Free Republic

The big revelation from the latest Clinton scandals is not that the former president and his wife are corrupt, low-rent, grabby, greedy, serial liars. Everyone already knows that. No, the revelation is the exposure of the dirtiest little secret of them all: No one likes her. This is the hard truth that has popped up like a vicious migraine: No one — not even many of her fellow Democrats and leftists in the mainstream media — likes her very much. Her negative poll numbers (particularly on issues of honesty and trustworthiness) have always been high, except during much of her...

The City Council has proposed a bill that would require grocery and other retail shops to charge customers ten cents for the privilege of bringing their purchases home in a new paper or plastic bag. (Proceeds from the fee would go back to the store owners.) The plan, which is currently endorsed by 19 council members (it needs 26 votes to pass), is intended to encourage people to bring their own reusable bags....

Talk about expensive real estate: A House seat can easily cost millions. Every cycle, a few wealthy candidates dig into their deep pockets to fund their own campaigns. This cycle is on track to be no different — except that Republicans dominate the ranks of potentially self-funding congressional candidates. Democrats constituted some of the richest candidates of 2012, including Reps. John Delaney of Maryland, Suzan DelBene of Washington and Scott Peters of California. All three made Roll Call’s 50 Richest list this year. But in 2014, Republicans boast far more self-funders among their recruits — at least nine so far....

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) sought to clarify comments he made in a testy exchange with a reporter on Wednesday, after conservatives pounced on what they portrayed as a serious government shutdown gaffe.

As of moments ago, Spike Lee’s Kickstarter campaign to raise $1.25 million for his next feature film has raised about $215,000 via more than 1220 donations. The director explains that he needs a public handout.... ... While Lee’s gambit is not a celebrity first (see Braff, Zach and Mars, Veronica), he may be the wealthiest online busker to date, an artist who does not need to seek, Knicks hat-in-hand, other people’s money to produce a new “joint.” Perhaps Lee, 56, might have considered a relatively small loan or mortgage secured by his Manhattan home, a sprawling Spanish Revival mansion that...

A day after a former high school football star had his rape conviction dismissed, attention has focused on the woman who recanted the sexual assault claim she made 10 years ago. Wanetta Gibson was a high school sophomore when she accused Brian Banks of raping her at Long Beach Poly High School. She and her family sued the school, receiving a $750,000 settlement, and Banks spent five years in prison after pleading no contest to forcible rape. Even though a judge Thursday tossed out the rape charge, it remains far from certain if Gibson, 24, will face any consequences. Legal...

In the current downturn, the vast majority of the elderly are suffering along with the young. The right cure would help both generations... Since the early 1980s, financier Peter G. Peterson has been predicting that Social Security’s excessive generosity would crash the retirement system and the economy. The late British journalist Henry Fairlie, in 1988, famously wrote a piece in The New Republic with the cover line “Greedy Geezers,” faulting the elderly for living too well at the expense of the young... The government’s general budget went into the black in 1999, and economists were projecting that the national debt...

A jury in Gwinnett County, Ga., has awarded $3 million to the widow of an Atlanta police officer who died while having three-way sex, finding that his doctor was negligent in not properly diagnosing and treating his heart condition.

Fort Mill, S.C. --— Rick Perry, the lone Republican campaigning for president Tuesday in South Carolina, likened Mitt Romney to a greedy Wall Street “vulture” who was indifferent to the plight of workers who lost their jobs in deals that enriched his investment firm. Seeking an early edge in South Carolina’s Jan. 21 primary .. the Texas governor also ridiculed Rick Santorum’s congressional spending record. Perry started slashing away at Romney’s record as chief executive at Bain Capital on Monday, but was more caustic Tuesday .. "They’re vultures that are sitting out there on the tree limb, waiting for the...

You think you've heard it all until I tell you that an appeals court in Illinois recently ruled that a woman is allowed to sue a dead teen's estate for injuries caused by his flying body parts. The 18-year-old boy was running across the Amtrak tracks to catch another train but didn't make it -- he was hit by an oncoming train going 70 mph and his body was torn apart by the force and flung onto a nearby passengers' waiting platform. The woman, 58, was struck by a sizable chunk of the boy's body and was knocked to the...

Some members of a bankrupt Orange County, Calif. megachurch are expressing outrage after fielding an email request for congregants to deliver food to waiting limos so that it can ferried to the founder's sick wife. The appeal comes weeks after a lawsuit charged that the founder of the Crystal Cathedral house of worship, Rev. Robert Schuller, and his family had been paying themselves lavish salaries and other benefits while the church was in financial straits. "They've completely depleted the church's funds," one member, Bob Canfield, told the Orange County Register. "But they have shown that they have absolutely no remorse...

Why aspire to be successful when you will just be called greedy and selfish?

The Wall Street Journal CEO Compensation Study was conducted by Hay Group, a management-consulting firm. The study analyzes CEO pay from the biggest 350 U.S. public companies by revenue that filed their definitive proxy statements between May 1, 2010, and April 30, 2011. Survey Methodology & Terms Definitions Footnotes How to Use This Chart: Click on a column heading to sort by that category. For an individual executive's full compensation details, as well as a link to the proxy statement, click the relevant row. All figures in thousands

PHILADELPHIA - This may not sound new because we've been talking about it in Philadelphia in connection with its Deferred Retirement Option Plan, or DROP. That has cost the pension fund millions and been abused by elected officials. But now we're looking at it happening in New Jersey. Several high-ranking political leaders found a loophole allowing them to retire and then go back to work, collecting a pension and salary at the same time. Gov. Chris Christie says he will try to close the loophole. But we don't know how many people or even who is doing this. It comes...

FRESNO, California (KFSN) -- Earlier this week ABC30 showed you video of a woman who mistakenly fell into the fountain at a Pennsylvania mall, because she was distracted by text messaging. Well now that woman is suing the mall for not helping her. The video has received more than 1.5 million views since it went viral on YouTube last week. The woman in the video, Cathy Cruz Marrero, doesn't think the video is very funny. She claims she could have gotten seriously hurt and that the security guards should have helped instead of laugh. "I'm just like dumbfounded. And all...

The decision by First Lady Michelle Obama to leave on schedule for her two-week Hawaii vacation and not wait a few days for her delayed husband will probably cost taxpayers more than $63,000 in additional expenses, according to a White House Dossier analysis. President Obama was supposed to depart for Hawaii Saturday, but decided to stay in Washington until Congress finishes its work for the year. He’s now expected to depart today or tomorrow. But Mrs. Obama chose to leave without him Saturday, taking their two children and the dog along with her.

(snip) ...but federal staffers, along with millions of state and local public employees, won't get the tax holiday included in legislation that jumped a procedural hurdle in the Senate on Monday. At the same time, those federal workers, the ones covered by the Civil Service Retirement System, are facing a two-year pay freeze, as are most government employees. (snip) The result: About 426,000 federal workers covered by CSRS would pay more in taxes next year, while most Americans pay less. That doesn't sound fair to Joseph A. Beaudoin, president of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association. "Offering relief...

A Cook County jury has delivered the biggest verdict ever in a "popcorn lung" case: $30.4 million. Factory worker Gerardo Solis, 45, of South Elgin, won the award after alleging his lung disease was caused by exposure to diacetyl, a chemical used in the making of butter-flavored microwave popcorn and other foods. It has been linked to health problems by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. » Click to enlarge image Gerardo Solis Solis has bronchiolitis obliterans, which makes it difficult to breathe. He is awaiting a lung transplant, said his lawyer, Ken McClain. Last month's verdict is against BASF...

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The Duchess of York has held secret talks with Princess Diana's lawyers about renegotiating her 'paltry' divorce settlement with Prince Andrew. Sarah Ferguson consulted Anthony Julius at Mishcon de Reya, who famously negotiated a £17million pay off for Princess Diana when she divorced Prince Charles. The figure is in stark contrast to the £15,000 a year which the duchess receives from Prince Andrew after their marriage ended after ten years in 1996.