Free Republic

Not bipartisan? Try telling that to Sen. Olympia Snowe. On CBS’s Face the Nation Sunday, Sen. John McCain scoffed at the notion that the support President Barack Obama’s stimulus proposal has received from Snowe, Sen. Susan Collins, Arlen Specter, constituted bipartisanship. “[T]his agreement is not bipartisan,” McCain told moderator Bob Schieffer. “I've been in bipartisan agreements, many. This is three Republican senators. Every Republican congressman voted against it in the House, plus Democrats. And all but three Republicans stayed together on this. That's not bipartisanship. That's just picking off a couple of senators.” On Monday, Snowe took issue with that...

He built his reputation and ran for president as someone who would buck the GOP in favor of bipartisan cooperation. Now he's rallying opposition to the Democratic stimulus plan. BY JANET HOOK Reporting from Washington. Mac is back. But now, Sen. John McCain is cutting a new profile -- one that is far more partisan than when he became so familiar to Americans months ago as the Republican nominee for president. As a candidate, McCain cast himself as a uniter of the two parties, willing to buck his GOP colleagues and reach across the aisle to build compromises on immigration,...

Per Fox just moments ago, Varney said that the world is already balking at loaning the U.S. another Trillion Dollar Liberal Psychotic Break, and as a result, the interest on such loans to pay for Porkulus Maximus will be higher than expected. Of course, this means interest on all loans taken-out by Americans will be higher. Just what we need. Another tidbit: Dems are "digging in" and now insisting upon a total of $ 937 billion for Porkulus. With interest, that's over $ 1.2 trillion to be paid-back by all Americans, or, more than $37,000 for every man, woman, and...

I’m a hunter, and proud of it. Most of my best hours are spent in the field, sometimes chasing dangerous game. I’m on the track of one, a bigger more dangerous critter than I’ve ever hunted before: the Obama-Pelosi Porkosaurus. The Porkosaurus is plenty dangerous by itself. It subsidizes unemployment by increasing unemployment benefits. And, as the man said, when you subsidize something you get more of it. It doesn’t spend anything -- not one thin dime -- on the one thing that economists say is guaranteed to stimulate the economy, defense spending. And its whole purpose is to feed...

It's been almost one year and $1.5 trillion since the government began its historic slate of financial bailouts -- and all we have to show for it is red ink dripping from our nation's balance sheet. Congress has been busy writing checks to everyone from Detroit automakers to Wall Street day traders. We're now nearing a historic $11 trillion debt. Each time Congress goes to the taxpayer ATM, it claims that this will be the bailout that gets the economy moving again. For instance, on the night the Senate passed the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, the Senate's finance chairman,...

Obama, fellow Democrats and the liberal MSM personally attacking Limabugh, Sean Hannity and others - in order to try and stifle dissent - is indeed already getting old. What happened to dissent being the highest form of patriotism? We are supposed to adhere to the Constitution, not Obama's policies, right?

FOX & friends with Steve Doocy, Gretchen Carlson, and Brian KilmeadeGretchen: Senator McCain, it's my understanding that you're working with other Senators now to try and craft some sort of a different package. What is that, and what are the chances that that will be successful? John McCain: Well, we're working on a package, a group of us republican Senators, and we hope to reach out to democrats as well that would eliminate a lot of this unnecessary stuff. The things that really would have no impact on the economy. A lot of the things included in this bill in...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former presidential rival John McCain expressed disappointment on Friday that President Barack Obama has not negotiated with Republicans over a huge economic stimulus plan and said he is working on an alternative package. Speaking to Reuters, Arizona Sen. McCain said the alternative plan would include what he described as "more effective tax cuts, such as a payroll tax cut" and spending on projects aimed at immediately creating jobs. "A group of us Republican senators are working on coming up with an alternative package that I would hope would have some elements to it that Americans would support,"...

House of Cards Teeters by: Heather Latham, January 30, 2009 Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) has a message he wants to “take…directly to the people.” At a recent Conservative Bloggers’ Briefing, Senator DeMint spoke about President Barack Obama’s stimulus bill that has just been passed in the House and will soon fight its way through the Senate. Senator DeMint focused on private business as the way to end the recession and help the economy grow. Senator DeMint said that he is “…trying to stir up interest and get good information out there.” His good information is that the President and members...

Stimulated Economists by: Bethany Stotts, January 30, 2009 Just as Professors and Economists banded together to express their dismay at the economic demerits of the $700 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funding, so too many academics and economists are concerned that the pending stimulus bill, H.R. 1, focuses on Keynesian spending that will expand the national debt without actually stimulating the economy. In a letter to President Barack Obama contradicting the president’s assertion that “There is no disagreement that we need action by our government, a recovery plan that will help to jumpstart the economy,” these experts argued...

Here's a troubling one from Taxpayer's For Common Sense: Spending on the National Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellite System, a program to generate weather and climate data, has doubled over the last 14 years to $12.5 billion -- even though none of the satellites have been launched. The taxpayer group is highlighting the program as part of its oversight of the Obama administration's stimulus package. Here's what they had to say in a recent blog: "Despite energetic lobbying by the defense industry (and some lawmakers) the $825 billion stimulus bill now emerging from committee markups seems free of handouts for Air...

The unanimous vote by House Republicans against President Obama's stimulus plan provided an early indication that the GOP hopes to regain power by becoming the champion of small government, a reputation many felt slipped away during the high-spending Bush years. The bill passed easily despite the opposition of all 177 Republican House members, but party leaders delighted in what they considered a victory after two straight electoral drubbings and much soul-searching about what the party stands for. "How about those House Republicans?" cheered Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a vocal small-government advocate, at a Heritage Foundation appearance yesterday.

Insight on how the stimulus bill will fare in the Senate, with Rush Limbaugh, radio talk show host

A coalition of Democratic-leaning organizations is spending millions of dollars on a campaign aimed at convincing five Republican senators to back the economic stimulus legislation. The Campaign for Jobs and Economic Recovery, a group of labor and political organizations, is targeting GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Olympia Snowe (Maine), Judd Gregg (N.H.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Chuck Grassley (Iowa) with a 30-second spot. The ad includes audio excerpts from President Obama’s Jan. 8 speech at George Mason University, when he made his case for the stimulus package that could exceed $900 billion.

Stimulus a Moral Hazard by: Heather Latham, January 29, 2009 Still in the shadows of an already-in-progress bailout plan and a yet-to-be-passed stimulus package, Congress seriously considers what to do to protect the fragile economy and help it grow again. In hopes of finding an umbrella under which to wait out the storm, the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, led by Chairman Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), invited three witnesses to a hearing on the financial crisis. The first witness was Gene Dodaro, the Acting Comptroller General at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). Dodaro claimed that “the...

No requirement for a valid Social Security number. Why not save postage and just send them a certificate of citizenship and a voter registration card along with the check?In yesterday’s report on the Hogzilla stimulus bill, we cited the Wall Street Journal editorial which draws attention to $83 billion for redistribution of wealth through tax refund checks to people who don’t pay income taxes. And you thought it wasn’t a vote buying bill?Dick Morris describes the problem this way: GOP, Push Free Enterprise TownHall.com by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann January 28, 2009…In the name of economic stimulus, it not...

RUSH: We'd now like to provide a little safe haven for Eric Cantor, congressman from Virginia, who just finished 20 or so minutes with Andrea Mitchell at MSNBC. Congressman, it's great to have you here on the EIB Network for the first time. CANTOR: Rush, it is great to be on with you. RUSH: I was able to read some of the closed-captioning, Congressman, when you were on with Andrea Mitchell, and it's gotta be a little frustrating, but you know, you guys are doing great. You're hanging really, really tight and tough up there against this because it's a...

Heard this on Rush Limbaugh - The Washington Times is reporting on this (direct link to Washington Times):EXCLUSIVE: Stimulus has plum for lawmaker's son I already posted the Washington Times article (Free Republic link):EXCLUSIVE: Stimulus has plum for lawmaker's son

Reporting from Washington -- As the $819-billion economic recovery bill approved by the House on Wednesday makes its way through Congress, officials 3,000 miles away have their eyes on a Santa Monica Pier upgrade and other projects that have been awaiting funding. A $5-million plan to replace 78 wood piles that support the pier is among the hundreds of California projects that stand to benefit from the federal stimulus measure. In fact, the first major initiative of the Obama administration could deliver as much as $63 billion to the state. * House passes $819-billion stimulus bill * Californians give thumbs-up...

Pretty funny.