Free Republic

Long before Jim Messina became a trusted aide to President Barack Obama and one of the most powerful men in Washington, he was just a simple boy from Boise. Now, after working in politics for just over a decade, he lives in a lavish D.C. estate. How this happened is a classic Washington Cinderella story. Raised in Idaho by a single mother, Messina moved to Washington in 1995, in his mid-20s, to take a job as a legislative aide for Max Baucus, the conservative Democratic senator from Montana (now ambassador to China). Baucus supported George W. Bush-era personal and corporate...

He's not running for office. He's not part of a super PAC. He's not lobbying for or against any ballot measures. But billionaire Thomas Peterffy is spending millions on television ads this election season with one cautionary message: Avoid socialism.

There's nothing more American than going from rags to riches. Or so the image goes. The reality, according to a recent study, is far less rosy. The ability to go from poor to rich — or at least to climb out of poverty — has become much harder to do in the last three decades, according to an analysis by Wells Fargo Securities. The percentage of low-income people who moved up the economic ladder slowed sharply from 1980 to 2009, compared with the previous dozen years, the study found. The drop in economic mobility, combined with recently declining government aid...

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Based (loosely) on a true story: If you wish to advance from the oppressive racist world that's holding you back and succeed beyond your wildest dreams, and do it all in the span of only ONE generation, you need go no further than simply study Barack Hussein Obama. Forget about the race pimps. Forget about socialism. Break the chains that bind you to the government plantation. Strike it rich and determine your own destiny based on your own God-given talents, resourcefulness, determination and dedication to task. Here was a poor black child born to a shiftless communist black African man...

Like most good Southern yarns, the Fred Thompson story is steeped in legend. His small-town upbringing in Lawrenceburg, Tenn., is humble and distinct on a campaign trail worn by front-runners in suits that match their polished images. In his methodical drawl, the Republican mentions his early years at every opportunity -- from his announcement speech Sept. 7 in Des Moines, Iowa, to his Oct. 15 appearance on Fox News. The details sometimes differ, but the effect is the same. "My story is an American story," Thompson, 65, said in Des Moines, "one that's happened many times across this great nation...

Microsoft is weighing up taking a stake in Facebook in a move that could value the social networking site at $10 billion (£5 billion) and trigger a bidding war. It is understood that the world’s largest software developer is considering paying between $300 million (£149 million) and $500 million for a 5 per cent stake in Facebook. A move by Microsoft would almost certainly trigger counter interest from a clutch of rivals including Google, the leader in search advertising, and Viacom, the media giant. Talks between Microsoft and Facebook are thought to be at an early stage and Facebook is...

NEW YORK (AP) - Rags to Riches is racing's queen for a day. The fabulous filly outdueled Preakness winner Curlin in a breathtaking stretch run and won the Belmont Stakes by a head Saturday, becoming the first of her sex in more than a century to take the final leg of the Triple Crown.

NASHVILLE - Todd Williams already has gone from being homeless and on his own to college graduate. Now he is headed to the NFL. The Tennessee Titans drafted the Florida State offensive lineman with their sixth and final pick of the NFL draft Sunday, taking him in the seventh round as the 225th selection overall. But Williams said earning a job in the NFL will not be easy just because of what he already has survived. "In life, you're always trying to overcome something, and right now I'm going to a territory that's uncharted. Nobody in my family ever graduated...