Free Republic

George W. Bush-era energy policy wonks are finding a new home with Mitt Romney. The former Massachusetts governor can count on support from a who’s who of former Bush officials willing to raise money, brainstorm policy ideas and generally help spread the word among the ranks of like-minded GOP energy experts. Already on board the Romney train are Jim Connaughton, who ran Bush’s White House Council on Environmental Quality for all eight years; former Assistant Energy Secretary Andy Karsner; former EPA air chief Jeff Holmstead; and former EPA congressional affairs liaison Edward Krenik. The former Bush officials all told POLITICO...

Without saying his name, Mormon leaders and grassroots Mormons daily reference Wilford Woodruff when they interact with non-Mormons and the media. How so? Well, they like to tell others how polygamy is a supposed bygone of another era; how a certain Lds "prophet" in 1890 put the kabosh on it...or, at least, started a mainstream Mormon move toward monogamy. Yet, there's a little-known episode that this same Wilford Woodruff said that occurred in the 1870s -- before becoming the head "prophet" of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In the last two weeks before he left the St....

With some of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's former top advisers on her payroll, it isn't surprising that Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman espouses many of the same policies he has - from tax cuts to stimulate the economy to promises to run California more like a business. Those similarities are why one prominent California politician said electing Whitman would be the equivalent of another Schwarzenegger term. The politician who said that was Republican Rep. Tom McClintock of Elk Grove (Sacramento County), a Tea Party favorite who backed Whitman's primary rival, state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner.Shortly after taking office in 2004, Schwarzenegger...

Considering her influence in our culture and international iconic status, I believe the messages behind her art warrants this level of analysis. The power of images should never be underestimated and I am quite impressed with what the video's author uncovered. Any discerning believer with a heart for the greater culture would benefit from watching this. As the saying goes, "the devil's in the details." Be sure to click the link.

North Korea early on Friday called for an end to hostile relations with the United States, after a year marked by nuclear and missile tests and its rejection of international peace efforts. The call was made in a New Year joint editorial of several leading state North Korean newspapers, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, and comes with a US Christian missionary apparently detained in the isolated country. "The fundamental task for ensuring peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the rest of Asia is to put an end to the hostile relationship between the DPRK...

NOVEMBER 2, 2009 GOP Set to Propose Its Own Health Bill By GREG HITT WASHINGTON -- Republicans are preparing an alternative health-care bill to Democratic legislation, House Republican Leader John Boehner said, marking a shift in strategy as the full House is set to begin debate on the issue this week. Mr. Boehner said Sunday the Republican bill would extend health-insurance coverage to "millions" of Americans but wouldn't try to match the scope of the House Democratic bill unveiled last week. The Democratic legislation, if passed, is estimated to expand coverage to more than 30 million Americans now without insurance....

President Jimmy Carter made a statement that the recent tone of disrespect towards President Obama might have a racial component. This immediately led to an emotional debate - yes, he’s right - no, he’s crazy - the lefties are trying to stifle legitimate debate by equating genuine disagreement with policies with racism and playing the race card. It seems to me that Carter has hit a nerve. Of course some folks disagree with some of President Obama’s policies and have a right to criticize and to express their point of view, and even to attempt to influence the direction of...

IF only it were just about the color of his skin. With all due respect to Jimmy Carter, the racist component of Obama-hatred has been undeniable since the summer of 2008, when Sarah Palin rallied all-white mobs to the defense of the “real America.” Joe Wilson may or may not be in that camp, but, either way, that’s not the news. As we watched and rewatched the South Carolina congressman’s star turn, what grabbed us was the act itself. What made the lone, piercing cry of “You lie!” shocking was that it breached a previously secure barrier. It was the...

A group of black newspaper publishers on Friday charged Republican Rep. Joe Wilson with racism for yelling, "You lie," at President Obama during his nationally televised address to a joint session of Congress. The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) has canceled a planned January conference in South Carolina, where Wilson is a representative, and joined an economic boycott of the Palmetto State started 10 years ago by the state NAACP in protest of the confederate flag waving from the Statehouse grounds. Wilson shouted his accusation Wednesday night in response to Obama saying that his health care reform plan would not...

Keeping The Cable Guys Honest * Home * About CNN: Town Hall Protesters, Like the Founders, are White Supremacists 2009 August 22 Leave a comment tags: CNN, Don Lemon, Media Bias, News, Obamacare, Politics, race, Tim Wise, Town Hall by davidforsmark Remember this? It was an iconic symbol of the media’s contempt for the Tea Party protesters, a CNN reporter arguing the Obama viewpoint in an extremely condescending and confrontational way. Even some mainstream media commentators and former CNN reporters expressed embarassment at Susan Roesgen’s unprofessionalism. But if CNN thought this kind of thing was inappropriate, then their newest airhead...

I’m a little ashamed to admit it, but despite my constant mockery of everything Obama during the presidential campaign (what can I say, I’m a partisan hack), I now realize how much I actually bought into some of his absolutely empty hope and change rhetoric. When Barack Obama said he was a post-racial candidate, I initially believed him. He seemed different from Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, who are incapable of seeing any issue as something other than a conflict between two races. I thought that while his election would be bad for a lot of issues I cared about,...

ALSO: # BULLETIN -- NORTH KOREA ABANDONS KOREAN WAR ARMISTICE.6 minutes ago from BNO Headquarters # BULLETIN -- NORTH KOREA SAYS IT WILL "USE ITS MILITARY" TO RESPOND TO SOUTH KOREAN DECISION.9 minutes ago from BNO Headquarters # BULLETIN -- NORTH KOREA CALLS SOUTH KOREAN DECISION TO JOIN ANTI-PROLIFERATION PROGRAM A DECLARATION OF WAR.10 minutes ago from BNO Headquarters

Guess that whole moving-forward-with-the-Arab-world thing President Obama talked about today hasn’t reached the streets of Tehran yet: Pro-Gazan Iranian demonstrators carrying a British flag, burn a photo of US President-elect Barack Obama, during an anti-Israeli, anti-US and anti-British protest in front of the former US Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Those of us on Barack Obama mailing lists have wondered why the masters of fundraising haven’t stopped pushing for more donations. After all, Obama won … last week. Recounts won’t affect the substantial victory; this isn’t 2000. Yet we keep getting e-mails, supposedly from people like Michelle Obama, Joe Biden, and especially David Plouffe, telling us that Obama and the DNC desperately need more of our money — and Andrew Malcolm does the math. He reprints the missive from Plouffe: ************************* Here’s what he said: “We’ll get to work transforming this country. But first, we need to take care of...

California Proposes Sales Tax Hike To Fund Transport, Government Services July 18, 2008 11:32 a.m. ESTVittorio Hernandez - AHN News WriterSacramento, CA (AHN) - To close California's $17.2 billion budget deficit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger considered on Thursday hiking the state sales tax and using funds intended for transportation and government services.State legislators proposed the two measures, which the governor initially described as bad ideas, but he did not rule out adopting the measures to avoid a cash crisis in California.The lawmakers plan to close the budget gap by collecting $5.6 billion income tax increase on the rich and borrowing $1.1...

It's getting a little crowded under Bar ack Obama's bus. Washington power broker James Johnson got tossed under yesterday - joining Chicago wheeler-dealer Tony Rezko, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and the entire Trinity United Church of Christ. Officially, Johnson said he was leaving a three-member committee charged with vetting potential Obama running mates so that his ties to a mortgage company wouldn't become a campaign distraction. Fact is, Johnson had already become radioactive; the campaign would've been nuts not to jettison him. Now Obama needs to turn his attention to another member of that committee - Eric Holder, a former...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Protesters energized by fresh congressional skepticism about the Iraq war demanded a withdrawal of U.S. troops in a demonstration Saturday that drew tens of thousands and brought Jane Fonda back to the streets.

(CBS) COMPTON, Calif. - Beginning this weekend, Compton residents can exchange their guns for gifts -- no questions asked -- as part of a city-sponsored endeavor to reduce violence. According to a statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, personnel will collect firearms in the parking lot of the Circuit City/Ralphs Grocery shopping center at Compton Boulevard and Alameda Street. The guns for gifts drive will continue over the next three Saturdays. For every gun turned in, participants will receive a $50 gift card to Circuit City, Ralphs Grocery or Toys "R" Us. "The largest challenge to this program...

'Arab vision' to advance peace process Arab League, PA, other Arab states meet to formulate Arab vision for peace in Middle East Roee Nahmias Published: 09.03.06, 14:11 The Palestinian Authority, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the Arab League are holding intensive talks in recent days in an attempt to formulate an "Arab vision" for advancing the peace process. The final document is to be delivered to the United Nations Security Council at the end of the month, according to the east Jerusalem-based al-Quds newspaper. Hisham Yousef, head of the office of the Arab League's director-general, said...

SAN DIEGO -- Future costs for illegal immigrants in the United States will reach a half a trillion dollars, a Heritage Foundation researcher said Wednesday at congressional hearing in San Diego. The influx of illegal immigrants has effectively "imported about 10 million high school dropouts into the United States," said Robert Rector, a senior research fellow in welfare and family issues for the Washington, D.C.-based think tank. Rector testified before the House Judiciary Committee, which convened at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot for one in a series of hearings on illegal immigration this month. The hearings are a rebuttal to...