Free Republic

WASHINGTON - President Bush is considering new measures to help stimulate the battered economy, the White House said Friday. White House counselor Ed Gillespie said aides to Bush are constantly looking at options for new economic proposals. "There's a short window for the president here when it comes to new policy. We understand that," Gillespie said. "So I guess what I'm saying is, don't rule it out." Gillespie spoke before a Bush speech on the economy, timed around the ceremonial swearing-in of the president's new housing secretary, Steven Preston. In his remarks, Bush stuck to promoting his existing economic policies....

SAN DIEGO - The migrants board rickety boats in the dark, taking orders from inexperienced seamen. From sandy Mexican shores popular with weekend tourists, they can see downtown San Diego's lights when the sky is clear. Smugglers who charge them about $4,000 each for the illegal crossing often use two boats with different crews for the short trip, forcing them to change at sea, authorities say. That way, the hired hands will have less to tell if they are captured. U.S. officials and academics suspect heightened enforcement on land is pushing migrants to gamble their lives on the kind of...

SACRAMENTO – When Californians vote on Indian gambling agreements tomorrow, much more than the fate of those four deals may be hanging in the balance. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who negotiated the compacts, disclosed in recent days that he wants to approve a lot more tribal gaming before he leaves office in three years. “I'm interested in one thing, and one thing only, that . . . the Indian gaming tribes pay their fair share, and . . . that we in California get the money, because we need the money,” Schwarzenegger said last week. Schwarzenegger said he expects future agreements...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9, 2007 – Ongoing training efforts, pay reforms and weeding out corrupt individuals have improved the image and performance of Afghanistan’s police, a senior U.S. military officer said today. Today the Afghan police are being successful against the Taliban, Army Brig. Gen. Robert E. Livingston Jr., commander of Joint Task Force Phoenix VI, told Pentagon reporters from Afghanistan during a satellite-carried news conference. Reports filed last year of police stations being overrun by Taliban terrorists is old news, said Livingston, a National Guard officer from South Carolina who has held his current command since May. His task force...

Reflecting a year of cooperation with Democratic lawmakers, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger marked the end of the legislative bill-signing period Saturday, vetoing bills at a lower rate than in the first two years of his term and approving several measures he had previously rejected. The flurry of last-minute signings came as analysts said Schwarzenegger has taken more moderate public positions this year and departed from the more conservative and strident tone of last fall's special election campaign. "The signing decisions are more reminiscent of 2004 than 2005," said Tim Hodson, executive director of the Center for California Studies at California State...

Do you live in a Mobile Home Park and rent a mobile home? Do you want your rent gauging stopped? Did you know that Rent Control Ordinances and the Mobile Home Residency Law could be lost if the initiative passes.We the people that live in Mobile Home Parks must all unite and defeat Proposition 90. If we do not defeat Proposition 90, we the owners of our Mobile Homes are in a world of trouble.We could lose our homes.For more information on Proposition 90 - Go to Californians Against the Taxpayer Trap =>http://noprop90.com/facts/There will not be any rent control and...

Republicans vow to pass immigration enforcement measuresBy EUNICE MOSCOSO Cox News Service Friday, September 08, 2006 WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders said Thursday they would pass several border enforcement measures in the next few weeks, essentially sidelining a broader bill to change the nation's immigration laws. "Our border is a sieve. We are at war. We certainly need to act like we're at war. We need to close our borders," House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., told reporters. "The Congress cannot wait until next year to take on this issue." Hastert and other GOP leaders said they would move within the...

WASHINGTON, Sep. 1, 2006 – Violence in Iraqi is up, but there has been progress on the political and economic fronts, according to the Defense Department’s quarterly report to Congress, released today. The report measures stability and security in Iraq, looking at political, economic and security progress in the nation. Officials called it a “sober report that lays it all on the table.” The Feb. 22 bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra is Abu Mussab Zarqawi’s “legacy” to the Iraqi people, said Peter Rodman, assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs. Rodman and Rear Adm. Bill Sullivan, the...

U.S. unveils plan to tackle global corruption Thu Aug 10, 2006 5:26 PM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush launched a new global campaign on Thursday to combat kleptocracy, or rampant government corruption, which he said undermines democracy and development in poor countries. "Kleptocracy is an obstacle to democratic progress, undermines faith in government institutions, and steals prosperity from the people," Bush said in a statement. Bush's National Strategy To Internationalize Efforts Against Kleptocracy follows the agreement by the Group of Eight powers at their summit in St. Petersburg, Russia to coordinate legal and financial policies to fight...

Despite rising voter fatigue and the growing political risks for ballot initiatives, California voters in November once again will be faced with sifting through more than a dozen measures that would add up to $43 billion in state borrowing and $3 billion in annual tax increases. Los Angeles voters also could face two extra measures as city officials weigh whether to tack on a $1 billion housing bond and a $1 billion street-paving bond. And even though the deadline for placing measures on the statewide ballot has passed, some state lawmakers are considering whether to go ahead and add measures...

TORONTO - Canada unveiled on Friday anti-terrorism measures aimed at bolstering security at the country's airports, railway systems and marine ports in the next few months. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the government also would spend more than $224 million to beef up the country's ability to detect potential terrorist attacks as part of the $1.3 billion approved in the federal budget for security. "This is how the fight against terrorism will be won ... plugging the holes, filling the gaps," Harper told a news conference at a Toronto airport cargo bay. " Some in Washington have criticized Canada's immigration...

Please use this thread to post information, discussions, or links that will help readers decide on the California Statewide Partisan Republican Ballot Offices below. Please refrain from rants, petty arguments, name calling, and other unhelpful replies. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'ConnellGrant McMickenSarah L. Knopp Diane A. LenningDaniel L. BuntingState Propositions Proposition 81 California Reading and Literacy Improvement and Public Library Construction and Renovation Bond Act of 2006Shall the state sell $600 million in bonds to provide grants to local agencies for the construction, renovation, and/or expansion of local library facilities? Proposition 82 Preschool Education. Tax on Incomes Over...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday sought to dispel the notion that he has backtracked from tough measures to combat global warming, saying he "can live" with capping greenhouse gas emissions by 2012. In response to a reporter's question at UC Davis on Wednesday, Schwarzenegger characterized the 2012 caps as "a great idea" toward achieving the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 - a 25 percent cut in pollution projections from current forecasts. --snip-- Feinstein said she favored the "cap-and-trade" approach - opposed by some businesses - in which companies that exceeded greenhouse gas reduction standards...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 8, 2005 – Security - not body counts - is the true measure of success in Iraq, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Nov. 7 on PBS' "The NewsHour With Lehrer." Marine Gen. Peter Pace said Iraqis providing security to Iraqis is the true measure of success. "This is not about killing of people," he said. "It is about providing security for people." Pace said it would be a mistake for people to start counting bodies of insurgents and foreign fighters. He said that would send the wrong message to both American troops and Iraqi...

LONDON - The British government Wednesday unveiled sweeping anti-terrorism legislation designed to crack down on Islamic extremism, raising concerns from Muslim leaders, opposition parties and legal experts about the potential for infringing on civil liberties. In the wake of the July attacks on London's transit system, the government wants the power to detain terror suspects for three months without charge, outlaw attending terrorist training camps in Britain or abroad and make it an offense to glorify or encourage terrorism. "The terrorist threat facing the U.K. is real and significant and the government is determined to do all it can to...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California voters are showing little enthusiasm for two of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's three special election proposals, according to a poll that also reveals continuing discontent with the governor's job performance. The Public Policy Institute of California poll, released Thursday, is the latest in recent months to indicate the governor faces a tough task persuading voters to approve his slate of initiatives on Nov. 8. Voters said they are increasingly disenchanted with Schwarzenegger's performance, with just 34 percent saying they approve of the job he's doing. More than half also viewed the Legislature with disapproval. "What this...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Dozens of bills, including proposals to build more toll roads, control plant and animal pests and require satellite monitoring of high-risk sex offenders, were shelved Wednesday as an Assembly committee pared down spending measures. At the same time, the Appropriations Committee approved bills to recognize gay marriages, allow doctor-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients and raise the state minimum wage. The committee held up more than a third of 506 bills that would have a significant impact on state spending or revenue and cut the cost of many of the measures it sent to the full Assembly....

It is a rare person who has not heard of the recent cruel homicide of the Florida woman, Terri Schiavo. Everyone, it seemed, had a strong opinion on the subject. Yet, despite clear moral teachings on the evils of euthanasia, there are ‘Catholics’ who boast support for euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide.[1] Are these ‘Catholics’ badly formed and ignorant of their Church’s infallible teachings on the dignity and sacredness of all human life? Is it the fault of Catholic clergy for not preaching the Church’s teachings from the pulpit? In view of the clarity and frequency of the Church’s up-to-date teachings,...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger promised to wage a great battle this fall in a special election showdown with the unions, the special interests and - most of all - the Democrats. But with his numbers falling in the polls and a key petition deadline approaching, there is growing uncertainty not only about which measures voters might face but even whether Schwarzenegger still wants the confrontation. "This has been a catastrophe from beginning to end," said Raphael Sonenshein, a political scientist at California State University, Fullerton. "He's proposed a year of warfare with the Democrats on issues that unite...

SPRINGFIELD - Senate Democrats on the Executive Committee hastily approved four gun-control measures Wednesday amid partisan rancor. Another Senate panel already had rejected much of the legislation, and some Republican senators repeatedly expressed disapproval at the work-around tactic. Senate Bills 1330, 1331 and 1332 were approved Wednesday even though the Senate Judiciary Committee rejected identical legislation earlier this session. Two of the Judiciary Committee's six Democrats are from downstate - Sens. James Clayborne of Belleville and Bill Haine of Alton - and both tend to vote against gun-control legislation. On the other hand, seven of the Executive Committee's eight Democrats...