Free Republic

The White House scrambled Friday to explain newly released email excerpts that show a top State Department official pushing to water down the intelligence community's initial story-line on the Benghazi attack, as Republicans sharply challenged the administration's honesty. With new details emerging in the Benghazi-gate controversy, the White House held a background discussion with more than a dozen news organizations. Afterward, Press Secretary Jay Carney weathered a barrage of questions from the media during an at-times awkward White House briefing -- where he tried to defend the truthfulness of his and other officials' prior claims that the initial talking points...

I've been 3 months trying to get TWC to come and get my defective DVR (we have 2) several calls promising they would come and they would adjust our bill blah blah blah. Then the new bill came and informed us we are getting a price increase so we talked it over and did some research. Our TV bill (We have their internet as well) was over 110 bucks a month. We realized we could get Hulu plus and receiver most of the shows we watch for about 9 bucks a month and the two shows we definitely watch that...

A tale illustrating how out-of-control government effects real people by my friend, Gary Paduch.MR. PERVIS, OLD TOM AND THE GOVERNMENT Old man Pervis made a meager living plowing peoples gardens with his old mule Tom. They also did odd jobs with his wagon and mule drawn hay mowing machine. But, times had changed and work was slow. Tom ate a great deal of hay and oats. The old man's profit margin had declined as he and Tom grew older. The old man decided to gradually cut back on Tom’s food just a handful a day. He reasoned Tom would get...

Biden to 'dull as hell' fundraiser crowd: 'Pretend you like me' By Justin Sink - 04/27/12 12:38 PM ET Vice President Biden ordered supporters to "pretend you like me" after mocking them as "dull as hell" at a campaign fundraiser in Washington on Friday. The vice president was speaking to Turkish and Azerbaijani donors about the potential of the region as a democratic and economic force when he noticed he wasn't getting much of a reception. “I guess what I’m trying to say without boring you too long at breakfast – and you all look dull as hell, I might...

An obscure federal agency may have set a new benchmark for lavish conferences on the taxpayers' dime. Lawmakers are voicing outrage following a government report that found the General Services Administration held a blowout $820,000 conference near Las Vegas which grossly exceeded what the planners were allowed to spend. The employees dropped thousands of dollars on luxury items and convention giveaways -- including more than $6,000 on commemorative coins, $8,000 on a "yearbook," and $3,200 for an in-house mind reader. "It's unbelievable that red flags didn't immediately go up well before this junket," Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said. In the...

The Obama administration has announced that it is taking the unbelievable role of pushing the homosexual agenda around the world and punishing countries that don't comply. Back in July, MassResistance reported how the Pakistanis angrily denounced the US Embassy's open homosexual parties as "cultural terrorism." Well, that was just the beginning. Now, foreign countries which seek to protect their citizens against homosexuality and the homosexual movement will be actively confronted by America's State Department, foreign service, and other federal departments, according to a Presidential Memorandum released by the Obama Administration announced on Dec. 6. Unless countries around the world subordinate...

2 Very Disturbing Examples Of Radical Social Engineering By The U.S. Government The control freaks that run the U.S. government are busy imposing their values on all the rest of us, and most Americans have absolutely no idea what is happening. The Obama administration and members of Congress are engaged in radical social engineering, and they are trying to reshape America so that it conforms to their own twisted vision of "morality". Instead of focusing on fixing the economy and administering the government, these sick control freaks actually want to fundamentally alter what Americans believe to be right and wrong....

A leading congressional Republican is investigating whether the National Park Service (NPS) committed “scientific misconduct” in its effort to shut down a century-old oyster farm over claims that it threatens the local seal population. Rep. Darrell Issa (R.-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is demanding that the Interior Department turn over certain documents to his panel to determine whether faulty information will close the Drakes Bay Oyster Company (DBOC), which operates in California’s Point Reyes National Seashore. “It has come to my attention that scientific misconduct by National Park Service personnel may be jeopardizing the right...

In a news release last week, the Environmental Protection Agency labeled hay a pollutant, according to the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA). A non-profit organization representing thousands of U.S. cattle producers, R-CALF USA says the EPA’s outlandish affidavit could potentially require farmers and ranchers to store hay in pollution containment zones.

I know exactly what is going on inside the Obama White House; the outside world has been banned and only the true believers are welcome. This has very little to do with the many unique features of this administration. It is typical of any administration under siege, and it is as understandable and inevitable as it is unfortunate and even dangerous. I know it well, having seen it with my own eyes during the Iran-Contra siege of the Reagan White House 25 years ago, when the president’s men and women concentrated all their energies and all their passions on “saving”...

We got yo money. Gonna borrow mo money. Gonna spend yo money. Gonna print mo money. *Pythagorean theorem: 24 words.   *The Lord's prayer: 66 words.   *Archimedes' Principle: 67 words.   *The 10 Commandments: 179 words.   *The Gettysburg address: 286 words.   *The Declaration of Independence: 1,300 words.   *U.S. Government regulations on the sale of cabbage: 26,911 words.     ...and that says it all. Government Efficiency I went into the Department of Motor Vehicles to obtain the title and license plates for my new truck. After spending five minutes typing all my personal information into a...

Every two to three years, Eddie Sales trims and prunes the crape myrtles at his church, Albemarle Road Presbyterian Church. But this year, the city of Charlotte cited the church for improperly pruning its trees. "We always keep our trees trimmed back because you don't want to worry about them hanging down in the way," said Sales, a church member. The church was fined $100 per branch cut for excessive pruning, bringing the violation to $4,000. "I just couldn't believe it when I heard about it," Sales said. "We trim our trees back every three years all over our property,...

The politicians in Washington make little sense and Democratic politicians make even less sense. Budgeting is not rocket science. So listen up, Washington. You have a certain amount of revenue. That is all you can spend. If your solution to the problem is simply to increase revenue by raising taxes, you failed in your job. If you think any program you have is too important to face budget cuts, you failed in your job. Don’t talk to me about health care reform, just do your job and balance the budget. Don’t talk to me about fighting senseless wars in far-flung...

Amid calls for President Hosni Mubarak to not wait until the end of his term to step down, the U.S. special envoy to Egypt told the Munich Security Conference that the 30-year ruler needs to stick around fro now. Frank Wisner, a former ambassador to Egypt deployed there this past week to apparently urge Mubarak to hand over the reins, said Saturday that the transition "is an ideal moment for him to show the way forward." Wisner spoke to the conference via video link from New York. "We need to get a national consensus around the pre-conditions for the next...

...What’s more, silicones contribute significantly to energy efficiency; their use in tires and automobile parts increases fuel efficiency by providing lighter and more sustainable components. Their sealant properties provide high-efficiency insulation for buildings while their use in coatings in manufacturing cuts down on friction resulting in more efficient production. Restricting the use of siloxanes, then, is a peculiar initiative for an agency that has spent billions of tax dollars lobbying for “green” enterprises. Restricting the use of a chemicals with such broad application could have catastrophic implications for the economy, causing job loss by the millions and paralyzing succesful industries....

[F]or U.S. agents working the border, the deaths illustrate the stark reality of a violent situation that threatens to spin out of control. "Enough is enough," said T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, which represents U.S. agents. "The Mexican government demanding a full investigation and pretending they have no control or responsibility over what happened is unbelievable," Bonner said. "They openly encourage people to cross. Nobody shows up to stop the rock throwers, smugglers on their side. It's a terrible thing that they are allowing criminals to gather on their side of the border to assault our...

CHICAGO - Chicago police are investigating shootings around the city that left seven people dead and several more wounded in a matter of hours. Police spokesman Officer Hector Alfaro says the first shooting happened at about 6 p.m. Thursday and that the attacks continued into the early hours of Friday in various neighborhoods. Alfaro says police believe the shootings that left five men and one woman dead are unrelated. He says no arrests had been made as of early Friday.

The federal budget deficit has long since graduated from nuisance to headache to pressing national concern. Now, however, it has become so large and persistent that it is time to start thinking of it as something else entirely: a national-security threat. The budget plan released Monday by the Obama administration illustrates why this escalation is warranted. The numbers are mind-numbing: a $1.6 trillion deficit this year, $1.3 trillion next year, $8.5 trillion for the next 10 years combined—and that assumes Congress enacts Obama's proposals to start bringing it down, and that the proposals work. ...it's time to start thinking of...

(CNSNews.com) – Less than a week after the Environmental Protection Agency restarted a controversial dredging project on the Hudson River, dredgers operated by the General Electric Company dislodged wooden beams that are the last remnants of one of the largest British forts in the American colonies. The EPA now says that the beams are contaminated with potential carcinogens known as PCBs and therefore must be buried in a landfill. The dredging operation is being conducted to remove sediments containing PCBs from the river about 40 miles north of Albany, N.Y. Fort Edward, where the dredging damage occurred, was one of...

A fast spinning windmill appeared "out of control," and threatened traffic on the highway between Los Angeles County's high desert and the San Joaquin Valley, a CHP dispatcher in Bakersfield said today. The CHP dispatcher said the windmill is spinning too fast and might fly apart, which is why Highway 58 in the Tehachapi Pass was closed down both directions between Mojave and about 45 miles north of Lancaster and Tehachapi. The malfunctioning electric generator is one of thousands of windmills installed along both sides of Highway 58 in Tehachapi Pass. Traffic was being detoured onto parallel county roads. Traffic...