Free Republic

Dana Milbank, a new Washington Post columnist, thinks Republican politicians "managed to turn the Keynesian notion of economic 'stimulus' into such a dirty word that President Obama and his aides are afraid to let it escape their lips." He blames "think tanks such as the Cato Institute" for not agreeing that Keynesian theory is so "unassailable" and "universally embraced" that daring to question the elixir of deficit spending "has a flat earth feel to it." Milbank forgets that Keynesian Democrats, including the recently departed OMB director Peter Orszag, constantly hectored Republicans about the evils of budget deficits while Reagan or...

Barney Frank now has a (VERY) credible opponent this year and I'm going to do everything I can as a voter in his district to see he's defeated in November. Please take a look at some of the link I've posted here and read up on him, if you have the time: http://blogs.wickedlocal.com/masspolitics/2010/07/12/sean-bielat-is-mad-at-barney-frank-and-scott-brown/ http://www.stumpreport.com/717756-can-barney-frank-be-defeated-sean-bielat-says-yes Consider friending him on Facebook so you can keep up with the campaign: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sean-Bielat/318262062362 And if you have the desire and ability PLEASE consider donating to his campaign. Lord knows the far left machine will be pumping the money in for Frank. Anything you can donate...$5.00,...

Scientists today hailed the 'end game' in the battle to understand the causes of cancer and how to treat it. In a dramatic breakthrough compared to the discovery of penicillin, doctors have successfully trialled a drug that uses genetic data to target specific tumours. Professor Mark Stratton, the head of the Cancer Genome Project, today said that researchers had reached a 'remarkable moment' in the fight against the disease. 'We have the potential to sequence cancer genomes in their thousands and tens of thousands to find all the mutations within them,' he told Radio 4's Today programme. 'We have entered...

Yesterday, President Barack Obama spoke to students across America from the Julia R. Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He encouraged everyone to do his or her best in the new school year. "Nothing—absolutely nothing—is beyond your reach," the President told students. "So long as you're willing to dream big. So long as you're willing to work hard. So long as you're willing to stay focused on your education." The President said it's OK to be nervous about starting the school year. He said even his children felt nervous. Most important, he said, was that students focus on...

ASHOQEH, Afghanistan – U.S. Army Capt. Brant Auge swept his hand across a satellite map of southern Afghanistan and pointed to a dark band of river-fed vineyards, pomegranate groves and marijuana fields arcing through an otherwise barren valley. The band is what U.S. troops in this Taliban stronghold call "The Green Zone" — a fertile belt of vegetation crawling with insurgents targeted in a U.S.-led operation. The operation, which began slowly on Wednesday, could mark one of the most critical stages of the nearly nine-year war.

Michelle Obama thinks being America’s First Lady is ‘hell’, Carla Bruni reveals today in a wildly indiscreet new book. Miss Bruni reveals that Mrs Obama replied when asked about her position as the U.S. president’s wife: ‘Don’t ask! It’s hell. I can’t stand it!’

Dear MoveOn member, California Senator Barbara Boxer has been our champion in Washington for nearly two decades—but now polls show her virtually tied with a corporate Republican who wants to cut Social Security.1 A top environmental champion, she fought for a strong climate bill despite attacks by Big Oil and Coal lobbyists. She was a steadfast opponent of the Iraq war. And she's always been a passionate defender of a woman's right to choose. On issue after issue, Boxer's fought on the progressive side—but now she's facing the fight of her political life against a Republican who's pouring millions of...

<p>#pollresults-content { width: 460px; float: left; } <p>#pollresults-boxad { width: 300px; float: left; } <p> Poll Results Do you think Derek Fenton deserved to be fired? Yes - What he did was despicable 53% No - He was expressing freedom of speech 27% I don't know 20%

A newspaper in Pakistan quoted one of its country's ministers as stating he wants President Obama to offer Muslim prayers at Ground Zero and become the "Caliph," or ruler, of the Islamic nation. "The coming Eid would expectedly be observed on 9/11; this is a golden opportunity for President Obama to offer Eid prayers at Ground Zero and become Amir-ul-Momineen or Caliph of Muslims. In this way, all the problems of Muslim World would be solved," stated Minister of State for Industries and Productions Ayatullah Durrani, according to Pakistan's The Nation newspaper. The newspaper reported that Durrani called its offices...

When Muslims want to engage in an activity which is insulting to non-Muslims, the left calls opposition to such activity as racist or bigoted or Islamophobic. After all, Muslims have a Constitutional right to build where they want regardless of whom it may offend. But when that wacko from Florida wanted to burn a Quran, did the left support him? Did they call the President a racist for criticizing what the preacher wanted to do? Did they call General Petraeus a bigot for asking the preacher not to do what he wanted because it might offend some group? Doesn't an...

Western diplomats say they are alarmed by reports that Mr Erdogan has negotiated a deal with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for Tehran to make a substantial contribution to the campaign funds of Turkey's leading Islamic party. Under the terms of the deal Iran has agreed to transfer $12 million to the AKP, with further payments of up to $25 million to be made later in the year. The money is said to be meant to help support Mr Erdogan's campaign for re-election for a third term in next year's general election. The Turkish government denied having received the money from...

Supporters of health reform said it would never happen. Maybe they got caught up in their own rhetoric. Maybe they just didn't want to believe it was possible. But rationing in America has started. This week, the Food and Drug Administration is expected to revoke approval of the drug Avastin for the treatment of advanced breast cancer. Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter has described the anticipated move as "the beginning of a slippery slope leading to more and more rationing under the government takeover of health care." It seems that even loyal Democrats have noticed the Obama administration's not-so-subtle policy...

A couple weeks ago, House Member Eleanor Holmes Norton made a fundraising call to a lobbyist. The lobbyist wasn’t available, so Holmes Norton left a voicemail. We have been given a copy of that message. The audio is below.

A 38-year-old Orland Park motorist is scheduled to appear in Cook County court Oct. 26 on a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol after allegedly mistaking part of her field sobriety test for a fashion show. Orland Park Police said Sheryl A. Urzedowski of the 14700 block of Park Lane seemed to believe she was supposed to walk as though she was a model, during her 2 a.m. Sept. 9 sobriety test at the intersection of 159th Street and Wolf Road. "She walked up and down the line with hands on her hips three additional times," police wrote...

I know this will never happen, but I wish we could integrate Free Republic into TweetDeck so I know right away when new stuff is posted and when people reply to my posts or message me.

Recent polling conducted for the American Action Forum has revealed that Republican David Harmer has pulled ahead of incumbent Democrat Congressman Jerry McNerney in California’s 11th Congressional District. Harmer, who trailed McNerney by 10 points just after a tough June primary contest, has now pulled to a 45% Harmer, 44% McNerney lead in this swing district. More remarkable, 52% of voters say that they would prefer someone new as their congressman, rather than re-elect Jerry McNerney. “The Harmer campaign has been working very hard to contact voters in the precincts and get our message out,” said Harmer spokesman Tim Clark....

Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced the latest Obama administration “green” initiative: Assign cars an A-D letter grade, to be noted on labels affixed to car windows at auto dealerships, based exclusively on the car’s purported environmental-friendliness.

s we told you about in the dead tree/SFGate Wednesday, Comcast pulled an ad produced by the California Teachers Union that was critical of GOP guv candidate Meg Whitman. We hear that another teachers ad is being produced with "a slight modification." Until that arrives, here's some details from the backstory on why Comcast pulled the original ad. Sorry we didn't have enough tree Wednesday to tell you about it. It provides a window into some of the backstage maneuvering of political campaigns. The drama started Friday, when Meg's attorney Thomas Hiltachk fired off a cease-and-desist letter to Comcast. It...

State regulators in 2007 gave Pacific Gas and Electric Co. the go-ahead to spend $5 million of ratepayer money to replace a 62-year-old section of the same pipeline that exploded last week in San Bruno. But the work never got done as scheduled in 2009, and this year the utility asked for another $5 million to do the same job by 2013, according to documents submitted by PG&E to the California Public Utility Commission as part of a general rate-hike request. While the cause of the pipeline explosion has yet to be determined, experts say that in general older lines...

MEXICO CITY - On its 200th birthday, Mexico wants its citizens -- and the world -- to forget its vicious drug war and have a day without massacres, beheadings or shootouts. Mexico wants its people to remember the country's epic history, music, whimsical folk art and continuing crusade for wider prosperity and democracy. All that was on display Wednesday with a $40 million fiesta that's been two years in the making.