Free Republic

Early voting only got under way on Monday and already a complaint has been filed. Colorado Republicans say Democrats wrongly offered Colorado State University students free pizza and t-shirts in exchange for voting. Colorado state law says campaigners have to be 100 feet from a polling place, but there is some grey area, espeically when a polling place is inside a large public building like CSU’s Lory Student Center. The Colorado Republican Committee sent a letter to the Larimer County clerk alleging wrongdoing by campaigners for the Democratic Party during the first day of early voting on the CSU campus....

President Obama is using all the White House weapons at his disposal to woo voters in critical swing states in the campaign's final stretch, announcing a $30 million investment aimed at creating a manufacturing hub in Ohio to help boost technology and create jobs in a three-state region. Recent polls show the president holding a slim edge over Republican rival Mitt Romney in Ohio, and Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney have crisscrossed the state pitching their competing economic plans. The new initiative, which White House officials announced Wednesday, creates partnerships among manufacturing firms, universities, community colleges and nonprofit organizations in...

August 15, 2012 Obama’s Lawless Amnesty Program Begins Today – Thousands of Illegals Line Up in Chicago (Video) Jim Hoft Navy Pier Amnesty Line–Tens of thousands of illegal aliens lined up today to sign up for Barack Obama’s lawless amnesty program. An estimated 1.8 million illegals are eligible for the program. (VIDEO at Link below) Stand With Arizona reported: Obama’s lawless bypass of Congress in granting blanket amnesty to millions of illegal aliens began this morning across America. Tens of thousands of illegals lined up early, and flooded into DHS centers to apply for nearly automatic 2-year stays from deportation...

IRS supervisors ignored employees who tried to warn agency higher-ups of fraud in a program designed to collect taxes from immigrants, resulting in the agency paying out potentially bogus refunds, according to an official audit released Wednesday. The Treasury’s inspector general for tax administration (TIGTA) said the IRS is too focused on getting out refunds quickly rather than getting them only to qualified taxpayers. Auditors also said the agency eliminated some methods employees had used to figure out questionable refund requests and doesn’t have the right training or tools to screen out bogus identity documents when immigrants apply for taxpayer...

<p>Voter fraud has a shocking new meaning in eastern Kentucky.</p> <p>That is where in some cases, major cocaine and marijuana dealers admitted to buying votes to steal elections, and the result is the corruption of American democracy. The government continues to mete out justice in the scandal, as two people convicted in April in a vote-buying case face sentencing this week, and another public official pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy.</p>

"We're headed in the right direction. Unemployment continues to drop and those people who are unemployed, they're not going to be voting for the party who wants to cut their benefits, cut access to food stamps, cut job training," Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA) said on MSNBC's Al Sharpton program.

The House passed the administration’s offshore wind power bill Friday amid accusations Gov. Martin O’Malley secured votes on the House Economic Matters Committee with disparity grants to committee members’ districts. “Those of you who have been here longer than two weeks know there’s a lot of complicated pressures that go into making a bill pass or fail,” said House Minority Leader Anthony O’Donnell. “Sometimes it takes a little nudge, sometimes it takes a carrot, and sometimes it takes a stick.” The disparity grant program in Maryland provides subsidies to jurisdictions with income tax receipts that fall below 75% of the...

Appearing on CNN's State of the Union today, Rick Santorum told host Candy Crawley that his loss yesterday to Mitt Romney in CPAC's annual straw poll was because he didn't pay for votes. From Politico: "Well, you know, those straw polls at CPAC... for years Ron Paul has won those because he trucks in a lot of people, pays for their tickets, and they come in and vote and they leave. We didn't do that, we don't do that. i don't try to rig straw polls." Pressed further on whether or not he felt Romney had rigged the poll, Santorum...

One of the great things about America, President Barack Obama told students at the University of Colorado, is that no matter how humble your roots, you still have a shot at a great education. He also told students that his goal is to "make college more affordable." Alas, the president's prescription for making higher education affordable seems likely to yield the same results as his plan for curbing health care costs; that is, it is likely to drive prices higher than inflation. The nation's next fiscal nightmare may well be a higher-education bubble. Americans now owe more on student loans...

Continuing his recent tack of bypassing Congress and enacting reforms “without them,” President Obama on Wednesday announced a package of student loan reforms designed to lower college graduates’ monthly payments, arguing his plan will redirect some of that borrowed money into the economy to promote job growth. Speaking to a friendly audience of college students in Denver, Mr. Obama said the changes “won’t cost taxpayers a dime but will save you money and will save you time,” and tied the ever-rising cost of education to the nation’s lagging economy. “Living with that kind of debt means making some pretty tough...

Obama Looks to Wring Stimulus From Saturated Student Loan Market “$1 Trillion” -- Estimated amount of student loan debt owed by Americans. In keeping with his new campaign theme of “we can’t wait,” President Obama today will roll out a plan to put more money in the pockets of some of the nation’s 36 million student loan recipients. Obama has broad latitude in this area – certainly broader than the first two parts of his western campaign trip, underwater mortgages and subsidies for hiring veterans – because one of his early legislative initiatives was to have the federal government take...

by John HillStand With Arizona Over 500 people turned out for a protest against R.I. Gov. Lincoln Chafee's support for in-state tuition for illegal aliens - which was implemented with a lawless decree by Chafee's education "czars" when he failed to get the Legislature to pass the outrageous bill. Local media hailed the "unusually large turnout for a weeknight" at the the State House in Providence, which included many Stand With Arizona activists, along with members of Rhode Island for Immigration Law Enforcement, and average citizens furious at the Obama-style bypassing of elected officials on behalf of illegal aliens....

A longtime federal fugitive who was an undocumented immigrant cost taxpayers more than $350,000 in healthcare at Miami-Dade hospitals before he died last year, a county investigative report has revealed. The Miami-Dade Office of the Inspector General said the patient was a Colombian who fled the United States in 1983 after a cocaine smuggling conviction but returned under a false name. In 26 visits to the Jackson Health System from 2003 through 2010, his care cost $201,716 — $155,334 in charity care paid by Miami-Dade taxpayers and $46,382 paid by Medicaid, the state-federal program for the poor. The man also...

Rebates on social security taxes will not create any jobs, let alone the 1.5 million to 2 million that is projected. To create jobs in private business we need structural reforms that will permanently make businesses more competitive such as health care reform and scrapping numerous union work rules. When it comes to public work projects, assuming the projects are needed, the goal should be to get the most work done as possible for the least cost. For example, it would be far better to hire two or three workers for $13 an hour than 1 person for $39 an...

(CNSNews.com) - The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Tuesday that it has awarded $28.8 million to 67 community health centers with funds from the Obamacare health reform law. Of that $28.8 million, "approximately $8.5 million will be used by 25 New Access Point awardees to target services to migrant and seasonal farm workers," Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Spokeswoman Judy Andrews told CNSNews.com. HRSA is a part of HHS. Andrews said that grant recipients will not check the immigration status of people seeking services. “Health centers do not, as a matter of routine practice, ask...

Benjamin Franklin, regarding the new Republic opined: “When the people find that they can vote themselves money that will herald the end of the republic.” His reference was to individual voters or voting blocs using government to enrich themselves directly. Given the limited powers of the then fledgling Federal Government, he did not envision the “money go round” that permeates and too frequently dominates Washington DC. “Liberals” and their snarky hypocritical ilk controlled the agenda in DC for most years after Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s war. That control existed and was kept alive on a sea of Federal largesse and campaign...

Benjamin Franklin, regarding the new Republic opined: “When the people find that they can vote themselves money that will herald the end of the republic.” His reference was to individual voters or voting blocs using government to enrich themselves directly. Given the limited powers of the then fledgling Federal Government, he did not envision the “money go round” that permeates and too frequently dominates Washington DC. “Liberals” and their snarky hypocritical ilk controlled the agenda in DC for most years after Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s war. That control existed and was kept alive on a sea of Federal largesse and campaign...

President Obama is calling for a $250 rebate for seniors after the Social Security Administration announced Friday that interest rates in 2010 haven't risen enough to justify an increase in benefits next year to the 58 million retirees and disabled Americans who receive the entitlement. Congressional Democrats, already in a precarious position headed into Election Day, are heeding the president's call. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs announced that in light of the economic downturn and the fact that Social Security will not provide a cost-of-living adjustment for a second year, the president will ask Congress to approve a $250 "economic...

A check from Uncle Sam gets your attention, even if the money doesn't help that much with the bills. More than 750,000 Medicare recipients with high prescription costs each got a $250 government check this summer, and 3 million-plus more checks are going out to people who land in the program's anxiety-inducing coverage gap. Democrats, running scared in an election year, are trying to overcome older people's mistrust of the new health care law, which expands coverage for younger generations by cutting Medicare payments to hospitals and insurers. Will the ploy work? "It's like a teaser," says Virginia Brant, 65,...

Given the choice between retaining power in the short term or doing what's right for America, which would you choose? Most Americans, I believe, would be willing to sacrifice a great deal for their country, and this willingness to sacrifice has always been the great pillar of American democracy. Unfortunately, there is no fondness for sacrifice in Washington these days, especially among the Democratic leadership and its supporters. The irresponsibility of the left is on display daily as one piece of self-serving legislation follows another. The latest example comes in the form of the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes...

As the health care leviathan slouches toward a final vote in the House of Representatives — or at least a final “deeming” — it is worth taking one final look at what’s at stake. In the end, this vote is not about the corruption of the legislative process — although this has been tawdry and sleazy almost every step of the way. The Democrats have bought votes with pork and special deals. They’ve twisted and ignored congressional rules. They’ve threatened and intimidated critics. And they’ve ended up with a new procedure that will allow them to pass the bill without...

Bye bye, Cornhusker Kickback. Hello, special treatment for Tennessee and North Dakota. Democrats unveiling revisions Thursday to their health care overhaul bill decided to kill the extra $100 million in Medicaid funds for Nebraska that has become a symbol of backdoor deal making. But the 153 pages of changes to the massive health care package include extra money for hospitals in Tennessee that serve large numbers of low-income patients. And though the bill would revamp the nation's student loan system to make the government the only lender, one bank — the state-owned Bank of North Dakota — would be allowed...

President Obama has nominated Scott M. Matheson Jr. to the 10th circuit court of appeals; and in a completely unrelated event, Matheson’s brother, Utah congressman Jim Matheson was among a group of 10 democrats who met at the White House to discuss their votes on healthcare with the President. Jim Matheson had previously voted against the House healthcare bill, now Obama wants to talk it over. Of course the allegations of bribery and buying votes have already surfaced and one can only gather that the nomination of Scott M. Matheson Jr. to the US circuit court has a secondary motive...

The blog And So It Goes in Shreveport notes that a petition to recall Senator Mary Landrieu has been accepted for filing by the Louisiana Secretary of State. Citizens have 180 days to file enough signatures to get this on a ballot: "Via Caught Him With a Corndog, there is an active petition to recall Senator Mary Landrieu: 'On Dec. 29, a recall petition was filed by Ruben Leblanc of New Iberia, for the recall of Mary Landrieu. Sec. of State Jay Darden stated that he WILL accept the filing.' Kinda like chicken fried bacon, this limited time offer won't...

Harry Reid and his jolly elves today will deliver unto America a Christ mas gift it can ill-afford -- health- care "reform" -- and then vote to raise the federal debt ceiling to a staggering $14 trillion to help pay for it all. The two are not unrelated. That became clear yesterday, when the Congressional Budget Office blew the whistle on some fiscal deck-shuffling so egregious that it might make even Bernie Madoff blush. Turns out that Reid & Co. have been double-counting the proposed Medicare savings to satisfy President Obama's "demand" (wink, wink) that any health-care bill reduce the...

Democrat Ben “Dover” Nelson, who had previously threatened to join a GOP filibuster of the Senate Health Care Bill, proved today that everything has a price – including a man’s values. The Nebraska Senator just accepted what I’ll generously describe as an enormous “monetary incentive” to do a complete 180 on his long-time position on abortion funding and thereby gave this awful legislation life with his 60th all-Democrat vote. Earlier this month, Nelson insisted that he would not support a bill without stronger anti-abortion language:

New reports from the Tax Foundation show that President Obama's policy proposals will increase the financial dependence of middle-income Americans on the federal government. "Attempts to put 'price tags' on health care and cap-and-trade proposals vary among government agencies and think tanks," said Tax Foundation President Scott Hodge, "but one vital question has been left unanswered: Counting all federal taxes and spending, how would these policies affect American families' financial ties to the government? The foundation's new 'fiscal incidence model' answers that question." "Currently the bottom 60 percent of the income spectrum receives more in federal spending than they pay...

It would be naïve to think that we are not going to see Obama and his Democratic majorities impose a form of National Health Care (NHC) as early in this term as he can. We will most likely see this just prior to the 2010 Congressional elections in an effort to keep his majorities by "buying" the votes of non-tax-paying citizens but before the system collapses under the price tag of whichever format he chooses. Current Government Participation To understand fully the implications of the information to follow, one has to appreciate the role the federal and state governments currently...

Obama's 'Blue Wall' Locks in Democratic Gains Led by President Obama, Democrats are leveraging the nation’s economic crisis and the aura of inaugural goodwill to build a “blue political wall” — new constituencies dependent on expanding government programs — that could lock in 2008 Democratic political gains for decades to come. Unless Republicans act to counter those initiatives, pundits and pollsters warn, they could find themselves on an extended vacation from power in Washington. The combination of former Rep. Rahm Emanuel, described by former Bush adviser Karl Rove as a “sharp-edged partisan,” and President Obama’s strategic mindset, could spell big...

Peggy Joseph speaking with NBC 6 about how she won't have to fill her gas tank once Obama is elected. As reported on the Schnitt Show.

$168 Billion Stimulus Plan Clears CongressNYTimes.com Friday February 8, 12:37 am ET By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and DAVID STOUT WASHINGTON — Congress overwhelmingly approved a $168 billion economic stimulus program on Thursday, sending it to President Bush for his signature so that millions of Americans can look forward to government checks in the mail. The House gave its final approval to the package on Thursday night by a vote of 380 to 34. The House was able to act because a stalemate in the Senate was broken a few hours earlier after Democrats agreed to add only payments for senior...

A day after the White House unveiled a program to salvage the mortgage market, people are already talking about how borrowers might game the system. To qualify for the fast-track program, borrowers must have a FICO score of less than 660 and it can't have increased by more than 10% since they took out their original subprime mortgage. Because income isn't checked, some experts worry that borrowers who might otherwise be able to afford higher payments will try to lower their FICO score to qualify for a rate freeze. "The message here is to get your FICO score down," Mark...

The Louisiana Ethics commission may be busy in a few weeks trying to unravel complaints of illegal activities in the October 20th elections statewide. Included among the complaints will be one expected to be filed by Representative Willie Hunter who claims that a Federally tax exempt organization in Lake Providence gave boxes of food and household supplies to voters and told them to vote for his opponent and a slate of candidates endorsed by the Louisiana Democratic Party. Hunter claims that hundreds of families were given boxes of food two days before the election then told that the food would...

Hillary says that she is tossing the idea of a $5,000 baby bonus. Golly, I wonder why that would be? Truth is, she drove that wreck into the electoral parking lot and it dented far too many fenders. So ... when one income redistribution plan fails, just roll in another. See if this one will do better. So ... here is Hillary Rodham's latest great idea for a new entitlement program. American Retirement Accounts. Hillary proposes that every citizen have a 401(k)-type retirement account. You can put up to $1,000 annually in the account and the government will match 100%...

When it comes to Hillary's baby bond scheme, she failed to mention that it would cost taxpayers $20 billion annually. But that's besides the point … A Rasmussen telephone poll found that 60% of likely voters oppose Hillary's plan to give every new born baby a $5,000 savings bond. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/voters_reject_clinton_baby_bond_proposal_by_2_to_1_margin Curiously, 65% of whites opposed the baby bond idea. 52% of minorities favored the baby bond idea. Well --- maybe that's not so curious – but I don't want to step on any ethnic toes here, do I? Now that this poll is out there, let's see if Hillary Rodham...

HILLARY'S INCOME TRANSFER SCHEME You've heard the latest, haven't you? This one came out last Friday afternoon. Hillary (please sit down) wants for the federal government to "give" every baby born in America a $5,000 account that can start growing and earning interest so that by the time this kid turns 18 they'll have money to go to college. No .. I'm not kidding. She actually came out with this idea at a speech before a Congressional Black Caucus forum. It's a brand new entitlement program, courtesy of Hillary Clinton. Just think about it! Download a baby, and presto!, the...

Panel kills immigrant tuition bill Measure aimed to prohibit Va. rate for illegals By Aaron Kessler akessler@dailyprogress.com | 964-5476 Thursday, February 15, 2007 RICHMOND - A bill to prohibit illegal immigrants from paying in-state tuition rates at Virginia’s public colleges and universities has been killed by a Senate subcommittee. The measure, sponsored by Del. Jack Reid, R-Henrico, would have barred anyone unlawfully residing in the state from being granted in-state tuition. Reid said the bill was an attempt to bring Virginia “in line with the federal law” on immigration, and that it would keep in-state slots available for “legal Virginia...

Kaine requested to rethink police authority By: Andrew Perkinson 01/23/2007 RICHMOND -- Attorney General Bob McDonnell urged Gov. Tim Kaine (D) to rethink his decision not to seek additional immigration authority for state police investigating violent crimes. Kaine previously had dismissed an increased authority option, saying it would cost the state too much money. "I am renewing my request to the governor in the interest of adhering to the rule of law and providing for additional public safety for our citizens of Virginia," McDonnell said in a press conference Jan. 17. In addition, Sen. Jay O'Brien (R-Clifton) and Del. Tom...

Authorities are conducting a criminal probe into allegations of vote buying by two people — including a county commissioner — in Union County. Eighth Judicial District Attorney General William Paul Phillips said Friday the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is looking into the election activities of Union County Commissioner Charlie Cox and another person he wouldn’t identify. "We had allegations concerning Mr. Cox, the county commissioner, and the other allegations had to do with another individual," Phillips said. Phillips said the initial information had nothing to do with the contested 8th Judicial District public defender’s office race. Leif Jeffers, who lost...

TUXTLA GUTIERREZ, Mexico - Mexican police said Saturday they had broken up a vote-buying scheme in Chiapas on the eve of state elections, which will be closely watched in a country already straining under the turmoil of a disputed presidential election last month. Four supporters of Mexico's leading leftist party were arrested Friday after authorities said they were caught trying to give away 36 tons of construction material to Hurricane Stan victims who promised to support the party's gubernatorial candidate. advertisement The suspects were charged with violating electoral laws, said Jose Domingo Perez, spokesman for the state attorney general's office....

RADCLIFF — Congressional candidate Mike Weaver’s gas discount Wednesday was close to being a stunt heard ’round the world. An Associated Press article about his $1.20-a-gallon gas sale at Marathon Food Mart appeared on newspaper and television Web sites from the Los Angles Times to England’s Guardian Unlimited and ABC News. It also was the topic of blogs across the country. “It’s a lot more coverage than I thought I would ever get,” said Weaver, a Democrat running against Republican incumbent Ron Lewis for Kentucky’s 2nd District seat. “I think it gave me a lot more name recognition.” Political analyst...

Amid the current panic about gas prices many people are embracing ethanol. But that's not such a good idea During the comment period for the RFG (reformulated gas) program, supporters of ethanol had argued that the volatile organic compound (VOC) emission standards in the program -- 42 U. S. C. 7545 (k) (3) (B) (i) -- would preclude the use of ethanol in RFG because adding ethanol to gasoline increases its volatility and raises VOC emissions, especially in the summertime. Background The American Petroleum Institute v. the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [Docket #94-1502 (Heard by the U. S. Court of...

Party money bought backing in the past St. Clair County Democratic leadership has distributed election packets to countywide precinct committeemen, which include an affidavit stating that money from the party will not be used to buy votes. The unusual action follows the vote buying convictions in June of five East St. Louis politicians. They had helped distribute more than $70,000 received by city Democratic precinct committeemen two days before the 2004 election from the county Democratic organization. While St. Clair County Democratic Central Committee Chairman Robert Sprague could not be reached for comment, a fax received Monday from his Belleville...

A $400 million campaign by the Bush administration to enroll low-income seniors in prescription drug coverage that would cost them just a few dollars per prescription has signed up 1.4 million people, a fraction of the 8 million eligible for the new coverage. At this rate, by some calculations, the government is on track to spend about $250 for each person it enrolls, and even then it would have only 2 million poor senior citizens taking advantage of what is perhaps the most generous government benefit available today. "It's a very, very good benefit," said Deane Beebe, whose organization, the...

Just wondering if the MSM did its job: Has anyone heard a follow-up report on the woman affiliated with the NAACP who was trading crack cocaine for completed voter registration forms during the 2004 presidential elections? Was she charged with a crime?

December 30, 2005 Stowers admits guilt Clerk says he engaged in vote buying By Tom Searls Staff writer Admitting he paid for votes and even decided whose roads would get gravel for votes, Lincoln County Circuit Clerk Greg Stowers entered a guilty plea to a federal vote-buying charge Thursday. Stowers, 48, admitted to distributing $7,000 to be used to influence voters during the May 2004 primary election. If he receives any prison term, it will likely be a short one. In return, he agreed to cooperate with federal investigators in their continuing election fraud investigation and agreed to testify before...

Charleston, W.Va. -- Thomas Esposito's campaign for the Legislature seemed to be following the usual pattern. The longtime Democratic mayor issued press releases, raised money and bought newspaper ads. Signs bearing his name popped up in yards around rural Logan County. But less than a month before the May 2004 primary election, Esposito dropped out, saying he had to withdraw because of his ailing mother-in-law. The real reason surfaced only later: The FBI had planted Esposito among the field of candidates to help find evidence of vote-buying in southern West Virginia. Federal prosecutors say the gambit worked. They allege Esposito...

A subsidiary of the Venezuelan national oil company will ship 12 million gallons of discounted home-heating oil to local charities and 45,000 low-income families in Massachusetts next month under a deal arranged by US Representative William D. Delahunt, a local nonprofit energy corporation, and Venezuela's president, White House critic Hugo Chávez. The approximately $9 million deal will bring nine million gallons of oil to families and three million gallons to institutions that serve the poor, such as homeless shelters, said officials from Citizens Energy Corp., which is signing the contract. Families would pay about $276 for a 200-gallon shipment, a...

A SAD DAY IN AMERICAToday is the first day that Medicare recipients can enroll in the latest wealth transfer from the young to the old: Medicare prescription drug coverage. This is the largest expansion of government in decades...and it was all at the behest of a Republican president. Over the coming decades, the Medicare prescription drug benefit will cost trillions of dollars...the Gimme Generation will clean up and our children will be paying for it the rest of their lives. And what was the point? George W. Bush, the biggest spender in the history of the republic, pushed the prescription...

LIBERTY, Ky. (AP) - A Casey County man has been convicted of using cash and whiskey to buy votes in a school board election. Jurors deliberated 30 minutes Wednesday before finding Joe Ellis guilty on four felony charges of buying votes. They recommended Ellis serve only the minimum prison sentence of one year. He had faced up to 20 years in prison. Ellis gave pints of Ancient Age whiskey and $5 bills to Stella Johnson's son and daughter and a friend during a meeting the day before the November 2004 election, according to testimony during the trial. Police said Ellis...