Free Republic

Weiner voted against censuring Rangel By Daniel Strauss - 06/06/11 07:50 PM ET When Rep. Anthony Weiner's (D-N.Y.) colleague, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), faced ethics charges in the House in 2010, Weiner voted against censure. Now Weiner will face ethics charges of his own. On Monday, Weiner revealed that for the past three years he had had "inappropriate" Internet conversations with six different women around the country. Weiner's announcement is the most recent major development of the so-called "Weinergate" scandal that started after Weiner's Twitter account sent out a picture of a man in underwear. Initially, Weiner maintained that his...

"All I know is, whenever you have any type of a problem and the problem is one that you spend more than you are actually bringing in then you have to bring in more and spend less. It just makes so much sense, Judge, it's all we have to do," Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY) told FOX Business this evening

Memorial Day normally kicks off the summer vacation and heavy driving season, but with gas prices at the pump more than twice as expensive as they were two years ago, American families are being forced to stay close to home and pull back on normal family expenses.   The cost to fill up the tank is consuming 40% more of the family budget than it did last summer.  According to AAA, 17 cents of every consumer dollar is spent at the pump, up from 12 cents one year ago.  That has consequences, of course.  "Dining, shopping, museums, and gambling are taking...

At a time when many Americans can barely afford Burger King and a movie, Obama boasts of spending a billion dollars on his re-election campaign. Questioned at a recent appearance about the spiraling fuel costs, Obama said, "Get used to it" – and with an insouciant grin and chortle, he told another person at the event, who complained about the effect high fuel prices were having on his family, to "get a more fuel-efficient car." The Obamas behave as if they were sharecroppers living in a trailer and hit the Powerball, but instead of getting new tires for their trailer...

Audit Report: Obama Administration Handed Out $24 Billion in Stimulus Money to Tax Cheats Wednesday, May 25, 2011 By Fred Lucas (CNSNews.com) - Lawmakers from both parties are calling for a fix to prevent tax cheating companies from getting federal contracts in light of a government investigation that found $24 billion in stimulus act funds went to companies owing $757 million in unpaid taxes. “Average Americans are likely wondering why we gave such a huge amount of federal money to tax cheats when our national debt is more than $14 trillion,” Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said in a statement. “That...

Seven publicly traded U.S. corporations represented on President Barack Obama's advisory council for jobs and competitiveness -- including General Electric Co. (GE) and Intel Corp. (INTC) -- have devoted a growing pool of their non-U.S. earnings to investments in other countries. As a group, multinational companies with current or former chief executive officers on Obama's jobs council have, over the past four years, almost doubled the cumulative amounts they've reinvested overseas, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. By doing so, companies may be able to take advantage of faster-growing markets or lower production costs, and they can defer U.S. income...

Newsmax Watch Out! Feds Could Seize Your Private Retirement Savings Saturday, May 21, 2011 04:58 PM By: Greg Brown How long before Uncle Sam hits private pensions to balance the public budget? It’s quickly becoming a reasonable question to ask. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is ringing alarm bells across Washington, D.C., warning of a disastrous outcome if an agreement to raise the debt ceiling is not made soon. “A default would call into question, for the first time, the full faith and credit of the U.S. Pensions, Federal Government, Debt Ceiling, Retirementgovernment,” Geithner wrote in a letter Friday to Sen....

NEW YORK (AP) -- Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Tuesday that if Republicans insist on passage of their budget plan as a condition for approving an increase in the nation's borrowing limit, they will be responsible for the consequences. Speaking to a New York audience, Geithner said that Republicans would bear responsibility for the first debt default in the nation's history if they insist they will not vote for an increase in the $14.3 billion borrowing limit unless they win approval of a House Republican budget plan. "If Republicans try to impose that plan on this country as a condition...

In a conference call with reporters, Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill just disclosed that she failed to pay $287,000 in property taxes related to her co-ownership of a private aircraft. This scandal comes quickly on the heels of recent revelations that McCaskill improperly billed taxpayers for use of the same private aircraft, for which McCaskill reimbursed the Treasury $88,000:

US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner shocked global markets by revealing that Washington is “quite open” to Chinese proposals for the gradual development of a global reserve currency run by the International Monetary Fund. The dollar plunged instantly against the euro, yen, and sterling as the comments flashed across trading screens. David Bloom, currency chief at HSBC, said the apparent policy shift amounts to an earthquake in geo-finance. “The mere fact that the US Treasury Secretary is even entertaining thoughts that the dollar may cease being the anchor of the global monetary system has caused consternation,” he said. Mr Geithner later...

In his Friday press conference to discuss gas prices, President Obama was rather defensive, straining to counter the notion that his administration has been unfriendly to oil drilling, something most people would like to see a lot more of these days. Where do people get that notion? Perhaps his Interior Department appealing a judge’s ruling that it act on several pending deepwater permits had something to with it. Obama claimed repeatedly that he is not against drilling, then made the following comments:

Rangel Still Giving out Tax AdviceBy Paul Bedard Posted: February 18, 2011 Rep. Charlie Rangel, Congress' former chief tax writer who last year was censured for financial misconduct and dubbed a tax scofflaw, isn't running away from the issue as some critics think he should. Instead, he doing what comes natural: Giving out tax advice to his friends and constituents. [See a slide show of 10 Reasons Rangel Is in Trouble.] Refusing to be silenced, Rangel has stepped up his annual practice of providing tax tips through his office and congressional website. Just today, for example, he issued his latest...

Sen. Jeff Sessions: “…Under your budget, the interest increases each year. It was $187 billion in 2009, under your proposal it increases to $844 billion” Treasury Tim Geithner: “Senator, absolutely, it is an excessively high interest burden, it’s unsustainable”

*snip* Fern Stephens, a revenue officer at the Internal Revenue Service, is being charged by the U.S. Attorney's office for stealing more than $160,000 in unclaimed tax funds from 12 taxpayers, according to federal court documents. *snip* Stephens also allegedly took advantage of her position in the IRS to put in fake tax refund requests and transfers in an IRS computer system so the money would go right back to her or relatives and friends.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. This is Sen. John “Liveshot” Kerry, who like all moonbats in Congress has been driven to apoplexy by the proposed continuation of the so-called “Bush tax cuts.” “I hope Americans,” Liveshot harrumphed, “will understand how craven and empty and hollow and contradictory the Republican position is.” At least he didn’t call them gigolos. Everything else Liveshot is, he accused the Republicans of being. Contradictory? Isn’t this the guy who voted for the $87 billion before he voted against it? Wasn’t he against Cape Wind before he was for it, or is it...

The fallen Representative has no shame. In a Nixonian riff he insists "I am not corrupt," and with an Alice-in-Wonderland logic insists he was not motivated by personal gain. Excuse me? Didn't tax boss Rangel personally profit by not reporting rental income to the IRS from his Dominican Republic villa for the last dozen years? Didn't he personally profit by improperly accepting rent controlled apartments instead of paying for much higher market value units? Didn't he personally gain by soliciting charitable donations on his Congressional letterhead since the "charity" was an education center bearing his name as a self-aggrandizing monument...

President Obama struck a tentative deal with congressional Republicans yesterday to extend all of the Bush-era tax cuts in exchange for an extension of unemployment benefits, a move the president said would avoid a damaging stalemate but which infuriated liberal Democrats and left unclear whether the plan could be passed by Congress. Obama’s move represented a major victory for Republicans, who still lack the majority in either chamber of Congress but whose hand was strengthened by a strong showing in midterm elections. They will assume control of the House next year. The president suggested in his remarks last night that...

It’s funny how a group that claims to be concerned with “fiscal strength” wants the most fiscally irresponsible entity this side of John Daly to confiscate more of their money. But at least “Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength” sounds better than “We have so much money we can afford to pretend America was built on high taxes, irresponsible spending and foolishness.” I’ve mentioned this before, but I want to remind these 80-plus millionaires who think their taxes aren’t high enough of something: They can pay higher taxes, and right now. The US Treasury accepts donations. They don’t have to wait...

As Dennis Miller once said in comparing German reunification to a Martin and Lewis reunion, I’m not a fan of his previous work and thus I’m really not looking forward to seeing the new sh*t. In fact, what is the new sh*t that he has planned for a second Obama term? Cap and trade is dead for good, I think; they were struggling to find the votes for that even when Democrats were flying high, but after this month’s shellacking, it’ll be years before they get another centrist to come aboard. Amnesty is always possible, but The One really wants...

Some California lawmakers were packing their bags for Hawaii last week when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced he was calling a special December legislative session to tackle a projected $25.4 billion deficit. Others already were there. Mixing business with pleasure, about two dozen legislators are hobnobbing with interest groups in a tropical paradise this month while discussing green energy, health care, government reform and other key issues. The largest of two Hawaii conferences, held in Maui this week, is providing free travel and lodging to lawmakers underwritten by donations to a nonprofit group from some of the state's most powerful interests...