Free Republic

Gun rights advocates scored a victory Thursday as the House Financial Services Committee adopted an amendment to allow guns in public housing projects. The amendment, by Tom Price , R‑Ga., would bar any housing authority from restricting legal ownership of guns. It was adopted, 38-31, as the committee continued its markup of a housing bill (HR 3045) that the panel is expected to approve next week. “Seniors and other individuals have the right to protect themselves,” said Joe Baca of California, one of 13 Democrats who voted for the amendment. “Those guns would be registered, and those individuals have a...

Electorally vulnerable Democrats are urging the House Ways and Means Committee to drop language from its healthcare reform proposal that would tax food and beverage products, saying it would disproportionately impact the poor. In a letter to committee chairman Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) and ranking member Dave Camp (R-Mich.), 13 members of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Frontline program, led by Reps. Debbie Halvorson (D-Ill.), John Adler (D-N.J.), Michael McMahon (D-N.Y.) and Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.), urge the committee to abandon proposed taxes on food. One proposal would tax sugary sodas at a rate of 10 cents per can, which could generate...

Here is video of Republican leaders speaking out for Democracy in Honduras. They are seeking to support the people of Honduras against the actions of Manuel Zelaya. Zelaya was removed by the military after doing what the Honduran Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional. He was exiled to Costa Rica. Republicans support the people of Honduras who say Zelaya was seeking to become a virtual dictator, while President Obama has supported Zelaya, a vocal critic of the United States and close ally of Venezuela's dictator - Hugo Chavez. Rep. Connie Mack has introduced a resolution to condemn Zelaya, and voice support for...

The music is not mine. It came from Master and Commander soundtrack. The pics were taken from the web. First attempt at creating a slide show and posting to YouTube. Maybe I'll get better -- maybe not.

Remember when policymakers at the Federal Reserve told us in 2007 and 2008 that the credit problems were “contained” to the subprime mortgage sector? Or when then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson spouted the same line? Oops. We’ve already established how those guys were dead wrong about home loans. Indeed, the delinquency rate on U.S. mortgages surged to a record 9.12 percent in the first quarter of this year. Late payments rose in ALL categories, including prime fixed-rate loans, the absolute “cream of the crop” in the mortgage world. Now, it’s clear they were dead wrong about the entire credit market! Credit...

Sarah Palin's announcement of her resignation as governor of Alaska may be the end of her political career or, as some speculate, the real beginning. What seems clear is that Palin is not conservatism's new hope but its dead end. In recent days, this has been amply confirmed by the arguments of Palin defenders, focused less on her presumed merits than on her presumed injuries at her enemies' hands.Thus, Ross Douthat, the new conservative voice at the New York Times, hails Palin as Everywoman—living proof you can aspire to the White House without an Ivy League degree—and deplores her abuse...

U.S. President Barack Obama delivered a letter from Senator Edward Kennedy to Pope Benedict on Friday and asked the Roman Catholic pontiff to pray for the senator, who is suffering from an incurable brain tumor. Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough said the Pope and the president concluded their half-hour meeting with a discussion about Kennedy, whose brother John F. Kennedy was the first Roman Catholic president of the United States. "The president delivered a letter from Senator Kennedy to the Holy Father. He also asked that the Holy Father pray for ... Kennedy, who as we all know is...

SEATTLE – It's one of the great American summer pastimes: Pulling the car onto the driveway on a sun-drenched Saturday afternoon, lathering it up with soap, rinsing it off and watching the sudsy water flow toward the storm drain. Now, officials in Washington and elsewhere are telling residents to either take that old ride to the car wash, or hold the soap and wash the car over gravel or grass to filter the dirty water. The officials are trying to prevent the runoff, with all of its soap, grim and metals from the car, from reaching rivers and streams and...

That neutral valuation suggests the stock market is likely to resort to its long-term average of 7% annual gains, Shiller says. That sounds great, but the famed professor isn't forecasting that outcome due to one major caveat: The economy is in a "precarious state" and, should it stumble anew, the stock market "could go down a lot," he says. Shiller is clearly dubious of the "green shoots" mentality and believes it will take a very long time for the economy to return to normal growth after the bursting of the housing and credit bubbles.

The Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan, who famously wrote for President Ronald Reagan but slowly become a RINO thanks to spending way too much time in the Beltway (see this embarrassing clip of Ms. Noonan from September of last year declaring the GOP dead meat) is no longer a must-read. In her post today, she bashes Sarah Palin one final time, just to make sure that the almost former Alaskan governor knows what the main streamers think about her and her policies. Among the pathetic quotes: Her history does not need to be rehearsed at any length. Ten months ago...

Wrapped in the cloak of environmentalism, suddenly T. Boone's business maneuvers aren't despised. This week the Senate unveiled a new piece of legislation aimed at getting natural gas powered vehicles on the road. Guess who was on hand to help the Senate promote this piece of legislation? T. Boone Pickens, the biggest booster and investor in natural gas vehicles. This got Tim Carney* at the DC Examiner all in a lather. It's not just that T. Boone stands to gain from this legislation, but it's the fact that Pickens was once thought of as a bad guy for this kind...

Yesterday, on a comment thread I reminded readers of a particular sexist trick used to disembowel female pols—the old: she’s too polarizing theme. Specifically, I mentioned Hollywood’s David (Obama) Geffen’s charge that Hillary Clinton was “incredibly polarizing.” Geffen and Obama had put their male heads together and decided the best way to beat the bi$ch was to paint her as “polarizing.” Missy Maureen Dowd was contacted and she agreed to printed Geffen’s orchestrated remarks in her column. Hillary=Polarizing now with the NYTimes imprimatur. Polarizing = Bi%ch=manipulative=shrill, and on it goes. Today, I had no sooner posted a comment on the...

Watch as the wave of bank failures washes over 31 states. Fifty-two U.S. banks have failed in 2009, costing the FDIC $12.3 billion so far this year. Only 25 banks met the same fate in all of 2008. From sea to shining sea, we walk you through the unfortunate 52. START > http://www.businessinsider.com/the-52-failed-banks-that-failed-so-far-in-2009-2009-7#1-bank-of-clark-county-1

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President Barack Obama promised Pope Benedict on Friday that he would do everything possible to reduce the number of abortions in the United States, the Vatican said. Obama and Benedict held private talks for about 40 minutes in the pope's frescoed study in the Vatican's apostolic palace and the Vatican said bioethics and life issues were a central part of the discussion. In a surprise move, the pontiff gave Obama a booklet explaining Vatican opposition to practices such as abortion and embryonic stem cell research, which Obama supports. "Obama told the pope of his commitment to reduce the number of...

State Sen. Jack Hatch, D-Des Moines, formally apologized to his fellow lawmakers for using a racial slur during a conversation with an African American legislator last week. While discussing changes made to Hatch’s health care reform bill by a House committee, the Senator told state Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad, D-Des Moines, that they were both being treated like the “N-word” and like “master and slaves.” Hatch told The Des Moines Register on Saturday that he “immediately apologized and I apologized to his clerk, and that’s the end of it. His clerk was sitting right there, and I shouldn’t have said what...

ATLANTA, June 17 (Reuters) - The future of menthol cigarettes, smoked by 12 million Americans and 75 percent of African American smokers, could be the next flashpoint in a decades-long campaign against smoking in the United States. Last week, Congress passed a bill giving the Food and Drug Administration the power to regulate tobacco products. President Barack Obama is expected to sign it into law soon. The bill outlawed flavorings like chocolate, cherry and cloves that can attract young people to start smoking -- but excluded menthol, by far the most popular flavoring accounting for around 27 percent of the...

A few weeks ago the Democrats sent a letter to the director of the CIA, Leon E. Panetta, accusing him of admitting that the CIA had lied to Congress during the Bush years: June 26, 2009 The Honorable Leon E. Panetta, Director Central Intelligence Agency Washington, D.C. 20505 Dear Director Panetta, You recall, no doubt, that on May 15, 2009, you stated the following in a letter to CIA employees: “Let me be clear: It is not our policy or practice to mislead Congress. That is against our laws and values.” Recently you testified that you have determined that top...

From AIM: "Even with the Marxist influence in President Obama's background-and even with the reluctance to raise his voice against bloodthirsty tyrants such as Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad-even with all of that, trust Helen Thomas to find Obama too hard-line with America's enemies and too easy-going with America's friends..."

Recently in Somalia there were amputations for theft and now in the continued ugliness of Islam, the beheading of those who left Islam. How long will it be until the stone throwing Somalians in Minnesota started killing people here?