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I confess I did not believe Barack Obama entirely during the campaign when he bragged on working across the aisle and championing bipartisanship. You see, as in the case of any other politician, one must look to what he does—and has done—not what he says for election advantage. And in the case of Sen. Obama, in his nascent career in the Senate, he had already compiled the most partisan record of any Democratic Senator. He had attended religiously one of the most racially divisive and extremist churches in the country. His Chicago friends were not moderates. His campaigns for state...

Conversion Would Make Per-Gallon Gasoline Tax To Tax On Wholesale Price Of Gas Noting that state roads are "the pits," Gov. Jennifer Granholm says she supports changing the state gasoline tax to raise more money as gas prices rise. Granholm told reporters Wednesday that the state's current 19-cent-per-gallon tax doesn't raise enough money to repair Michigan's aging roads. The Transportation Funding Task Force she appointed last year has suggested converting the per-gallon gasoline tax to a tax on the wholesale price of gas and raising vehicle registration fees. Granholm says she supports both.

It's just after 8 and I am standing in the middle of a jobs market in Dongguan in Southern China. It's mobbed. There are thousands of unemployed young people milling around in a car park in front of a commercially run jobs market. The employment exchange - plays Chinese pop music at deafening volume, perhaps to give a lift to the idle young people. Wearing (mostly) dark blue jackets and jeans, they pick up a flimsy newspaper which lists what's available today in the basic industries that characterise the vast local economy. Its six pages contain just 300 vacancies, not...

Alarmists get snowed in for Washington, D.C. rally; networks mostly ignore signs of cooling temps, 'record' cold. Temperatures have plummeted to record or near-record lows in 32 states this winter. On March 2, a global warming protest in Washington, D.C. was buried by nearly a foot of snow. And a new study warns that the Earth could be in for a 30-year cooling trend. Reality is not cooperating with the network news’ global warming theme, yet reporters are unwilling to even discuss the possibility that the Earth is cooling. Global warming alarmists repeatedly link weather phenomena like tornadoes, hurricanes, ice...

Obama pulls the plug on the nuclear industry's last best hope. We've seen a lot of hyperbole lately about the significance of a presidency that's all of six weeks old. I hesitate to add to it. But the following statement happens to be the literal truth. The ramifications of the 2008 presidential election will be felt for 1 million years. One million years is a long time. A million years ago, Homo erectus (who looked like this, not this) was getting ready to invent the hand axe and discover fire. Yet 1 million years is the length of time that...

Newspaper giant McClatchy, which owns 49.5 percent of the voting stock in the Seattle Times Co., is now valuing that position as worthless. In the latest 10K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, McClatchy says the Seattle Times Co. in 2008 "recorded a comprehensive loss related to its retirement plan liabilities." As a result, says McClatchy, "the Company’s investment in STC at December 28, 2008 is zero, and no future income or losses from STC will be recorded until the Company’s carrying value is restored through future earnings by STC. Accordingly, no significant income or losses are expected to...

The Senate voted overwhelmingly to preserve thousands of earmarks in a $410 billion spending bill on Tuesday, brushing aside Sen. John McCain's claim that President Barack Obama and Congress are merely conducting business as usual in a time of economic hardship. McCain's attempt to strip out an estimated 8,500 earmarks failed on a vote of 63-32. The Arizona senator's proposal also would have cut roughly $32 billion from the measure and kept spending at last year's levels in several federal agencies. Last year's Republican presidential candidate said both he and Obama pledged during the campaign to "stop business as usual...

Franklin Raines, the former chief executive of Fannie Mae, benefited from special perks given by the head of besmirched mortgage lender Countrywide Financial, the top Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said on Wednesday.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, right, smiles with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband at the start of a NATO and EU dinner at Egmont Palace in Brussels, Wednesday March 4, 2009 U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, left, smiles as she is welcomed by Belgium's Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht for a NATO and EU dinner at Egmont Palace in Brussels, Wednesday March 4, 2009.

Welcome to “The Levin Lounge”… Step in and have a virtual FRink.Taking the country by storm, one radio station at a time – and kicking the BUTTS of the competition! Welcome all, to the most FUN LIVE THREAD on FreeRepublic.com! You can call Mark’s show: 1-877-381-3811

In the wake of the Republican Party's second consecutive electoral defeat, the question that seems to be everywhere is: "How do we reinvent conservatism?" Most conservatives are willing to concede there is in fact a problem, but I'd simply suggest the question is itself misguided: We don't need to reinvent conservatism; we need to return to it. The past few months have given rise to a tug of war of sorts on this very matter. On one side, we have those who think the Republican tent is simply not large enough to house a viable political coalition. On the other...

Gun Owners of America has put together an email campaign to get Congress to approve the repeal of most of DC's gun control. The measure has passed the Senate and now is to be considered in the House, if Speaker Pelosi doesn't block it. If you want to take action on this matter by sending a prewritten email to your Congressman, click here: Alert your Congressmen

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - A federal judge has thrown out a former Navy sailor's conviction on providing support to terrorists. But upheld Wednesday was Hassan Abu Jihaad's (hah-SAHN' AH'-boo zhee-HAHD) conviction for disclosing classified information. Prosecutors say they are reviewing the ruling. Abu-Jihaad's conviction was hailed last year by top national security officials and federal investigators as a model of cooperation among government agencies. Abu-Jihaad was a signalman aboard the USS Benfold. He was accused of passing along information a drawing of the formation the group would use to pass through the dangerous Strait of Hormuz

Dems' Energy Tax: The Administration's Budget Hikes Taxes on Every Single American Presidential Candidate Obama Admits: "Under My Plan of a Cap-and-Trade System, Electricity Rates Would Necessarily Skyrocket" Washington, Mar 4 - The day after two top members of the President’s economic team – Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Budget Director Peter Orszag – testified before Congress, families and small businesses across America are beginning to realize just what the Administration’s budget means for them: higher taxes during a recession. It’s part of a scheme Washington Democrats call “cap-and-trade,” but all it will do is raise taxes on all energy...

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday declared Washington's "unshakeable" support for Israel as she heralded a dramatic escalation in the US's involvement in the Middle East. In her first visit to Israel as the US's senior diplomat, Ms Clinton immediately announced that Washington was sending two officials to Damascus for talks with Syria -- closely aligned with Iran and a country with which the previous administration had no official contact.

LAS VEGAS -- Libertarian 2008 Vice Presidential nominee Wayne Allyn Root will present a commentary called “President Obama's War on Small Business” on Michael Savage's national radio show "Savage Nation" on Wednesday 3/4/09. Root will appear in the 3rd hour of Savage's show. Root is now a regular weekly commentator on Michael Savage's popular show. "Savage Nation" is the third most popular radio talk show in America, reaching over 8.25 million listeners each day. Root, author of the upcoming book, “The Conscience of a Libertarian: Empowering the Citizen Revolution with God, Guns, Gambling & Tax Cuts” will suggest that self...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. John Kerry said Wednesday that Syrian President Basher Assad told him last month in Damascus that Syria is prepared to resume peace negotiations with Israel and embrace a 2000 Arab initiative offering peace in exchange for territory captured from the Arabs in the 1967 Mideast war. "Syria would like direct American participation in these peace talks," said Kerry, D-Mass., the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Reversing the Bush administration's dismissive stance on Syria, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced Tuesday during a visit to Israel she would send two senior officials to Damascus...

No witchcraft allowed: Complaints filed against pastor running Hawai`i homeless shelter Hawai`i Legislature advances compromise bill to establish commission to consider limits on malpractice lawsuits Accused Killer (tied to HI Co Mayor) Testifies In Pali Golf Course Killings Gov Lingle to outline plan to close budget shortfall Beloved teacher honored Pork fight: Lawmakers target Mufi's rail money as tax revenues plummet B2 stealth secrets: Judge denies accused Maui spy's motions to suppress evidence Some state lawmakers try to stop Honolulu's landfill extension plan Kaua`i electric seeks rate rise Mamalahoa bypass trial use begins Rumble on the Radio: Limbaugh vs Obama...

Rush Limbaugh, the man who did more than anyone else to create the modern Republican brand in the 1990s, is now destroying it. Everyone knows he has "jumped the shark" culturally—become a black-shirted joke even as he dominates the headlines. But it's worse than that for Republicans. Limbaugh has taken the great GOP calling card—toughness—and shredded it. The party of Lincoln is in danger of becoming the party of Jell-O. Witness the specter of party leaders from Georgia Rep

Laurel Mill, other locations, expected to stay open From staff and wire reports MISSISSAUGA, Ontario — Canadian door maker Masonite International Inc., a company with origins to Laurel, said Tuesday it expects to file for bankruptcy protection from creditors as part of a deal with lenders to reduce the company’s debt by nearly $2 billion. Masonite, which is majority owned by U.S. leveraged-buyout firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, is seeking support for the plan from its broader lender and bondholder constituencies. If approved, a “pre-negotiated” reorganization plans would be filed in conjunction with a creditors’ restructuring in Canada and Chapter 11...