Free Republic

WASHINGTON — It may be the only bipartisan agreement that Congress reaches this year on overhauling health care. Republicans, under pressure not to wreck Christmas for lawmakers and their staffs, agreed Tuesday that Senate passage of the Democrats' controversial bill seemed inevitable and scaled back procedural-delay mechanisms to allow a vote by the morning of Christmas Eve.Had the full debate continued, the Senate would have voted at around 9 p.m. Thursday, too late for many lawmakers and their staff members to get home in time for the holiday. Instead, the vote is set for 8 a.m. President Barack Obama had...

The head weasel at the RNC tells that I have a choice to make. To whit: 'Will Barack Obama continue to have Nancy Pelosi/Harry Reid majorities in Concress to ram through his radical leftist agenda of curtailed freedoms and government expansion, or... ...will our Party's commonsense conservative candidates prevail next November and roll back the left-wing gains that are threatening our prosperity and liberty?' Well, you have to admire their sheer nerve and effrontery in making this sort of play for my wallet. The letter mentions New Jersey and Virginia as signal victories, but they somehow forgot to mention their...

Sen. Lindsey Graham may be under fire from conservatives back home in South Carolina. But the Republican got a personal assurance from President Obama yesterday that the White House is supporting his efforts to craft a sweeping Senate energy and global warming bill. “The president told me personally he was very open, that nuclear power would be part of the mix, that clean coal would be part of the mix, that he’s for offshore drilling in a responsible way,” Graham said today in describing his Oval Office meeting with Obama. “But we have to have a price on carbon,...

(snip) “Why did I do this? I want my time to count. I want to be seen as someone who can solve a hard problem by working with my colleagues across the aisle. I want to do something that matters. I can’t think of a better use of my time than to work with Democrats and Republicans to break our dependency on foreign oil, to create jobs for our next generation of Americans that will never go to China. And yes, leave behind a cleaner planet.” (snip)

A number of Arabic and Pashtu interpreters at the terror-war detention center at Guantanamo Bay are under active investigation for omitting valuable intelligence from their translations of detainee interrogations, among other security breaches. This could taint some of the evidence at the "9/11 trial" in New York and proceedings against other detainees. Remarkably, the Pentagon never cleaned up the "mole infestation" at its highest-security facility after the FBI busted a Muslim spy ring at Gitmo in 2003. The 2003 probe involved at least two Arabic interpreters with high-level security clearance. Senior Airman Ahmad al-Halabi, a Syrian native, and former Army...

For decades these petulant little communists have moaned every time America has defended itself, and the rest of the world, from evil. If there was ever any doubt in your mind, that the left hates America and wants it destroyed, this should alleviate those doubts.

Some of the nation’s wealthiest and most powerful law firms have donated hundreds of millions of dollars in free legal services to terror suspects at the Guantanamo Bay prison. Their work, bolstered by left-wing activists groups, has helped to free, or force the transfer, of hundreds of al Qaeda suspects to third countries. Some have gone back to terrorism and the job of trying to kill Americans. The work of big American law firms on behalf of al Qaeda is drawing new attention since Attorney General Eric Holder decided this month that Khalid Sheik Mohammed, who orchestrated the murder of...

Obamacare May Target Gun Owners Jillian Bandes Wednesday, November 25, 2009 Who might be the next victim of Obamacare? Gun owners. Government health care reform "will most likely dump your gun-related health data into a government database…that can preclude you from owning firearms,” said Gun Owners of America, in an email notification to their members, shortly before the health care debate on Saturday. GOA said that diagnoses such as post-traumatic stress disorders or other mental illnesses could be a reason the government uses to charge you more for health insurance under the public plan, or as part of co-op regulations....

(snip) "We participated in things that were clearly wrong and have reason to regret," said Goldman Sachs’ Lloyd Blankfein. "We apologize." Blankfein had told a British newspaper the other day that Goldman was doing “God’s work”. That caused a firestorm online. (snip)

The thug politics power couple of Anita “A Pox on Fox” Dunn and Bob “The Silencer” Bauer isn’t going anywhere. I said it earlier this week and on Fox News early Thursday morning (vid here). Now comes word late tonight that Bauer is indeed — as has been rumored for nearly a month via Glenn Beck and FNC (so much for not news, huh?) — taking over the White House counsel position from Greg Craig.

Your U.S. House & Senate have voted themselves $4,700 and $5,300 raises for 2009. 1. They voted to not give you a S.S. cost of living raise in 2010 and 2011. 2. Your Medicaid premiums will go up $285.60 for the 2-years and you will not get the 3% COLA: $660/yr. Your total 2-yr loss and cost is -$1,600 or -$3,200 for husband and wife. 3. Over 2-yrs they ea. get $10,000. 4. Do you feel SCREWED? 5. Will they have your cost of drugs - doctor fees - local taxes - food, etc., increase. NO WAY. They have a...

The Washington Post reports the Obama White House played a critical, behind-the-scenes role in persuading former GOP District 23 congressional candidate Dede Scozzafava to endorse Democrat Bill Owens over Conservative Doug Hoffman. If true, the Post report reveals a striking example of the administration's penchant for tinkering in regional politics. Scozzafava pulled out of the race Saturday after falling to a distant third place in the polls. Initially, national GOP leaders praised her decision as "selfless." They endorsed Hoffman, and apparently assumed Scozzafava would do the same. On Sunday, however, Scozzafava instead endorsed the Democrat. White House officials and left-leaning...

"Republican Dede Scozzafava today endorsed Democrat Bill Owens, her former opponent, in Tuesday's election to fill the North Country congressional seat formerly held by John McHugh. Scozzafava suspended her campaign for the 23rd District seat Saturday, citing weak poll numbers and inadequate campaign funds. In a statement released this afternoon, she called Owens ''an independent voice devoted to doing what is right for New York.''"

The Washington Post reports tonight that Barack Obama and top administration officials have concluded the Taliban cannot be beaten and that they are looking for ways to cede parts of Afghanistan to the Taliban without those regions becoming safe havens for al Qaeda.The article also reports that Obama may wait until after he returns from a 10 day visit to Asia that begins November 11 to decide his policy for Afghanistan.The Post article is largely about Obama's request made this week, two months after he received Gen. Stanley McChrystal's request for tens of thousands more troops to fulfill Obama's counter-insuregency...

As I recall, during implementation of the previous administration's strategies in the War on Terror, members of the far left bleated their resentment toward those who questioned their patriotism. Given the left's pathetic deportment in response to terrorism, and reckless sympathetic tendencies where terrorists were concerned, they had come under criticism of the more circumspect among us. Still, they claimed that their dovishness, objection to such measures as the Patriot Act and support of sanctuary city statutes didn't make them any less patriotic than anyone else, damn it.

Oct. 20: President Obama shakes hands with Capt. John Poindexter in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. For Army Capt. John Poindexter, being awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for heroism Tuesday marked an "opportunity to close a chapter" in his life. "The general feeling is a pretty intense level of excitement," Poindexter told Foxnews.com just before he and 85 other Vietnam veterans were honored at a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden. "It will mean to me that I've filled an important duty to the men who I literally owe my life to, men who...

Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has held a series of meetings in Washington with leading Democrats and Republicans on the issue of US immigration reform. Senior Republican Senator John McCain said he was still committed to a comprehensive deal. He said he hoped Congress would address the issue early next year. Senator McCain also said he was particularly anxious to resolve the difficulties facing up to 50,000 undocumented Irish in the US.

The whole series of current RINO Zero Dollar bills. Make sure you use them, send them to these idiots and make sure they know THEY are the ones that will be forced out, NOT us CONSERVATIVES!!!! For the whole series of Zero dollar bills, go here: "Flickr Archive of Zero Bills"

Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe broke with her party Tuesday and said she will vote for a Democratic health care bill, handing President Barack Obama a much-sought boost in his quest to expand access to medical coverage to all Americans. Approval of the legislation by the Senate Finance Committee was a foregone conclusion going into Tuesday's vote, since Democrats outnumber Republicans 13-10 on the panel. But Snowe's decision gave the vote a significance that transcends partisan divisions. For months, congressional Republicans have been virtually unanimous in denouncing the Democratic bills as an unwarranted expansion of government influence. The Maine senator kept...

The surprise endorsement of climate-change legislation by a leading Senate Republican has jump-started the languishing proposal but also has raised the prospect that it will include two major items that environmentalists dislike: more nuclear power and more offshore oil drilling. In an op-ed published Sunday, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina joined with Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the chamber's leading Democratic advocate of climate legislation, to promote a bipartisan plan to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. They proposed a compromise that reduces U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions - which are widely considered to contribute to climate change - through a market-based "cap and...

The nominee in a looming House special election is at the heart of an angry dispute between conservatives and Republican House leadership, a rift so serious that it threatens the party’s chances of keeping control of the upstate New York seat. At issue is the National Republican Congressional Committee’s support for Dede Scozzafava, a New York assemblywoman who conservatives assert is so liberal that they absolutely cannot support her candidacy. Instead, many conservative groups are rallying behind Doug Hoffman, a third-party candidate running on the Conservative Party line, even though their support for him might pave the way for a...

The Armed Forces recruiting center located at 14th and L Streets, NW, Washington, D.C., will be targeted by the SDS tomorrow afternoon as part of their 'Funk the War' protest aimed at undermining support for America in the war on terror.The demonstration will mark the eighth anniversary of the opening Afghan front in the global war on terror. SDS protesters have targeted the 14th and L recruiting center many times before, usually with rocks and paint bombs. At one protest they stormed and ransacked the front part of the center.This is what happened on March 19 last year:DC Recruiting Center...

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has blocked Sen. Jim DeMint’s (R-S.C.) trip to Honduras slated to begin Friday, according to DeMint's office. DeMint’s office informed The Hill of Kerry’s decision Thursday afternoon. On Thursday morning, the freshman Republican announced that he would lead a congressional delegation to Honduras on Friday ahead of the country’s Nov. 29 elections. The U.S. State Department, which acknowledges ousted President Manuel Zelaya as the legitimate ruler of the Central American nation, has said it will not recognize the contests because of ongoing political turmoil. “No U.S. Senator has...

A Republican member of President Barack Obama's cabinet blistered conservative talk-radio hosts and cable-television news yesterday, saying they have eroded civility and impeded the nation's ability to solve big problems. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told The Dispatch that the level of "harsh discourse in Washington has probably reached an all-time high," and he partly blamed it on "all of this trash talk about the process and about politicians 24/7" on cable television and talk radio. LaHood referred to criticism Obama received for appearing Sunday on five television news shows to promote his health-care overhaul. The secretary also indicated that even...

Nadler: Liberals prepared to buck Obama, Dem leadership By Michael O'Brien - 09/21/09 03:13 PM ET Liberals in the House are prepared to buck President Obama and House Democratic leaders if they're presented a healthcare bill without a public option. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said Monday he is optimistic that any healthcare bill from the House will include a public (or "government-run") option, and are undertaking a whip count to test lawmakers' commitment to that measure. "The public option is still very much alive only because the progressives have stood together and held our ground and said that, regardless of...

WASHINGTON -- President Obama says he has no plans to ask the Justice Department to end its criminal investigation into the harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists during the Bush administration. Seven former CIA directors have asked the president to do just that. In a letter to Obama on Friday, they warned that the probe could discourage CIA officers from doing the kind of aggressive intelligence work needed to fight terrorism. Obama tells CBS' "Face the Nation" that he appreciates that the former CIA chiefs are wanting "to look after an institution that they helped to build."

THERE WILL NOT BE A WORLD WITHOUT AMERICA. "REAL" AMERICANS WILL NOT LET IT HAPPEN! For those who want to feel the emotions of what America means to us and millions of others across the world who have flocked here, or long to come here! Click on the link and listen to this. The Celtic Women sing: OH AMERICA WE ARE ANSWERING, AMERICA!! WE WILL FIGHT TO KEEP YOU STRONG!! WE WILL PROTECT OUR CONSTITUTION AND OUR FREEDOMS WE WILL NOT LET ANYONE STEAL AMERICA'S SPIRIT AND LIGHT! SHINE ON AMERICA, WE WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU!!!

BRANCH MANAGER REPORTEDLY ORDERS REMOVAL OF FLAGS PLACED TO HONOR FALLEN MARINE A South Carolina Bank of America branch is drawing criticism Thursday after an employee reportedly ordered the removal of American flags placed to honor a fallen Marine over fears that people would be offended.

Senate votes on Johanns amendment to cut off ACORN housing funds: Amendment passes, 83-7 Seven Senators voted NO (All Democrats) Burris (D-IL) Casey (D-PA) Durbin (D-IL) Gillibrand (D-NY) Leahy (D-VT) Sanders (I-VT) Whitehouse (D-RI) Nine of our Nitwits didn't have the courage to vote - including (guess who) - John McCain Burr (R-NC) Byrd (D-WV) Coburn (R-OK) Graham (R-SC) Gregg (R-NH) Hutchison (R-TX) McCain (R-AZ) Mikulski (D-MD) Vitter (R-LA) What is the matter with these people ? Is it me ? hat tip Errol - Still Puzzled After All These Year)

As read on “The Rush Limbaugh Show”: So far CNN has only reported on the breaking story on blatant ACORN CORRUPTION from angles that attempt to extricate the government funded “community organizing” enterprise from the extreme crime we caught on videotape. First CNN pushed the false ACORN line that “[t]his film crew tried to pull this sham at other offices and failed.” To set that record straight please check the Washington D.C. tape we dropped today at BigGovernment.com, which is also being aired on your cable news competitor with curiously higher ratings. Now that ACORN lied to you, Jonathan Klein,...

The actor Will Smith is no one's image of a suicide bomber. With his boyish face, he has often played comic roles. Even as the last man on earth in I Am Legend, he retains a wise-cracking, ironic demeanor. And yet, surrounded by a horde of hyperactive vampires at the end of that film, Smith clasps a live grenade to his chest and throws himself at the enemy in a final burst of heroic sacrifice. Wait a second: surely that wasn't a suicide bombing. Will Smith wasn't reciting suras from the Koran. He wasn't sporting one of those rising sun...

THERE were angry clashes in a city centre today as right-wing protesters fought with anti-fascist campaigners in a busy shopping street. A planned demonstration by The English Defence League in central Birmingham descended into violence as the group charged along New Street, close to the city's main train station. One onlooker said: "There were about 250 people in total, fighting and throwing bottles at each other." The disorder spilled onto the adjoining Bennetts Hill, a street lined with a number of pubs, popular with shoppers. Dozens of riot police worked to contain the disturbance and a police helicopter hovered overhead....

Arianna Huffington’s liberal gossip site the Huffington Post has been vigorously defending green jobs czar and 9/11 “truther” Van Jones. It turns out that Jones was Huffington’s grassroots political director when she ran for governor in the 2003 recall election. In fact, Jones, a self-described “communist,” thought Huffington was so wonderful he was part of the effort to draft her to run for office.

Al Qaeda two largest terrorist forums are celebrating the despicable AP photo of our Marine Hero during his moment of death. The two largest Al Qaeda forums are called “Al Falojah” and “Shoomookh Al Islam”. The translation to English is in italic Translation from “Al Falojah” terrorist forum thread # 82382 titled: “A Gift: The Pentagon is shocked by the publication of an American soldier breathing his last breath, picture is attached”. Then members of "al falojah" terrorist forum commented by saying “To Hell and have the worst fate” and “allah damn him and damn anyone who mourns him, we...

I posted this Saddam regime document translation on September 9 2006 but in light of the Associated Press despicable act to publish a picture of a dying Marine Hero, I think it is worth reposting again to show what the despicable AP is really about. Document ISGQ-2005-00026108.pdf dated July 25 2000 is a report from an Iraqi Intelligence officer to different Iraqi Intelligence Directorates talking about information provided to them from a trusted source that works in the Associated Press (AP). The information is about the formation a newly formed UN weapons inspectors team called UNMOVIC. Translation of page 4...

Savor the silence of America's self-serving champions of privacy. For once, the American Civil Liberties Union has nothing bad to say about the latest case of secret domestic surveillance -- because it is the ACLU that committed the spying. Last week, The Washington Post reported on a new Justice Department inquiry into photographs of undercover CIA officials and other intelligence personnel taken by ACLU-sponsored researchers assisting the defense team of Guantanamo Bay detainees. According to the report, the pictures of covert American CIA officers -- "in some cases surreptitiously taken outside their homes" -- were shown to jihadi suspects tied...

SAVOR the silence of America's self-serving champions of privacy. For once, the American Civil Liberties Union has nothing bad to say about the latest case of secret domestic surveillance -- because it is the ACLU that committed the spying. Last week, The Washington Post reported on a Justice Department inquiry into photographs of undercover CIA officials and other intelligence personnel taken by ACLU-sponsored researchers assisting the defense team of Guantanamo detainees. According to the report, the pictures of covert CIA officers -- "in some cases surreptitiously taken outside their homes" -- were shown to jihadi suspects tied to the 9/11...

By some estimates, we have 20 to 30 million criminal aliens crawling all over this nation - more coming, as fast as they can - with virtually no impediment. Over two years ago the email below was popularly circulated. It's worth a re-read today - with 'better and cheaper health care' in mind. It's all about uncontrolled 'immigration' [read, INVASION] - but now we grow few tomatoes in California anymore, most are shipped here directly from Mexico. But, that hasn't diminished the flood of criminal aliens across our southern border. Now the hot-button is SOCIALIST MEDICINE - courtesy of socialist...

Pelosi/Hoyer op-ed in Monday USATODAY calls townhall protesters 'un-American'... Developing..

The nation's drugmakers stand ready to spend $150 million to help President Barack Obama overhaul health care this fall, according to numerous officials, a staggering sum that could dwarf attempts to derail his chief domestic priority.

So what happens when President Zero's supposed Hawaian birth "Certification" is proven a fake and the American people remove him from office as provided for in the US Contitution? Who becomes president then? (Sorry for the vanity post, I just haven't seen any discussion about this. And if we have a new election I hope its Sarah!)

Republican and Democratic senators negotiating financial details of healthcare reform have made great progress and are on the verge of a deal, a key Republican senator said on Wednesday. "We have made great progress. Every day we make some progress," Sen. Charles Grassley, one of the three Republicans from Senate Finance Committee involved in the talks to overhaul the healthcare system, told NPR radio. "Will we get it done so we can get a bill to the other members by this weekend because there is a certain time you've got to give people to study it? We're on the edge,...

As the House moved closer to agreement on its health bill, Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus announced that a draft of the reform package he is negotiating with three Republican senators would come with a lower-than-expected price tag, less than $900 billion over 10 years. Although the proposal submitted to the Congressional Budget Office is not a finished product, Baucus said early results were promising as lawmakers try to complete their work before the start of the recess on Aug. 7. The preliminary bill would provide coverage to 95 percent of Americans, be fully offset by tax increases and Medicare...

The ranking Republican on the House Subcommittee on Immigration says Democrats have refused to pass an amendment that would prevent illegal aliens from being covered in the Obama healthcare plan. Democrats recently defeated a Republican-backed amendment offered by Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nevada) that would have prevented illegal immigrants from receiving government-subsidized healthcare under the proposed plan backed by House Democrats and President Obama. Congressman Steve King (R-Iowa), the ranking member on the House Immigration Subcommittee, finds it outrageous that Democrats want to force hardworking Americans to foot the healthcare bill for those who are in the country illegally. "The Democrats...

(snip) Since Democrats have enough votes to shove almost anything they want through the Senate, why suddenly all this talk about seeking "bipartisan reform"? Because Democrats can't tell the truth. They know socialized medicine will cost enough billions to lower the standard of living for millions of Americans, but they have to pretend they believe otherwise, that it will somehow "save money." They can't run for re-election in 2010 -- any more than they could run in 2008 -- on an honest platform of, "We'll raise your taxes to the sky and borrow the nation into bankruptcy to get to...

Sen. Susan Collins announced Tuesday that she would become the fourth Senate Republican to support Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court. The support from the Maine centrist is the latest sign that Sotomayor will be confirmed by a comfortable majority before the Senate adjourns for its summer recess on Aug. 7. "Judge Sotomayor has impressive legal experience, has excelled throughout her life and is a tremendously accomplished person," Collins said. "And based on my review of her record, my assessment of her character and my analysis of her adherence to precedent, Judge Sotomayor warrants confirmation to the high court."

Washington (CNSNews.com) – After a combative question-and-answer period with Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) complimented the judge on her accomplishments but seemed less than satisfied with her openness. “I think your record is exemplary, Judge Sotomayor, exemplary,” Specter said while concluding his allotted time at Wednesday’s hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He then added, “I’m not commenting on your answers -- but your record is exemplary,” drawing a chorus of laughter from the audience. Specter had sparred with the Sotomayor on numerous subjects, including the Terrorist Surveillance Program, abortion, and televising Supreme Court proceedings. In...

American Clean Energy and Security ActI couldn't get the results to format after copying its code. The link will have to do.

Honduras, the tiny Central American nation, had a change of leaders on June 28. The country's military arrested President Manuel Zelaya -- in his pajamas, he says -- and put him on a plane bound for Costa Rica. A new president, Roberto Micheletti, was appointed. Led by Cuba and Venezuela (Sudan and North Korea were not immediately available), the international community swiftly condemned this "coup." Something clearly has gone awry with the rule of law in Honduras -- but it is not necessarily what you think. Begin with Zelaya's arrest. The Supreme Court of Honduras, as it turns out, had...

Back in 2008, New York Times correspondent David S. Rohde, along with Afghan reporter Taki Luden, were abducted in Pakistan by the Taliban. Because they felt it might adversely affect hostage rescue efforts, the Times requested a news black-out. The Associated Press and other news agencies respected the request and only broke the story recently, after Rohde and Luden had scaled a wall and made their escape. It would be nothing other than a story with a happy ending, except that the Times has time and again ignored the government’s requests that it not report the specific ways in which...