Free Republic

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Karl Rove, President Bush's top political strategist, on Thursday pronounced conservatism the "dominant political creed in America" and coached fellow conservatives on how to support his boss. "The next time one of your smartypants liberal friends says to you, `Well, he didn't have a mandate,' you tell him of this delicious fact: This president got a higher percentage of the vote than any Democratic candidate for president since 1964," Rove said. -snip- Rove told a gathering at the Conservative Political Action Conference that Bush is committed to the members' ideas of fostering morality and values, including protecting...

HELENA - Marc Racicot, former chairman of the Republican National Committee and the chairman of President Bush's 2004 re-election campaign, said Wednesday he has no interest in being the next U.S. ambassador to Canada. Despite a number of news reports in Canada and the United States over the past two days describing the former Montana governor as the leading contender for the job, Racicot said in an interview he plans to continue as partner in a Washington, D.C., law firm. The ambassador's post is out of the question, he said. "I haven't talked to the White House about it and...

Panel to Review U.S. Tax Code By Warren Vieth, Times Staff Writer WASHINGTON — A presidential commission today launched what it promised would be a top-to-bottom review of the U.S. tax code, but acknowledged that it might make more sense to modify the income tax than to try to replace it. Members of the president's advisory panel on federal tax reform said all options were on the table, including proposals to replace personal and corporate income taxes with variations on a national sales tax. "The president is committed to major tax reform, to real tax reform, to something more than...

WASHINGTON — President Bush's tax reform panel listened Wednesday to the pros and cons of taxing money earned or money spent, leading one member to say that a hybrid should be considered. "It has merit," said John Breaux, a former senator from Louisiana and the panel's Democratic vice chairman.

- Amtrak financing nearly eliminated in proposed Bush budget; Amtrak president reacts in message to employees WASHINGTON – Highway financing would rise slightly while almost all spending for Amtrak would be eliminated under the Bush Administration’s proposed Transportation Dept. budget, according to a story in today’s New York Times. The budget provides no money for Amtrak itself, but does include $360 million to maintain commuter service that uses Amtrak right-of-way in the Northeast Corridor if the passenger carrier goes bankrupt. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta said federal subsidies for Amtrak had almost doubled in the last four years, to $1.2...

Marist College student, David Tupper, wearing a President Bush mask , walks near the presidential inaugural parade route in front of the Canadian Embassy in Washington Thursday. (AP PHOTO) January 20, 2005

THE WASHINGTON TIMES The two hot-button issues that President Bush wants to tackle this year — Social Security and immigration — are about to collide. Two members of Congress will try to block an agreement that the Bush administration signed with Mexico that would allow Mexicans who have worked in the United States, including some illegal immigrants, to receive Social Security payments. Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr., Virginia Republican, will introduce a resolution today calling on the president not to submit the agreement to Congress. And Rep. J.D. Hayworth, Arizona Republican, has prepared another resolution to block the deal, called...

Iran's press hit back at George W. Bush as Washington increases the pressure on the Islamic Republic, with one hard-line daily accusing the US president of being a war-monger. Jomhouri Eslami, in an editorial alluding to the US-led invasion of neighbouring Iraq two years ago, said an assault on Iran would be like "falling out of the frying pan into the fire". It said: "Iranians do not seek war, but if Bush Junior fancies invading Iran, they will face him with an iron will to bury him and his remaining superpower government. The editorial called Bush "stupid, wicked, a war-monger"....

Washington -- President Bush's calls to reshape Social Security and the geopolitical order of the Middle East match the unrestrained ambitions of previous presidents at the start of their second term. In his first State of the Union address after winning re-election eight years ago, Bill Clinton declared that the "enemy of our time is inaction," and pledged to "prepare our people for the bold new world of the 21st century.'' Ronald Reagan called for "a second American Revolution of hope and opportunity" after winning the largest electoral landslide in history. And Lyndon Johnson followed his re-election by proposing a...

Hi! For those that don't know me, I met some Freepers on the side of Penn ave. during the inaugeral parade. They were very nice and were in sharp contrast to the unwashed protestors. A brief bio: Enlisted in the USMC as a 0311 back in 1986. Was a rifleman for a year then got an appointment to the Naval Academy. B.S. in English Lit. Naval Flight Officer (re: "Goose") for 5 years then a military scholarship to U. of Michigan in Ann Arbor for medical school. Now a staff anesthesiologist and pain management fellow at NNMC Bethesda and WRAMC...

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush will ask Congress next week to boost foreign aid by more than $2 billion, with Israel once again the principal recipient of American military and economic assistance. The president will request more than $22 billion worldwide, compared with $19.7 billion in the current fiscal year, a senior U.S. official told The Associated Press. In his State of the Union message Wednesday night, Bush said he would seek $350 million in additional assistance for the Palestinians over two years. The goal is to improve their security forces and give their economy a boost. The budget request...

DollyCali Inauguration 2005 Thoughts n PixWednesday PMWashington Plaza HotelFReeper Social Being late is not anyone’s favorite role. But we were late. Travel companion Vicki from Oklahoma & I (from Ohio) had driven in (thru sleet & snow In ohio & across the turnpike with much of same) to arrive in DC area to see the small fall had about paralyzed the city. I was pretty fatigued as I drove into the DC area after 10 hours of awful-weather driving. My travel pal slept the whole way as she had just driven 18 hours to get to our meeting place....

Mark Tapscott January 31, 2005 WARNING: This column will make you very angry! By law, illegal aliens convicted of heinous crimes — rape, murder, child molestation — are to be deported once they've served their jail terms. But lately, thousands of them have simply been let go. And Justice Department officials have refused to release a government database that could help journalists and private citizens find these aliens. No one knows exactly how many of these criminals there are nationwide, but Cox Newspapers Washington Bureau journalists Eliot Jaspin and Julia Malone examined Georgia state prison records in 2002 and found...

The pre-spin: Bush will spend about 1/2 the speech on foreign policy, 1/2 on domestic, with heavy emphasis on Social Security reform. It's said he will provide a detailed tutorial on the SS system and its problems with a few details on his personal accounts proposal. Laura's guests are said to be an Afghan voter and an Iraqi voter (too bad there's no Ukrainian wearing an orange hat!). Should we start a drinking game on how many times the pool camera swings to Hillary? Hmmm. Probably not...it would likely hamper out typing ability. Word on the blogs has it that...

A slide show featuring the guests and events from W2 Free Republic Ball is being developed from contributing attendees. The contributors page will show your screen name unless you want to remain anonymous or want to give your real name. I think I have most of them but in case you have already posted your images and have not contacted me, reply here and I will copy to the W2 Slide Show collection. Also let me know if you will be posting in the future so you are not left out.

Finally got my inaugeration pics up. I'll post them when I have time to write the whole story. This was my intro to FR. Was walking around, getting the taunts of the great unwashed, when I saw these fellows holding up very arge and very supportive signs. So I HAD to go over to them and say hi.

Most of the punditry got it right about GW’s second inaugural address: it was a monumental speech that prescribed a major shift in our foreign policy and national security posture.  Not only was it a true description of the dangerous world we live in, it also established the framework for our military operations in the years to come. Some analysts have examined the implications of the speech for our armed forces and their roles and responsibilities in ensuring freedom and promotion of democracy around the world. But they lose sight of the historical context of how this changes our strategic outlook....

Jones with Tony Orlando at the Bush inaugural photo: Diane Jenkins Wait, I can't resist some more '70s-related mania: I recently wrote that the original cowboy from the VILLAGE PEOPLE, openly gay RANDY JONES, had agreed to perform at the Bush inaugural festivities, and some people were angrier than I was when disco died. Well, here's Randy's post-show reply: "I was able to stand in front of more than 1,000 Republicans, speak of my husband of almost 21 years, WILL GREGA, and still have them waving their arms and forming the letters of YMCA just like little kids. It...

I attended the W2 Ball and unfortunately left my camera. I was wondering if anyone found a Minolta "box" camera. I don't really care about the camera, but I had some really adorable photos of my one year old daughter in it. If you found a camera, or even if you sympathize, please post here. Thank you!!!

Rush going to give his comments about immigration.