Free Republic

Mosque Makeovers With Your Tax Dollars WASHINGTON, D.C — A Channel 2 Action News investigation found that the State Department is sending millions of dollars to save mosques overseas. This investment has received criticism as the United States makes an effort to slash nearly $4 trillion in government spending. Plenty of outrage following the announcement made Thursday afternoon by a government commission that suggested huge cuts to the budget, including eliminating the interest education for home mortgage. This juxtaposed with United States investing millions to refurbish mosques as a good-will effort in Muslim countries has upset many taxpayer groups. Watch...

The US has a new diplomatic tool to improve its foreign relations -cooking! US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has signed up 80 celebrity chefs from across the nation to cook special themed-menus for foreign dignitaries in an attempt to influence diplomatic relations, the Daily Mail reported. More than 80 top-rated chefs were inducted into the first American Chef Corps on Friday. The State Department plans to use the chefs to cook meals for visiting dignitaries and travel to US embassies abroad to help educate foreign audiences and host culinary experts from around the world in their US kitchens. "The...

Jackie Whiton, age 65, had worked as a cashier at the Big Apple convenience store in Peterborough, N.H., for years. But then a couple of weeks ago she committed a firing offense. She refused to allow a welfare recipient to use his EBT card to buy a pack of smokes. How dare a taxpayer say no to a member of the non-working class? This is verboten in ObamaÂ’s America. So she was fired. ThatÂ’ll teach her. The gimme guy was a young man, about 20, and when he asked for cigarettes, Jackie Whiton handed them to him but asked for...

Solyndra might be bankrupt, but their website is still up: From the President's speech in 2010: Every day that you build this expanded facility, as you fill orders for solar panels to ship around the world, you’re demonstrating that the promise of clean energy isn’t just an article of faith -- not anymore. It’s not some abstract possibility for science fiction movies or a distant future -- 10 years down the road or 20 years down the road. It’s happening right now. The future is here.

The mushrooming U.S. government debt burden may cause a new financial crisis by spurring a sharp rise in interest rates, warns Doug Elmendorf, director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Countries such as Greece already have seen such crises, as their debt buildups sent interest rates soaring and drove away international bond investors. The CBO projects that U.S. federal government debt will reach 62 percent of GDP by Sept. 30, up from 36 percent just three years earlier. Only once before has that figure surpassed 50 percent, during and just after World War II. The debt, of course, is created...

WASHINGTON – Faced with record levels of red ink into the foreseeable future, Washington is spending $2.5 million to create buzz for the census — by advertising during the Super Bowl.

An extremist Mexican "La Raza" group that annually gets millions of U.S. federal grant dollars will receive even more in the next few years thanks to Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank's multi million-dollar earmark to council Hispanics about housing. La Raza already gets millions from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for "comprehensive housing counseling" for Hispanics whether they are in the country LEGALLY OR NOT. Frank is giving the National Council of La Raza, which has raked in millions of taxpayer dollars over the year, $5 million dollars this year and $10 million over the next two years....

It was only ten years ago that House Republicans, particularly the freshmen swept into office in 1994, were dead-set on reducing funds for the Public Broadcasting Service [PBS]. Sesame Street’s “Big Bird” did not go the way of the dodo bird despite the best efforts of the “revolutionaries.” The PBS webpage states that 18% of its funding comes from its parent, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, federal grants and contracts. PBS continues receiving Federal subsidies despite the continued growth of cable and satellite networks, which broadcast quality programming to consumers. Undoubtedly much television broadcasting is indeed a vast wasteland but...

With support from John Kerry's campaign, two third-party candidates for president officially asked on Tuesday for a recount in Ohio, the state that put President Bush over the top in November. The requests, mailed to all 88 counties, were expected to arrive by Wednesday. Generally, county election boards must agree to a recount, as long as the parties bringing the challenge pay for it. And the Green and Libertarian parties collected enough donations to cover the required $113,600, or $10 per precinct. David Cobb, Green Party presidential candidate, said the election was full of irregularities, including uncounted provisional ballots. "There...

Program director says courses will appeal to “sexual minorities” CHAPEL HILL—This fall the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will offer a new minor program: “sexuality studies.” The program will be offered as an interdisciplinary program, similar to nearly 15 others on campus. Students who complete 12 hours’ worth of courses can receive a minor in sexuality studies. According to the program’s web site, the program is “designed for students who want to explore the study of sexual/gender identities — such as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and heterosexual.” Some of the courses being taught in the fall semester include...

<p>Jackson police officer Lester Schommer can't drive far without finding a vehicle parked on a front yard in south Jackson.</p> <p>Last month, he started enforcing the city's ordinance that bans drivers from parking on lawns. He has documented more than 100 violations. But no one has gotten a ticket yet.</p>

AUSTIN -- Computer hackers have obtained the names and Social Security numbers of about 59,000 current and former students, faculty members and staff at the University of Texas at Austin in one of the largest cases of potential identity theft ever reported. Authorities do not know whether the information has been put to illegal uses such as obtaining credit cards or withdrawing money from financial accounts. Law enforcement officials were expected to obtain and execute search warrants late today in Austin and Houston at homes where computers are thought to have been used in the cyberspace break-in. UT officials suspect...