Free Republic

Democrats at odds over health billMonday, November 23, 2009 8:43 AM CST WASHINGTON (AP) — Moderate Senate Democrats threatened Sunday to scuttle health-care legislation if their demands aren’t met, while more liberal members warned their party leaders not to bend. The dispute among Democrats foretells of a rowdy floor debate next month on legislation that would extend health care coverage to roughly 31 million Americans. Republicans have already made clear they aren’t supporting the bill. Final passage is in jeopardy, even after the chamber’s historic 60-39 vote Saturday night to begin debate. “I don’t want a big-government, Washington-run operation that...

As a journalist covering Chicago politics, verifying information is like climbing a mountain of sand. With each step you take, the deeper you sink. Last week while researching claims from a local Tea Party activist, I found myself asking a family for proof that they had lost an unborn grandchild. The family, Dan and Midge Hough, of Chicago, spoke in favor of health care reform and in support of U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-3rd) at a Nov. 14 town hall meeting in Oak Lawn. Their daughter-in-law, Jenny, and an unborn grandchild died recently due in part, they believe, to a...

Dems snare 60 votes to move ahead on health careBy ERICA WERNER, Associated Press Writer – 4 mins ago WASHINGTON – Democratic leaders secured the last two votes to move ahead on historic health care legislation, clearing the way for a Saturday night showdown on President Barack Obama's top domestic initiative. In long-awaited speeches, centrist Sens. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana said they would stand with their party and vote "yes" on the crucial test vote despite deep reservations with elements of the 2,074-page bill to remake the nation's health care system. "The truth is this...

Bill Moyers to Leave Weekly TelevisionBy ELIZABETH JENSEN; Compiled by DAVE ITZKOFF Published: November 20, 2009 The PBS mainstay Bill Moyers, left, said he was retiring from weekly television and would end his Friday night public affairs show, “Bill Moyers Journal,” on April 30, 2010. That date will also be the last for “Now on PBS,” which has been canceled. Mr. Moyers said he had been planning for some time to retire the program on Dec. 25 but was asked by PBS to raise the funds to continue through April, which he did. “I am 75 years old,” he said...

WASHINGTON -- The Nobel Peace crown lies uneasy on President Barack Obama’s head as he ponders the next U.S. move in Afghanistan, with hints and leaks showering down to tell us that he will eventually send thousands more troops there. His decision -- which could be announced soon -- was triggered by the request from Gen. Stanley McChrystal for 40,000 more troops to secure the cities and protect the citizens of Afghanistan, in addition to the 68,000 U.S. troops there now. Obama has been reviewing the U.S. role in Afghanistan for months, a time-consuming study that has led to accusations...

ANALYSIS - Abortion exposes divisions among U.S. DemocratsBy Ed Stoddard Sunday November 15, 2009 DALLAS (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's bid to overhaul America's healthcare system has exposed a split within his Democratic Party over abortion that threatens to undercut the party's gains in recent elections. Democrats have traditionally supported a women's right to terminate a pregnancy, with the liberal wing of the party fighting doggedly for decades against repeated Republican efforts to limit the procedure. But a rising chorus of moderates -- some of them elected in traditionally Republican districts during the Democratic sweeps of Congress in 2006 and...

Ogabe to purge Republicans from the civil serviceZhang Fei 11/12/2009 1:59:38 PM Republicans appointed to the civil service from the ranks of political appointees in the last 5 years, that is: Via Instapundit comes word that the federal government's Office of Personnel Management (OPM) intends to purge the federal government of Republican civil servants all in the name of purify the federal bureaucracy. You can read the OPM memo here. It is a typical Washington process that many political appointees are able to take jobs within the civil service once their political appointment expires usually at the conclusion of one...

Jailing the uninsuredCould Americans who refuse to buy health insurance actually be imprisoned? Thursday, November 12, 2009 The House health reform bill would require all Americans who can afford insurance to buy it, raising a thorny question: What happens to those who opt out, then suddenly get sick, and stick the rest of Americans with their medical bills? President Obama supports a “penalty…high enough that people don't game the system." How high exactly? Republicans point out that the House bill specifies “a fine of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment of up to five years.” Could Americans really go to jail...

William Jefferson's attorneys to ask that he remain free on bond after sentencingBy Jonathan Tilove November 10, 2009, 8:30PM Attorneys for William Jefferson are asking a federal judge to allow the former Democratic congressman to remain free on bond after his sentencing Friday pending appeal of his conviction on 11 counts of corruption. In the filing Tuesday, the attorneys said Jefferson's appeal stands a reasonable chance of success and that, contrary to the assertions of the U.S. attorney's office, Jefferson poses no flight risk. "Even if he could leave the country, there is absolutely no likelihood that the defendant would...

NASHVILLE — Republican legislators are at odds over whether to criticize the state’s largest anti-abortion organization for supporting a Democrat. House Republican Leader Jason Mumpower drafted a letter to Tennessee Right to Life President Brian Harris saying the endorsement of Democrats would harm prospects for anti-abortion legislation. The Knoxville News Sentinel reported Monday that he e-mailed the letter last week to House Republicans, inviting them to add their names to the letter. But several have objected, including House Speaker Kent Williams and Knoxville Reps. Bill Dunn and Stacey Campfield. Mumpower cites the group’s endorsement of Democrat Ty Cobb in a...

WASHINGTON -- The Palestinians had hoped they would see a new day coming after the Bush administration’s eight-year capitulation to all that Israel wanted. But they were wrong. The Obama administration is moving down the same Bush road -- perhaps a little slower -- but nonetheless still enabling the Israelis to continue to violate international law and the U.N. Charter by annexing occupied Arab land. First, the new administration made it clear that U.S. policy opposed new Jewish settlements on the West Bank. This declaration was met with a thumping rejection from the Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu. Then,...

November 02, 2009, 4:00 a.m. A New Isolationism?A few months ago, Afghanistan was a “war of necessity.” What changed? By Conrad Black The Obama administration’s shilly-shallying in Afghanistan is a textbook case of how not to conduct a war, and how not to lead an alliance. In the 2006 and 2008 campaigns, the Democrats demanded the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, and accused the Bush administration of conducting an unnecessary war in that country while ignoring the original campaign in Afghanistan, where the 9/11 terrorist attacks were planned. As recently as two months ago, President Obama called Afghanistan a...

xxxx, Our Deeds-Wagner-Shannon ticket will continue a 4-day, 20-stop "All in for Virginia" tour on Sunday in Norfolk. During the tour, the 2009 Democratic ticket will criss-cross Virginia, joined by Gov. Tim Kaine, Sen. Jim Webb, Sen. Mark Warner, and members of the Democratic Congressional delegation. Please come out and join them to help Keep Virginia Blue. All events are open to the public. Please RSVP by clicking the links below. Sunday, November 1, 2009 1:15 PM Norfolk GOTV Lunch No Frill Bar and Grill 806 Spotswood Avenue Norfolk, VA 2:00 PM Norfolk GOTV Canvass Kickoff Norfolk Coordinated Campaign Office...

WASHINGTON — The House ethics committee announced Thursday that it would begin full investigations into two House members, Maxine Waters and Laura Richardson, but a security breach threatened to make public the names of many other members facing possible ethics charges. The separate investigations into private financial matters of Ms. Waters and Ms. Richardson suggest a stepped up effort by the ethics committee at a time when it has faced criticisms for the slow pace of its work. The security breach related to a document that contained the names of two dozen members of Congress whose conduct has come into...

RUSH: It is apparent, ladies and gentlemen, that General John "Swifty" Kerry has taken over Obama foreign policy. You people who thought you were voting for Obama to change foreign policy were wrong. You know, I still can't get over that last sound bite. President Obama, there aren't Bush troops, and there aren't Obama troops. Those are American soldiers, and you've abandoned them, while claiming to these naval people in Jacksonville yesterday you never -- he's embarrassing. Worse than that, it's dangerous. We got John "Swifty" Kerry, who served in Vietnam, by the way, yesterday afternoon at the Council on...

Reader Wayne sent us this photograph and explains, "I was walking along and texting. Not really paying that much attention. Then something caught my eye. I thought I was about to step in dog shit, but quickly realized it was a rat stuck in the sidewalk. A big rat. It had tried to squeeze through a crack in the sidewalk and failed." Update: Another reader created the second photograph in the gallery, adding, "hopefully this makes it a little better!" We are still awaiting a reply from Wayne to ask if he tried to help the little guy (or gal)...

Democrats Vote To Reward Trial Lawyers At The Expense Of Consumers WASHINGTON - During consideration of H.R. 3126, legislation to establish a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA), Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee voted against two amendments offered by Republicans that would prevent abusive litigation. One amendment offered by Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) would prevent abusive litigation by ensuring that the legislation does not create any new private rights of action. The McHenry amendment would leave enforcement of rules, regulations, and duties with the regulators, to ensure that these rules are implemented consistently and fairly. The Democrats' legislation confers...

coalition of black, Latino and Asian lawmakers on Thursday expressed opposition to a proposal that would require next year's census forms to ask about the status of a person's citizenship. The House lawmakers criticized a proposal by Sens. David Vitter, Louisiana Republican, and Robert F. Bennett, Utah Republican, as a political ploy designed to discourage immigrants from participating in the high-stakes count, which begins April 1. They also echoed warnings from the Census Bureau that making a last-minute change to the census would add burdensome costs to print new forms and prevent the head count from being completed on time,...

Red-eye flights, all-night study sessions, and extra-inning playoff games all deprive us of sleep and can leave us forgetful the next day. Now scientists have discovered that lost sleep disrupts a specific molecule in the brain's memory circuitry, possibly leading to treatments for tired brains. Neuroscientists studying rodents and humans have found that sleep deprivation interrupts the storage of episodic memories: information about who, what, when, and where. To lay down these memories, neurons in our brains form new connections with other neurons or strengthen old ones. This rewiring process, which occurs over a period of hours, requires a rat's...

Democratic Senators sound alarm on red inkBy Walter Alarkon - 10/19/09 08:16 PM ET Senate Democrats are pressing Majority Leader Harry Reid to address the nation’s rising debt with a special legislative process, despite reluctance from the White House and House leaders. Nine Democrats and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) called on Reid (D-Nev.) last week to support the process, which would ensure any legislation aimed at curtailing debt gets serious consideration by lawmakers. Proponents have argued for a special panel to seriously consider fiscal policy changes, such as major tax hikes or spending cuts, that they fear wouldn’t survive the...

Tide turns in D.C.2010 elections could be painful for Democrats By Mona Charen Published: October 18, 2009 As Obama, Pelosi and Reid rush to transform America into a European-style social democratic state, they must be nervous; they must feel the sand sliding under their feet. The 2010 elections are just over the horizon and the omens are not encouraging for them. Thomas Jefferson warned that "Great innovations should not be forced on slender majorities.” Maybe so. But the Democrats may be calculating that a slender majority is better than an anorexic majority, or no majority at all. In 2006, it...

Health Care's CoattailsDemocrats are losing because of national issues By JOHN FUND OCTOBER 15, 2009, 2:16 P.M. ET Republicans won a pair of special elections on Tuesday in Tennessee and Oklahoma, picking up seats held by Democrats for decades. Combined with this month's capture of the Albuquerque mayor's office by a Republican for the first time in 28 years, Democrats have reason to be nervous about the approaching November 3 off-year elections. Given their lackluster performance in these races, they could face serious turnout problems that will boost GOP performance. In Tennessee, Republican businessman Pat Marsh won 56% of the...

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has no plans to pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan. After eight years of war there, withdrawal is not among the options the administration is considering as it designs a new strategy. Also not being considered is any exploration of possible peace talks with the Taliban, the indigenous Islamic group that once controlled large swaths of Afghanistan. When asked whether the U.S. could withdraw from Afghanistan -- a country known as the "graveyard of empires" -- White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said: "That’s not something that has ever been entertained." "I don’t think we have...

Rachel Maddow just said that Democrat Leader(s) in the Senator have told her that Reid will revoke chairmanships of any Senator that sides with Republicans in a filibuster. She's discussing various strategies that the Democrats in the Senate are evaluating. But the first seems to be bullying their own leadership.

A former Jersey City mayoral candidate and his brother have been indicted on corruption charges. Tuesday's indictment comes on the same day the president of Jersey City's municipal council temporarily stepped aside and another council member pleaded guilty to corruption. Louis Manzo a former candidate for mayor, and his brother, Ronald, who acted as his political adviser, are charged with taking $27,500 in corrupt political contributions. Louis Manzo had previously served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2004 to 2008.

Obama's liberal buddies are blocking a surge. This is from the blog at TheHill.com, the Briefing Room. "Nearly two dozen House liberals have signed onto a bill introduced this past week that would prohibit an increase of troops in Afghanistan. A bill introduced by Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) Thursday would bar funding to increase troop level in Afghanistan beyond its current level. Lee and 21 lawmakers, largely from the liberal Congressional Progressive Caucus..." Do they really need a separate liberal caucus in the House? Aren't they all liberal socialist jerks? They need their own separate caucus? They introduced the bill,...

Here is video of Helen Thomas pressing White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs yesterday over whether President Obama still supports a "Public Option" for Health Care, and whether he will "fight for it." Gibbs customarily dodged the question, and Thomas called him on it, saying she continues to ask about it because "I want your conscience to bother you." . . . (VIDEO)

Bangladesh on Wednesday awarded a farmer who killed more than 83,000 rats and launched a monthlong campaign nationwide to kill millions more, to protect crops and reduce the need for food imports. Mokhairul Islam, 40, won a first prize of a color television for killing some 83,450 rats in the past nine months in Gazipur district near the South Asian country's capital, Dhaka. He collected their tails for proof. "I am so happy to get this honor," Islam told The Associated Press after receiving a 14-inch television and a certificate amid cheers at an official ceremony packed with 500 farmers...

Since last week, I've been hearing the House GOP was planning a resolution to ask Charlie Rangel to step aside as Ways and Means chairman.GOP aides say they have been working on the draft for weeks, but part of their motivation, I was told, was payback at the Democratic leadership for forcing through what many R's thought was a mean-spirited resolution spanking Joe Wilson for his "You Lie!" outburst. My POLITICO colleague Patrick O'Connor now reports that Rep. John Carter (R-TX) will introduce ANNOUNCE an anti-Rangel "privileged resolution" -- one that must be voted on the floor -- today, citing...

RUSH: Yesterday at about this same time in this program we shared with you the details of a story in the National Post in Canada (the only place I have found such details) about how irritated with Obama the French president, Sarkozy, was in the way he's dealing with the Iranian situation and their nuclear ramp-up. And it was clear that -- we read the quotes from Sarkozy and things that he had said (that, again, were not reported here in the State-Controlled Media in the United States) he clear thinks Obama is an idiot. He thinks he's naive and...

"Hear our cry, Obama." "Deliver us, Obama." Video at link.

WASHINGTON -- Have you noticed a climate of hate and mean spiritedness in the land? Whether inspired by racism or not, it certainly exists. This isn’t a unique psychological phenomenon. Remember the brutal anti-unionism of the 1930s, the McCarthy-era anti-communist scare of the 1950s and the Vietnam War protests of the 1960s and early 1970s? President Barack Obama -- the first black U.S. president -- tries diligently to reject claims that racism underlies the public rancor against his health care reform plan and other administration aspirations. He acknowledged recently that there are "some people out there who don’t like me...

Dems find what Obama wants on healthcare still anything but clearBy Jared Allen - 09/19/09 02:39 PM ET Democrats hope President Barack Obama will use his multiple Sunday show appearances to clarify his demands for healthcare reform. The arrival of the Senate Finance Committee’s long-awaited healthcare bill only exacerbated the difference between Democrats who want a public option to compete with the private insurance industry and those who want to foster competition and savings through less intrusive means. And both sides point to Obama’s address to the joint session of Congress to claim the president shares their opinion. Now they’re...

Dem Pollster Asked Not to PollSeptember 18, 2009 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Here is our blowtorch affiliate in Raleigh, North Carolina, yesterday, WPTF radio, the Bill LuMaye Show. He's talking to Tom Jensen, the director of Public Policy Polling communications, and he says, "How important are your polls to a political party, whether Republican or Democrat? Do they look at this and go, 'Holy cow'? They recognize the trouble they're in, don't they?" JENSEN: Absolutely. We've had campaign managers for Democratic candidates in other states call us up and ask us not to poll their states because they don't want the...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, speaking to reporters during her weekly press conference just now, refused to say if she would support a Senate move to block ACORN from getting contracts from HUD -- suggesting that their behavior be scrutinized by a joint House-Senate conference committee instead. She did call the members of the group -- who were caught on tape apparently offering tax advice on how to set about a youth prostitution ring -- "despicable." But she portrayed at a few bad apples discrediting an organization with "hundreds" of honest organizers.

(CNN) -- Former President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday that racial politics played a role in South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst during President Obama's speech to Congress last week and in some of the opposition the president has faced since taking office. Former President Carter tells "NBC Nightly News" that racism has surfaced in opposition to President Obama. "I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he's African-American," Carter told "NBC Nightly News." "I live in the South, and I've seen the...

WASHINGTON -- Do presidents and other public officials lie? Do birds fly? That age-old question was recently evoked when Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., shouted "You lie" after President Barack Obama told a joint session of Congress that his national health care proposal would not cover illegal immigrants. Wilson’s verbal attack was reminiscent of the back benchers in London’s House of Commons where rhetorical bombast is more frequent than in the halls of Congress. Wilson apologized for his blast but that didn’t stop the House from voting 240-179 to rebuke him for a breach of decorum "to the discredit of the...

The Tea Party needs help. Community organizing can eat up valuable time, even though the mood guiding last week's lively rally in New Lenox seemed to have a feel more like Astroturf than grass roots. Still, we heard you Tea Partiers loud and clear soon after you arrived in the Home of Proud Americans on roads paved with taxpayer dollars, while police officers who draw checks from Big Brother managed the throng. The message: We need to get the government out of our lives. The government sticks its fat nose in our affairs too often, messing with our freedoms and...

Conservatives Claim Obama Pushing Socialist Agenda WASHINGTON -- What have we come to when conservative politicians and parents tell their children not to listen to President Barack Obama? It turned out that his message in his back-to-school address to students was good old-fashioned advice: Stay in school and study hard. The right wingers had claimed the president wanted to promote his "socialist agenda" and involve the federal government in educating their children because of his speech, timed to coincide with the start of the school year. Would they really eliminate Uncle Sam’s financial support of public schools? Of course not....

WASHINGTON — A White House panel of independent space experts says NASA's return-to-the-moon plan just won't fly. The problem is money. The expert panel estimates it would cost about $3 billion a year beyond NASA's current $18 billion annual budget. "Under the budget that was proposed, exploration beyond Earth is not viable," panel member Edward Crawley, a professor of aeronautics at MIT, told The Associated Press Tuesday.

WASHINGTON -- It’s no surprise that former Vice President Dick Cheney is opposed to the Justice Department’s decision to investigate the torture of prisoners during the Bush-Cheney administration. After all, Cheney has acknowledged that he was "aware" of waterboarding (simulated drowning) of detainees to get them to talk. It’s fair speculation that the orders for this method of torture came from on high. And in the Bush-Cheney administration, no one was higher than the vice president. Cheney has blasted Attorney General Eric Holder’s appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate abuse of prisoners. The duty fell to veteran Connecticut lawyer...

Six Democratic members of Congress enjoyed a Caribbean junket sponsored by Citigroup after Congress had approved the $700 billion bailout of financial services firms in October. The National Legal and Policy Center, a watchdog group, has asked Neil Barofsky, the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, for a formal review of the Citigroup’s sponsorship of the trip by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel and five others. The NLPC says the trip violated House rules. The purported purpose of the Nov. 6-9 junket was to attend the Caribbean Multi-Cultural Business Conference on the island of...

A wealthy investment banker and prominent fundraiser for President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and other top Democrats was arrested Tuesday on charges he lied to get a $74 million business loan that -- once confronted by authorities -- he hastily repaid. Prosecutors accused Hassan Nemazee of giving Citibank documents showing he owned millions of dollars in collateral. They said the documents were "fraudulent and forged." A Clinton spokesman didn't immediately return an e-mail message seeking comment. The chairman and chief executive of Manhattan-based Nemazee Capital Corp. served as national finance chairman for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2008, and later...

WASHINGTON — After two centuries of an epic infestation, Alaska's Rat Island finally may merit a name change. The island, part of a national wildlife refuge in the sprawling Aleutian chain, appears to be pest-free for the first time since rats overran it after a Japanese sailing ship wrecked there in the late 1700s. Scientists stopped by in early August to check on the progress of the $3 million eradication. So far, "no sign of rats whatsoever," said Steve MacLean , the polar marine program director for The Nature Conservancy in Alaska , one of the partners in the rat-ridding...

A leftwing group’s effort to intimidate corporate advertisers on Fox News’ Glenn Beck show appears to be backfiring as it triggers a wave of support from grassroots fans rushing to defend the popular TV personality from the attacks. Even before the liberal boycott of Glenn Beck began this summer, the bestselling author and TV host had became a ratings superstar, with his 5 p.m. cable news program pulling mega prime time viewership numbers. Beck had also become a lightning rod for liberal groups who didn’t like his anti-Obama message and his staggeringly large audience. "I think it tells us a...

WASHINGTON -- To win concessions from the hardliners on Capitol Hill, President Barack Obama appeared as though he was ready to give up a jewel in the crown of health reform -- the government-run public option. But after liberal Democrats put up a squawk, the White House scaled back, insisting the president’s commitment to the public option hasn’t changed. Will the real President Obama please stand up? Why doesn’t the president come out and say exactly where he stands, where he draws the line? The problem is that for President Obama, there is no "line" on health care. It appears...

Rats have become such a problem in Allen Park, Mich., that the city is handing out poison for free to residents, Detroit Television station WDIV reported "I'm 80 years old and I don't like rodents, mice or anything like that," said resident Betty Litke, who picked up her bag of poison...

<p>Please listen to Hugh. Will have a gent on from Politico. Story breaking Axelrod has compensation that was not taken care of with health care legislation pending that is outright conflict of interest.. Hugh asked, where is the special prosecutor? Compensation numbers over 2 million. Please listen and correct me if I heard wrong.</p>

GOP backs away from end-of-life counselingBy BEN EVANS, Associated Press Writer Ben Evans, Associated Press Writer – 44 mins ago WASHINGTON – Until last week, Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson was among the most enthusiastic backers of end-of-life counseling in government health care programs like Medicare. That was before conservatives called it a step toward euthanasia and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin likened the idea to a bureaucratic "death panel" that would decide whether sick people get to live. And even though those claims have been widely discredited, the issue remains a political weapon in the increasingly bitter health care debate....

WASHINGTON -- It’s all so sad. Well-organized conservatives have launched a full-scale attack on health care reform. And they appear to be winning -- for now. Their victory strategy involves deliberate distortions of the truth and scare tactics. Under the plans Congress is considering, a government bureaucrat will come between you and your doctor, their TV ads intone ominously. You will lose your private health insurance, dumping you into an inferior government plan. You won’t be able to choose your doctor, they say. The desperate opposition also claims we will have "socialized medicine," rationed care and forced euthanasia for the...