Free Republic

President Barack Obama is praising Democrats as more willing to make tough choices and criticizing Republicans as afraid to do anything, including vote on his Supreme Court nominee. Speaking at a California fundraiser, Obama lauded House Democrats for casting difficult votes “because we understood we had a certain responsibility to get things done.” “And that’s what we have not seen from the other side,” Obama told about 100 people, including Hollywood stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Julia Roberts and Gwyneth Paltrow, seated at round dining tables in a tent at the Bel Air home of Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn.“And that’s...

Making good on his rhetoric of the past few weeks, S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford has said “thanks but no thanks” to billions of taxpayer dollars slated to come to South Carolina as part of the federal government’s “economic stimulus” plan. Or has he? MSNBC reported on national TV this morning that Sanford had sent out a press release saying South Carolina would not be requesting any of the money associated with the $787 billion bureaucratic bailout. Sanford’s office says that’s not true … at least not yet. “Honestly? We’re still looking at the bill to see what’s in it and...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday comes face to face with a massive budget deficit that could prove to be his toughest test in office. The $14 billion shortfall rivals the one he covered with loans and other fixes after the 2003 recall election, but this time he has far fewer options left to close the gap. California is further in debt thanks to bonds the governor has championed, voters have cut off the option to borrow more, and Schwarzenegger has promised not to raise taxes. As a result, Schwarzenegger is expected to announce cuts that will short classrooms, close some...

A hotly contested initiative headed for the November ballot puts California's new governor in a position he's yet to face - taking sides in a fight between two powerful constituencies that are convinced he's on their side. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is already on record supporting the primary aim of the California Chamber of Commerce-backed measure to "reform" the state's Unfair Business Competition Law. "We will get rid of the shakedown lawsuits," he told 2,000 people at a chamber breakfast in Sacramento last week, invoking the name of the chamber-led "Coalition Against Shakedown Lawsuits" that circulated petitions for the initiative. "We...