Free Republic

A key message of the pro-gun advocates trying to unseat Senate President John Morse is that he’s a stooge for New York City’s mayor and not really representing his district in Colorado.So what is the first message he posted as it appeared the Secretary of State would approve enough signatures for his recall? Meanwhile, Mr. Morse, a Colorado Springs Democrat, released a statement Monday on his Facebook page asking for out-of-state help from those in traditionally liberal cities to help fight the recall effort. “We can get phone lists to you and things like that and have you help from...

Fed Chair Ben Bernanke held a Q&A after the Fed’s announcement of … no changes in monetary policy. But they might in future meetings. That was predicted by virtually everyone. But the surprise was in the Q&A session. QUESTION: Mr. Chairman, you’ve always argued that it’s the stock of assets that the Federal Reserve holds which affects long-term interest rates. How do you reconcile that with the very sharp rise in real interest rates that we’ve seen in recent weeks? And do you think the market is correctly interpreting what you think is most likely to be the future path...

Anderson Cooper had done a segment on an air marshal named Jeffrey Black, who was audited by the IRS almost immediately after it became public that he had participated in a documentary about the shortcomings of the agency where he once worked, the Transportation Security Administration. Here’s the CNN clip... ...The documentary in which Black participated, Please Remove Your Shoes, is currently available on Netflix. The CNN clip inaccurately describes it as a “spoof” — in fact, it’s a pretty scary documentary if you fly often, and a frustrating one if you follow the goings-on at various government agencies. Black...

Must see tv from today's rally in D.C.!

It's sad to say but seems entirely true: nothing good comes from our Education Establishment. They are all socialists or perhaps fascists. They never think in terms of "let's teach lots of wonderful stuff to kids of all ages." They think only in terms of diluting content. Here is their apparent plan: teach less and teach it badly so kids will dislike the subject forever. (Reform Math proves that point.) Americans really ought to think of their public schools as occupied territory, like France in 1943. We need more Resistance. Killing Common Core is a good start. People are always...

In fits and starts, I've come late to the debate on immigration reform. For seven months, I housed a political refugee who had been arrested and turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Because he had legal asylum, ICE released him with nowhere to go. A local organization that works with detained immigrants asked if I could house him while they worked on more permanent housing. Housing him caused me to give more thought to immigration and immigration reform. We allow businesses and corporations to cross borders in search of higher profit without regard to damage done when...

Vanity, sorry. My youngest, a FEMALE, whom has always been a FEMALE, with a Birth Certificate, valid SS number, and has been declared on taxes for 18 years as a FEMALE, recieved a threatening letter from Selective Service ordering her under threat of Prosecution, to make a copy of her BIRTH CERTIFICATE and send it in within 10 Days. My other daughter, did NOT receive this kind of harassment which does NOT happen to Illegal Immigrants even though they are required to register.

I may be reaching with this parody of this late-80's Eddie Murphy movie. I was a kid when it came out so I don't know how well known it is...

We've all seen it. The "poor" in line at our local shopping market paying for lobsters, or filet mignon with their EBT card. We hear reports of people using their welfare cards at strip clubs and buying liquor at liquor stores. The list of welfare fraud goes on and on. Welfare payments issued to recipients long after they were listed as dead. Multiple recipients using one Social Security number — and multiple Social Security numbers being used by one person. Electronic benefit cards from Massachusetts being used in places like Hawaii, Las Vegas, and the Virgin Islands. Tens of thousands...

On September 10, 2010, the day before our enormous freedom rally at Ground Zero protesting the Ground Zero victory mega-mosque, the New York Times profiled a Muslim named Sinclair Hejazi Abdus-Salaam, who had no place to pray. The whole story was a subtle advertisement for the Ground Zero mega-mosque. But as it turns out, Sinclair Hejazi Abdus-Salaam is not quite the "moderate" that the leftist NYT dhimmis assumed he was, but calls openly for the murder of apostates from Islam -- here in the U.S. Here again we see The NY Times legitimizing and norming the most extreme voices. They...

Since Immigration Reform was passed in 2006, we have had four election cycles, with a senate changover of 56 senators. In other words, there are 56 percent new senators since 2006. Below is the original tally and who are sitting in those seats today.

Amanda Knox (aka, “Foxy Knoxy”) is back in the news as the Italian Supreme Court explains why they trying her murder case … again. Apparently, the original “theory” that someone died in an exotic sex game is the one that will be pursued. No double jeopardy in Italy, I guess. So, look for months and months of more “Obnoxy Knoxy” in the news. Another celebrity in the news (constantly) is the Wall Street Journal’s Jon Hilsenrath. Here is Hilsenrath on The Fed’s taper. In a nutshell, Hilsenrath writes that Fed officials “are likely to signal” they’re on track to pull...

Many Mega-churches will blithely Bow to edicts of Obama (Osteen). (Video) uploaded on Monday June 17th, 2013

Democrats are liars and liars lie. Most of us learn this very early in life. Some of us never forget this, but some people prefer to delude themselves with, “The people in my circle aren’t liars, they’re good people or I would not associate with them.” Unfortunately, for us most elected Democrats are liars and most elected Republicans are too dense to recognize this and treat them accordingly. Does Marco Rubio realize Chuck Schumer is a liar? After dealing with him and his fellow Democrats for a few years it’s hard to see how he couldn’t recognize Schumer as a...

The New Yorker this week has published an exhaustive—and exhausting—account of the Senate's attempts thus far to pass comprehensive immigration reform. The article, by Ryan Lizza, focuses on the "Gang of Eight," a bipartisan group of legislative negotiators whose non-negotiable criteria for membership was that participants had to favor "a comprehensive approach to immigration—all the major issues had to be settled in one bill—and they had to support a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants." Tuck away those groundrules for later. The lead character in Lizza's story is Gang of Eight GOP leader Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who headed up...

While Big Guy was busy charming world leaders, we had lunch. Fish and chips at Finnegan’s with Bono (!) and his lovely wife Allison, with whom we share a certain savoir faire. Allison’s a real fashion icon too! Imagine that a black slip – at the beach! (SNIP) Bono and Allison, like Big Guy and Lady M, also have two daughters; Jordan, in the gladiator outfit and Memphis Eve. I’ve no idea why they named her after a feminine hygiene product.                   Lady M and the girls had fish and chips, and Lady M also enjoyed a lobster starter, according...

While Big Guy was busy charming world leaders, we had lunch. Fish and chips at Finnegan’s with Bono (!) and his lovely wife Allison, with whom we share a certain savoir faire. Allison’s a real fashion icon too! Imagine that a black slip – at the beach! (SNIP) Bono and Allison, like Big Guy and Lady M, also have two daughters; Jordan, in the gladiator outfit and Memphis Eve. I’ve no idea why they named her after a feminine hygiene product.                   Lady M and the girls had fish and chips, and Lady M also enjoyed a lobster starter, according...

Partisan lines are hardening over the Senate’s immigration reform bill, downgrading hopes a 70-plus majority of senators will back it in an up-or-down vote next week. The bill seems likely to pass the Senate, particularly after a Congressional Budget Office score on Tuesday found it would reduce deficits by $700 billion over the next two decades. Yet hopes the bill could win 70 or 80 votes are fading along with the chances that a key amendment sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) will be approved. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Tuesday said he opposes including any triggers in...

There was a mild uproar Tuesday when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that he would move to bring the immigration debate to a close as early as Friday, less than two weeks after it began. But as it turns out, Senate Republicans aren't all that upset with the Nevada Democrat's determination to set up final passage of the "Gang of Eight" immigration reform package no later than June 28, when Congress is scheduled to head home for the July 4 recess. After initially attempting to extend the debate, even conservative opponents of the Senate bill, eager to see their...

This morning on WMAL, Allen West was asked if he would be open to a primary challenge against Rubio given all the disaffected Rubio voters in the state of Florida. While hemming and hawing on the subject a bit, he didn’t rule out the possibility and agreed that an immigration reform bill as long as this one is not what the American people want. So let’s just say it’s a possibility. Listen:

The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) meets today at 2pm EST. But is there a bubble? One sign of a bubble is the rise in NYSE margin accounts. Another sign of a bubble is the junk bond yield. But I will tell you where there is NOT a bubble – mortgage applications. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released their weekly mortgage applications this morning revealing that mortgage applications dropped -3.3% from the preceding week. Mortgage purchase applications fell 3.04% from the previous week and remain at 1997 levels. Mortgage refinancing applications fell 3.43% from the preceding week. This is...

WASHINGTON—Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas), the No. 2 ranking Senate Republican, said Tuesday that if Democrats remain unwilling to strengthen the border-security provisions in the immigration bill, the effort to overhaul the country’s immigration laws could “quickly fall apart”. Mr. Cornyn, the minority whip, is the author of a provision that would seek to strengthen the border security aspects of the bill. He said that he hoped Democrats would be willing to look at his measure that would peg the transition of the roughly 11 million illegal immigrants in the country to legal residency to stronger border provisions. Mr. Cornyn...

Former Rep. Allen West on Wednesday didn’t rule out a future primary challenge to Sen. Marco Rubio. “As I have always said, I will serve this country in whatever capacity I possibly can,” West said on WMAL radio on Wednesday, when pressed as to whether he would challenge Rubio (R-Fla.) in 2016. “My most important concern is my country. If I see people that are not taking our country down the right path, if I see people that are not standing up for the right type of principles, and putting their own party politics before what is best for the...

Felons Freed Over 2000 Dangerous Illegal Release By Obama Admin Borders Wide Open Documentary Reveals Potential Amnesty Issues!! - Wake Up America Border 'In' Security Dangerous Illegals Freed After White House Safety Push

Tuesday, June 18, 2013 Savages of Socialism Posted by Daniel Greenfield @ the Sultan Knish blog In Venezuela, savvy shoppers are hunting down scarce supplies of toilet paper with a smartphone app. The smartphones, compact packages of electronics, are several generations more advanced than the white square, but they are available when the toilet paper isn't, because unlike the toilet paper they aren't subsidized and price controlled. While Hugo Chavez did at one point unveil a Chavezphone for the poor, he succumbed to the wonders of Cuba's Socialist medicine before they could become as big as Obamaphones. But if Venezuela...

Congressional Republicans, who have been more receptive to immigration reform since last November, now appear increasingly unlikely to widely back the Senate immigration bill unless they can extract significant concessions from Democrats. It all comes down to the battle over border security. Some Senate Republicans are coalescing around a new border security plan as an alternative to Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn’s, demanding acceptance of it as a condition for their support of the overall bill. But top Democrats are balking at initial drafts of their proposal and privately concede there’s little chance the Senate will add even tougher border...

Imagine, if you will, that you are a public official in the state you live in. As an elected official, you are responsible for carrying out the duties of your office, as best you see fit. If your constituents, ie. the people who elected you, have a problem with the way you conduct their business, they have recourse. They can recall you in another election, or they can simply vote someone else in to fill your position. In other words, they can fire you. They also have the right to protest your actions in a number of various and very...

Photo: Lance Cpl Greg Buckley, murdered by our Afghan "allies" The Obama Administration announced that it will meet with the Taliban in Doha for “peace talks.” The Taliban continue to orchestrate insider attacks, killing our soldiers. They continue to poison girls’ schools across Afghanistan, kidnap Red Cross workers, enforce the most brutal and extreme ideology on the face of the earth (the Sharia), and call for the defeat of American and coalition forces. These jihadists behead Afghan children, slaughter Afghans who dare to attend a party where dancing takes place, and mean to run Mullah Omar for President, despite the...

Tomorrow, The Fed’s Open Market Committee (FOMC) meets to decide its strategy for monetary easing or tightening. The question that has been talked about in the news is The Fed “tapering” its easing (better known as tightening). There are some good reasons for The Fed to kill its tape worm (or begin tapering). First, The Fed’s balance sheet has swollen to over $3.3 trillion, including Treasuries and Agency MBS. Second, the duration (risk) of Agency MBS (such as the Fannie Mae 4% MBS) has increased dramatically recently. Third, the yield curve in the US (and Japan) has risen since May...

Barack Obama sought to once again use Dick Cheney as a whipping boy to create a distinction between his and the previous administration. President Barack Obama used a television interview set to air Monday night to defend his administration’s use of far-reaching surveillance programs as carefully supervised and controlled. Obama also appeared to reject comparisons between himself and Vice President Dick Cheney, who strongly backed similar surveillance efforts in the George W. Bush administration and has defended Obama’s continuation of national security-related programs similar in many respects to those pursued by the previous administration. “Some people say, ‘Well, you know,...

After former US Defense Secretary Robert Gates considers the country’s involvement in the Syrian civil war “a mistake”, another prominent politician is riding the waves to drown the government’s decision to support Syrian rebels.Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin threw scathing remarks last Saturday against the government’s plans to provide weapons and ammunition to Syrian opposition groups. She said the US government should “let Allah sort it out” instead of meddling in the affairs of the troubled nation. Palin issued the statement as a closing talk during the Faith and Freedom Coalition Conference in Washington, D.C. last June 15, as reported...

As preposterous as it may seem, illegal immigrants with drunk-driving, domestic violence, aggravated assault and child abuse convictions will qualify for amnesty under the immigration bill pending in the U.S. Senate unless an amendment introduced by a Texas lawmaker is adopted. Incredibly, groups that would normally be vocal on these sorts of issues have remained silent. For instance, the nation’s largest organization working to stop drunk driving and support victims of the violent crime—Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)—refuses to criticize the proposed law even though it will essentially reward those convicted of driving dunk. Through a spokeswoman, MADD said it...

Back when I was in law school, The Bramble Bush was required reading for a course on jurisprudence. The preface included this from  Mother Goose Rhymes. There was a man in our town, And he was wondrous wise; He jumped into a brier bush, And scratched out both his eyes; And when he saw his eyes were out, With all his might and main He jumped into another bush, And scratched 'em in again. ObamaCare and regulations implementing it -- as well as Governmental snooping in general -- are thorny "brier bushes" with enough brambles to "scratch out" all of our eyes. Those brier bushes...

Quietly, with almost no attention from the old media, a strong second front has been opened in the fight to restore the Second Amendment. There can be no doubt that knives, tomahawks, and other edged weapons were meant to be included as arms protected under the Second Amendment. They were commonly used weapons in the militias of the Revolutionary War, and had been part of military equipment since the dawn of history. Opponents of individual rights have been able to dig up a few town safety ordinances regulating the storage of gunpowder or the firing of guns in urban centers....

I have a saying I like to use: Just because you CAN do a thing, does not mean you SHOULD. This tenant seems incredibly appropriate given the story unfolding around the massive surveillance capability being built up under President Obama and the young man who sacrificed so much to expose it. On one side, just because the government has the technical know-how to collect massive amounts of data, does not means it should. And on the other side, just because you can leak sensitive documents, does not mean you should. There are no easy answers here. Except to know: If...

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) poked fun at the notion that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) could be publicly saying the Senate immigration bill needs stronger security provisions, while saying in TV ads that the bill has the best border security provisions in history. Sessions has previously called on Rubio and his ally Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to withdraw the advertisements because of their inaccuracies. Andrea Tantaros asked Sessions on her radio show to respond to reports that Rubio has not been seen with the Gang of Eight in public in over two months. “That’s odd,” Sessions said. “He is the one...

“How do we put together a bill and then the guy who put it together says that he may not vote for it?” Graham asked me. “I just don’t get what we’re doing here.” His specific complaint: that GOP Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a fellow member of the Senate “gang of eight” who had spent months drafting a bipartisan immigration reform bill, seemed to be backing away from the legislation… Graham needed Rubio to bless the deal and stick with it, not flinch at the first whiff of tea party gunpowder.

In this video commentary, I discuss how mosques are off-limits for FBI surveillance.

I'm a US Citizen, natural-born and raised, dammit. And it's a distinction that makes a difference to me. Apparently, though, "US citizenship" is an antiquated device; a relic from an earlier age when Obama's "Founding Founders" were all racists who never embraced or never could have conceived of the transnational "world without borders" view favored by our current President and the creepy, neo-totalitarian progressive radicals that prop him up. Here is the Obama White House attempting to quell concerns over the intrusive reach of his NSA/Prism operations. Note the terminology: President Obama: "If you are a U.S. person, the NSA...

I remember once when I was in college I took a trip home to the DC metro area with my girlfriend. She and I went to the movies not far from where my mother lived in a rather rough part of town called Capitol Heights, MD. I have no idea what we saw. I do however remember that we had a terrible time, and it had nothing to do with what was on the screen and everything to do with what was going on in the theater. Not long before this at a different theater a few miles away...

Full Title - "People worry that rather than catching bad guys, the Obama administration will use the info it gathers to create bad guys" One of the things that characterizes the rule of law is that it applies equally to all citizens. The rich man’s son who vandalizes a shop is prosecuted as vigorously as the poor man’s son who does the same. That the rich man’s son can afford a good lawyer is the random luck of life. America can provide equality of opportunity, but nothing, not even socialism, can guarantee equality of outcome. The important thing for purposes...

Public Policy Polling, a Democratic firm, has a fairly solid record, and they’re constantly polling in North Carolina, their home base. So it has to give Sen. Kay Hagan, D, a bit of heartburn that they’re finding her slightly underwater on job approval, and around 45 percent in ballot tests, just squeaking by against candidates ranging from “barely known statewide” to “some dude.”

The Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit held a hearing today on “Examining How the Dodd-Frank Act Hampers Home Ownership.” The hearing was about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Qualified Mortgages (QM). The fear of Dodd-Frank and the CFPB is that the rules are so severe that it could hamper home ownership. Even though the current rate of home ownership remains above the 1994 rate of 64.2%. On May 29, 2013, the CFPB adopted a number of amendments to the QM rule that were proposed concurrently with the final rule in January. The amendments would (1) exempt...

Marco Rubio has repeatedly claimed he "wants more" from the Amnesty Bill now moving through Congress. Yes, folks, it's an amnesty bill. Let's cut the crap and call it what it is, because only through calling something what it is can we debate it. "Legalization" of those who are here illegally today is amnesty. I don't care whether it leads to citizenship now or later, the fact of the matter is that it rewards criminal activity by allowing those who stole from Americans and their resources to keep what they stole and remain here in America. There is no restitution....

Reid is talking about calling for cloture this weekend. They want to get it voted on and out...while they can! Keep the pressure up!!

Two years ago available public evidence suggested a likelihood of Huma Abedin – now Huma Weiner – and Hillary Clinton having, shall we say, “an unusually close relationship.” This evidence began to surface in mid-2007 when rumors about the Huma/Hillary relationship being more than the “close colleague” kind floated around the halls of Washington. A logical question took shape, “If Hillary is bisexual (as) had long been thought (and occasionally uttered in public), what is the nature of her relationship with the dark eyed enchanting Abedin, a young lady from a strict Muslim family?” Although they were never asked publicly,...

Solicitor General of Texas from 2003 - May 2008, Cruz was the first Hispanic Solicitor General in Texas, the youngest Solicitor General in the entire country, and had the longest tenure in Texas history.  Partner at the law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, where he led the firm’s U.S. Supreme Court and national appellate litigation practice.  Cruz has authored 80+ SCOTUS briefs and presented 40+ oral arguments before The Court Cruz served as a law clerk to Chief JusticeWilliam Rehnquist. Cruz was the first Hispanic ever to clerk for a Chief Justice of the United States Described as a 'superb' constitutional lawyer, the man's considerable skills and laser-like focus were on display for...

Update 10:58pm Eastern: Yeah, I’m watching C-SPAN. The motion to concur in the House amendments to HR2764, the omnibus spending bill, just passed…76-17, with 1 present. More here. Update 10:20pm Eastern. Sen. Jim DeMint is on the Senate floor right now blasting the omnibus bill for gutting the fence, removing the ban on sanctuary cities, and funding illegal alien lawyers. Hear, hear. Update 1:20pm Eastern. Omnibusting links the section of the bill containing the border-gutting. Update 10:20am Eastern. The fence gets robbed, but the spending bill gives $10 million in “emergency” funding for attorneys of illegal immigrants?!!?! *** Fence? What...

According to the US Census Bureau, privately-owned housing starts in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 914,000. This is 6.8 percent above the revised April estimate of 856,000 and is 28.6 percent above the May 2012 rate of 711,000. Single-family housing starts in May were at a rate of 599,000; this is 0.3 percent above the revised April figure of 597,000. The May rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 306,000. While this is good news, the print of 6.8% was far below the expectation of 11.4%. Privately-owned housing units authorized by building...

The Senate must speed ahead on its attempt to remake U.S. immigration policy, Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday morning, threatening to file to cut off debate by Monday. Reid said the workload for the Senate will be heavier than usual and that if the Senate doesn’t get to work on agreement on tranches of amendment votes, it will find itself working on the weekend — a familiar threat from the Nevada Democrat. Reid hopes to finish the legislation before the July 4 recess. “Time is of the essence on this legislation,” Reid said. “We want to make sure that...