Free Republic

President Barack Obama asked lawmakers to “pass this bill” — or made some variation of the phrase — 17 times in his jobs speech before a joint session of Congress on Thursday night. Obama unveiled his $447 billion jobs package, the American Jobs Act, during the speech.

The Washington A-List was out in force Saturday night at the farewell party for senior adviser David Axelrod, with a roster of guests featuring Cabinet secretaries, big shot journos and – President Obama. As revolution threatened to sweep Egypt and possibly other allies – with the horrifying prospect of Islamism replacing reliable friends – the president was on view partying with the IN crowd. The skepticism beyond the Beltway about whether Washington is just one big Love-In certainly gets fed by the sight – as conveyed by the press pool report – of reporters like ABC’s Jake Tapper, NBC’s Chuck...

EXCERPT “I think she’s happy to go out and support folks who have stood up for things that she thinks are important,” said David Axelrod, Mr. Obama’s senior adviser. “But I don’t think she’s eager to jump into the fray in a very political way, and I don’t think she will.” With her husband’s poll numbers sliding, and many Democrats distancing themselves from him, Mrs. Obama, political analysts say, is the White House’s best hope for exciting the party’s lethargic base. “Her favorability is the highest of anybody we’ve got on the Democratic side right now,” said Celinda Lake, a...

The euro was weak again early Thursday and, predictably, global stocks followed suit. Japan's Nikkei fell 1.5% overnight, major European bourses were down 1.85% to 3% in recent trading, while U.S. proxies were down 2.5% to 3%. In recent trading, the Dow was below its 200-day moving average of 10,250, while the S&P 500, Dow Transports, Nasdaq and Russell 2000 were each more than 10% below recent highs, or in official "correction" territory. Traders watch such technical indicators closely, and concerns about moving averages and the like can become self-fulfilling and generate more selling. At the same time, the selloff...

American Thinker has carried numerous articles over the past two years predicting that Barack Obama would prove to be an appeaser of tyrants. He has fulfilled our predictions. His obsequiesness towards the tyrannical regime of Iran; his bowing to the Saudi king (even the Center for American Progress; closely tied to the Administration, admits Obama bowed), his television address to the Arab world on a partially Saudi-owned cable network, his expansion of aid to the Palestinians; his claim that the Muslim world has enriched America; his commitment to join the UN Human Rights Council; his first call as President was...

So Obama has it in for the wealthy. Those of us who went beyond the gushing headlines during the campaign last year already knew that. It’s ironic, considering his income jumped from $991,296 in 2006 to $4.2 million in 2007 — but while you can move a man away from the breeding ground of his ideology, you can’t take the ideology out of the man. Plus you have to admit he sure looks snazzy in those expensive tailored suits. What’s even more ironic is that as Obama continues to offer campaign-like platitudes in an effort to bolster his populist credentials,...

In the run-up to next month’s Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, the Obama administration has moved to ease travel controls and lift limits on cash remittances that Cuban-Americans can send to the island, notes a report in the U.K.’s Observer. The ground-breaking provisions are featured in a $410 billion spending bill set to be voted on this week. The bill would allow Americans with immediate family in Cuba to visit annually, instead of once every three years, and broaden the definition of immediate family. It would also nix a requirement that Havana pay cash in advance for...