Free Republic

18 states allow for recall votes on US Senators. The 18 states allowing for recall are as follows: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin. The Senate oath of office is: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well...

Three police officers were shot early Monday evening and a suspect injured during a drug raid at 12 Hollis St. in the city’s West End, the police said. Police Chief Dean M. Esserman said the officers were wearing coats and jackets labeled Providence Police and were making a forced entry at an address for which they had a search warrant. Two were shot just as they crossed the threshold, Esserman said from Rhode Island Hospital, where the police were gathering in droves in a show of respect for their injured colleagues.

Governor Donald Carcieri is the Governor of Rhode Island and a Catholic Christian. He spoke to Rhode Island Radio Station WPRO and local reporters last week. He is facing the wrath of the militant Homosexual Equivalency Movement in Rhode Island. The Governor spoke the truth, defended a Catholic Bishop and offered to pray for Congressman Patrick Kennedy. Referring to Congressman Patrick Kennedy’s choice to have a public dispute with the Catholic Church he told the Press that the Congressman had made “outrageous statements about the Catholic church” and that Bishop Tobin had “no choice except to come back and defend...

Patrick Kennedy’s announcement that he’s “not going to indulge in this debate any longer,” referring to his rejection of Catholic Church beliefs, was reminiscent of a strategy George Aiken floated at the height of the Vietnam War. “Declare victory and pull out!” the late Vermont senator suggested. Speaking at a Brown University forum Monday evening, Kennedy said he was pulling out, having milked his confrontation with Bishop Thomas J. Tobin for all it was worth after igniting it by indiscreetly disclosing a private communication he had received from the latter. Tobin had informed him it would be inappropriate to receive...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Brown University police forcibly removed a man attending a panel discussion about the politics of health care this afternoon after the man told Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy: ``You're not Catholic if you force Catholics into funding abortion.'' Kennedy was one of four panelists at the discussion. After each panelist made brief introductory remarks, the 200 people in the audience were allowed to ask questions. Christopher Young, a perpetual candidate for several public offices in Rhode Island, was the second person to take the microphone. As he made a loud and rambling statement about public funds being...

"Let the healthcare bill allow for one sterilization for everyone of these whacked out females who are so intent on killing babies . . . Then . . . if these Femme-a-Nazis want to have a child, they can rent one." Reader comment posted on my Nov. 25 column Incendiary e-mails are still rolling in on Wednesday's column. It proves you can't write about abortion, women and Catholic bishops and not get heavy heat. Add universal health care to the conversation? Kaboom! It's OK. I've had great role models in taking heat. Jack Egan, for one. In the winter of...

News broke this week that Thomas Tobin, the Catho lic bishop of Providence, RI, had in 2007 asked Rep. Patrick Kennedy to refrain from receiving Communion because of the congressman's support for legalized abortion. The ensuing howls of protest almost universally missed the point. Some Catholic writers charged that Tobin was sowing division within the church and "politicizing" the sacrament. On the pro-choice left, Tobin was flayed for everything from "religious blackmail" to -- inexplicably -- violating the separation of church and state. Perhaps the strangest comment came from former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, who predicted that if pols...

Washington D.C., Nov 25, 2009 / 04:40 am (CNA).- A non-Catholic political expert says Bishop Thomas Tobin’s request that U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy refrain from receiving Holy Communion is “eminently reasonable” and an “appropriate” encouragement of the Congressman to examine his commitment to his faith.Rep. Kennedy, a Rhode Island Democrat and son of the late U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, was criticized by Bishop Tobin of Providence for his attacks on the Catholic bishops’ opposition to abortion funding in health care legislation. Recently, Kennedy revealed that Bishop Tobin had asked him to refrain from receiving communion because of his public contradiction...

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A bitter dispute over abortion that prompted Rhode Island's Roman Catholic bishop to ask Rep. Patrick Kennedy not to receive Holy Communion has revealed the depth of the divide among Catholics over how politicians should reconcile their faith with their public duties.

On today's Morning Joe, Larry O'Donnell called the Roman Catholic bishop who barred Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) from taking communion a "political hack." Interestingly, Mika Brzezinski had a totally different take, arguing the controversy was not about the Church but about Kennedy publicizing the matter in a play to his base. Though Bishop Thomas Tobin sent his letter to Kennedy more than two years ago, its contents didn't come to light until Kennedy recently revealed them to a Rhode Island newspaper. View video here.

Rhode Island’s top Roman Catholic leader issued a scathing remonstrance of U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy yesterday after his bombshell admission that the bishop barred him from receiving communion because of his pro-choice stance.“I am disappointed that the Congressman would make public my pastoral and confidential request of nearly three years ago that sought to provide solely for his spiritual well-being,� said Bishop Thomas Tobin in a strongly worded statement. “I have no desire to continue the discussion of Congressman Kennedy’s spiritual life in public.�Added the bishop, “At the same time, I will absolutely respond publicly and strongly whenever he...

PROVIDENCE, RI (Catholic Online) - Senator Patrick Kennedy whose open defiance over the teaching of the Catholic Church concerning the inviolable dignity of every human life has resulted in a longstanding dialogue with his Bishop, reopened the public debate in an odd interview on Sunday. He gave a telephone interview to John E. Mulligan of the Providence Journal in which he told the reporter “...The bishop instructed me not to take Communion and said that he has instructed the diocesan priests not to give me Communion.� The telephone interview led to a Journal article entitled "Kennedy: Barred from Communion" which...

WITHOUT A DOUBTDear Congressman Kennedy BY BISHOP THOMAS J. TOBIN 11/12/09 12:00 am Since our recent correspondence has been rather public, I hope you don’t mind if I share a few reflections about your practice of the faith in this public forum. I usually wouldn’t do that – that is speak about someone’s faith in a public setting – but in our well-documented exchange of letters about health care and abortion, it has emerged as an issue. I also share these words publicly with the thought that they might be instructive to other Catholics, including those in prominent positions of...

Rhode Island's top Roman Catholic leader has asked Rep. Patrick Kennedy to stop taking Communion over his support for abortion rights, the diocese said Sunday. In a statement issued Sunday, Providence Bishop Thomas Tobin said he told Kennedy in February 2007 that it would be "inappropriate" for him to continue receiving the fundamental Catholic sacrament, "and I now ask respectfully that you refrain from doing so." Kennedy is the son of the late Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy and a scion of the most prominent Catholic family in modern U.S. politics. The Roman Catholic Church strongly opposes abortion, which has been...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin has banned Rep. Patrick Kennedy from receiving Communion, the central sacrament of the church, in Rhode Island because of the congressman's support for abortion rights, Kennedy said in a newspaper interview published Sunday.The decision by the outspoken prelate, reported on The Providence Journal's Web site, significantly escalates a bitter dispute between Tobin, an ultra orthodox bishop, and Kennedy, a son of the nation's most famous Roman Catholic family."The bishop instructed me not to take Communion and said that he has instructed the diocesan priests not to give me Communion," Kennedy told the...

Congressman Patrick Kennedy has been barred from receiving Communion by his Bishop in Rhode Island. Bishop Thomas Tobin has barred Patrick, the son of the late Senator Edward Kennedy, because of his position on abortion rights.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Rep. Patrick Kennedy says Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin has barred him from receiving communion because of his support of abortion rights. The Providence Journal reports on its Web site Sunday that Kennedy said in an interview that Tobin issued the order during discussions with the Democratic lawmaker, further escalating a simmering ideological dispute between the two men. Under church rules, Tobin can prevent Kennedy from receiving communion within his diocese, which covers Rhode Island. It’s unclear whether bishops outside Rhode Island will take the same path.

<p>Contact your Senators and let them know what you think!</p> <p>U.S. veterans or subsidies for United Nations (U.N.) bureaucracy.</p>

When asked where specifically the Constitution authorized Congress to mandate that individuals buy health insurance, Sen. Jack Reed (D.-R.I.) said that he “would have to check the specific sections” but said that it was like making people “sign up for the draft.” “Specifically where in the Constitution does Congress get its authority to mandate that individuals purchase health insurance?” CNSNews.com asked Reed. “Let me see,” said Reed. “I would have to check the specific sections, so I’ll have to get back to you on the specific section. But it is not unusual that the Congress has required individuals to do...

Dear Congressman Kennedy: “The fact that I disagree with the hierarchy on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic.” (Congressman Patrick Kennedy)Since our recent correspondence has been rather public, I hope you don’t mind if I share a few reflections about your practice of the faith in this public forum. I usually wouldn’t do that – that is speak about someone’s faith in a public setting – but in our well-documented exchange of letters about health care and abortion, it has emerged as an issue. I also share these words publicly with the thought that they...

Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of Providence has invited Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., to engage in a discussion about the issue of health care reform following the legislator's sharp criticism about the U.S. Catholic bishops' role in the debate. Bishop Tobin told Kennedy in an Oct. 27 letter that, as Congress "nears agreement on a final bill, I believe it is important that you are provided with specific facts about the Catholic Church's position on this critical issue." As of early afternoon Oct. 28, the congressman had not responded to the bishop's invitation. The bishop sent his letter in response to...

Rep. Patrick Kennedy / Archbishop Timothy Dolan New York City, N.Y., Oct 27, 2009 / 09:55 pm (CNA).- Joining the response to U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy’s charge that the Catholic bishops are spreading discord on health care reform, Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan has said the congressman’s remarks were “sad, uncalled-for, and inaccurate” and has asked for an apology.In an interview with CNSNews.com, Rep. Kennedy (D-RI), son of the late U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, had accused the Catholic Church of fanning “the flames of dissent and discord” because Catholic bishops declared that they will oppose the proposed health...

Rhode Islanders may get a chance to shorten the state's longest-in-the-nation formal name over its ties to colonial slavery. Officially, Rhode Island is called the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. But the House Judiciary Committee approved a resolution Tuesday that would allow residents to vote next year on whether to drop the words "Providence Plantations" from that name. The issue now heads for a House floor vote. Supporters say "Providence Plantations" conjures painful images of colonial slavery. Rhode Island merchants grew wealthy off the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

[Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I) told CNSNews.com that the Catholic Church is doing nothing but fanning “the flames of dissent and discord” by taking the position that it will oppose the health-care reform bill under consideration in Congress unless it is amended to explicitly prohibit funding of abortion.] Bishop Tobin's rejoinder: “Congressman Patrick Kennedy’s statement about the Catholic Church’s position on health care reform is irresponsible and ignorant of the facts. But the Congressman is correct in stating that “he can’t understand.” He got that part right. As I wrote to Congressman Kennedy and other members of the Rhode Island Congressional...

Debate continues to rage over abortion coverage in all of the health care reform bills. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have made it clear that they cannot and will not support any proposal that includes abortion coverage. Responding to the Bishops, Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) recently slammed the Church, saying that it was fanning “the flames of dissent and discord,� by opposing the health care reform bills under consideration unless they are amended to explicity prohibit abortion funding. “I can’t understand for the life of me how the Catholic Church could be against the biggest social justice issue of...

Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., center, flanked Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., left, and Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., discuss "the urgent need for health insurance reform". GRAND RAPIDS — Senior citizens will find it harder to find a doctor who accepts Medicare if Congress does not stop a 21.5 percent cut in payment rates, say physicians and hospitals. “We might as well start building bigger emergency rooms, because that’s where people will be if they don’t have access to a regular physician,” said Micki Benz, vice president of development for Saint Mary’s Health Care. “In the end, people’s care will suffer, and...

Citing the assassinations of uncles John F. and Robert F. Kennedy, Rep. Patrick Kennedy accused grassroots conservatives of "very, very dangerous" behavior that could lead to violence against public officials. "When they go and stoop to the level of the vitriolic rhetoric that we've seen this debate turn up, it's very, I think, dangerous to the fabric of our country," the Rhode Island Democrat said according to The Providence Journal. Kennedy's remarks targeted Tea Party Patriots, 9-12 Project members, and other conservative activists. His comments came during a private forum on health care in Providence. His characterization of conservatives appeared...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The chairman of the Rhode Island Republican Hispanic Assembly and member of the Republican Central Committee says he has quit the GOP because he was embarrassed by South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst during President Obama's address to Congress on Sept. 9.

The 9-12 Project/RI will hold a non-partisan solidarity rally to celebrate our nation and our shared American values, and to show our support for the national 9-12 March on Washington D.C. Come out in defense of liberty and support the values that made our country great. Our peaceful assembly is dedicated to preserving our rights as enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution! Join us at our State House and let your voice be heard! The event is Saturday, September 12th on the steps of the RI State House from 2-5 pm, rain or shine. The program will...

Olympia Snowe, the "Republican" who voted with the Democrats on the stimulas is now in negotiations with the Whitehouse over a public option "trigger" in the healthcare bill. It seems she is willing to vote with the Democrats again. When will the Republican party TOSS HER OUT? I can't believe freepers give me schtick for admiring someone like Ron Paul and yet tolerate the REAL traitor Senator Snowe. THROW HER OUT, MCCONNELL IS WEAK

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CUMBERLAND — After living under a rusty bridge for a half-year, the homeless at Hope City Wednesday moved to a new spot: a grassy swath near railroad tracks and a toxic waste dump. “We have enough water for six days,” said Roland Colpitts, 37, head of the homeless group. By then, the group hopes to find transitional or permanent housing, he said. Colpitts, treasurer Barbara Ferrara and other Hope City residents began setting up camp around 2 p.m., erecting a screened sitting area and two-room tent next to a wall of cement railroad ties. They spent about a half-hour unloading...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Rhode Island will shut down its state government for 12 days and trim millions of dollars in funding for local governments under a plan Gov. Don Carcieri proposed Monday to balance a budget hammered by surging unemployment and plummeting tax revenue. The shutdown would force 81 percent of the roughly 13,550-member state work force, excluding its college system, to stay home a dozen days without pay before the start of the new fiscal year in July. The closures come as the worst recession in decades has eliminated hundreds of millions of dollars in tax collections and pushed...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Rhode Island will shut down its state government for 12 days and trim millions of dollars in funding for local governments under a plan Gov. Don Carcieri proposed Monday to balance a budget hammered by surging unemployment and plummeting tax revenue. The shutdown would force 81 percent of the roughly 13,550-member state work force, excluding its college system, to stay home a dozen days without pay before the start of the new fiscal year in July....

BOSTON -- Political blogs are abuzz with a rumor that former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is moving to Rhode Island. The rumor was first reported Saturday by the Anchorage Daily News, which said the gossip is that Palin has “finally decided” what she is going to do with the rest of her life. Her plan, the column said, is to settle “in Rhode Island with $7 million from her book and a contract with FOX.”

PROVIDENCE –– As the health-care debate rages across the country, Rhode Island’s congressional delegation has mixed feelings about how to handle the explosive issue in their own backyards. In raucous “town hall” meetings from Pennsylvania to California in recent weeks, angry protesters have heckled and booed members of Congress, warning of “death panels” and flashing signs such as “No Nazi Health Care.” Democratic lawmakers –– encouraged by party leaders to counter such misinformation during their August recess –– have been frustrated and embarrassed as the hostility is captured by the media. “I think that our opponents to health-care reform have...

<p>After months of planning, FR's DC Convention is coming together.</p> <p>Help make history, join in Free Republic's return to DC as a national group and help to herald in another wave of conservative activism Free Republic is famous for!</p> <p>“Reagan is good for business” was Andrew’s introduction to politics. “I was real little, but that’s what my dad used to say.” Andrew Wilkow began his radio career at the college radio station. Conservative leaning politics were always his heart and he expressed his views on the air regularly, much to the anger of his co-workers. “I was basically just anti-P.C. at first.” He broke out of music radio in 2002 when he was given a trial/fill-in slot for Mark Levin on his hometown station, WABC in NYC. “That was huge and that’s when I first met Sean Hannity.” Soon after that he earned a weekend slot then a full time job at an upstate station. I basically did a 300 mile roundtrip every weekend for over 3 years to do both shows. Wilkow’s move to SIRIUS brings his new sound of conservative talk radio to a national audience. To quote Andrew, “Now is the time for the new school of conservative voices with a whole new style and passion – moving to SIRIUS lets me take that style and passion nationwide."</p>

Four men with a Spring Grove-based pro-family organization had condiments, paint and pepper spray thrown at them as they protested gay marriage at a rally in Rhode Island last week. And four young women, including a lesbian couple, face assault charges in the fray, according to a report in The Providence (R.I.) Journal. The men were members of The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property, a national organization headquartered in Spring Grove. The Providence Police Department would not provide a police report on the July 29 incident in Warwick. But according to The Providence Journal, those...

President Obama will bring his healthcare-stimulus road tour to New Hampshire next week, the White House just announced. The town hall will be in the Portsmouth area on Tuesday. More details to come.

Nicholas Manocchio, the director of the New England Regional Organizing Fund (NEROF) of the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA), pleaded guilty today to conspiring to receive money and other things of value from building contractors whose employees LIUNA represented. Gerald Diodati, a construction contractor, also pleaded guilty today to conspiring to make unlawful payments to LUNA officials, including Manocchio. Acting United States Attorney Luis M. Matos, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Department of Justice Criminal Division, and Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, jointly announced the guilty pleas,...

The weapons included mayonnaise, ketchup and salsa –– but also pepper spray, a glass jar and fists. A difference of opinion over gay marriage sparked the incident, and emotions escalated quickly. Punches were thrown. A small group of men visiting Rhode Island this week urging people to support traditional marriage called the police. Offended by the men’s message, four young women now face charges of assault or battery and disorderly conduct. The youngest, 17, also faces a more serious charge — felony assault with a dangerous substance.... ...The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property –– traveled...

The Providence Journal’s coverage of the assault on traditional marriage advocates in Warwick, RI on July 28 has consistently downplayed how pepper spray was used on the conservative protesters, in favor of how food was thrown at them. ProJo.com’s Wednesday report on the attack ran with the headline, “Same-sex marriage protesters assaulted with food,” and didn’t mention the pepper spray until the second-to-last paragraph. The following morning, reporter Kate Branson used a more nuanced headline (“Update: 4 accused of hurling food at activists in Warwick”), but at least mentioned the pepper spray in the second paragraph.The American Society for the...

PROVIDENCE — State tax officials have put more than 1,200 businesses across the state on notice this week that they are out of business unless they pay their overdue sales taxes immediately. For most, that action came in the form of a personal visit from the state Division of Taxation, ordering business owners to lock their doors at once. By Wednesday, a line of people had queued up inside the Department of Administration building on Smith Hill, waiting their turn to plead their case to a state revenue agent. Some were angry. Others frustrated. “I understand the state needs money,...

PROVIDENCE — State tax officials have put more than 1,200 businesses across the state on notice this week that they are out of business unless they pay their overdue sales taxes immediately. For most, that action came in the form of a personal visit from the state Division of Taxation, ordering business owners to lock their doors at once. By Wednesday, a line of people had queued up inside the Department of Administration building on Smith Hill, waiting their turn to plead their case to a state revenue agent. Some were angry. Others frustrated. “I understand the state needs money,...

Volunteers from the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property (TFP) were assaulted by pro-homosexual activists yesterday [July 28] in Warwick, Rhode Island, as they peacefully held signs in support of traditional marriage. Volunteer Rex Teodosio described the scene: "We were at a busy intersection, getting strong support for traditional marriage. Three women approached us -- one threw mayonnaise, while the other two grappled with our photographer." "Then we were sprayed with mace. Finally, a burly woman got out of a car and punched our photographer in the face. They shouted obscenities the whole time." "It happened...

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (KABC) -- Most public officials like red light cameras, but many motorists do not. The city of Los Angeles is concerned it could lose these high-tech "speed catchers" because of one company's financial woes. The red light cameras are scattered at intersections all over Southern California, but the company that runs them is also in the red. "For this particular company, our information is they're $33 million in debt. That's a major problem," said L.A. Councilman Dennis Zine. The company, Nestor Traffic Systems out of Rhode Island, filed for receivership in June.

SACARMENTO, CA - A national "Tea Party Express" tour (website: www.TeaPartyExpress.org ) will conduct a series of 35 tea party rallies across the country 35 days from now. The "Tea Party Express" will rally Americans to oppose the current policies of higher deficit spending, higher taxes, bailouts and quasi-socialistic government policies. Starting in California on August 28th, the caravan will travel eastward towards its final destination of the massive 9/12/09 Taxpayer March on D.C. The "Tea Party Express" is a project of the Our Country Deserves Better Committee, one of the nation's largest conservative political action committees. What started out...

The Bristol Fourth of July Committee and the Rhode Island Tea Party put down their sabers Wednesday, a week after a phone call between two Bristol residents unleashed a torrent of nationwide anger upon this town and the state of Rhode Island. The Tea Party accepted an apology from Fourth of July committee chairman Dave Burns, and assurance that the citizens activist group has not been banned from future July 4 parades. The Fourth of July Committee also made it clear that their Float Committee chairman, Jim Tavares, had no authority to “ban” the Tea Party when he called float...

Fifteen states have crossed a painful threshold: 10 percent unemployment. More states, and the nation, likely will follow, one of the biggest dangers to an economic recovery. How consumers behave in the face of rising unemployment will figure prominently in shaping a broader rebound. If they go back into hibernation and sharply cut spending like they did at the end of last year, the recovery could cave in. More likely is that consumers will stay cautious, making for a fragile and slow-moving national economic turnaround, economists said. The Labor Department on Friday said unemployment topped 10 percent in 15 states...

Unemployment topped 10 percent in 15 states and the District of Columbia last month, according to federal data released Friday. The rate in Michigan surpassed 15 percent, the first time any state hit that mark since 1984.