Free Republic

If fighting global warming may cost the economy $9.6 trillion and more than 1 million lost jobs by 2035, as the Heritage Foundation forecasts, it'd be a good idea to be sure there's a sound basis before making such a massive sacrifice. We've noted before that climate change is occurring as it always has, but the claim that man-made greenhouse gases will cause catastrophic temperature increases is based on questionable science and projections. Man's contribution to greenhouse gases is minuscule. There are some theories but no convincing proof that increased emissions cause increased temperature. Before devastating the economy to fix...

LOS ANGELES — Even as he conceded there is still much hard work to do, President Obama was in a boastful mood Wednesday night, telling a star-studded crowd at a fundraising dinner that he "would put these first four months up against any prior administration since FDR." The president, speaking to a dinner that included Hollywood A-listers like Kiefer Sutherland, Marisa Tomei, Jamie Foxx, Ron Howard and Steven Spielberg, lauded the legislation he has signed since taking office but added that he is "not satisfied."

A major Issue where John McCain lost support of the American People was Immigration reform. The year before he ran for president, he worked with Ted Kennedy and President Bush to develop a comprehensive immigration bill that included just about everything except protecting our borders. The bill failed miserably because Americans on both sides of the aisle because Americans wanted their government to secure the US borders before they addressed any other issues. President Obama and his leftist allies that illegal immigration is a racial issue. They believe that those of us who want to protect the US boarders are...

“TEA” in Tea Parties has been interpreted as standing for “Taxed Enough Already.” This is catchy and a clever linkage to the original Boston Tea Party. However it is such a narrow acronym that it seriously understates the scope of the current protest movement and lends credence to the left’s assertion that Tea Party protestors are just greedy rich people afraid they’ll have to pay a little more in taxes. The hundreds of thousands who are involved in today’s Tea Party movement are well informed Americans, deeply concerned about a host of issues beyond taxes: national security, socialization, corruption, voter...

Unemployment rate hits 8.9%

<p>Global central banks risk inflation, currency devaluation and a “big consolidation” in bond markets by pumping cash into their economies, the People’s Bank of China said in its quarterly monetary policy report.</p> <p>The Federal Reserve and the Bank of England this year started quantitative easing, or printing money to buy government bonds, a policy that the Bank of Japan pioneered to revive its economy at the start of the decade. The European Central Bank’s 22-member board, which meets tomorrow, is split on whether it should buy financial assets to tackle its recession.</p>

Over a year ago, Mitt Romney was losing primaries to John McCain, and conservative pundits from Ann Coulter to Rush Limbaugh predicted the end of the GOP – Coulter went as far as promising she would campaign for Hillary Rodham Clinton if McCain became the party's nominee. By November 2008, the GOP had embraced a nominee who had considered switching parties twice, had opposed tax cuts, and had failed to advance an aggressive shift in a foreign policy that left the GOP discredited in an area it had always trumped in. It's not that McCain's willingness to reach across the...

Boehner says Obama's bills makes him 'want to throw up' Kara Rowland (Contact) The top House Republican said Tuesday that the liberal bills being pushed by President Obama and congressional Democrats make him "want to throw up" and that Mr. Obama's first 100 days in office have shown he has "no plan for keeping America safe." Minority Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio said in an interview that decisions such as closing Guantanamo Bay prison and releasing classified memos on CIA interrogation techniques reflect a dangerous, "piecemeal approach" to national security. "I'm just looking at some of these tactical moves...

I’m not sure—I’m no prophet—but I think I just saw something genuinely profound, genuinely amazing, and cool that could be the tidal wave of the future. Here’s the setup. It was Tax Day. Thousands of self-organized protesters had gathered around the nation to protest the irresponsible, incredibly rapid expansion of government under the current administration. The Democratic Party and the elite media had done everything in their power to first ignore, then discourage, ridicule, and belittle this grassroots movement. Theoretically respectable journalists were reduced to making double-entendre sexual jokes about tea bags. These are the same people who rushed en...

Last week, I asked my journalism and political science students at American University to grade the news media covering the Obama administration for the first 100 days. The consensus fell between a C+ and a B-. However, if I asked President Barack Obama’s media strategists to grade the press corps covering their boss, I bet they would mark their cards with an A. Why? With few exceptions, the mainstream news media have been dutifully pushing the Obama message, burnishing his carefully crafted image and offering few challenges when he makes questionable or misleading pronouncements, gestures or policy statements. In short,...

It's a response that might incite laughter, as it did from conservative pundit Monica Crowley and MSNBC paleocon talker Pat Buchanan. According to Newsweek's Eleanor Clift, the current problems facing the country and President Barack Obama are due to capitalism. Clift, appearing on the syndicated April 26 "The McLaughlin Group" gave Obama high marks for his first hundred days and said Republicans were misguided for attacking the growth of the size of government. "I give him a B+ because there's a lot of outcomes that haven't come in yet," Clift said. "But look, this isn't about the failure of government...

OUR OPINION: First months reveal a poised, disciplined, pragmatic politician President Barack Obama has run a fast race thus far. His first 100 days in office have been remarkably productive, particularly for someone who was serving in the Illinois state Senate only five years ago. A successful start augurs well for the rest of his tenure, but critics have reason to remain skeptical. Huge deficits, a seemingly limitless agenda and Washington's enduring partisan divide are just some of the challenges that could trip up this presidency. In truth, the 100-day test is an artificial political construct. It is too little...

Given all the hoopla and high expectations surrounding the new president, it's easy to overlook how he has shifted since the election in both tone and substance. As we approach the 100-day mark of his presidency, Barack Obama has broken or bent many tenets of his campaign, including promises on war, spending and good government. In terms of tone, Obama promised to be a hope-filled change agent who could fix our politics and "heal a nation." He would do it by refusing to appoint lobbyists to his administration, increasing transparency in government, and forging new bipartisan consensus. His campaign promised...

A quick tour through the week’s headlines suggests the Republican Party is beginning to come to terms with the last election and that consensus is emerging among GOP elites that the party needs to move away from discordant social issues. There was Sen. John McCain's daughter and his campaign manager who last week demanded that their fellow Republicans embrace same-sex marriage. Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman – the most devoted modernizer among the party's 2012 hopefuls – won approving words from New York Times columnist Frank Rich for his call to downplay divisive values issues. The party’s top elected leaders in...

Pelosi: "It is not appropriate for me to talk about what happens at briefings. It is very interesting that people are talking so freely. But I can say this: they have been talking about it for a while. At that or any other briefing, and that was the only briefing that I was briefed on in that regard, we were not -- I repeat, we were not -- told that water boarding or any of these other enhanced interrogation methods were used."

WASHINGTON, (AP) -- Millions of people jobless. Billions of dollars in bailouts. Trillions of dollars in U.S. debt. And yet, for the first time in years, more Americans than not say the country is on the right track. In a sign that Barack Obama has inspired hopes for a brighter future in the first 100 days of his presidency, an Associated Press-GfK poll shows that 48 percent of Americans believe the United States is headed in the right direction — compared with 44 percent who disagree. The "right direction" number is up 8 points since February and a remarkable 31...

Fox News Stands Out as "Too Critical" of Obama No One Network Singled Out as Too Easy Summary of Findings When Americans are asked to assess television news coverage of Barack Obama, Fox News Channel stands out from other networks for being too critical of the president. Nearly three-in-ten (29%) select Fox when asked which of six broadcast and cable news networks have been too critical of the new Democratic president, a far greater share than any other network. In contrast, no one TV network is singled out for being too easy on Obama. Each of five networks (CNN, MSNBC,...

The Commercial Real Estate Time Bomb has gone off but it has been lost in the euphoria of economic cheerleading and bottom calls based on dubious (at best) earnings reports from banks. Here are a few headline items from the past week or so to consider. Malls shedding stores at record pace CNN Money is reporting Malls shedding stores at record pace

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 34% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-two percent (32%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of +2 (see trends). On the Generic Congressional Ballot, it’s all tied—39% for the Democrats, 39% for the Republicans. Most voters continue to believe that the financial and auto bailouts were a bad idea, but the Political Class disagrees. Sixty percent (60%) now believe the federal government has too much power and too much money. The Presidential...

THE SHOCKING REPORT - Civil Liberties at Risk under Secretary Janet Napolitano DHS Right Wing Extremism Report (Note: This file requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to view. See below.) Download, Read & DISTRIBUTE this disturbing report This report, first made public on The Roger Hedgecock Show, should be read by all Americans. Roger Hedgecock's commentary on this report and what it means is available here. The implications of the impact on the civil rights of EVERY American, regardless of their political affiliation or beliefs, is chilling. Every concerned citizen, from the left, the right, moderate, Democrat, Republican, Independent and those who...