Free Republic

A president's eighth State of the Union address is supposed to be his victory lap, a final year in the spotlight, in which he touts his achievements and then rides off into the sunset. Tonight, President Obama may utter the clichéd words, "The state of our union is strong!" If he does, it's just one more lie upon the pile. Obama will probably boast he brought the country back from the financial brink and try to argue that the American economy is doing well. (Avoiding "the brink" only took $8 trillion in new debt.) He will undoubtedly boast of...

Fannie Mae, the federally sanctioned mortgage giant, has just announced a new program that shows that they learned absolutely nothing from the last real estate meltdown. This new program, called "HomeReady" in a fit of hopeful and wishful thinking, reduces loan underwriting standards. It's designed to allow "underserved" individuals the opportunity to buy a home - focused primarily on low-income and minority borrowers. Other than the last group of under qualified borrower-friendly loans and regulations from the mid-2000s, it's the stupidest real estate loan idea that I've ever seen. The new loan "features" reduced credit score requirements and allows borrowed...

In A Night At The Opera, Groucho Marx's carriage, running late, pulls up at the opera house, and he asks whether he's missed the opera. There's still a few minutes left, says the doorman. Groucho barks at his driver: "I told you to slow that nag down.... Once around the park, and drive slowly." That's my approach to the State of the Union. I took it once around the park and slowly, and arrived home just as President Obama was schmoozing and gladhanding his way out the door. But, alas, I had forgotten the Official Response to the State of...

President Obama’s call for “a new national effort” to cure cancer during his State of the Union address on Tuesday seemed familiar to fans of Aaron Sorkin’s “West Wing” television show. That’s because there was an entire episode in 2002 of the NBC show where the fictional president played by Martin Sheen made nearly identical comments. On Tuesday, Obama said: “Tonight, I’m announcing a new national effort to get it done…For the loved ones we’ve all lost, for the family we can still save, let’s make America the country that cures cancer once and for all.” During the “West Wing”...

Senator Ted Cruz has confounded his critics' expectations in rising as far in the presidential polls as he has, and is now drawing the attacks that go with it. The most substantive of the criticisms concern his tax plan. There is a lot to be said for that tax plan, but the critics are pointing to a real flaw in it that the senator can and should correct. Cruz's plan would cut tax rates, especially on saving and investment, while avoiding the large reductions in revenue that many of the other Republican candidates' plans would entail. The plan scores well,...

Miami's top local bands, businesses, community leaders, and the community at large will come together on January 17, 2016 for the first annual Gay8 Festival. Gay8 (GayOcho!) is the first Latino LGBT art, music and food street festival in Miami's historic Little Havana, and will feature some of Miami's most celebrated musical talent - bands like Palo, Suenalo, Picadillo, and the Spam Allstars. "For the first time the LGBTA community is honored to host a community festival meant to open doors and connect people who traditionally don't connect" said organizer Damian Pardo. "We hope Gay8 will come to represent a...

“There will be, in the next generation or so, a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude, and producing dictatorship without tears, so to speak, producing a kind of painless concentration camp for entire societies, so that people will in fact have their liberties taken away from them, but will rather enjoy it, because they will be distracted from any desire to rebel by propaganda or brainwashing, or brainwashing enhanced by pharmacological methods. And this seems to be the final revolution.”—Aldous Huxley There’s a man who contacts me several times a week to disagree with my assessments of the...

Donald Trump is in Pensacola, FL today 7 pm @ Pensacola Bay Center - 201 East Gregory Street Pensacola, FL 32502. Over 11,000 people are expected to attend the rally. Ticket link is at the URL listed. Other streams will be posted as they develop.

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz claimed the Republican Party's choice of South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley to deliver the GOP response to President Obama's State of the Union address demonstrated the party's lack of diversity. Oops! Has she looked at the Democratic lineup of presidential candidates lately? "It's pretty clear that Nikki Haley is being chosen because the Republican Party has a diversity problem," Wasserman Schultz, who's also a Florida congresswoman said in a conference call, according to The Hill, which reported: Haley, who was born in South Carolina, is the daughter of immigrants from India. She will...

A political discussion club named "Double Donald Trump" may be opened in Moscow just across the street from the US embassy. The city news agency "Moskva" has a copy of the application form for registering this brand name. "The club is to be opened by some Russian Americans, who support Donald Trump's campaign for the US presidency. Mr. Trump knows about this and has taken the initiative positively. The club will provide meeting place for associates and will host political discussions. The opening date is this summer's beginning", said Mr. Anatoliy Aronov, the president of the "Pervaya Patentnaya Kompania" ["The...

Former Attorney General Eric Holder endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination on Wednesday, praising his former administration colleague's plans to tackle a wide range of issues, from gun violence to college affordability. Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/eric-holder-endorses-hillary-clinton-217701#ixzz3x8yIZTh7

A lack of background checks for gun buyers plainly had nothing to do with the mass shootings that have grabbed headlines in the last few years. The weapons used in those crimes were purchased legally from federally licensed firearms dealers, which means the buyers passed background checks. During last week's CNN "townhall" on "Guns in America," President Obama nevertheless continued to tout background checks as a way to prevent mass shootings, which is one of the reasons it is hard to trust him when he talks about common-sense gun safety. At the same time, Obama hinted at a different, more...

A leading Jewish authority in Marseille, southern France, asked fellow Jews on Tuesday to refrain from wearing their traditional skullcap to stay safe after a machete-wielding teen attacked a Jewish teacher. Zvi Ammar, head of the Israelite Consistory of Marseille, said he is asking Jews to go without the kippa "until better days". His call came a day after a 15-year-old Turkish Kurd attacked and wounded a Jewish teacher on a street in Marseille

GOP presidential candidate and Iowa frontrunner Ted Cruz pushed back against Donald Trump during an interview in NH tonight.Cruz suggested that Trumps’ ceaseless questioning of Cruz’s eligibility for the presidency this week “starts to suggest maybe he’s feeling a little rattled.” He also stated that the race for the GOP nomination is increasingly a two man contest between himself and Mr. Trump, and that is why the GOP candidates are starting to attack Mr. Cruz’s candidacy.  Watch:Ted Cruz Says it is Him or Trump on NH1 News on WBIN January 12 2015 (Video) Cruz also discussed his tax plan, a...

Here's your Hump day humor, watch this guy shoot his truck (probably with tannernite) to see the explosion and debris flying everywhere. Obviously, don't try this at home without safety precaution, see it fully here, enjoy.

A liberal who's been mugged, it's said, becomes a conservative. But what does a conservative become when he's mugged by a corrupt, politically driven justice system? Dinesh D’Souza's latest book, Stealing America: What My Experience with Criminal Gangs Taught Me About Obama, Hillary, and the Democratic Party answers that question. D'Souza now views the Progressive movement as a criminal enterprise designed to pull off the biggest heist in world history -- effective control of the enormous wealth created by America's entrepreneurs. This bounty, the author argues, was made possible by the country's embrace of a capitalist system that rewards industry...

Iran state television released images of the 10 U.S. sailors that the Iranian military held in custody overnight Tuesday. ABC News first reported the photos, which appeared after the sailors were released by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps Wednesday morning.

Ted Cruz is out with a great new ad this morning, explaining how he defended US sovereignty and states' rights when the United Nations ordered a stay of execution for an illegal who committed murder: Watch the ad: Sovereignty (Video)

We are pleased to announce Donald Trump will be visiting Tulsa, Oklahoma on Wednesday, January 20, 2016. The event is to be held at the Mabee Center, 7777 S. Lewis Ave., Tulsa, OK. Scheduled to begin at 12:00 pm the doors open at 10:00 am. Early arrival is recommended. Ticket registration is required and can be done utilizing the link below. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/donald-j-trump-in-tulsa-ok-tickets-20709358248 We look foreword to seeing you there! Stephanie Milligan 405-286-3221 www.facebook.com/OKDonaldTrump

There is a growing sense among political pundits, especially of the establishment class, that only Ted Cruz has a reasonable shot at stopping Donald Trump. Jeb Bush has already achieved terminal velocity, Christie and Kasich have been unable to break the top 3 in New Hampshire, and Fiorina has been demoted from the debate main stage. Rubio, who was their 6th or 7th choice, has yet to achieve the same kind of liftoff that Cruz has, and he doesn’t have an obvious strategic path to victory like Cruz does. When faced with a choice between Trump and Cruz, the establishment...