Free Republic

President Barack Obama’s auto bailout czar Ron Bloom is under fire from the House Oversight Committee for a pro-union comment he reportedly made in 2009. David Shepardson, a reporter for The Detroit News, wrote in 2009 that Bloom told a dinner audience, “I did this all for the unions.” While testifying under oath at an Oversight subcommittee hearing in June, though, Bloom denied making those comments. Rep. Dan Burton, an Indiana Republican, asked Bloom about the comment. Bloom replied that he didn’t say it. So, Burton asked him if he thought he was “misquoted.” Bloom said “that’s correct.” Burton then...

It’s a well-worn mantra in politics to never let a crisis go to waste, so it comes as little surprise that public officials and the chattering class are wasting no time in dusting off some of their wilder ideas in the aftermath of the tragic shooting in Tucson, Arizona.With only a few days detached from the national tragedy, here’s the list of the top five most ridiculous proposals already floated by your national leaders and thinkers.1. Encase the entire House and Senate floor with Plexiglass so the tourists can’t throw things at members of Congress Tourists (who reportedly don’t smell...

GOP Rep. Wants to Enclose Congress in Plexiglas An aide to Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) tells CBS News that the Indiana Republican plans to introduce legislation next week that would encase the House Gallery in "a transparent and substantial material" such as Plexiglas that would keep members of the public from being able to throw explosives or make other attacks on members on the House floor.

GOP rep: Obama's 'in deep doo-doo' By Bridget Johnson - 08/07/10 01:08 PM ET Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) said Friday that "a lot of people want to jump off" and follow Christina Romer out of the Obama administration. "When you see a ship starting to sink, a lot of people want to jump off," the congressman said on Fox Business Network. "And she is one." Romer, chairwoman of the president's council of economic advisers, announced Thursday that she was leaving Washington and returning to an economics teaching job at the University of California at Berkeley. "This president is in deep...

Military: Two U.S. congressmen take the lead in proclaiming the obvious — that those who attack this country should be punished and not those who risk their lives to defend it. The Navy SEALs are a special breed of patriot and warrior. This highly trained and select group — the best of the best — is a daily participant in the long twilight struggle against the enemies of freedom that President Kennedy warned us about. Kennedy formally created the SEAL (sea, air, land) outfit as an elite force capable of combat operations in any environment. It was a team of...

Washington (CNSNews.com) – Members of Congress – this time armed with more than 100,000 signatures – renewed their call for top Pentagon officials to drop charges against three Navy SEALs for allegedly mistreating an al Qaeda terrorist suspected of killing four Americans in Iraq. The three SEALs will face trial in April and May. “They should not be court martialed but hailed as heroes for doing their job,” said Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) at an event outside the Capitol Thursday where two petitions were released. “What kind of message does this send to people who lay their lives on the...

From Rep. Dan Burton of Indiana: “Friend, I just wanted to send you a quick update on the status of our brave Navy SEALs. Recently we learned from Petty Officer McCabe’s attorney that the defendants still have not been shown any evidence against them. The only explanation for this highly unusual circumstance offered to McCabe’s lawyer was that the “evidence was undergoing a security review before being released.” Before the SEALs’ trial begins in January, I plan to pursue more answers and push hard for their exoneration. My recent appearances on Fox News and coverage in countless newspapers and blogs...

Friends, As you may have heard by now, the three Navy Seals who captured Ahmed Hashim Abed (the mastermind of the brutal murder of four American civilians in 2004) were arraigned last week on charges that they mistreated this Al-Qaeda terrorist. Abed’s tactic is part of the terrorist game-plan. Al-Qaeda’s training manual encourages captured terrorists to claim they have been injured by their captors. I believe we should stand up for these Navy SEALs who put their lives on the line for America. Instead of being the target of any prosecution, these brave soldiers deserve our support and praise for...

Representative Dan Burton (R-IN) is leading the Save the SEALS mission to pressure the Pentagon to dismiss charges against three of our magnificent Navy SEALS who are accused by savage barbarian Ahmed Hashim Abed of punching him in the mouth; or the stomach, or something. Abed was the bloodthirsty mastermind behind the massacre of several Blackwater employees who were deployed to deliver catering supplies in Fallujah. Not content to merely ambush and slaughter the victims, Abed went for extra Allah points by setting their bodies on fire and hanging them from a bridge. Little Lord Abed now contends that our...

Our magnificent Navy SEALS will be arraigned tomorrow for the alleged crime of giving a fat lip to a savage barbarian. The same savage barbarian who massacred Blackwater employees engaged in the mission of delivering catering supplies. The slaughter was not sufficient to impress Allah; Ahmed Abed went for extra credit by burning their bodies and hanging them from a bridge for a special pro- Allah photo op. Arraignment is a hearing in which defendants enter their pleas. The attorney for one of our SEALS told Fox News this morning that he had received nothing from the prosecuting attorneys that...

Here is video of GOP Rep. Dan Burton saying it is an "outrage" and a "miscarriage of justice" that three Navy SEALs have been court-martialed for allegedly roughing up a captured terrorist leader. Burton says we are "standing justice on its head" by going after these SEALs, when at the same time we are bending over backwards to give "Miranda Rights" to captured terrorists. Burton says the Al-Qaeda terrorist manual tells operatives to allege abuse if captured, and he is skeptical about whether the SEALs are guilty or not. Burton has written a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates asking...

Congressman Dan Burton To President Obama, Senator Dodd: Give Back The Campaign Donatons You Received From AIG Corp. Washington, DC) Congressman Dan Burton (R-Indiana) has called upon President Obama and Senator Christopher Dodd to return campaign donations they willing received from the AIG Coporation in their previous political campaigns. Speaking with Talk Show Host Austin Hill on Washington, DC's 630 WMAL Radio, Burton, who called-in to Hill's show, commented on demands from his congressional colleauges that AIG Executives return bonus money paid to them by their employer, and the efforts underway in Congress to legislatively single-out the 73 executives for...

Chris Matthews on this afternoon's Hardball, speaking with Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.). CHRIS MATTHEWS: Congressman Burton, why do you think Cubans on the island still support the Castro brothers? What is it that allows that lock on those people to continue?

Hoosier Access interviews Indiana Congressman Dan Burton, who is facing a rare primary challenger in 2008. Congressman Burton talks about the upcoming election, John McCain, immigration, and the economic stimulus package

As the United Nations tackles crises around the world from North Korea to the Middle East, it cannot ignore the Balkan region -- specifically the challenges facing Serbia. Seven years have passed since the U.N. took control of the Serbian province of Kosovo, and it will soon be time to make a permanent decision concerning its indeterminate status. ... The U.N. must not force a decision on Serbia that is unacceptable to its people and democratically elected representatives. A final decision must be a workable compromise and mutually acceptable to Serbia, ethnic Albanian leaders in Kosovo and the minority Serbian...

I was watching C-SPAN at about 1845 CDT. First Rep. McDermott of Washington was speaking with his usual drivel. But then Rep. Dan Burton came up to the podium and said that "one of our special ops organizations" had found "800 canisters of chemical weapons like those used to kill the Kurds" in Iraq. Anyone else hear this or know anything about it?

Not often, perhaps every half-century or so, a political idea will punch through that forces people to sit and listen. Marxism achieved this at the beginning of the 20th century and stayed almost until the end, ultimately failing because it could not deliver. Nazism fared less well because the prizes it offered came only with war and at the most terrible cost to others. A similar epitaph will eventually be written for al-Qaeda. ADVERTISEMENT <A TARGET="_blank" HREF="http://ads.ft.com/event.ng/Type=click&FlightID=41153&AdID=57330&TargetID=20511&Segments=3099,6198,6235,9122,9179,10158,11059,11694,14316,15545,16157,18316,18489,18876,18952,18962,19119,19182,19313,19724,20188,20750,20936,21052&Targets=3099,7972,15407,6224,21129,21516,18699,20096,20511,20714,21432,21685,21841&Values=30,51,63,77,83,94,102,150,165,239,249,253,494,547,559,575,600,639,645,931,1583,3614,4431,4548,4570,4646,4704,5633,6192,6380,6391,6396,6617,7684,8072,8177,8179,8427,8454&RawValues=&Redirect=http://www.ft.com/screensaver"><IMG SRC="http://www.image.ft.com/adimages/banner/marketingscreensavermpu.gif" WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=250 BORDER=0></A> But while international political focus has been largely on Islamic fundamentalism and Iraq, an alternative economic and political system...

The United States and China will talk next week about China's growing involvement in Latin America. In the past two years China has invested billions in the region - which Washington has, up to now, regarded as its sphere of interest. Charles Tang cuts an arresting figure. He negotiates the uneven Sao Paulo paving stones in his well-cut pin stripe suit, tall, alert, wearing the smile of a man who believes in his vision. Latin music seeps out from a nearby building, and Tang appears to sway in time with it, a child of the Chinese revolution who walks and...

A report commissioned in mid-1999 by Rep. Curt Weldon (R) looks into possible Chinese front companies in the US seeking technology for the Chinese military. Dr. Eileen Preisser and Michael Maloof are commissioned to make the report. Dr. Preisser, who runs the Information Dominance Center at the US Army's Land Information Warfare Activity (LIWA) and will later become closely tied to Able Danger, uses LIWA's data mining capabilities to search unclassified information. According to Maloof, their results show Chinese front companies in the US posing as US corporations that acquire technology from US defense contractors. When the study is completed...

December 12, 2002, 10:40 a.m. The Saudis’ Best Friend State Department gives House of Saud free pass, again, on child abductions. ongress made little progress Wednesday in its attempt to unravel a web of Saudi deceit on a number of child-abduction cases involving American women and children trapped in the desert prison. The three (American) spin doctors on the Saudi payroll who had ducked an earlier hearing were there, but were worse than unhelpful and unresponsive — they were complicit in the Saudi crimes. And refraining from putting any pressure on the House of Saud was the Saudi royal family's...