Free Republic

As government drives to control the tobacco industry and to reduce the consumption of cigarettes, there is a question one ought to ask about the broader significance of this campaign: What is the link between the anti-tobacco effort and the following: the crusade against the activities of Dr. Kevorkian, the Food and Drug Administration's regulatory practices, and the Supreme Court's famous decision upholding Georgia's anti-sodomy statute. If we look carefully, we can discover an ominously unifying thread. Those who want restrictions on the sale of tobacco maintain that they want to safeguard the health of Americans. Their assumption is that ...

SLIPPAGE. There's no ice in sight yet, but there's plenty of sliding going on this December in New Hampshire — mostly by George W. Bush in the Republican Presidential Primary. "It's just continuing," says Manchester pollster Dick Bennett in explaining the latest poll from his American Research Group, which shows Bush dropping eight more points and now trailing John McCain 37 to 30 percent, with publisher Steve Forbes at 10 percent. "We're hearing the same stuff from him again and again and it isn't working," says Bennett. "They have to re-program the computer and give him different lines. This whole ...

December 10, 1999 McCain Is Going to Court for Spot in G.O.P. Primary By CLIFFORD J. LEVY Senator John McCain announced Thursday that he would sue to obtain a spot in New York's Republican presidential primary, contending that the state party had laid down a thicket of election rules to ensure that its preferred candidate, Gov. George W. Bush, goes unchallenged. The lawsuit, to be filed in federal court, would seek places on the primary ballot for all widely recognized candidates, McCain said. He also called on Bush, Gov. George E. Pataki and the state party to disavow the rules, ...

What's so special about e-commerce that it should be exempt from taxation? While a lot of people like to prophesy that the Internet is going to change everything, as the old adage says, there are two things that will always be with us: death and taxes. And yet, despite the wisdom of the ancients, a lot of folks, particularly in Washington, have been bickering about the right approach to taxing electronic commerce across the Internet. For some reason, many people have decided that a commercial transaction that occurs in cyberspace is fundamentally different from a transaction that takes place at ...

December 10, 1999 A Question Trails Trump: Is He Really a Candidate? By ADAM NAGOURNEY LOS ANGELES -- There was the taping with Jay Leno, the late dinner at a restaurant bustling with celebrities, the visit to a Holocaust memorial trailed by an invited pack of television crews, and the paid speech to 17,000 people at a "motivational conference" in Anaheim. There was even a political event on the itinerary of Donald J. Trump, here to present himself as triumphant developer, new book author, and the potential next leader of the free world. It was a cantankerous meeting with leaders ...

Welcome to the media circus. Last week the 'Media' invited OwlGore, through one of it's own to a dinner. Later we learned that the VPOTUS asked the whole thing be off the record. In the first ring we find a lot of speculation in what went on. Ring two will find the musings of the THE GREAT ONE, Rush Trying to hype us all to think.......Hummmmmmmmmmm. Ring three will be the answer as seen in a vision by moi. The media all took a hand in this dinner party. All the media saw that canadate OwlGore was loosing the whole ...

December 10, 1999 Some Unease in G.O.P. Over Bush in Debates By RICHARD L. BERKE WASHINGTON -- Many prominent Republicans have concluded that Gov. George W. Bush of Texas is an unimpressive debater, but they disagreed over how much that should be a cause for deep concern among his supporters. Some Republicans expressed fears that Bush would be no match for Vice President Al Gore or Bill Bradley in a general election, while others argued that all that mattered was that the governor not make any humiliating blunders. But in interviews among Republicans who have endorsed Bush or who are ...

"There has been more material progress in the United States in the 20th century than there was in the entire world in all the previous centuries combined..." And why? Why us, and why not communists, or buddists, or chinese, etc.? Could it be our heritage? Our religion? Our form of government? Could it be the fact that the founding fathers of this nation were inspired by God and devised a system that facilitated freedom and progress like never dreamed of before (and a system which the liberals are successfully dismantling, wrecking ball style.) The Greatest Century That Ever Was: 25 ...

Testing public opinion on a Gun Ban. Must be close at hand. Scroll down -- left side column for: "Handgun Ban Poll" Thank You, Bob Lippman Cole Distributing, Inc. - Importing and Distributing Israeli Military Industries, Aguila, and Ammunition from Around the World. http://www.cole-distributing.com http://www.voxcap.com/scripts/pollresults.asp?Polltypeid=2&PollRelationID=298

December 10, 1999 McCain Planning to Join Bradley in Campaign Plea By ALISON MITCHELL WASHINGTON -- Senator John McCain and former Senator Bill Bradley, both insurgent candidates for president, have agreed to step across party lines and stage an unusual joint appearance in New Hampshire to highlight their support for overhauling the nation's campaign finance system, aides to both candidates said on Thursday. McCain, a Republican, and Bradley, a Democrat, disagree on how the system should be changed, but both candidates have put the fight against special-interest money at the center of their campaigns. Each has taken a strong stand ...

Republican presidential front-runner George W. Bush has virtually suspended fund raising, in part because of criticism from other candidates of his own party for his record-setting pace. The Texas governor has already raised $63.2 million, and is expected to end the year having collected about $68 million — more than twice the previous pre-primary record of $32 million. “He has tapped all the lobbyists and special interests he can,” Bill Dal Col, campaign manager for Bush rival Steve Forbes, said yesterday. “There are no more oil wells for him to drill, no more [Republican high-dollar donors] and their social friends ...

White House Fumes in Holbrooke's Wake By Al Kamen Friday, December 10, 1999; Page A45 The details are a bit sketchy. None of the principals want to talk about it. But feathers were ruffled at the White House last week over U.N. Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke's 12-day swing through Africa. No one thinks the Nov. 30 trip--to decidedly unhappy, impoverished, war-torn or AIDS-ridden places such as Mali, Uganda, Rwanda and Angola--was a junket. Far from it. What miffed senior White House types was that Holbrooke announced the trip on Nov. 23 and then, since his U.N. budget isn't adequate, wanted ...

A freeper supplied me the link of the streaming video on both Real Player and Media Player for foxnews cable channel, since our cable company is still in the dark ages. Fox has changed their web page, and apparently, discontinued the streaming video. Anyone know of another way to watch it on the internet??????

But he stresses one-China policy President Clinton voiced “grave concern” yesterday over the growing Chinese missile threat to Taiwan, including construction of two short-range bases near the island. “China is modernizing its military in a lot of ways, but our policy on China is crystal clear. We believe there is one China,” Mr. Clinton said when asked about a report on the missile bases in yesterday’s editions of The Washington Times. The dispute between the mainland and Taiwan “has to be resolved through cross-strait dialogue,” the president said. “And we oppose and would view with grave concern any kind ...

In China, Yeltsin Lashes Out at Clinton Criticisms of Chechen War Are Met With Blunt Reminder of Russian Nuclear Power By Michael Laris Washington Post Foreign Service Friday, December 10, 1999; Page A35 BEIJING, Dec. 9—President Boris Yeltsin, visiting China to secure support for Russia's military campaign in Chechnya, launched a surprising verbal assault on President Clinton today, including a blunt reminder that Russia is a nuclear power. Midway through a series of meetings with senior Chinese leaders, who greeted the Russian president with bear hugs and warm smiles, a stern-sounding Yeltsin called reporters to attention and assailed Clinton for ...

Professor in the Pulpit, Bradley Shares Lessons on Race By Rene Sanchez Friday, December 10, 1999; Page A22 As Democratic presidential candidate Bill Bradley spoke to the Congress of National Black Churches in Los Angeles yesterday, a voice in his audience called out, "Preach!" And preach he did. About 150 clergy members were gathered in a Biltmore Hotel ballroom to hear Bradley talk about poverty and race, and judging by their reaction during and after his remarks, he did not disappoint. Peering professorially over black reading glasses, and with only a semblance of a prepared text, Bradley spent 40 minutes ...

Congress foils White House tax hike The Republican Party is charging into the election year after a season of overwhelming success. From education and taxes to Social Security and the military, Republicans in Congress have reformed the way the government works. This year’s budget process will prove to be a milestone on the road to good government far into the future. Budget battles typically are complicated. This year, however, Republicans simplified the agenda to concentrate on five keys to victory. Major goals were consolidated into re-establishing local control over education, cutting government waste across the board, rebuilding our national defense, ...

'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Discord Hillary Clinton Rejects Administration Policy on Gays in Military By Lynne Duke Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, December 10, 1999; Page A20 NEW YORK, Dec. 9—Hillary Rodham Clinton said today she disagrees with her husband's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays in the military, describing it as a "political compromise" that "has not worked" and that she would seek to change if elected to the Senate from New York. Clinton said she has "the utmost respect and admiration" for her husband's work as president, but noted, "I don't have carbon copy issues with anybody, ...

...Many students were required to either attend the memorial or watch it on television, and are expected to write an essay on what it means to be a hero... Whole article here...

Poof! The First Lady Vanishes (CBS) As President Clinton lit the national Christmas tree for the seventh time, his wife, for the first time, was not by his side. She was in New York campaigning and serving notice Thursday that she would not be standing by many of his policies, like gays in the military, reports CBS News Correspondent Diana Olick. "I don't believe 'don't ask, don't tell' has worked, and I don't believe it is ultimately the policy we should have in our military," Mrs. Clinton said. "Don't ask don't tell" is not the first issue on which Mrs. ...