Free Republic

This week marks the beginning of the end of the long national nightmare known as the 111th Congress.  Republicans were given a second chance—by default—through a national effort to stop the destructive Obama/Pelosi/Reid agenda. House Republicans are poised to begin making the same kind of business-as-usual mistakes that relegated the party to minority status in 2006.  The most glaring example is the looming threat of having Rep. Fred Upton (RINO-Mich.) become chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, despite his liberal voting record, simply because he’s next in line.  If there is one thing voters made absolutely clear...

Agency to Designate Habitat for Dragonfly By JOHN FLESHER Associated Press Writer TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) - Prodded by a lawsuit, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has agreed to designate critical habitat for an endangered dragonfly found in only a few Midwestern wetland areas. The agency reached a settlement with five environmental groups that accused the government of shirking its responsibility to protect the Hine's emerald dragonfly. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., signed an order last week to implement the agreement, said Brent Plater, an attorney for one of the groups, the Center for Biological Diversity. The settlement...