Free Republic

WASILLA, Alaska — Politics and parody converge in the new Alaska. Right there on Wasilla Lake not long ago, in clear view of the former residence of Gov. Sarah Palin, two Russian pastors dipped seven Russian teenagers into the water as their mothers and fathers sang Russian hymns on a brilliant morning.

Some centrist House Democrats have reached out to Republicans to explore breaking with their party leadership on healthcare and crafting a reform bill with the rival GOP, one congressman claimed Saturday. Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.) asserted that an "interesting development" is taking place underway that, if true, could effectively remove Democratic leadership from the driver's seat on healthcare reform legislation in the House.

President Barack Obama on Wednesday added nurses to the list of lobby groups supporting a national health care overhaul. The president made his remarks in the Rose Garden accompanied by nurses, as well as Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), on the day that a Senate committee released a companion bill to the House measure.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says he will nominate Aaron Williams, a career international development specialist, to be director of the Peace Corps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRyw1JnAstg Turn in folks for $1000...

LONG-TERM unemployment in the United States has risen to its highest level since the Great Depression, as those who have lost jobs have found it difficult to find new ones. The government reported last week that the overall unemployment rate rose to 9.5 percent of the labor force in June, the highest since 1982, when the rate peaked at 10.8 percent. The long-term unemployment rate — the proportion of the labor force that has been out of work for at least 15 weeks — climbed to 5.1 percent. Until this year, the post-Depression high for that rate had been 4.2...

As if he didn't already have enough on his plate, President Obama will now likely have to deal with something he hoped to avoid: revisiting Bush-era scandals. Attorney General Eric Holder is likely to push forward with a criminal investigation into the Bush administration's interrogation practices on suspected terrorists, ABC News' George Stephanopoulos confirmed today. This comes despite the White House's desire to see the issue disappear. "We need to look forward as opposed to looking backwards," Obama told Stephanopoulos on "This Week" in January.

WASHINGTON — Supporters of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor are quietly targeting the Connecticut firefighter who's at the center of Sotomayor's most controversial ruling. On the eve of Sotomayor's Senate confirmation hearing, her advocates have been urging journalists to scrutinize what one called the "troubled and litigious work history" of firefighter Frank Ricci. This is opposition research: a constant shadow on Capitol Hill. "The whole business of getting Supreme Court nominees through the process has become bloodsport," said Gary Rose, a government and politics professor at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn.

L'AQUILA, Italy -- President Obama's debut performance at a G-8 summit is playing to rave reviews from his counterparts Friday, with Italian President Silvio Berlusconi telling reporters the American "has done everything absolutely right" on foreign policy so far. "I was impressed but so were all our colleagues. I can tell you that we are all very favorably impressed with President Obama," he said. The praise follows a day after the leaders gathered here for the Group of Eight leading economies summit greeted Mr. Obama with applause when he showed up for their traditional group photo.

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...

CIA Director Leon Panetta told the House Intelligence Committee that the agency had misled and “concealed significant actions from all members of Congress” dating back to 2001 and continuing until late June, according to a letter from seven Democrats on the panel. The letter was dated June 26, two days after Panetta appeared before a closed door session with the committee and it asked that the CIA chief “correct” his statement from May 15 that “it is not our policy or practice to mislead Congress.”

The Pope has called for reform of the United Nations and financial bodies, giving them the "real teeth" needed to tackle economic and social injustice. Benedict XVI said the blind pursuit of profit and economic mismanagement had "wreaked havoc" on the global economy. The market, said the Pope, must not become the place where the strong prevail over the weak.

Bank of America will accept California IOUs, but it won’t credit depositor accounts for at least a week. The fine print was included in an interview in Monday’s American Banker with a BofA spokeswoman.

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans on Tuesday unveiled a new narrative ahead of Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings, questioning her commitment to constitutional guarantees on the right to keep and bear arms and equal treatment under the law regardless of race or gender. The senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee even questioned whether Sotomayor sufficiently opposes terrorism, citing what he said was the "extensive work" she had done for a group formerly named the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund. "This is a group that has taken some very shocking positions with respect to terrorism," Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama...

A Roman Catholic adoption agency says it can’t go on finding homes for children because of new ‘gay rights’ laws forcing it to act against its religious ethos. The London-based Catholic Children’s Society, which was founded in 1859, said the Sexual Orientation Regulations (SORs) were to blame for the move. “We do this with deep regret but have been forced into this position,” a spokesman said. “The trustees are convinced that what is best for children is that they be brought up by married couples. This is shown by research but it is also consonant with the teaching of the...

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A gunman shot dead a rival of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud on Tuesday, dealing a potential blow to a government plan to defeat al Qaeda ally Mehsud. The murder came as the military prepares an offensive against Mehsud, who has been accused of a string of bomb attacks, including the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007.

The Supreme Court announced Monday it will not give further consideration to a lawsuit brought by a fired CIA agent and her husband against high ranking Bush administration officials, including former Vice President Dick Cheney. The decision is a victory for Cheney and his former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove, and former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. They and nine unnamed co-defendants were sued by Valerie Plame Wilson and her husband Joseph after her CIA cover was leaked to reporters.

About one in eight U.S. workers who receive health benefits from an employer -- more than nine million workers -- could pay higher income taxes on benefits as part of a Senate proposal that aims to raise billions of dollars to finance health-care reform, according an independent analysis of the proposal. A five-page presentation, obtained by FOX Business, was prepared by the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), who is leading efforts by Senate Democrats to formulate funding alternatives for a reform plan. In the document, Baucus proposes “options to limit allowable tax free health benefits."

The administration was successful in co-opting the AMA last week. Now they've joined with the SEIU, AARP, and others to push univeral healthcare. Go to the site to see their ad running now across the country. They are developing a theme that universal healthcare is middle of "the road" - that it's between "government takeover" vs "do nothing." Of course, it's actually ALL about a government takeover. The masses will fall for it.

ERIE, Pa. | Former President George W. Bush fired a salvo at President Obama on Wednesday, asserting his administration's interrogation policies were "within the law," declaring the private sector - not government - will fix the economy and rejecting the nationalization of health care. "I know it's going to be the private sector that leads this country out of the current economic times we're in," the former president said to applause from members of a local business group. "You can spend your money better than the government can spend your money."