Free Republic

WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- The White House says that it is still planning to tackle the loophole in the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law that created the "independent" 527 groups. The "soft money" groups had a significant impact on the presidential election, bypassing political parties and candidates' campaigns. Liberal leaning groups falling into this unregulated category raised twice as much money as their conservative counterparts. In all, the 527 groups collected and spent $535 million in 2004. But many of the groups blurred the lines of separation between independent advocacy and illegal coordination. Ties between party leaders and those operating 527s...

The following photographs were taken by Floriduh Voter on December 12, 2004. On that Sunday afternoon, family, friends, supporters and advocates of Terri Schindler-Schiavo gathered to honor her day of birth and celebrate her life. The following thumbnails will 'pop' into a new browser window. We extend our thanks to everyone who attended, to those who sent greetings and prayers and to everyone who has befriended this family in their struggle to protect their daughter's life and liberty.  Terri  41st Birthday Celebration of Life Sunday, December 12, 2004 Guest of Honor, Terri Schindler-Schiavo, was not in attendance at the...

WASHINGTON (AP) - An advocacy group announced a lawsuit Wednesday over legislation to restore California's aging Spanish missions, arguing that the law violates the principle of separation of church and state. Americans United for Separation of Church and State said it would file suit against Interior Secretary Gale Norton on behalf of four California residents. Norton's department would distribute $10 million in federal funding under the law, which President Bush signed on Tuesday. "The act on its face advances religion in violation of the establishment clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution," says the lawsuit, which seeks to...

The first few columns I wrote as a burgeoning political commentator were mainly on the subject of media bias. Even after writing 4 separate articles on the subject, I was still not prepared for what has been revealed about the Bush National Guard memos, as reported on by Dan Rather on CBS’s 60 Minutes II last week. Not 24 hours after Dan Rather reported these memos, questions began to arise regarding the authenticity of these supposed National Guard file documents. The first implications that the documents were probably not written when and by whom the 60 Minutes II piece indicated,...

They danced, clapped, shouted and sang, and that was before the Rev. Al Sharpton even opened his mouth. By the time the former presidential candidate finished his sermon to more than a thousand people gathered in a Miami church Sunday, blending politics and religion into a call to action to South Florida's black community, congregation members churned with energy. When he was done, Sharpton introduced the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. McAuliffe apologized to the congregation for the 2000 election and for not being in Florida to stop voting problems.

United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is under fire for her close ties to a liberal issues advocacy group. Ginsburg was a co-sponsor of a lecture series with the National Organization for Women's Legal Defense and Education Fund on January 29. This liberal group frequently appears before the U.S. Supreme Court in cases involving women's rights positions held by Ginsburg. The 4th Annual Ruth Bader Ginsburg Distinguished Lecture Series on Women and the Law took place just two weeks after Ginsburg voted in favor of the position held in a friend-of-the-court brief by NOW's legal defense fund. Interestingly,...

<p>Net Politics: John Kerry's victory in the Iowa presidential caucuses tells us that politics remains in broadcast mode: still driven largely by TV and voters' personal impressions of the candidates as people. A technology-driven, post-broadcast era hasn't arrived.</p> <p>But anyone who doubts that the Internet is changing politics in major ways just isn't paying close enough attention.</p>