Free Republic

Pull up a chair to the fireplace, crank up the lap top and join us for a Nite Cap and a cigar at NiteCap at Freedom Radio. This week we have 3 terrific guests. Nick Popaditch, aka "Gunny Pop", a fabulous Vet running for the House from southern California and author of "Once a Marine". Also welcome Susan Bonner, RN and author who has written a very timely book "Opening a Registered Nurses Eyes" Susan is also the producer of another show on BTR. We also are honored to welcome to the Freedom Radio family another Vet, Col. Frank Ryan...

In 1979, Robert Bartley's editorial writing at the Wall Street Journal not only garnered a Pulitzer Prize, but also exposed a pernicious threat to free enterprise. In a piece titled "Down With Big Business," which focused on how General Motors was using its muscle and government connections to squeeze out competitors, Bartley concludes we ought not rely on big business to defend free markets. It's up to the American people--innovators and entrepreneurs, small business owners, Bartley's "XYZ Bumperlight Lens Company"--to take a stand. Thirty years later, this crony capitalism is back with a vengeance, accelerated by an aggressive program by...

The last time Jim Ryan ran for governor of Illinois, he offered voters a clear choice between a man who never took a dime in public life and Rod Blagojevich. And though many would like to forget it, they chose Blagojevich. "The infrastructure of the Illinois Republican Party has never really been for me," Ryan said over breakfast the other day as we talked about that 2002 campaign and his current run in the crowded GOP primary for governor. "I'm not a deal-maker. And senior Republicans knew my reputation. They knew I wouldn't be flexible." Seven years ago, Ryan, then...

Only video available. I will add a few of Rep. Ryan's remarks to the thread.

Polanski's Attorneys Lobby Federal Officials To Stop Extradition They met with Justice Department officials and presented arguments against returning the film director to Los Angeles from Switzerland to face sentencing in a 1977 child-sex case. By Harriet Ryan October 9, 2009 Attorneys for Roman Polanski are lobbying federal officials not to extradite the acclaimed filmmaker to the U.S. from Switzerland, where he is jailed in connection with 32-year-old child-sex charges, according to court documents filed this week in Los Angeles. A team of American attorneys for Polanski met with a deputy assistant attorney general and other Justice Department officials Oct....

Here is video of GOP Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin on Morning Joe today where he absolutely handled Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski on every issue and every question they raised. Ryan made it clear that Republicans have viable alternatives to the Democrats' Health Care bills, but no one is covering it. He also said bluntly that if "Health Care Reform" fails, it is not because of Republicans - it is because the Democrats did not use their huge majorities in the House and Senate to pass something. It will also be because they chose not to do a bipartisan...

Here is video of Sen. Specter and Rep. Ryan on "Fox News Sunday." When Sen. Specter was asked why he thought public support for President Obama's handling of health care has dropped sharply he answered "it is dropping because of so much misinformation." (Watch Video)

Arlen Specter vs. Paul Ryan on FNS...

"The health care system in America is broken. Costs are rising at an unacceptable rate -- more than doubling over the last 10 years, which is nearly four times the rate of wage growth. Too many patients feel trapped by healthcare decisions dictated by HMOs. Too many doctors are torn between practicing medicine and practicing insurance. And 47 million Americans worry what will happen to them or their children if they get sick." Who do you think said that? President Obama? Actually, those words were written by Republicans. They are part of the summary of the Patients' Choice Act, introduced...

With Chicago officials in Switzerland promoting Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid at an important site selection meeting, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned that President Obama is creating a new White House Office of Olympic, Paralympic and Youth Sport. According to the White House, 'this permanent White House office will promote the values of the Olympic Movement and encourage increased youth participation in athletics. The primary function of the Office will be to enhance awareness of the Olympic Movement through promotion of its fundamental principles at the federal level." From the White House... President Obama Announces New White House Office of Olympic,...

He rips Obama's budget.

Paul Ryan talks to the Morning Joe gang.

Today, the House of Representatives will consider two budget plans that represent dramatically different visions for our nation's future. We will first consider President Barack Obama's plan. To be clear, this is no ordinary budget. In a nutshell, the president and Democratic leaders in Congress are attempting to bring about the third and final great wave of progressivism, building on top of the New Deal and the Great Society. So America is placed in a special moment in our history -- brought about by the deep recession, Mr. Obama's ambitious agenda, and the pending fiscal tidal-wave of red ink brought...

Probably falling on deaf ears.

House Republicans have begun unveiling detailed alternatives to President Barack Obama’s policies — a concerted effort to push back against Democratic efforts to label them “the Party of No.” On Wednesday, it was a housing plan. Thursday, it will be a big, TV-friendly stack of budget blueprints, “The Republican Road to Recovery.” That’s to match the president’s own platitudinous budget title, “A New Era of Responsibility.” The House Republicans’ budget document, provided to POLITICO ahead of its release, makes sure no one can miss the point: Each chapter begins “The Republican Plan,” and each section is divided into “The President’s...

It has become commonplace in academia to look at Hamas as the natural reaction to Israeli aggression and unwillingness to provide Palestinians with a better life — the political application of Newton’s Third Law of Motion, for every action there is an equal but opposite reaction. The idea that Hamas’ individual actions are reprehensible but are simply an outgrowth of long-ignored “legitimate claims,” as President Obama once said during the 2008 campaign, reflects a fundamental flaw in understanding the radical Islamic ideology and sophisticated political strategy of the terrorist group. Hamas is not a force fighting for Palestinian liberation; nor...

Two Wisconsin lawmakers from opposing parties are joining former GOP presidential nominee John McCain in pushing to give President Barack Obama line-item veto power. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Middleton, and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, are teaming up with the Arizona senator for what they say is a strategy to hold the line on federal spending and prevent wasteful earmarks. They plan to introduce the bill tomorrow.

Here is video from Fox News Sunday yesterday where Sen. Jon Kyl and Rep. Paul Ryan, both Republicans, talked about the chances of stopping the $3.55 Trillion 2010 Budget being put forward by President Barack Obama. Kyl says it is possible for the 41 GOP Senators to stick together and keep the Budget from coming to a vote IF the American people put pressure on all 41 to stop the budget. He feels there is at least a chance of forcing Obama to change the worst parts of the budget. Ryan says there is not hope of stopping it in...

FP: Ryan Mauro, welcome to Frontpage Interview. I’d like to talk to you today about the primary foreign policy challenges facing President Obama. What are they in your view? Mauro: Clearly, the biggest one is Iran. The United Nations now believes Iran has enough enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb. The question now is whether Iran will wait and build up its nuclear capabilities so they can quickly build a nuclear arsenal at a later time, or whether they’ll go ahead and start trying to enrich that uranium to a high enough level to actually create a nuclear weapon. This...

CHICAGO (AP) -- A former aide to Gov. George Ryan says his "political machine" routinely ignored laws barring campaigning on state time, and that Ryan never seemed to mind. Richard Juliano testified Tuesday at the federal racketeering trial of longtime top Ryan aide Scott Fawell and the Citizens for Ryan campaign committee, saying key political posts were regularly staffed by state employees. Ryan was on hand for three campaign strategy sessions at which it was clear the participants were drawing state salary checks, he said. "Did Mr. Ryan make any statement admonishing anyone not to do it?" asked Assistant U.S....

Blagojevich refuses to budge NBC Nightly News VIDEO: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/vp/28200681#28200681&gt1=43001

<p>A source said today that Gov. Rod Blagojevich was taken into federal custody at his North Side home this morning. The U.S. attorney's office would not confirm the information, and a spokesman for the governor did not immediately return a phone call for comment.</p>

It's a good thing for George Ryan that he is just a crooked Illinois politician behind bars hoping to get sprung by the Illinois Combine, and not some corrupt governor in Kenya relying on the Masai Combination or whatever they call it over there. President-elect Barack Obama would never stand for such a thing. Not if it happened in Kenya, he wouldn't. He'd denounce the Free Ryan Express. And he'd denounce it loudly and angrily, as he's done before with other kinky stuff.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who rode into state office pledging to clean up the corruption of his predecessor, said today that President George W. Bush should commute the federal prison sentence of former Gov. George Ryan to time served as an act of compassion. Blagojevich, making a Thanksgiving Day appearance at the Chicago Christian Industrial League, contended Ryan had paid "a significant price" for what he termed "mistakes." Citing the frail health of Ryan's wife, Lura Lynn, and the 74-year-old former governor's health concerns, Blagojevich said a commutation by Bush would be a "fine decision."

Family members, friends and lawyers for convicted ex-Gov. George Ryan are pushing a plea for clemency during the final weeks of the Bush administration.

A San Mateo post office where assassinated Rep. Leo Ryan once had his congressional offices will be renamed in his honor at a ceremony Monday. The ceremony will take place one day before the 30th anniversary of the Jonestown massacre in Guyana, when Ryan was gunned down by Peoples Temple members on orders from leader Jim Jones. More than 900 cult members died that day, most from ingesting cyanide-laced Flavor-Aid. Ryan was known for a hands-on, investigative approach to legislating that often took him far from his offices and the centers of power. Before his fateful trip to Jonestown, Ryan...

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is mulling a run for a leadership position in the 111th Congress, and a spokesman did not rule out his challenging Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio). Ryan, who is often touted as one of the top young Republicans in the country, has been contacted by several GOP lawmakers about whether he would challenge Boehner. “He’s in listening mode — he’s gathering input from several of his colleagues who have contacted him,” said Conor Sweeney, Ryan’s spokesman. Sweeney, when asked about whether the ranking Republican on the Budget Committee would take Boehner on, said that Ryan “has...

How can we get Mike Pence Paul Ryan as the next minority leader? I do not trust Cantor. He helped ram the bailout through our throats which killed one of the issues the Republicans could of ran on.

The Los Angeles Times' refusal to cough up a damaging video of Barack Obama kabbitzing with PLO friend Rashid Khalidi should come as no surprise. The LAT/Chicago Tribune sisterhood has been aiding and abetting Obama for years.

You've all heard the argument: "What I do with my private life is nobody else's business. it doesn't affect anybody else." Well, I can think of one recent instance where private immorality affected the world greatly. Just a few years ago, a man took his wife to sex clubs in Europe and asked her to engage in sexual activity in front of other patrons. He called them "romantic getaways." His wife at first refused to go in the first but finally went at his insistence. That's man's name was Jack Ryan. He was running for Senate. Because his private peccadilloes...

House Republicans say they have significant leverage on the revamped bailout package, claiming that Democrats will scramble for votes unless they make changes to it. Republicans in the lower chamber are balking at the bailout package, saying that Democrats will be solely responsible for the ramifications of what they see as a flawed compromise. Reps. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) are leading an effort by House Republicans to circulate the set of principles to their colleagues and like-minded Democrats, according to a senior Republican. ..... The GOP’s “economic rescue principles” advocate adopting a mortgage insurance approach to solve...

It is now consensus that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are at the heart of the systemic meltdown we are seeing in the mortgage market. They are costing taxpayers billions through their own bailouts and through the role they played in fueling an artificial mortgage boom.But eight years ago, when I testified before Congress that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's "special privileges create a serious hazard to the market, to taxpayers (and) to the economy," my criticism of these sacred financial entities was met with ridicule. At the hearing on June 21, 2000, before the House Financial Services Committee, I...

Four years ago Obama was in a tight race with a Republican opponent--Jack Ryan. Wikipedia records what happpened. ...Ryan married actress Jeri Ryan in 1991; together they have a son, Alex Ryan. They divorced in 1999 in California, and the records of the divorce were sealed at their mutual request. Five years later, when Ryan's Senate campaign began, the Chicago Tribune newspaper and WLS-TV, the local ABC affiliate, sought to have the records released. On March 3, 2004, several of Ryan's GOP primary opponents urged release of the records.Both Ryan and his wife agreed to make their divorce records public,...

DALLAS -- Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan has agreed to become the Texas Rangers team president, a person with knowledge of the negotiations

ISLAMABAD: A diplomat of the American Embassy was found dead in his house on Monday, police said. Keith Ryan, 36 belonged to Homeland Security of the US Embassy and was to return home on Monday morning. The victim had bullet wound in the upper back portion of his neck, his death was caused by excessive bleeding. The police, recovered the body of the diplomat and a 9 mm gun from the bathroom. The police had earlier declared it suicide. The pathologists at the PIMS hospital confirmed that Ryan sustained bullet injury on the rear upper neck. The medico-legal experts, however,...

CHICAGO (AP) -- Dan Rostenkowski, former chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, once called it "my Oxford education." But there's not much to laugh about at the federal correctional institution at Oxford, Wis., where former Gov. George Ryan is assigned. Ryan got word Thursday from federal officials that he'll serve his corruption sentence at Oxford, his attorneys said Friday. "We're pleased for the family's sake that it's Oxford," said Ryan's chief counsel, former Gov. James R. Thompson. Ryan had been assigned to a federal prison camp farther north, outside Duluth, Minn., a long haul from the family home...

His sophisticated friends warned him the “fix was in,” but former federal prosecutor Patrick Collins said he was always confident a federal appeals court would uphold former Gov. George Ryan’s conviction on corruption charges. “I trust the process,” Collins said today, adding, “There were gross breaches of the public trust by Mr. Ryan.” The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 6 to 3 not to let the full court rehear the appeal that Ryan lost earlier this year. George Ryan does not have to rush off to jail this weekend. He'll have “four business days” after the federal appellate...

Ryan Bosch's public records 1 Charge Information Case Number 2006DT000128 for RYAN JORDAN BOSCH, born on August 31, 1983 Bullet Point Appearance Dates Bullet Point Bond Information Bullet Point Dispositions Bullet Point Financial Summary Bullet Point Sentence Information DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL Filed 2 Charge Information Case Number 2006DT000128 for RYAN JORDAN BOSCH, born on August 31, 1983 Bullet Point Appearance Dates Bullet Point Bond Information Bullet Point Dispositions Bullet Point Financial Summary Bullet Point Sentence Information DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE 0.08 ALCOHOL ($300 OR $100 & D.L.) Filed 3 Charge Information Case Number 2006DT000128 for RYAN JORDAN...

Perhaps it isn't fair to Barak Obama that the Illinois GOP declared 2004 as Their Nominate-A-Mongoloid Year when they contended against his rise to the US Senate. After all, Tim Johnson of South Dakota and Harry Reid of Nevada have both beaten back very serious opposition and proven they can beat a quality opponent in a tight Senatorial Election. Barak Obama? He spent 2004 as a grown man fighting out the T-Ball World Series. How bad were the GOP candidates he ran against? So bad that.... We'll start with Jack Ryan. If you were to type "Ryan, Illinois, sex-scandal" into...

CHICAGO -- Former Gov. George Ryan can remain free while he appeals his racketeering and fraud conviction, a federal appeals court has ruled. The decision by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was issued without explanation Tuesday. Ryan, 72, was convicted in April of steering lucrative state contracts and leases to lobbyists and friends and using state employees and tax dollars to operate his political campaigns. He was sentenced in September to 6 1/2 years in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Rebecca L. Pallmeyer had refused to grant bail to Ryan. But the appeals court overruled her and said...

Former Gov. George Ryan suffered a major setback Friday when a federal judge denied his request to remain free on bond while the appeal of his conviction winds through court. U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer ruled today that Ryan and businessman Lawrence Warner must report to prison in January as she had ordered at their sentencings last month. Ryan, 72, who was sentenced to 6½ years in prison, is scheduled to surrender to federal prison on Jan. 4. Warner is to begin his nearly 3½-year prison term on Jan. 16.

CHICAGO - Former Gov. George Ryan, who was acclaimed by capital punishment foes for suspending executions in Illinois and emptying out death row, was sentenced Wednesday to 6 1/2 years behind bars in a corruption scandal that ruined his political career. "People of this state expected better, and I let them down," the 72-year-old Ryan said in court before hearing his sentence. Federal prosecutors had asked for eight to 10 years in prison. Defense attorneys argued that even 2 1/2 years would deprive Ryan of the last healthy years of his life.

Former Gov. George Ryan was sentenced to 6 ½ years in prison today following his historic conviction for steering lucrative state business to cronies in return for vacations, gifts and other benefits for himself and his family. "People of this state expected better, and I let them down," Ryan said in a statement delivered to the courtroom before the sentencing. Federal prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 8 to 10 years. But defense attorneys argued before U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer that even a sentence of up to 30 months could deprive Ryan, 72, of the last healthy...

Thirty-five years ago, Richard Nixon justified his big-government economic policies by stating: "We are all Keynesians now." Given the way government spending has exploded in the last six years, a similarly candid member of the current Congress or administration would be forced to observe: "We are all big spenders now." While many on the left would applaud such a day, fiscal conservatives are desperately looking for some reason to think this is not true of their elected officials. Fortunately, the House is about to vote on a bill that would make it easier to trim some of the budgetary fat...

They would be surprised by how clean, orderly and relatively benign things are given the fact that it is a detention center for some of the worst terrorists on the planet.... Provisions are there for hygiene, massive medical oversight and care, and an extraordinary focus on feeding. I have an entire chapter written on the food service and nutrition. Americans might be somewhat upset to see that the detainees eat better than the American guards.... We did get to observe on-going interrogations behind glass with a detainee, an interrogator and a translator. In one instance, the detainee ate a box...

...They have planned an attack bigger than 9/11, even before 9/11 happened. Osama Bin Laden trained 42 fighters to destroy the American economy and military might. 19 were used on 9/11, 23 are still "sleeping" inside America waiting for a wake-up call from Bin Laden. ...What I said was that Russia is covertly supporting Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan. ... I lost track of the three suitcase nukes after they were smuggled into Italy .... After 9/11, it is the present Iranian regime which is secretly helping Al-Qaeda because the U.S. is supporting Israel openly. ...they claimed to me that weapons...

...I was formerly known as Iraqi Fedayeen Major General, Ali Ibrahim Al-Tikriti. I was one of Saddam's chief Generals dealing with his secret nuclear, chemical, and biological programs... After the Gulf War our weapons programs were driven deep underground to avoid international inspections. We composed an idea of using salvaged parts from Tamuz in the early 90's as well as research we still had filed to begin construction of a simulation reactor. One of the most critical components was the gas centrifuges. After numerous attempts to acquire specially designed high strength aluminum tubes for these centrifuges we were finally successfully...

A former vice chancellor of the Boston Archdiocese and six other priests accused of molesting children have been defrocked by the Vatican, church officials announced Friday.In a statement, Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley expressed his "deepest sorrow for the grievous harm" done by Monsignor Frederick Ryan and the other Boston priests."The violations of childhood innocence, under the guise of priestly care, are a source of profound shame," O'Malley said.Ryan was one of the highest-ranking church officials to be accused of child molestation since the Boston sex scandal broke in 2002. He resigned that year after being accused of abusing two boys...

Three eco-terrorists were sentenced Friday to federal prison for a series of firebombings that put towns in the Sierra foothills on edge. Ryan Daniel Lewis, 22, the alleged leader of the group, was sentenced to six years, and two sisters - Eva Rose Holland, 26, and Lili Marie Holland, 21 - were each handed two-year prison terms. Prosecutors alleged Lewis recruited the Holland sisters and Jeremiah Dean Colcleasure, 24, on Christmas Eve 2004 to help him burn down two unoccupied upscale homes in Lincoln, a Sacramento suburb, in the name of the Earth Liberation Front. The FBI calls the ELF...

My book was the first to make the claim that Russia was involved in moving Iraq's WMDs to Syria. After all the nay saying and criticizing I received for it, testimony at the Summit confirmed that this was true... The plan was drawn up after the Soviet Union decided to use its rogue state allies, specifically Libya and Iraq, to sponsor terrorism. The Soviets would help them make WMD in return, believing that would prevent Western retaliation. The head of the KGB, Yuri Andropov, told Pacepa that Russian advisors ran these countries intelligence services. Primakov was the central figure in...