Free Republic

Bruce Springsteen is a fabulously wealthy man who sings about the poor, the downtrodden and the lower middle class. You know, the people hit hard by the last four years of the Obama presidency.This weekend, Springsteen visited the Steel City to talk up a second Obama term, promising the crowd in classic class warfare terms what we can expect from Hope and Change, the sequel.

In the wake of the Daily Caller’s release of President Obama cheering Rev. Wright and invoking the race card in various ways, our friend Morgen Richmond decided the time was right to release some little-known Obama video of his own. He authorized me to release the video here first. The following clips are from 2002. Obama is speaking in a church at a 2002 Martin Luther King Jr. Day memorial service. The full speech is here, and by and large it is a nice speech by a rising politician. Obama speaks about the need for empathy in society, about taking...

Friend -- I want to thank you for all you're doing for this campaign. If we get to continue this work, it's going to be because of you. Next week I'm meeting up with President Clinton on the campaign trail, and we both want to thank you in person. Donate $5 or whatever you can today to be automatically entered to fly out to join us. This Sunday is the biggest fundraising deadline of this campaign so far. There's no billionaire donor or lobbyist waiting around to write a $10 million check. How you respond right now determines if we...

As Keith Koffler of the White House Dossier points out, Vice President Joe Biden actually thinks he’s part of the middle class. This, despite the fact he made nearly $400,000 in 2011, placing him comfortably in the “rich” category President Obama has created in his bid to raise taxes on the country’s top income earners making over $250,000-per-year. However, addressing the National Council of La Raza in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Biden — without mentioning he and his wife had an adjusted income of $379,000, according to his 2011 tax return — suggested he is just your average middle class...

Downtown workers may experience casual Friday and casual Monday later this month when the NATO summit arrives. Workers at some Chicago office towers are being encouraged to dress down to avoid being targeted by protesters during the meeting of world leaders May 20 and 21. Safety procedures in some high-rises include the recommendation that employees set aside suits, ties and anything with corporate logos.

Rick Santorum dropped out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination on Tuesday. Almost to a column, editorial and news account, the analysis centered on Santorum’s somewhat successful capture of conservative voters. And there lies the mystery. How could a man seemingly so opposite of conservative have entranced so many voters who label themselves just that? The easy answer is that as someone who made his religion such a prominent part of his campaign strategy... religious types who tend toward conservatism perhaps felt they’d found their man. [...] Indeed, if we ignore for a moment how very anti-conservative it...

While Soros, whose new book, Financial Turmoil in Europe and the United States, will be published in early February, is currently focused on Europe, he’s quick to claim that economic and social divisions in the U.S. will deepen, too. He sympathizes with the Occupy movement, which articulates a widespread disillusionment with capitalism that he shares. People “have reason to be frustrated and angry” at the cost of rescuing the banking system, a cost largely borne by taxpayers rather than shareholders or bondholders. Occupy Wall Street “is an inchoate, leaderless manifestation of protest,” but it will grow. It has “put on...

Geraldo: You Shouldn't Become Parent Unless Licensed By Government By Jack Coleman Created 01/09/2012 - 7:55pm Think your government has more than enough on its hands? Geraldo Rivera wants it to do so much more. On his new WABC radio show Friday, Rivera cited an incident that day involving a Brooklyn mother suspected of killing her 3-year-old daughter, saying this (audio clips after page break) -- I swear to God, you talk about sickos, you talk about sickos. You should need to have a license to have a child. You should be vetted. I think I can't stand these stories....

IF OBAMA LOSES, HE INTENDS TO BRING DOWN THE COUNTRY WITH HIM Win or lose, chaos is at the core of Obama’s 2012 campaign strategy. The Constitution and the American way of life are already under intense assault by enemies of the republic. The signs of degeneration are out there in plain sight. The Obama Administration has spent the United States treasury to the brink of national bankruptcy, which has set the stage for the desired social unrest. The Occupy War Street movement was just a test of Obama’s chaos strategy. The weakness demonstrated by politicians nationwide has only encouraged...

The Short family packed their bags and moved back to South Africa after 10 years in London JOHANNESBURG — After 10 years in London, the Short family packed their bags and moved back to South Africa, part of what experts say is a growing trend of white expatriates returning home. "London was very good to us but it was never home," said Julie Short, who met her husband Wallis in the British capital, where their two young daughters were born. The couple were among the estimated 800,000 white South Africans who moved overseas, mainly to Britain, Australia and New Zealand,...

The SEC alleges that Citigroup Global Markets structured and marketed a CDO called Class V Funding III and exercised significant influence over the selection of $500 million of the assets included in the CDO portfolio. Citigroup then took a proprietary short position against those mortgage-related assets from which it would profit if the assets declined in value. Citigroup did not disclose to investors its role in the asset selection process or that it took a short position against the assets it helped select. Citigroup has agreed to settle the SEC’s charges by paying a total of $285 million, which will...

It’s a simple concept that’s been around since Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden: Get a job. That’s how all the stuff you have is paid for, even if you live in a socialist country. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return - Genesis 3:19 KJV Of course capitalism produces more bread, more efficiently, and there is more innovation and surplus than in socialist countries. Out of that surplus bread come things...

Hawker Beechcraft Chairman and CEO Bill Boisture said targeting of the private aircraft industry both in terms of user fees and fiscal proposals appears to be intentional, and called fiscal policies such as user fees and depreciation schedules “irresponsible.” The perceived attacks have damaged customer confidence, and contributed to some, perhaps the last 25 percent, of all employee layoffs and workforce reductions, Boisture said. “To have singled out our industry is irresponsible,” he said. “It must be intended,” he said in later comments. In other remarks, Boisture said his staff decided long ago to treat the current recession as “the...

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a sharp challenge to the GOP, President Barack Obama proposed paying for his costly new jobs plan Monday with tax hikes that Republicans have already rejected, and he accused them of political motives if they still refuse to go along. "The only thing that's stopping it is politics," Obama declared. The president's proposal drew criticism from House Speaker John Boehner, who'd previously responded in cautious but somewhat receptive tones to the $447 billion jobs plan made up of tax cuts and new spending that Obama first proposed in an address to Congress last Thursday. "It would...

The riots that hit London and other English cities last week have the potential to spread beyond the British Isles. Class rage isn’t unique to England; in fact, it represents part of a growing global class chasm that threatens to undermine capitalism itself. The hardening of class divisions has been building for a generation, first in the West but increasingly in fast-developing countries such as China. The growing chasm between the classes has its roots in globalization, which has taken jobs from blue-collar and now even white-collar employees; technology, which has allowed the fleetest and richest companies and individuals to...

Today the heat in the ongoing class warfare has gotten turned up a bit during the late morning press conference of President Barack Obama. From start to finish of the press conference, President Obama goes full blast into pitting one group against another, rich versus poor, those who support both those who are on social security versus successful businesses, and us versus them. Since President Obama cannot seek a second Presidential term based on his first term’s record, he does the next best thing, play up one group against another. In other words, President Obama is painting a picture of...

Nick Clegg is to make an explosive attack on British universities as ‘instruments of social segregation’ as he orders them to stop taking so many middle-class students. The Deputy Prime Minister will this week insist that top institutions must ‘throw open their doors’ and lower their entrance requirements for the less well-off.

Chicago (AP) - U.S. Rep. Danny Davis has a message for former President Bill Clinton: Don't take sides in the Chicago mayor's race -- or else. Davis, a longtime friend of Clinton, warned the ex-president on Tuesday that he could jeopardize his "long and fruitful relationship" with the black community if he campaigns for former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel instead of one of the two leading black candidates running -- Davis or former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun.

At first glance Carline Felts didn't think anything about a flyer that was left on her door, but after a closer look she says she's offended. "That's not acceptable!" she said sternly. "I haven't seen White Trash around here." The "White Trash Party" was to be hosted by the Zen Restaurant and Bar in the Austin Ranch apartment community in The Colony, just off of the North Dallas Tollway. On one side of the flyer there's a scantily clad woman and a picture of Britney Spears on the bottom. The other side of the flyer has a shot of a...

Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) - Once again President Obama has singled out Las Vegas, this time reminding Americans to avoid places like Vegas when they want to save money. He made the comments during a speech in New Hampshire Tuesday. "This isn't how responsible families do their budgets," he said. "When times are tough, you tighten your belts. You don't go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage. You don't blow a bunch of cash in Vegas when you're trying to save for college." The comments are similar to remarks he made last year when he said...