Free Republic

(CNN) — John McCain’s general election campaign began as “the strategic equivalent of throwing a football through a tire at 50 yards” – and was doomed weeks before Election Day, his former chief strategist said Thursday. “We were running a campaign under extra difficult circumstances — the state of the Republican Party, the president’s unpopularity, the economy — a lot of issues that were not John McCain’s fault, but were John McCain’s problem in this race,” Schmidt told an audience at the University of Delaware, according to Politico. “When Lehman Brothers collapsed in the fall I knew pretty much right...

Moderate RINOS Undermine the GOP November 11, 2005 Download Windows Media PlayerListen to Rush Conduct Broadcast Excellence BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Well, now the White House has fought back. Will the congressional Republicans get their acts in gear? It looks like they're falling part. This gang of moderates under the tutelage of George Soros that killed the ANWR drilling project-- (interruption) You are unaware that the Republican mainstream partnership is funded by George Soros? I kid you not. It's on Michelle Malkin's website. I pulled it down last night. Here we go. She writes, "Many of you were asking for...

Dear Governor: November 9, 2005 06:19 AM EST There is no such thing as a fusion candidate, no such thing as a bipartisan campaign or a non-partisan issue, and come election night, there are just two parties, one at the GOP HQ and one at the Dem HQ. There's a winners' party and a losers' party. Last night you were speaking to the losers' party. I didn't go. Why bother? The polls had shown for a few days that only Prop 75 had a chance (the measure to stop public employee unions from deducting political dues from their members' paychecks...

TODAY, Californians are heading to the polls to vote on several major propositions that shall dramatically affect both the political and economic future of our state. We are following the activity and will report the results. California Propositions 2.8% of precincts reporting as of Nov 08 08:13 PM PST Results: http://www.sfgate.com/election/

SACRAMENTO — The bills from California's record borrowing binge are coming due, and they are so staggeringly high that financial experts warn paying them back threatens to stall the state's economic recovery. Creditors are knocking on California's door at the same time the state sorely needs money to undo years of neglect to freeways, schools and water systems. The state's overall credit card bill now stands at $51 billion, most of it for public works projects to be repaid over several years. A steep run-up, however, came earlier this year with mega-borrowing that voters approved in March to get the...

It is generally agreed on Wall Street that states should keep the share of their budget that goes to paying down debt to below 6%. California was at less than 3.4% last year. Next year, it will be at 6.4%. Assuming the state stops borrowing now and doesn't authorize any more bonds for anything — an unlikely scenario — the number is projected to grow to 7.5% by 2009. ... Assemblyman Keith Richman (R-Northridge) described those accounting shifts to a group of business leaders at a recent economic conference at UCLA this way: "If you used them in your own...