Free Republic

Top Democrats believe they have struck political gold by depicting Rush Limbaugh as the new face of the Republican Party, a full-scale effort first hatched by some of the most familiar names in politics and now being guided in part from inside the White House. The strategy took shape after Democratic strategists Stanley Greenberg and James Carville included Limbaugh’s name in an October poll and learned their longtime tormentor was deeply unpopular with many Americans, especially younger voters. Then the conservative talk-radio host emerged as an unapologetic critic of Barack Obama shortly before his inauguration, when even many Republicans were...

We don’t know the source of this simple, yet brilliant explanation of the world’s financial crisis. It’s one of those things floating around the internet. Sit back, have a beer, and be enlightened: Heidi is the proprietor of a bar in Berlin. In order to increase sales, she decides to allow her loyal customers - most of whom are unemployed alcoholics - to drink now but pay later. She keeps track of the drinks consumed on a ledger (thereby granting the customers loans). Word gets around and as a result increasing numbers of customers flood into Heidi’s bar. Taking advantage...

In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day". oligopsony • \ah-luh-GAHP-suh-nee\ • noun a market situation in which each of a few buyers exerts a disproportionate influence on the market Example sentence: The elimination of small local vendors by a handful of national chain groceries has created an oligopsony where farmers cannot receive fair prices for their yields. Did you know? You're probably familiar with the word "monopoly," but you may not recognize its conceptual and linguistic relative, the much rarer...

It's not just the TV appearances that have some Republicans worried. Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele's dust-up with Rush Limbaugh has brought to the fore so-far unspoken concerns about Steele's performance in his early days as head of the GOP. A number of Republican politicos around Washington, many of whom supported Steele's bid to become party chairman, are worried that key jobs at the RNC are unfilled and the party's mission is unfocused, while Steele makes appearance after appearance on television, with sometimes controversial results. The result, they say, is a party that is losing its already scant momentum...

Archbishop Jean Jadot died in his native Belgium on January 21. He was 99.For many readers, the name of Jean Jadot does not ring the proverbial bell. Others, however, are reminded of a different, better time in the recent history of the Catholic Church. For still others, the Jadot name generates negative rather than positive thoughts.Jean Jadot served as apostolic delegate to the United States (the position has since been upgraded to that of nuncio) from 1973 to 1980. During that time, he recommended the appointment of just over 100 new bishops and the assignments of 15 archbishops. Pope Paul...

I was thinking this morning about how people were suspicious of Madoff long before he was exposed as a fraud. A few tried to speak up but most were silent because common knoledge was that he was a genius and those being deceived were happy to be deceived. By the time he was exposed, thousands of people were hurt and billions were lost. Here is the challange. Compare and contrast Madoff with the global warming crowd. Estimate how many people will be hurt and the economic impact. (Extra credit for sources) This meant to be fun but also a source...

International evidence suggests there is a 20% chance our stock-market crash will lead to much worse. Central questions these days are how severe will the U.S. economic downturn be and how long will it last? The most serious concern is that the downturn will become something worse than the largest recession of the post-World War II period -- 1982, when real per capita GDP fell by 3% and the unemployment rate peaked at nearly 11%. Could we even experience a depression (defined as a decline in per-person GDP or consumption by 10% or more)? The U.S. macroeconomy has been...

(CNN) -- I wanted to believe the man in front of me wasn't a rapist. I knew he was a former Sudanese soldier, I knew he wanted to talk about rape in Darfur. A humanitarian group working on Darfur issues had introduced him to us. They told us his testimony was important to hear. Last year in Darfur aid workers told me children as young as five were being raped in the huge displacement camps that are home to several million Darfuris. In some camps, they told me, rape had become so common that as many as 20 babies a...

The state is trying to shut down a New York City doctor's ambitious plan to treat uninsured patients for around $1,000 a year. Dr. John Muney offers his patients everything from mammograms to mole removal at his AMG Medical Group clinics, which operate in all five boroughs. "I'm trying to help uninsured people here," he said.

The China government's stimulus plan to subsidize sales of home appliances, handsets and computing products in rural areas is estimated to bring in 150 billion yuan (US$21.9 billion) in domestic spending, according to the region's Ministry of Commerce (MOC). The subsidy program was launched in December 2008. Under the stimulus package, the China government plans to budget 20 billion yuan (US$2.93 billion) for subsidizing electronic appliance sales domestically during 2009. The subsidy program has recently been expanded to rural areas in 31 provinces, from the initial 12. Companies including Dell, Haier, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Lenovo and Tsinghua TongFang have submitted tender...

CNSNews.com) - Democratic senators told CNSNews.com on Tuesday that despite a recent study that shows global temperatures have been dropping since 2001 and that projects the globe will continue to cool for the next several decades, they think the United States should continue to push forward with aggressive action to curb climate change. Two Republicans, however, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) warned that while some action is necessary, lawmakers must act in a deliberate and fiscally responsible manner.

40 Days for Life consists of 40 days of prayer and fasting for an end to abortion, 40 days of constant, peaceful vigil outside abortion centers and Planned Parenthood offices and 40 days of active pro-life community outreach. Your community may be participating in this prayerful vigil. If so, please join others in your area or unite with thousands across America during the 40 days of Lent in praying for an end to abortion in this nation.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (CNN) -- The International Criminal Court at the Hague issued an arrest warrant Wednesday for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for a five-year campaign of violence in Darfur. Bashir is charged with seven counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes. The warrant does not mention genocide, but the court may issue an amended warrant to include that charge later, ICC spokeswoman Laurence Blairon said. Five counts are for crimes against humanity and include murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture, and rape, Blairon said. The other two are for war crimes, for intentionally directing attacks against civilians and...

To understand Barack Obama, you have to recognize that he has established a clear pattern of calculated misrepresentations to mislead and confuse the public as to what he is doing and what he believes. For example, he repeatedly says he is only interested in what works, not ideology. That is meant to mislead and distract you away from his left wing extremist ideology, which is really what governs his policies and actions. If you carefully examine his economic policies, you see he thoroughly avoids proven, practical policies that would stimulate economic growth, and pursues left-wing ideology instead. Nowhere in his...

Looking for someone to blame for the shambles in U.S. financial markets? As someone who owns both an investment bank and commercial banks, and also runs a hedge fund, I have sat front and center and watched as this mess unfolded. And in my view, there's no need to look beyond Wall Street -- and the halls of power in Washington. The former has created the nightmare by chasing obscene profits, and the latter have allowed it to spread by not practicing the oversight that is the federal government's responsibility. I find it hard to stomach the fact that investment...

Here is video of CNBC's Jim Cramer saying in an interview last night on MSNBC's Hardball that President Obama's policies are like throwing a drowning man "an anvil" instead of a life preserver. Cramer and Harold Ford Jr. had a surprisingly sane discussion with Chris Matthews about whether or not Obama is doing the right things to get the economy back on track. Both Cramer and Ford seem to agree tha he is not doing what is needed now to restore confidence to the Stock Market. . . . . . (Watch Video)

Dick Durbin has a nasty surprise for two of Sasha and Malia Obama's new schoolmates. And it puts the president in an awkward position. The children are Sarah and James Parker. Like the Obama girls, Sarah and James attend the Sidwell Friends School in our nation's capital. Unlike the Obama girls, they could not afford the school without the $7,500 voucher they receive from the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program. Unfortunately, a spending bill the Senate takes up this week includes a poison pill that would kill this program -- and with it perhaps the Parker children's hopes for a Sidwell...

For the first time in NBA history, team owners, executives, and fans in numerous markets say they have resigned themselves to the idea that their teams are not going to be competitive this season and that, given the state of the economy, they could not make the sorts of expensive moves that would help them improve. "We all want to win, but we have to be aware of the uncertainty of our future revenue," said Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

Promise #5: Sunlight Before Signing Promise #4: Lobbyist Revolving Door Promise #3: No Tax Hikes on the Poor Promise #2: Pork Barrel Earmark Reform Promise #1: Big Government See the article link for the details.

Imagine that it is 2016, and you are a 65 year old boomer. You have been admitted to your local community hospital with malaise, fatigue, vomiting and cloudy mental status. You have had blood pressure problems and diabetes for a few years, and have just been diagnosed with renal failure. As you drift in and out of consciousness, you are vaguely aware your old family practice physician, who had taken care of you for 20 years, is not around. A religious man, he quietly retired from medical practice in 2014, after the full force of the Obama administration‘s removal of...