a Wal-Mart in Duarte, Calif.

[Wednes]day, the President held his first press conference since being elected to a second term. President Obama was given the opportunity to come clean on the size of the tax hike he wants on small business employers when MSNBC White House Correspondent Chuck Todd asked him: “Are you -- is there no deal at the end of the year if tax rates for the top 2 percent aren't the Clinton tax rates, period, no if, ands or buts? Any room in negotiating on that specific aspect of the fiscal cliff?” The President has repeatedly argued that he wants “to go...

In a move that will draw ire among those who fear the ever-growing perils of the America’s preoccupation with Islamic-sensitivity, the administration made a bold step Wednesday — the day after President Obama won his re-election bid – of removing a convicted Hamas operative (and Chicago resident) from its designated terrorist list. 59-year old Muhammad Salah, who spent nearly five years in an Israeli prison for funding the terrorist outfit, was taken off the list by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. The terrorist designation prohibited Salah from obtaining employment or allegedly to make simple purchases without seeking...

What unions are doing in America today, not only to the companies but to the workers they supposedly represent, is unconscionable. It’s sad that a majority of their own members can’t or refuse to see that these unions are not truly on their side and in fact have done much to destroy capitalism. Unions have become the people they were originally formed to oppose. Unions are a socialist concept. The whole concept of unions pits management against the workers. The assumption is that management is an evil force whose sole purpose is the abuse of the worker. While this may...

After much thought and consideration of the fact that Hillary fled to Australia in advance of the Benghazi hearings, today it finally dawned on me who possibly brainstormed the White House' cover story for the terrorist attack in Benghazi. That person would be Hillary Clinton's top aide, Huma Abedin. Huma: "Here. Try this idea.. How about a protest over a video on YouTube?" It is known that Huma Abedin has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and as a Muslim would be the White House's logical choice when looking for propaganda to explain away the attack in Benghazi. As a result...

So Petraeus testified behind closed doors and lo and behold: Former CIA Director David Petraeus testified in a closed-door hearing Friday morning that his agency determined immediately after the Sept. 11 Libya attack that “Al-Qaeda involvement” was suspected — but the line was taken out in the final version circulated to administration officials, according to a top lawmaker who was briefed. Who took it out? Who then decided to send Rice out with that misinformation? Now if we had a Republican in the White House during this whole affair you know the media and the left would be howling for...

The Interior Department on Friday issued a final plan to close 1.6 million acres of federal land in the West originally slated for oil shale development. The proposed plan would fence off a majority of the initial blueprint laid out in the final days of the George W. Bush administration. It faces a 30-day protest period and a 60-day process to ensure it is consistent with local and state policies. After that, the department would render a decision for implementation. The move is sure to rankle Republicans, who say President Obama’s grip on fossil fuel drilling in federal lands is...

Fox military analyst Col. David Hunt checked in with us again after the revelation that there were multiple listening posts which heard the cries for help from the US Embassy in Libya, and none of them did anything.

It seems interesting this CBS scoop comes shortly before both the current and former directors of the CIA will testify as to what they know about the terrorist attack on our consulate and CIA annex in Benghazi.  Why, it’s almost as if someone at the White House or State Department wanted to follow up on Barack Obama’s defense of Susan Rice during yesterday’s press conference and pre-empt any potential fallout from whatever Mike Morell and David Petraeus have to say today and tomorrow.Naah.  I’m sure this is just another in the series of amazing coincidences regarding timing of revelations over...

(snip)It’s hard to say for sure when the last time was that we were served by so many people in so many key positions who know so little about anything; either by accident or design. Take Susan Rice: She knew nothing (by accident I guess: maybe she should have had a “classified” briefing instead of an unclassified one; and it might have helped if her talking points weren’t so fuzzy.) CIA Director David Patreaus: He also knew nothing (somewhat by design: he found out if he knew anything he might loose his job.Turned out he was right) Then there’s the...

The Demise Of The Twinkie: Hostess Files Motion To Liquidate By Tom Gara And that’s that: Hostess Brands, maker of Twinkies, Wonder Bread and more, announced this morning it has filed a motion with bankruptcy court to start liquidating the company immediately. A huge number of jobs are soon to be lost. “Hostess Brands will move promptly to lay off most of its 18,500-member workforce,” said CEO Gregory F. Rayburn in the statement, “and focus on selling its assets to the highest bidders.” In a letter posted on a new site set up to communicate with employees and suppliers through...

(Reuters) - Major banks have announced some 160,000 job cuts since early last year and with more layoffs to come as the industry restructures, many will leave the shrinking sector for good as redundancies outpace new hires by roughly two-to-one. A Reuters analysis of job cuts announced by 29 major banks showed the layoffs were much bigger in Europe than in Asia or the United States. That is a particular blow to Britain where the finance industry makes up roughly 10 percent of the economy. The tally of nearly 160,000 job cut plans, meanwhile, is likely to be a conservative...

You voted for it, this is what you are going to live with and you have dragged the rest of the nation with you!For edification, Marxism is the political and economic theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, later developed as the basis for communism. In this social format, the takers win, the government and its cronies, those who control the masses win.Obama's America is heading toward economics, dictated from above, redistribution and allocation of wealth and resources according to the decisions of a committee of the elite with unified and tyrannical concepts, its members know better than anyone...

Facing one of the biggest budget shortfalls of any state, Illinois took the risky step of jacking up income and corporate taxes even as its economy struggles to shake off the recession. In a deal hammered out by the state's Democratic leadership, the lame-duck legislature pushed through a 67% increase in the state income tax and a 45% increase in the corporate tax. The new income-tax rate would add about $1,040 to the tax bill of a family of four earning $60,000 a year, and the new corporate rate would move the state into the top 10 among corporate taxers...

The Catholic Church — a politically and ethnically sprawling institution — has no natural home on the American ideological spectrum. Neither major party combines moral conservatism with a passion for social justice. So Catholic leaders have often challenged Democrats to be more pro-life and Republicans to be more concerned about immigrants and the poor. But President Obama’s first term was a period of unexpected aggression against the rights of religious institutions. His Justice Department, in the Hosanna-Tabor case, argued against the existence of any “ministerial exception” to employment rules. Obama tried to mandate that Catholic schools, hospitals and charities offer...

Washington, DC - For two months, the so-called mainstream media all but ignored the Sept. 11 terror attack in Benghazi, Libya that resulted in four dead Americans. What actions the Obama administration took before, during and after the bloody assaults on the U.S. consulate and a CIA outpost should have been a legitimate election issue. But the Romney campaign only raised the disaster once — and then avoided it like an outbreak of the Ebola virus. Now that the election is decided, the Fourth Estate is on the story. Though the president never mentioned the Benghazi debacle in his prepared...

Thanks to testimony and "real-time" video, lawmakers said they got their clearest picture yet Thursday of the deadly attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Libya, though questions and tensions remain as to how President Barack Obama's administration handled the matter. Republicans and Democrats who attended closed-door sessions of the House and Senate intelligence committees described what they heard and saw as informative, albeit not necessarily conclusive. [....] Legislators saw a "real-time film (showing) exactly what happened" on September 11 in Benghazi, starting before the attack began up "through the incident and the exodus," said Feinstein. A source familiar with...

For two hours, David Patraeus testified before lawmakers today. The most pertinent information from that testimony was this: the information and talking points intelligence turned over to the White House regarding the Libya attack, were CHANGED after they were handed over to the White House. The one question that has not been answered is WHO MADE THESE CHANGES BEFORE THEY WERE HANDED TO RICE for release? Whoever made this change is responsible for the dispersal of UNTRUTH to the American people and the world regarding the motives behind the attack. Petraeus testified in a closed-door hearing Friday morning that his...

The choice for the status quo made in last week’s presidential election was an uninformed one—at no fault of the voters—made in the fog of monetary distortion and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s continuous campaign of disinformation. President Barack Obama managed to overtake Republican challenger Mitt Romney on the exit poll question “Who is better for the economy?” and a strong majority of Obama voters felt that the economy is better off than four years ago. Indeed, anyone (particularly Bernanke) would concede that without the Fed’s zero interest rate policy we would be experiencing a far worse economy—the true Obama-Keynesian...

From a Conservative perspective, the election, November 6th, was a disaster. This American, as literally tens of millions of others, spent several days in near despondency, not only over the result, but over a successful methodology employed to distract, undermine, smear & intimidate, to provide victory to a man whose whole adult life has been an exercise in disrespect for our principles, customs, heritage & peoples. Yet the fog cleared, and with it any doubt about the road ahead.

 President Obama's One Hundred and Ninety-Ninth Week in Office11/15/2012It's 3am and nobody's therePresident Obama takes a helicopter tour of New York to view Sandy´s devastation on the Big Apple for the first timeSandy victim to Obama: Where have you been?Obama, in Front of Church Devastated by Sandy: 'I'm Here' to Fix it As sex scandals surface, Panetta developing ethics training for generals?ObamanomicsBanks told by Fed to test for 12% unemploymentWeekly jobless claims rise to 439KFHA Nears Need for Taxpayer FundsN.J. lost nearly 12,000 jobs in OctoberSmithfield Plant to Layoff Workers in 2013 (520 jobs in Virginia)... Inflation Nudges UpJobless Claims...

WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO: Require Barack Obama To Allow The Public Examination Of His Birth Certificate Records & His College & University Records We The People request the Obama Administration to require Barack H. Obama to authorize the public examination of his birth certificate records together his college and university records. We have all seen the document produced by The White House which has been declared suspect by Sheriff Joe Arpaio, but The People request that Barack Obama authorize the State of Hawaii to release all related information concerning his birth in the State. We also request that...

Most observers of the 2008 presidential campaign -- even including some liberals after the fact -- were shocked and appalled by the media's pro-Barack Obama sycophancy. Unfortunately, the intentional and unintentional advocacy of the media on behalf of Obama was even worse in 2012. There are many reasons why the conservative movement failed to achieve electoral success this year, but perhaps one of the most significant is the enduring power and influence of the left-dominated "mainstream" media. The 2012 cycle demonstrated that left-wing journalists have far more sway on Americans' opinions than many conservatives have been willing to admit. While...

Greta V. S. : Benghazi is a Murder Investigation

My morning drive analysis.

A recent hearing sponsored by the Treasury and Labor Departments marked the beginning of the Obama Administration’s effort to nationalize the nation’s pension system and to eliminate private retirement accounts including IRA’s and 401k plans, NSC is warning. The hearing, held in the Labor Department’s main auditorium, was monitored by NSC staff and featured a line up of left-wing activists including one representative of the AFL-CIO who advocated for more government regulation over private retirement accounts and even the establishment of government-sponsored annuities that would take the place of 401k plans. "This hearing was set up to explore why Americans...

Special Operations Speaks DEMANDS an Independent Investigation to Uncover Potential High Crimes and Misdemeanors in Benghazigate http://specialoperationsspeaks.com/petition/benghazigate-petition-hawks

Wednesday’s press conference marked the first occasion journalists have had to question the President directly – about anything – in eight months, and President Obama tipped his hat on his plans to confront the coming fiscal cliff with chastened House Republicans. In short, he will probably raise tax rates for the wealthy. But thanks to an explosive and, as my colleague Donny Deutsch put it, testosterone-fueled defense of UN Ambassador Susan Rice, a lot of what the President also said about his plans to reduce the deficit went ignored. That’s a shame – they were quite illuminating. Before Obama’s “bring...

Ever since Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980, evangelicals have been a powerful political force. Jerry Falwell and his Moral Majority organization were credited in part with Reagan's election, having registered millions of evangelicals to vote. Their influence would only grow over the next 25 years: Evangelicals were instrumental in Reagan's reelection, the Republican Revolution of 1994, and both of George W. Bush's victories. But on November 6, 2012, their reign came to an end. "I think this [election] was an evangelical disaster," Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, told NPR. He's right, but it wasn't for...

Exactly two years ago this week, the Obama administration announced it had issued more than 100 waivers en masse to a select group of companies, unions and other health insurance providers seeking relief from the onerous federal health care law. The Obamacare waiver winner's club now totals 2,000. Where are they now? Answer: In the same miserable boat as every other unlucky business struggling with the crushing costs and burdens of the mandate. Among the first and most prominent recipients of the Obamacare waivers for favors were large restaurant chains that provide low-wage, seasonal and part-time workers with low-cost health...

Can you help me find a link to a transcript or an audio copy of two separate talk radio interviews on or about September 13 or September 14, 2012 from sources that were in Libya and knew about the gun running Chris Stevens was doing for Obama and why Obama wanted Amb. Stevens dead? It was a late night radio talk show,heard in the Central Time Zone either the night of Sept 12, or the night of Sept 13, and had two separate people giving detailed facts about Benghazi.

Berlin, Monday, Aug. 20 -- Eighty-nine and nine-tenths per cent of the German voters endorsed in yesterday's plebiscite Chancellor Hitler's assumption of greater power than has ever been possessed by any other ruler in modern times. Nearly 10 per cent indicated their disapproval. The result was expected. The German people were asked to vote whether they approved the consolidation of the offices of President and Chancellor in a single Leader-Chancellor personified by Adolf Hitler. By every appeal known to skillful politicians and with every argument to the contrary suppressed, they were asked to make their approval unanimous. Nevertheless 10 per...

Three hours west of Washington, D.C., U.S. Route 50 emerges from the West Virginia forest in a gentle curve. On the south side of the highway rises an enormous natural gas drilling rig. To its left and slightly behind it is a gas separation plant under construction. This is the “wet gas” portion of the Marcellus shale-gas play that underlies Appalachia. The separation plant will divide the wet gas into propane, pentane, butane and the like. In front of the rig and closest to the highway is a kind of filling station with color-coded fittings instead of hoses on the...

Community College of Allegheny County will trim hours for about 400 of its part-time workers to avoid having to provide them with health insurance coverage, the school's president, Alex Johnson, said Thursday. Mr. Johnson told members of Allegheny County Council that complying with the requirements of the federal Affordable Care Act, informally known as Obamacare, would have cost CCAC $6 million annually for part-timers who have been working at least 30 hours per week. Affected employees include both adjunct faculty and maintenance workers. CCAC has an annual operating budget of about $110 million and is facing reductions in county support...

Obama Voter Fraud11/15/2012Citing high number of rural black voters, Maine GOP chair suspects "improprieties" at the polls19,605 to zero is statistical proof of outright vote fraud in 2012 presidential election22 Signs That Voter Fraud Is Wildly Out Of Control And The Election Was A ShamDiscrepancies Found in Election Results from Several Swing States Florida sends auditors to investigate voting irregularities, as Rep. West holds out hope11/14/2012Almost 1K ballots found in Broward elections warehouseBIG LIST of vote fraud reports11/13/2012Up to 10 percent of the ballots cast at a polling station in Pennsylvania reverted to a default, which gave Barack Obama a vote...

Today, speaking of the the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, we heard some strong and common sense words: ... "This administration has lied to the American people about this tragedy," Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., said. "The arrogance and dishonesty in all of this is breathtaking. Let's not stonewall this issue and cover up mistakes, which seems to be what is going on today." ... Why was the Obama administration, speaking through its U.N. mouthpiece Susan Rice, so adamant that, "a spontaneous protest over an anti-Muslim video had evolved into an attack on the American consulate?" In...

And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee. II Chronicles 14:11 Sadly, we could have had both prosperity -and- a great awakening if we had sought first the kingdom of God as our founding fathers did. Following is my opinion of the Republican Party’s problem from back in...

More than 500 Pennsylvania voters registered complaints about election procedure to the state this election, according to Secretary of the Commonwealth Carol Aichele. "All of these complaints have been forwarded to the appropriate county board of election for review, and if county officials feel it is warranted, [there will be an] investigation," Aichele said in a statement.

Just a few minutes ago on CNN, Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr reported that a high-placed source informed her that former CIA Chief David Petraeus will use his upcoming testimony to amend his previous testimony. According to this source, Petraeus will tell the closed door congressional hearing that he knew "almost immediately" that the September 11 anniversary attack on our Libyan consulate was a terrorist attack committed by the al-Qaeda-linked militia Ansar Al Sharia.

I sensed the lord saying: it is time to stop. It is time for a complete turnaround of my people. It is time to pray. And as my people, as my church, rises up across the nation and the nations of this world to pray pray fervently for president Obama; pray fervently for the government; pray fervently for the white house that we will see in the land of the living that we will see a change in the direction of the white house that we will see a change a transformation even of policies and it will be my...

The Federal Reserve is asking 30 big banks to make sure their capital can withstand a deep recession in which the unemployment rate rises to 12%. The Fed, which first required big banks to conduct “stress tests” in 2009, laid out three scenarios lenders have to test against. The goal is to ensure that the firms have enough capital to continue operations during stressful economic times.