Free Republic

OPEC ministers said on Friday that they saw no need to supply the world with more crude as oil prices approached a two-year high....frpa

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., backed off threats today to force a reading of the New START arms-reduction treaty after the White House assailed the delay tactic as a “new low.” Senate leaders had estimated that a full reading of the accord could take 15 hours, which would have thrown a wrench into ambitious plans to finish work on New START, an omnibus spending bill, and several other pieces of legislation before the Senate adjourns for the year.

Between October 2008 and October 2010, the European Commission approved 4,589 billion euros, the equivalent of 45 years of Romanian GDP, of state support to banks. And this may not include all of the funding for financial institutions, because our overly generous Commission has not been too eager to count the cost of this policy. One thousand billion euros were spent in 2008 and 250 million in 2009. At the same time, the total for state support to all other sectors of the economy was only 73 billion (less than one sixtieth of the sum for banks). The figure for...

In a reversal, the Obama administration said Wednesday it will not pursue offshore drilling off the East Coast of the U.S. and the eastern Gulf of Mexico. In a reversal, the Obama administration says it will not pursue offshore drilling in East Coast waters, including the eastern Gulf of Mexico. A senior administration official told The Associated Press on Wednesday, Dec. 1,, 2010 that because of the BP oil spill, the Interior Department will not propose any new oil drilling in the East Coast for at least the next seven years. (AP Photo/ Michael Spooneybarger, File) Collapse (AP)A senior administration...

DETROIT (WJBK) - The son of Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., says items were stolen out of the government vehicle he was driving last Wednesday in downtown Detroit, FOX 2's Simon Shaykhet reports. John Conyers III, 20, told police two Apple MacBooks, valued at $1,100 apiece, and more than $27,000 worth of concert tickets to the Fillmore were stolen out of a burgundy 2010 Cadillac Escalade registered to the 14th Congressional District.

*snip* "Don't answer it," the county executive said, unaware that more agents were listening in. Johnson ordered his wife to find and destroy a $100,000 check from a real estate developer that was hidden in a box of liquor. "Do you want me to put it down the toilet?" Leslie Johnson asked. "Yes, flush that," the county executive said. But what about the cash? she asked - $79,600. Put it in your underwear, the county executive told his wife. She replied, "I have it in my bra" - which is where agents discovered the money after she answered the door.

Cisco was hit in afterhours trading on Wednesday following a rare revenue warning. Futures are down but dip-buying strength has been so insane lately that one must wonder if there will be any follow through. Regardless of what the stock does, the huge warning may portend the end of the ramp in capital spending on technology by corporations. If so, what's left of the recovery (if anything) is all on the backs of consumers. While pondering that grim setup, please consider Cisco Forecasts Fall Short of Estimates; Shares Slide Cisco Systems Inc., the largest maker of computer networking equipment, forecast...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said today she has "no regrets" one day after a Republican landslide stripped her of the power that defined her historic tenure as the first female speaker of the House. The California Democrat, who won a new two-year term in Tuesday's election, said she has yet to consider what she will do now. "I'll have a conversation with my caucus, I'll have a conversation with my family, and pray over it, and decide how to go forward," she said in an exclusive ABC News interview with "World News" anchor Diane Sawyer. "But today isn't that day."

ANDREA MITCHELL, NBC: "What is the secret here to turn out? In the old days, the old machine days, what we called 'walking around money,' handing out money to get people to vote. Is it still the case? What do you do, what is the magic in Philadelphia? REP. ROBERT BRADY (D-PA): "We still have the street money and we're very knowledgeable." Rep. Brady is also the chairman of the Philadelphia Democratic party.

...five well-known Hollywood Democrats -- David Geffen, Bob Iger, Peter Chernin, Haim Saban, and Ari Emanuel -- are hosting a November 4 fundraiser for Ari's brother Rahm Emanuel in his bid to become Chicago's next mayor. Rahm, a former Democratic U.S. Representative from Illinois' 5th Congressional District (2003-2009), resigned as President Obama's White House Chief Of Staff on October 1 to throw his hat into the mayoral race following the retirement of Richard M. Daley whose last name more or less owned that political office the way most families would takeover the dining table. The Hollywood fundraiser will be held...

Senate Finance Chairman Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, said he knows that just mentioning a possible statewide property tax will stir up emotions.

Afghan private security forces with ties to the Taliban, criminal networks and Iranian intelligence have been hired to guard American military bases in Afghanistan, exposing United States soldiers to surprise attack and confounding the fight against insurgents, according to a Senate investigation.

Lately, the White House and its allies have been drawing attention to the political activities of libertarian billionaires Charles and David Koch. In an August 9 speech, President Obama singled out Americans for Prosperity, a free-market political group founded by David Koch in 2004. In the wake of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, Obama said: ... "Using a great deal" of research by the left-wing Center for American Progress, the New Yorker's Jane Mayer reported in the magazine's August 30 issue that the Kochs are "waging a war against Obama." Reason's Nick Gillespie argued that Mayer's report was nothing...

In the wake of last month’s DHS memo on how to create a de facto amnesty without congressional consent comes a similar “draft” proposal instructing local police to stop enforcing immigration laws. As reported by my colleague Jessica Vaughan, “According to a draft policy document now being circulated among a limited group of stakeholders, ICE chief John Morton intends to prohibit not only his officers, but also local officers with 287(g)immigration authority, from busting illegal aliens who are discovered as a result of traffic violations.” So that means we’ll go back to the situation where illegal aliens can drive illegally...

Chicago - He was a political giant who rubbed elbows with presidents, prime ministers and CEOs from around the world, but Dan Rostenkowski was happiest spending time with family and friends from the old neighborhood on the city's Northwest Side. Tuesday, old Rosty, as he was known, was laid to rest. His funeral mass was at the Catholic church he called his own for his whole life, Saint Stanislaus Kostka. He died last week of lung cancer at the age of 82. Rostenkowski was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1959. He was considered Mayor Richard J. Daley's...

...[S]he’s right. While she’s discussing the corporate world, it’s equally true — perhaps even more so — in the world of politics. Surely it takes a robust ego for anyone to think she’s got the stuff it takes to lead a school committee or town, much less a state or even the entire nation: and not just lead it, but take it in the right direction, all the while avoiding the dizzying emoluments of the culture of greed, graft, bribery, quid-pro-quo, and you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours. Not only that, but you’ve got to have the apparently not-so-common...

He comes from a crooked family. His father stole at least $10 Million from investors and still owes at least $9.4 Million. I guess birds of a feather......

For those who claim that vote fraud isn't a problem, Al Franken's election to the Senate demonstrates not only that vote fraud exists but also that it can alter elections and indeed the laws of the country. Murderers, rapists, and robbers may not be the people we want providing the crucial votes that determine what America's laws should be.

A few days ago, Sharron Angle launched a new format to her website, giving the campaign a more professional looking web portal. Harry Reid’s campaign, however, took the code from the prior Angle website and launched a website called “TheRealSharronAngle.com.” The fake website was what, in internet terminology, is called spoofing, where a seemingly real website is created, usually to obtain information under false pretenses (frequently referred to as “phishing”).

Imagine a little slice of paradise. Sitting on the deck of a cruise ship, margarita in hand, as you glide through the Caribbean. Not a care in the world for a week, until you get home, and find while you were in paradise, burglars were in your home -- sent there by someone working for the cruise line who knew exactly when you'd be gone. Now, your stuff is, too. That's what police in Palm Beach County say happened to at least 24 passengers of Miami based Royal Caribbean Cruise line. It's what they say two people -- one of them a cruise...