Free Republic

A GOP “shooting gallery” manned by an Uncle Sam at the Holden, Mo., Street Fair has some people concerned.

Democrat politicians — including former President Obama and former Attorney General Eric Holder — and liberal judges are working to rig the election system to put their cronies in power forever. In the United States, our Constitution leaves it up to we the people to decide how we draw our election maps. And — like so many other things written into that power-separating, government-limiting Constitution of ours — voices on the Left hate that fact with a burning passion. But now, there’s a multi-pronged effort by leftists to secure a permanent Dem majority under the guise of creating “fairer” districts...

BREWER, Maine — When Ken and Jo-Ann Arbo moved into their home in Eddington 22 years ago, they thought they found the perfect place to live.“I hunt right there. I fish out there. I snowmobile out there,” Ken Arbo said of the woods and fields near the couple’s home. “That is why we moved out there.”Now the Arbos face the real possibility of moving again.Their Lambert Road home is within the path of the controversial I-395/Route 9 connector, a proposed two-lane road from Brewer to Eddington meant to ease heavy truck traffic and improve safety on nearby routes 46 and...

General Motors Co. said Wednesday it will stop making cars and engines in Australia by the end of 2017, with nearly 2,900 jobs to be lost, because of high production costs and competition. The decision could spell the end of car manufacturing in Australia as the industry will be too small for supporting businesses such as parts makers to remain economic. Toyota Motor Corp. announced it is reassessing its future in Australia. A union said 50,000 jobs in the auto industry are in jeopardy. GM’s Australian subsidiary Holden once dominated Australian auto sales, but lost market share to imported cars....

Impeached Governor Not Hero Of His Own Legacy?by Jessica Jones April 16, 2011 It was in 1870 that North Carolina Gov. William Woods Holden was impeached and removed from office. He had used the state militia to quell the Ku Klux Klan. Others have begun to question that legacy, saying that he was no early champion of civil rights, but instead a political opportunist. North Carolina Public Radio's Jessica Jones has the story. SCOTT SIMON, host: The North Carolina legislature is working to clear the name of a Reconstruction-era governor. William Holden was cast out of office in 1871 after...

Pennsylvania, the center of the political universe this week, will again garner outsized attention in this fall’s midterm elections. Though Tuesday’s House primaries were greatly overshadowed by the nationally significant victories of Rep. Joe Sestak in the Democratic Senate primary and of Mark Critz (D) in the 12th district special election, they did set up some key November matchups in the quintessentially competitive Keystone State. Click here to learn more! Roll Call’s current House race ratings include 10 of Pennsylvania’s 19 districts as among the 104 districts that will hold competitive elections this fall — the most in any state....

GOP blasts Holden for not returning 'dirty money'By JOHN LATIMER Staff Writer Updated: 03/05/2010 05:58:35 PM EST Pennsylvania's Republican committee is criticizing 17th District Congressman Tim Holden for not returning campaign money he received from embattled New York Congressman Charlie Rangel. On Thursday, the Republican Party of Pennsylvania blasted Holden and five other of the state's congressional Democrats for not returning campaign contributions from Rangel. Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives Ethics Committee rebuked Rangel for taking trips to the Caribbean that were underwritten by corporate sponsors in violation of House gift-giving rules. The committee said it could find...

Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden compared himself to late actor Rodney Dangerfield, Wednesday, saying he "don't get no respect" when it comes to the plan for evacuating New Orleans in the event of another hurricane. After today's comments by the mayor, it appears the fighting's only just begun. The Mayor of New Orleans unveiled his new hurricane evacuation plan Tuesday, saying, in the future, people with no other way out of the city will be put on buses and trains. Mayor Ray Nagin says places like the Superdome will be off limits: "T here is no shelter of last resort."...

Holden apparent winner in mayor-president race By SCOTT DYER sdyer@theadvocate.com Advocate staff writer With 100 percent of East Baton Rouge precincts reporting, state Sen. Kip Holden was apparently on his way Wednesday to becoming the first African-American mayor-president in Baton Rouge history. Holden, a Democrat who made two unsuccessful bids for mayor-president before Tuesday's successful showing, had 94,802 votes, or 54 percent of the ballots counted, with all 300 of the parish's precincts reporting. Meanwhile, incumbent Mayor-President Bobby Simpson, a Republican, was a distant second with 81,142 votes, or 46 percent. In his acceptance speech late Tuesday, Holden urged Baton...

Unless a governor has a harem or is about to be indicted, you can't unseat the state leader of your own party in a primary. It just isn't done - hadn't been done successfully by any party in any state for a decade. It is no way to make friends. It is a good way to commit suicide, although throwing yourself in front of a bus is quicker and cheaper. And Claire McCaskill is nothing if not practical about money. McCaskill is "a great lady," Democratic Committee member Ed Koeller of St. Louis told the Springfield News-Leader last September. "But...

<p>Governor says the strong growth in state tax revenue shows that Missouri has enough in its budget to cover service expenditures.</p> <p>JEFFERSON CITY - Acknowledging strong growth in state tax revenue, Gov. Bob Holden released on Friday the remaining $43 million he had withheld from state agencies because of concerns the state budget was unbalanced.</p>

ST. LOUIS - Illinois and Missouri rank among the states with the most anti-business legal climates, according to a study by the nation's largest business organization. Missouri dropped to 41st from 33rd in 2003 in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ranking announced Monday. Illinois fell to 44th from 38th, chamber president Thomas J. Donohue said during a news conference in Springfield, Ill. Dan Mehan, president and chief executive of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce, blamed Missouri's tumbling ranking on, among other things, the lack of adequate tort reform, including caps on punitive damages. "Talk to Missouri employers as I do,...

Jefferson City, MO (LifeNews.com) -- Despite the fact that there are enough pro-life legislators in Missouri to override his vetoes, Governor Bob Holden called them hypocrites for supporting restrictions on abortion while loosening restrictions on business and agriculture. Speaking Tuesday to 150 attendees at a pro-abortion rally, Holden pledged to veto any pro-life legislation -- even though his veto last session of a law requiring a 24 hour waiting period before an abortion was overridden by legislators from both parties. Holden referred to Republican legislators' attempts to reduce the government burden on business and agriculture, and criticized the fact that...

<p>When Gov. Bob Holden helped arrange a meeting between union officials and Rep. Richard Gephardt's top Missouri campaign advisers, the governor thought it would help patch up frayed relations between two powerful but divided political camps.</p> <p>Instead, it ended in a firestorm of explosive charges, sparked an even deeper rift among two forces key to Holden's re-election prospects, and threw the spotlight on Joyce Aboussie, the Gephardt campaign aide and political powerhouse.</p>

Missouri Gov. Bob Holden said Monday that he'll ban all concealed weapons in buildings owned or operated by the state.Holden vetoed legislation that would have allowed concealed weapons in Missouri, but the Missouri General Assembly overrode his veto in September. The concealed weapons law goes into effect Saturday.Weapons are banned in state buildings, but the new law would have allowed them. Holden said he would declare emergency administrative rules prohibiting concealed weapons on property owned or operated by the state, as well as state buildings and those leased by the state.The ban doesn't apply to law enforcement officials."State buildings are...

To: State Desk Contact: Alan Gottlieb of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, 425-454-4911 web: http://www.ccrkba.org BELLEVUE, Wash., Aug. 11 /U.S. Newswire/ -- A violent string of carjackings and a murder over the weekend in St. Louis are ample proof that Gov. Bob Holden's recent veto of legislation that would have enabled Missouri residents to defend themselves against armed criminals was a terrible mistake that must be resolved by the legislature in September. That was the opinion of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) as St. Louis police continued...

Feel free to send a sympathy card to us political correspondents who aren't based in recall-frenzied California for the looniest political story in decades. To be sure, Missouri is no California. And while nothing will match the Gray Davis fiasco, I'm starting to think the Missouri governor's race may be a decent consolation prize. On Thursday, a grizzled Kansas City political operative with ties to Democrat Claire McCaskill showed up bearing an intriguing gift -- a statewide Missouri governor's race poll. The survey compared Democratic Gov. Bob Holden with McCaskill, the state auditor and his potential primary challenger. And the...

<p>JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri (AP) -- Some people began using the acronym shortly after Democratic Gov. Bob Holden went into debt with a $1 million inaugural party. Soon, opponents were chanting it at Capitol rallies.</p> <p>The not-so-flattering acronym is "OTB" -- "One Term Bob."</p>

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Gov. Bob Holden said Thursday that the state highway patrol should reconsider its practice of trading in used guns for resale following reports that one of the guns was used to kill four people in a factory shooting. Holden, who vetoed a measure Thursday that would allow people to carry concealed weapons, said when he learned Jonathon Russell, 25, had used a semiautomatic pistol from the highway patrol in Tuesday's shooting, "it caused problems for me, that's all I'll say." Russell killed himself, and his motive remained unclear Thursday as relatives ruled out possibilities such...

Sent: Friday, May 30, 2003 8:46 AM Subject: "NO NEW TAXES" Rally Dear Missouri Republican Activist, As you know, President George W. Bush just passed the third largest tax cut in the history of the United States. This tax relief will stimulate the economy and help working families by increasing the child tax credit, eliminating the marriage penalty tax and encouraging employers to invest in workers and equipment. President Bush has been a constant and effective champion of the taxpayer. Unfortunately, in Missouri, our governor is desperate to raise our taxes. In fact, Bob Holden would like to pass the...