Free Republic

A federal grand jury indicted nine Baltimore retail storeowners for a food stamp fraud scheme that netted at least $7 million over the last three years. According to officials, the storeowners would allegedly debit food stamp cards for cash instead of food and split the proceeds. The food stamp scheme has been going on since 2010, officials said during a Sept. 17 news conference. U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein, Special Agent in Charge William G. Squires Jr. of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General and Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of...

By the time polls closed Tuesday in Wisconsin, Rick Santorum was already in his home state of Pennsylvania, where he is scheduled for three campaign appearances today in Carnegie, Hollidaysburg, and Mechanicsburg. Meanwhile, the media were gearing up to promote the "inevitability" of Mitt Romney, who was predictably the winner of primaries in Wisconsin, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. Santorum wasn't even on the ballot in D.C. and had not campaigned in Maryland, instead devoting the past 10 days -- following his March 24 Louisiana victory -- to an all-out push in Wisconsin. The outcome of Tuesday's primary in...

WASHINGTON – Amid increasing calls for Rep. Anthony Weiner to resign, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi says the decision should be up to the congressman and his New York constituents. The former speaker said in San Francisco that she believes the decision should be made by "the individual member" and the people in his district.

Media Matters blamed the Egyptian crisis today on the US Jewish lobby and media-owning Jews. Yid With Lid reported this from Media Matters. If one needs additional proof that the “pro-Israel” lobby and the policies it dictates to US policymakers are bad for both the U.S. and Israel, look no further than what is happening in Egypt. The regime that the Israeli government and its U.S. lobby have depended upon to enforce the status quo is going down. It is not clear when, but it’s going to be soon, much sooner than anyone ever anticipated. And you can be sure...

(3rd LD) Gates says diplomatic engagement with N. Korea 'possible' By Kim Deok-hyun SEOUL, Jan. 14 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday diplomatic engagement with North Korea is "possible," but Pyongyang must first stop its "dangerous provocations and take concrete steps" to meet its international obligations. Gates made the remarks as he started talks in Seoul with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin to discuss concerns over the increasingly belligerent North and ways to further strengthen their deterrence against the communist state. "With regard to next steps on North Korea, diplomatic engagement is possible, starting with direct...

Republican Dede Scozzafava endorsed her former Democratic opponent Sunday in the race for an upstate New York congressional seat, shaking up the contest for the second day in a row after exiting the race Saturday.

The Illinois senator has shown beyond a doubt that he is the one to lead the nation in troubled times.The stakes were extraordinarily high even before our economy began to spasm and hurtle toward the abyss.From the start of the campaign, Americans were confronted with profound policy choices about how and when to extricate this nation from a war it initiated, how to temper a looming recession, and whether to continue Bush administration policies that had widened the gap between rich and poor, eroded individual liberties, strengthened presidential power, shifted the Supreme Court to the right, weakened relations with our...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27, 2007 – The Defense Department is committed to implementing changes in policy that will mean fewer, shorter and more predictable deployments for reserve-component troops, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told the National Guard’s 54 adjutants general today. Army Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, left, chief of the National Guard Bureau, speaks with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates during the National Guard Bureau's Senior Leadership Meeting in Washington, D.C., Feb. 27. Photo by Cherie A. Thurlby  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Speaking to the Adjutants General Association of the United States mid-winter conference, Gates said his...