Free Republic

SACRAMENTO – A two-house committee approved a new state budget of roughly $131 billion yesterday, setting the stage for Senate and Assembly votes this week that could produce the first on-time budget in two decades. But Democrats sent the new spending plan to the legislative floors despite opposition from Republicans, with the apparent hope that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would help negotiate agreements on remaining differences. Republican legislators, whose votes are needed for the two-thirds approval of both houses required to pass a budget, made it clear that they want changes made in the plan that was approved by the committee....

SINGAPORE, June 2, 2006 – The world should not be surprised at the pace in which democracy is progressing in Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said here today. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld takes questions from reporters at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore June 2. Rumsfeld is in Singapore for the 5th International Institute for Security Studies Asia Security Summit. Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley, USN  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Rumsfeld is in Singapore to attend a conference of Asian and Pacific defense ministers. The new Iraqi government has come under...

I know this happens every year in the Legislature, and sometimes I think that those who read my weekly discussion on Sacramento must get bored that I keep saying the same things over and over. Then I realize, the news media does not report these events. In fact, I think that people wouldn’t believe it if the newspaper or television did report it. As I walk through the halls of the Capitol, I feel a little like Alice as she walked through Wonderland. I know I have seen a number of the white rabbits (who are always looking at their...

LOS ANGELES - Scientists have processed more than a dozen new photos taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which arrived at the Red Planet last month, including its first color image. The crisp test images released Friday revealed pocked craters, carved gullies and wind-formed dunes in Mars' southern hemisphere. The diverse geologic features show the importance of water, wind and meteor impacts in shaping the Martian surface, scientists said. The orbiter, the most advanced spacecraft ever sent to another planet, reached Mars on March 10 and slipped into an elliptical orbit. Over the next six months, it will dip into...

MILLINGTON, Tenn. (NNS) -- The Navy is encouraging Sailors and their families to take part in the 2006 election season with help from the Navy Voting Assistance Program. The program and its Navy Voting Assistance officers can assist with the process of absentee voting in time for the start of this year’s election season, which begins March 7. “The Navy Voting Assistance Program is here to assist every Sailor who is eligible to vote,” said Lt. Dave Truman, Navy Voting Assistance Program manager, Commander, Navy Installations Command, Millington Detachment. “Sailors can still vote in their state primary through the process...

The U.S. Supreme Court's rejection of the Bush administration's heavy-handed threats to prosecute Oregon physicians has revived the debate over whether California should allow doctors to help their terminally ill patients commit suicide. The fact that Oregon's law has survived the court challenge does not make physician-assisted suicide good public policy. It emphatically is not, for the simple reason that it exposes the most vulnerable members of society – the elderly, the disabled, the poor, the mentally impaired, the terminally ill – to unwarranted pressures to take their own lives because they are a financial burden on their families and...

City officials grilled on recovery process Wednesday, October 26, 2005 By Bruce Eggler Staff writer New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin takes a bite of a beignet (pastry) during the re-opening of the 153-year old Cafe Du Monde in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, October 19, 2005. Wednesday is the first day of business for the New Orleans landmark since it was closed down due to Hurricane Katrina. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson Members of a state legislative committee pressed New Orleans officials Tuesday for answers to a long list of questions about the status of post-Katrina recovery efforts and plans for...

I was looking over the tax reform commission members some I recognize some I don't. I am thinking about Meirs and the fiasco it has become and I thought..... "We need a way to automatically build a connecting matrix of political or power people and their organizations to be able to go to that name like a map and see who that person is connected to, what organizations they support etc. This way as people post it would some how high light their name to indicate they have a matrix history you can refer to. Sort of like that 6...

WASHINGTON -- The legalities of disaster recovery can seem murkier than floodwater, but for some Air Force families, making claims for belongings destroyed by Hurricane Katrina will be easier, thanks to Air Force paralegals. Two teams of Airmen from various Air Education and Training Command bases arrived at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., recently to help survivors navigate the legal claims system to recover or get reimbursement for their personal property on base. "The purpose of the teams is to go into the affected areas, evaluate the extent of the damages, document that information and assist the military member filing...

WASHINGTON – When Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham first responded to questions about his dealings with defense contractor Mitchell Wade, he stressed that his position on the House defense appropriations subcommittee did not enable him to secure contracts for Wade's company, MZM Inc. "I do not have the authority or ability to award a contract to Mr. Wade's company and no single member of Congress, no matter how influential, can dictate to the armed services who will be awarded contracts," the Rancho Santa Fe Republican said during a June 23 news conference. While Cunningham's claim is technically correct under the government's...

One month after the ninth presidential elections in June, 2005, statistics have been released that not only confirm the widespread irregularities in the voting, but even corroborate the suspicions that the outcome of the elections would have been different if the rigging were prevented. During the first phase of the elections, people had noticed unlawful interventions in the elections process and had made their observations known. But few then suspected the extent of the manipulations and that they would actually be so gross as to alter the outcome of who got into the presidential palace. What Rafsanjani, Moin and even...

Refusing to relinquish her extended fifteen minutes of fame, Anita Hill is back in the news. After doing all she could to prevent a black man, Clarence Thomas, from becoming a Supreme Court Justice, Hill is now attacking President Bush's nomination of John Roberts, saying she fears his selection could lead to "an all-white-male Supreme Court." God forbid. Sadly, hardly anyone noticed her racist and sexist comments. The liberal press simply yawned, since white males remain the primary targets of abuse by journalists, academics and feminists. They have been victims of affirmative action, quotas and reverse discrimination. Hill knows this,...

I may be going against the conservative grain here, but I am not as bothered by the prospect of questions from Senate Judiciary Committee members seeking to determine how John Roberts' judicial philosophy might guide him in considering certain specific questions of constitutional law, including abortion. I certainly agree that judicial nominees should not telegraph how they intend to vote on a particular case that is either before or on its way to the Court, but I think both sides have used this more as an excuse to shield their respective nominees. There are limited other ways to determine a...

Even Democrats are beginning to sense that the American people have had about enough of their mindless obstructionist tactics. Most of us know what the Constitution says. The President has the sole right to appoint Supreme Court nominees and the Senate has the obligation to offer advice, then their consent or dissent as the case may be. We understand that the Democrats power is limited to underhanded character assassination leading up to another abuse of the filibuster. Who do you think removed them from all other forms of power in Washington? But despite the recent “damn the torpedoes elitists” mindset...

America is suffering from a bunch of P.E.S.T.’s. Victims of Post Election Selection Trauma, or more commonly know as crazy liberals who have decided to hate democracy because George Bush beat them twice. Shortly after the November election, the American Health Association identified this affliction in Boca Raton, Florida, with some of its symptoms being: “feelings of withdrawal, feelings of isolation, loss of appetite, sleeplessness, nightmares, and pervasive moodiness, including endless sulking.” How Rob Gordon, Executive Director of the AHA, was able to differentiate these symptoms from the normal behavior of most liberals I have no clue, but none the...

"Estradification": In the spirit of confirmation battles spawning a new lexicon (e.g., "Borking") the Washington Times reports today [http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20050721-115711-9900r.htm] on what some Republicans are calling "Estradification"--requiring the Justice Department to turn over internal legal memoranda written by Roberts while he worked in the SG's office. The refusal by the White House to surrender these sorts of documents was the basis for the Estrada filibuster (hence the name) as well as the current Bolton stalemate. Regardless of the merits of the request, it seems highly unlikely that the White House will surrender these documents. The tone of the article suggests that...

Illinois' senior Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), the Assistant Democrat Leader in the U.S. Senate, has wasted little time in launching against Judge John Roberts, President Bush's choice for the Supreme Court slot being vacated by retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Durbin has said that the President's decision to put forward John Roberts, 50, who he termed a "controversial nominee" guarantees a "controversial nomination process." Durbin previously clashed with Roberts during the confirmation process for the federal judgeship he now holds. Durbin questioned Roberts characterization of the Rehnquist Court as not necessarily conservative, saying that the the record of the court...

John G. Roberts pairs a youthful demeanor with a sharp, seasoned legal mind that has impressed Ivy League professors, government lawyers and U.S. presidents. Befitting his age of 50 and limited time on the appellate court, the book on his judicial decisions remains a work in progress. President Bush on Tuesday tapped Roberts to become the nation's 109th Supreme Court justice, introducing the Harvard honors graduate, former clerk to William Rehnquist and successful Washington attorney to the nation in prime time. "He has argued 39 cases before the Supreme Court and earned a reputation as one of the best legal...

Before President George W. Bush could grasp his next breath following his announcement of Justice John G. Roberts for the U.S. Supreme Court, Democrat Senators Chuck Schumer and Patrick Leahy stumbled to the minority party reaction podium for a quick precursor to the upcoming litmus test they have planned for the new nominee. They don’t even attempt to deny it anymore. “All questions are legitimate,” New York Democrat and Judiciary Committee member Charles E. Schumer said earlier this month. “What is your view on Roe vs. Wade? What is your view on gay marriage?” Schumer took great pains to be...

LAURA BUSH APPEARED ON NBC'S Today show last Tuesday, speaking from a classroom in Cape Town, South Africa. She answered a couple of questions about the Supreme Court vacancy created by the resignation of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, volunteering that she "would really like for [her husband] to name another woman." Asked later that day about his wife's comment, President Bush replied that he had "talked to her yesterday. And listen, I get her advice all the time. I didn't realize she put this advice in the press. She did? Well, good. We're definitely considering people from all walks of...