Free Republic

Despite assurances that the takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would be temporary, the giant mortgage companies will most likely never fully return to private hands, lawmakers and company executives are beginning to quietly acknowledge. The possibility that these companies — which together touch over half of all mortgages in the United States — could remain under tight government control is shaping the broader debate over the future of the financial industry. The worry is that if the government cannot or will not extricate itself from Fannie and Freddie, it will face similar problems should it eventually nationalize some...

Old Glory Radio will begin hosting The Obama Forum radio show Sat at 6:00pm P.S.T. this is a live call-in show. We are frankly disgusted to be doing so, but as we have been forced under threat with this new Fairness Doctrine looming over our heads....we feel we have no choice. - Click here to view their pathetic promotion thread for the Show -

Showdown Looms on Gun Control By Kevin McDermott POST-DISPATCH SPRINGFIELD BUREAU 03/02/2009 SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Springfield is headed toward a political showdown over guns, with both sides loading up like they haven't in years. bullet Quinn puts Ill. governor's mansion to work bullet Line forms to succeed Burris The gun owners lobby is close to getting a floor debate in the Legislature on its pinnacle goal of allowing residents to carry concealed handguns in Illinois, which is one of just two states that still outlaw it. (Wisconsin is the other.) "It's heating up. We think we're close," said Todd Vandermyde,...

As 2009 opened, three weeks before Barack Obama took office, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 9034 on January 2, its highest level since the autumn panic. Yesterday the Dow fell another 4.24% to 6763, for an overall decline of 25% in two months and to its lowest level since 1997. The dismaying message here is that President Obama's policies have become part of the economy's problem. Americans have welcomed the Obama era in the same spirit of hope the President campaigned on. But after five weeks in office, it's become clear that Mr. Obama's policies are slowing, if...

ERUSALEM – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised Tuesday to work with the incoming Israeli government, but delivered a clear message that could put her at odds with the country's next leader: Movement toward the establishment of a Palestinian state is "inescapable."

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is set to meet Tuesday on a variety of issues with a parade of Israeli officials, headed by Prime Minister-designate and Likud party chairman Binyamin Netanyahu. Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, President Shimon Peres and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat are also on the list to meet with the new Secretary of State. Talks are expected to range from discussions on the situation in Gaza to the specific role of Dennis Ross, Clinton's new Special Advisor on Persian Gulf and Southeast Asia affairs, which has yet...

Credit Crunch, Global Recession Encourages Rent Of Cost-Effective Virtual Office Space By Monique Lester and Joel LeydenUnited Kingdom News Agency London --- March 2, 2009...... As the worlds financial markets collapse, owners and renters of virtual office space are looking at a brighter, healthier future. While world governments from London, New York and Tokyo to Toronto, Paris and Jerusalem stream billions into the financial and banking systems to avoid a financial catastrophe and with all the uncertainty, doom and gloom surrounding the markets, Simeon Howard, sales manager of City Office remains confident about the future. “The world is more connected...

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton placed on Hamas’s shoulders the responsibility to return calm to the region by halting rocket attacks on Israel. Unlike previous American messages that sought a “balance” in blame, she did not couple the halt of attacks with the issue of Gaza border crossings. Israel has restricted shipments of humanitarian aid through the crossings in order to lessen the movement of materials that can be used for terrorist strikes. "The fist step is a durable peace, but that can only be achieved if Hamas ceases the rocket attacks,” Secretary Clinton said at a press...

Jonathan Adler writes at the Volokh Conspiracy: “New Hampshire’s state motto is ‘Live Free or Die.’ But is New Hampshire the most free place to live in the United States? Apparently it is, according to a new study, Freedom in the 50 States: An Index of Personal and Economic Freedom, just released by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.” Pages 19 and 21 of the report offer graphic summaries of the study’s conclusions. TABLE V: Overall Freedom Ranking 1. New Hampshire 0.432 2. Colorado 0.421 3. South Dakota 0.392 4. Idaho 0.356 5. Texas 0.346 6. Missouri 0.320 7....

Perhaps it is time to award the New York Times house conservative, David Brooks, a kewpie doll for having at long last a very brief moment of mental clarity. Brooks, who has been making a habit lately of bashing conservative Republicans such as Sarah Palin, emerged ever so slightly from his comfortable conventional wisdom cocoon, and discovered that (gasp) "Barack Obama is not who we thought he was." If Brooks had been listening to Rush Limbaugh, whom he continues to detest, on a regular basis he would have made this "astounding discovery" long ago. Brooks begins his op-ed "discovery" by...

Dear Mr. Chairman, When Tom Reynolds was chairman and I contributed the maximum allowed by law to help elect and then re-elect President Bush, I was happy to contribute. I was asked to become a leader and to visit the White House and attend multiple events in Washington, DC and even considered the invitations, but had a business to build. Later, when it appeared that the business community (US Chamber of Commerce) and the Republican majority was about to create another attempt at amnesty for illegal immigrants, I wrote Chairman Reynolds I would no longer contribute until the party got...

Here is video of Sen. John McCain hammering President Barack Obama on the floor of the U.S. Senate yesterday for his failure to keep his pledge to not sign legislation that contained earmarks. McCain said he is angry about the huge omnibus spending bill that contains 9000 earmarks that Obama supports. Democrats are using the bill to hide thousands of earmarks and pet projects. . . . . (Watch Video)

David Brooks today: "Barack Obama is not who we thought he was." Speak for yourself. . . Those of us who consider ourselves moderates — moderate-conservative, in my case — are forced to confront the reality that Barack Obama is not who we thought he was. His words are responsible; his character is inspiring. But his actions betray a transformational liberalism that should put every centrist on notice. As Clive Crook, an Obama admirer, wrote in The Financial Times, the Obama budget “contains no trace of compromise. It makes no gesture, however small, however costless to its larger agenda, of...

OUR OPINION: With or without stimulus, Florida must reprioritize its budget. Republican leaders in the state Legislature have correctly concluded that Gov. Charlie Crist's proposed 2009-10 budget, fattened up with $12.2 billion of President Obama's stimulus money, is no cure-all for what ails Florida. Majority leaders in the Senate and House are so concerned about the consequences of accepting a Democratic president's stimulus money that they are considering rejecting it. They should rethink that idea. Florida faces a $5.5 billion budget shortfall. Tens of thousands of its people are losing homes, jobs, pensions and savings. Lawmakers should shelve the ideology,...

Back on January 29, we discussed the daily strategy phone call engineered by Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel for friendly TV commentators and "reporters." Politico reported that Emanuel has a daily phone conference call with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, and CNN's James Carville and Paul Begala. With Rush Limbaugh's raucous CPAC address, as he termed it his "first address to the nation," we can see at least one example of what is likely an attack strategy resulting from the Emanuel phone session with a rush to bash Rush the day after the appearance. [Image credit: politico.com] As soon as the...

I have been saying for some time that we will have our recalcitrant Illinois Senator Roland Burris representing himself... er, I mean us... at least until 2010 and quite probably during the upcoming primaries for those seeking a full term afterward, as well. This weekend more proof to that eventual end was arranged by a room full of black ministers from Chicago. ABC channel 7 news televised a report of Senator Burris' appearance in a church on the south side of Chicago for a laying on of ministerly hands and a defiant claim that he isn't going anywhere but right...

CHICAGO (AP) -- The number of people who were late making their mortgage payments shot up 53 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 from the same period in 2007, according to data provided by TransUnion LLC. The credit reporting agency said its database shows delinquencies -- or the percentage of mortgage holders at least 60 days behind on payments, considered a precursor to foreclosure -- jumped to 4.58 percent nationally, from 2.99 percent for the 2007 fourth quarter. That was 16 percent above the 3.96 percent rate seen in the third quarter, TransUnion said, and marked the eighth straight...

Go "green" or go out of business. That is the message Congress wants to send to America's power plants run by coal -- and any and every other power facility for that matter. Congressmen after Congressmen have waddled forth onto TV and into print to wag a green finger at our power grid scolding it for being "too dirty" and not environmentally friendly. These politicians, you see, know better and they must be listened to. After all, they are trying to save the planet! And to show how the folks walking the marbled halls of the nation's capitol care about...

Why We Endorse the Boycott of the 2012 APSA Annual Meeting in New Orleans A 2004 amendment to the Louisiana Constitution denies marriage and “the legal incidents thereof” to same-sex couples. This provision places an affirmative burden on visiting lesbian and gay pairs, who may never have legally recognized relationships in Louisiana, regardless of their marriage, civil union, or domestic partnership in home states or countries. For example, the 2004 amendment may well invalidate, by operation of law, medical-care agreements signed outside of Louisiana between the members of same-sex couples because such documents touch the legal incidents of marriage which...

Captain Adam Kinzinger, 30, officer in the Air National Guard, was enjoying a night on the town in Milwaukee in May of 2007 when he saw before him a woman clutching her neck and bleeding profusely, a man with a knife standing behind her. Acting quickly, then Lt. Kinzinger subdued the man and stopped any further harm from coming to the unknown woman. Others also came to his aid to keep the attacker subdued and still others whisked the injured woman off to a local hospital for treatment. It is reported to have taken about 100 stitches to close the...