Free Republic

WASHINGTON – Anxious and angry, Americans are not in a congratulatory mood. That's bad news for President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies. After winning a landmark health care overhaul earlier this year, Obama now stands on the brink of seeing Congress approve the most far-reaching overhaul of Wall Street regulations since the 1930s. Democrats aim to put it on his desk by July 4. Yet with the economy still wobbly and the stock market retreating, Americans remain nervous about the possibility of a double-dip recession. They have seen few concrete benefits yet from the slow-to-unfold health care law. Likewise,...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US terror watch lists have been radically overhauled after a foiled attack on a US-bound jet, the White House said Monday, as President Barack Obama prepared for key talks on the security scare. The news came as tougher screening procedures for all US-bound air travelers swung into effect in airports around the world. Obama, who has denounced "systemic" intelligence failures in the Christmas Day plot, was preparing to meet with US intelligence chiefs and security officials on Tuesday to review the findings of two probes into the incident. But White House spokesman Bill Burton said "safety and...

WASHINGTON - The welfare state is bigger than ever despite a decade of policies designed to wean poor people from public aid. The number of families receiving cash benefits from welfare has plummeted since the government imposed time limits on the payments a decade ago. But other programs for the poor, including Medicaid, food stamps and disability benefits, are bursting with new enrollees. The result, according to an Associated Press analysis: Nearly one in six people rely on some form of public assistance, a larger share than at any time since the government started measuring two decades ago. Critics of...

White House overhauls spy agencies The move was spurred by questionable prewar Iraq intelligence. The Associated Press June 30. 2005 6:01AM AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite FBI Director Robert Mueller discusses President Bush's decision to create a national security service within the FBI, during a press conference at the Justice Department in Washington, Wednesday, June 29, 2005. Mueller, who will share authority for choosing the head of the new service with National Intelligence Director John Negroponte, added that he does not regard the new agency as an infringement on the FBI's independence. President Bush granted the new national intelligence chief expanded...