Free Republic

Lumber prices are sinking. And while that might make a trip to Home Depot cheaper, it's also a sign that the global economic recovery and the U.S. housing rebound are in danger of stalling. Only a few months ago, inflation was the main worry of many economists. But falling prices for the raw materials of many industries, including lumber, have set off deflation warning bells for some economists, who worry that they could signal another global economic downturn. Prices for framing lumber have tumbled 21% from their peak only five weeks ago, according to figures from the National Association of...

The Jones departure recalls another Democratic surrender: The indicated willingness to abandon a plan to fund voluntary end-of-life consultations after they were miscast by Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as “death panels.” "As we've seen before, succumbing to these types of propaganda attacks from the right wing only emboldens the aggressors. This controversy will go away and they will trump up another one tomorrow,” said David Brock, founder and chairman of Media Matters for America, a group that has taken on conservative commentators. “No good comes from appeasing a lunatic bully like Glenn Beck." "If Jones left under pressure from the...

In January 2005, just after Barack Obama was sworn in as a United States senator from Illinois, I published eight reasons why he'd run for president in 2008. Then in January of 2007, just before he officially announced his candidacy, I published eight reasons why he'd win the Democratic nomination. This week, to finish the cycle, I'll give you a pair of eight-reasons columns about Obama: Today, why he might lose Nov. 4. And Thursday, why he'll win.Am I hedging? No. I'm looking at the same polling data everyone else is but saying I can still see Republican John McCain...

I am an American conservative not a conservative American. To me they are two very different things. I recognize the extreme danger America would from a Democrat president. There is no chance I would ever vote for a Democrat or stay home. America is too important to me. I am sick of people playing politics with the future of my country. Given the choice between the conservative movement and my country, I will vote for the safety of America in a heartbeat. I will never vote to teach the country a “lesson” with a Democrat president. I don’t play with...

Dan Gilgoff does a post-mortem on how the evangelical movement managed to allow John McCain to win the Republican Party nomination over two candidates more amenable to their cause. Gilgoff focuses on their failure to back Romney, and makes it plain that religious bigotry played no small role in their inability to understand which political agenda suited them the best: As [James] Dobson warmed to Romney — the two had a getting-to-know-you session at Focus' Colorado Springs headquarters last year — he could have opened a dialogue with his millions of radio listeners about why evangelicals should feel comfortable voting...

Once again a familiar pattern emerges, one that has occurred many times before especially after a disasterous election result for the party in question. Case in point the Republican Party which had its asses handed to them in the last federal election wherein Republicans across the board were slaughtered, not because the Republican constituency suddenly embraced liberal ideology and rejected conservatives values and principles, but because Republicans in positions of power did. Thus they were rewarded with a withdrawl of support which greatly contributed to their defeat. The crystal clear lessons of the elections of 2006, instead of being a...

Conservatives, you might as well put down the prayer book and pick up the Pepto-Bismol. The Republican presidential race is over. Done. Stick a fork in Mitt Romney and his millions. Florida is the new South Carolina, and the same brilliant voters who couldn’t read a butterfly ballot in 2000 have anointed the next Republican nominee. My fingers sear with pain as I write this, but the nominee presumptive of the Republican Party - less than four years after almost running for vice president as a Democrat - is . . . is . . . Well, you know who...

Alexander J. Madison – January 29, 2008 Fellow citizens, I was holding out hope that we could save the Republican Party from it’s slow, deliberate and painful march towards irrelevance. But with the only Reaganite in the primary election, Duncan Hunter, dropping out this past weekend, and Tom Tancredo long gone after being pilloried by the GOP cheerleaders on ‘conservative’ talk radio, and Fred Thompson, the only other reasonably traditional conservative, unable to get the necessary traction for a competitive race against the moderates, it is time to cut our losses and let the collapse take its natural course. The...

It is over. The conservative "movement" within the GOP is kaput. Why? Because, my dear conservative friends, regardless of former Gov. Romney's money, charm, youth and great looks, he has the GOP insiders against him. He "made war" against the Establishment, and they knocked him down. Do you honestly think they're gonna let him bounce back and whip Johnny Mac? McLame has the big endorsements with many more to come. Now he'll get the free press and money. THAT'S why it's over. Conservatives lost their power in the GOP with regards to Presidential candidates after Reagan left office (Some will...

How to Survive Really Hard Times In the old days, folks were accustomed to periodically having to live through hard times. They knew how to survive the hard times with the least amount of wear and tear on their families. Nowadays, most folks dont know what hard times really are. Even those folks who think they have it hard right now can usually still depend on some type of government handout or charity assistance, and therefore they dont truly know what hard times really are. My definition of hard times is when things aint what they use to be and...

I would like to poll Freepers their opinion to this question. We have our hands full in Iraq, keeping warring factions apart. Our biggest fear is that if we leave too soon, Iran takes over. What if we made our next priority getting rid of Ach-the-Mad's regime? How do you think this would change the dynamics for us to need to keep troops on the ground in the Middle East, as well as other consequences?

In the middle of August, 13-year-old children should be wringing the last bit of fun out of their summer vacation. They should be splashing in the pool, catching insects in a jar, flipping somersaults on an old mattress or throwing a football through a tire hanging from a tree. Nowhere on the list should be included: "Showing off your new gun to a friend." But that's what police say happened in yet another senseless shooting that demonstrated how few truly innocent children are growing up in some parts of the central city.

Homeland security enters the classroom Pioneering program starts next year at Harford high school The Harford County school system plans to open what will apparently be the nation's first magnet program focused on homeland security, preparing high school students for careers in disaster response, high-level computer science and law enforcement. Students in the program, scheduled to open in the fall of 2007 at Joppatowne High School, will be given limited security clearances to enable them to perform internships at nearby Aberdeen Proving Ground, where the military develops and tests conventional and biological weapons. The curriculum, which is being developed, is...

Let's just be honest about it: 2005 was a disaster for Republicans and conservatives. No, we never really had a chance in Jersey, even though it looked like it, but we got beaten even worse then we should have. Kilgore blew the Virginia race. Yes, Warner's popularity was big, and yes, it's an off year election, and no, Bush isn't at the height of his popularity, but this race was mainly Kilgore's fault. Why did this happen though? What made him think he could run Hitler ads and piss off the NRA and get away with it? California was almost...

French gov't meets over riots Sat Nov 5, 2005 2:10 PM GMT French riots spread outside Paris Eighth night of Paris riots By Tom Heneghan AULNAY-SOUS-BOIS, France (Reuters) - Hit-and-run arson attacks escalated in poor Paris suburbs as the government met to formulate a political response to nine nights of urban violence that has spawned copycat unrest in major towns. Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin summoned eight key ministers and a top Muslim official to his offices on Saturday as he sought to chart an end to violence some foreign newspapers have likened to the Palestinian intifada. "Violence is not...

The Washington Times reports that Karl Rove was "very involved" in President Bush's selection of Harriet Miers to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court. This should put to rest the notion that Mr. Rove is a political genius. Bush compounded matters at his press conference Tuesday, when he said Ms. Miers was the best qualified person, a statement breathtakingly at odds with reality. He'd have been on firmer ground if he'd simply said Harriet Miers was the best qualified conservative who could win relatively easy Senate confirmation. William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, said he was "disappointed,...

Witnesses: Tasered boy posed no threat July 31, 2005 BY DAVE NEWBART Staff Reporter A 14-year-old boy who went into cardiac arrest after he was zapped by a Chicago Police stun gun had not threatened police or anyone else before he was shocked, four eyewitnesses to the February incident say. The developmentally delayed boy was sitting on a couch in a juvenile home and was not attempting to harm anyone, the witnesses claim in sworn court depositions obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times. After the boy went into convulsions and fell to the floor, the officer who used the Taser allegedly...

Let's let all the Freeper who are panicking use THIS thread so they won't be cluttering up the OTHER THREADS.

The Bush administration has slapped high duties on Chinese TV sets for the alleged problem of "dumping"—which increasingly means selling at prices lower than sets sold by established firms. Let's leave the issue of dumping for now and examine the claim that jobs are being shipped overseas, which is usually what is said when great foreign products appear in US stores. A number of people have observed that TVs are no longer made in the US. The implication is that at least the Bush administration recognizes a problem. The jobs that used to go into making TVs have effectively been...

Islam Bashing – Enough Is EnoughAsim Mughal Presentation of Muslims & Islam was a usual pass time at Hollywood for decades. Only interrupted by the ‘commies’ or the ‘Russians.’ It is a necessity to show the evil and bad contrasted with the good. In cases of entertainment, a hero is supposed to be just that someone who triumphs over evil. However, such images do have a lasting impact beyond and outside of movie theatres. It has been nearly two years since the tragic events of 9/11. Since then we have learned a great deal on what happened, how it happened...