Free Republic

Farley, whose company is set to lose $4.5 billion on its EV production this year, remains confident in their longer-term profitability. He embarked on a Route 66 road trip in August in Ford’s F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck, noting that “there are things you can’t learn in an office or from a PowerPoint,” in a LinkedIn post announcing the trip. While on the road, Farley encountered inconsistencies in available charging. Some of the EV chargers he used were effective and provided a painless experience, while in another case, he had to use a low-speed charger that juiced up his truck’s...

James “Jim” Watt, a former U.S. Secretary of the Interior from Lusk, died recently at the age of 85 in Arizona.Born, raised and educated in Wyoming, Watt rose to national prominence when President Ronald Reagan nominated him for the high post at Interior in 1980.

Glasgow university has condemned steam train pioneer James Watt links to slave trade. Glasgow University had recently signed an 'historic' agreement to fund a £20million programme of 'reparative justice' over its links to the slavery during the British Empire. A report by Glasgow University last year found that 25 financial gifts and donations that came from the profits of slavery and a further 18 that may have done so. These would be worth at least £16 million in today's money. The report says the father of 'the famous inventor James Watt' was 'a West India merchant and slave-trader who supported...

Dems Nuked the Filibuster to Confirm Him, Then He Turned to Sexual Harassment Another lingering scandal from Obama’s “scandal-free” administration. February 22, 2019 Daniel Greenfield 16 see comments at FrontPage Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical Left and Islamic terrorism In the fall of 2013, the Democrats were outraged that Republicans were blocking Obama’s nomination of Rep. Mel Watt to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Watt was African-American and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his minions repeatedly tried to associate the move with...

A Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) employee who has accused Director Mel Watt of sexual harassment described her allegations Thursday in gripping testimony before a House committee. Simone Grimes, a special adviser at FHFA, told lawmakers that Watt made dozens of sexual advances toward her, withheld a promised pay raise over her refusal of his advances and was protected by senior agency officials charged with investigating her accusations. Grimes told the House Financial Services Committee that the FHFA’s Office of Inspector General responded to her claims with “hostility, intimidation, bullying, laden with gossip and public shaming” and sought to protect...

Diversity Police: Republicans are scratching their heads over the Obama regime's privacy-invading "National Mortgage Database Project." What's it for? That's easy: redistribution of wealth. In an unprecedented federal intrusion, the president's most radical financial regulators — Mel Watt of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Richard Cordray of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — are creating a massive discrimination database on as many as 230 million Americans. It will encompass a mortgage holder's entire credit history — including credit scores and account balances — and all credit lines, from credit cards to student and car loans. "Why are we collecting...

North Carolina Democrats and African-American leaders are calling on Gov. Pat McCrory (R) to schedule an earlier special election for the seat of former congressman Mel Watt (D-N.C.), who was recently confirmed as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. McCrory has said the special election for the remainder of Watt's term will be held on the regular Election Day, Nov. 4, with the winner serving until the 114th Congress is sworn in early January.

**SNIP** “Filibustering a sitting member of Congress for the first time in 150 years is an insult to a colleague and, in the case of Representative Mel Watt, is a hit in the gut to the African American community. Once a president is elected, he is entitled to his choice of executives to implement the policies he had promised to carry out if elected. Representative Watt, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a graduate of Yale Law School, had deep professional experience in housing as a practicing attorney before coming to...

There is already fallout from Harry Reid (D-NV) and The Democrats use of the “nuclear option” to change confirmation hearings to a simple majority vote. Of course, this means that the Democrats can force horrible choices on America without the possibility of a filibuster. While most people have focused on the judicial appointments, one person in the housing finance arena stands to benefits: Mel Watt (D-NC). Watt would be a disastrous choice as Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director. He has NO regulatory experience, did not know what Tier 1 capital was (the lack of which sank Fannie Mae and...

Mel Watt, President Obama’s nominee for director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, pushed government programs to help welfare recipients buy homes during the creation of the subprime mortgage bubble. Watt, a 20-year Member of Congress from North Carolina’s 12th district, also had a hand in programs allowing borrowers with poor credit to buy homes with no down payment. The American financial system was subsequently destroyed when millions of bad borrowers defaulted on their loans, setting off a market crash that wiped out nearly 40 percent of the net worth of Americans. In 2002, Watt teamed up with Freddie Mac...

Democrat Mel Watt wins in 12th, beating DorityTuesday, November 02, 2010 9:05 PM CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- North Carolina Rep. Mel Watt is set to start a 10th term in Congress. The Democratic lawmaker defeated Republican opponent Greg Dority in unofficial election results Tuesday. Watt has voted along with his party's leadership on major issues such as President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, the $814 billion stimulus package and the financial industry bailout of 2008. He has become a congressional leader on minority affairs. Dority has focused his 2010 campaign on the nation's economic collapse and government spending. He lives...

Ethics office seeks information on Watt, othersTuesday, June 15, 2010 By Jim Kuhnhenn Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A congressional ethics office wants lobbyists to turn over fundraising information on eight House members, six of them on the Financial Services Committee that is working to overhaul the nation's financial regulations. Rep. Mel Watt, a Charlotte Democrat who represents parts of Guilford County, is among the House members that the ethics office is examining. The Office of Congressional Ethics is conducting a preliminary review of the fundraising between Dec. 2, 2009 and Dec. 11, the day the House passed its version...

As moral dilemmas go, the quandary faced by Tucson soldier Justin Watt was about as gut-wrenching as it gets. A few months ago, the 23-year-old Army private first class began to suspect that fellow soldiers — his "brothers" as he called them — had killed an innocent Iraqi family after raping a 14-year-old girl. Watt thought of all the hell his platoon had endured together in the hostile neighborhoods around Baghdad. For nine months, they'd been dodging bullets and grieving side by side as one member after another was killed in action. But in the end, Watt — who attended...

A North Attleboro man faces financial ruin because he built a new home so close to dangerous high-voltage transmission lines that fluorescent bulbs inside the house light up without even being plugged in. The electric currents running through the two-story home are considered so potentially harmful that the town’s fire department has strung “caution” tape around the house while an electrical inspector has refused to issue a final permit out of fear someone might get electrocuted. The home’s metallic door knobs and exterior shingles give off mild electric jolts when touched, while flowing currents are strong enough to light up...

Guitar gods and demi-gods I need freeper advice. A small to medium sized amp is needed to allow proper practice of a vintage tele and new Gibson LP. I have a budget of $1000 'cause the wife says so. So I am soliciting advice. Tube or SS? Modelling or bare bones (I have stomp boxes)? New or vintage? Thanks, doodad

Key points • 22-month-old Charlotte Watt is seriously ill • A court order allows Doctors to choose not to resuscitate her • Parents Darren and Debbie Wyatt are appealing against the court's decision Key quote "They say that, given the improvements in Charlotte's situation and given her continuing improvement, the doctors should not have in their back pockets an open consent from the court to let Charlotte die regardless of the circumstances at the time and regardless of the views of her parents." - David Wolfe Story in full THE parents of seriously-ill Charlotte Wyatt yesterday lost the latest round...

Former Sec. Interior under Reagan responds to charges against Christians and himself posed by the "Religious Left" in a Washington Post Op-Ed. There is also a good frame of reference peice on Powerline.

A blogger brought to my attention an Op Ex article by Bill Moyers that appeared in the Jan. 30 Star Tribune entitled, "There is no tomorrow." The third paragraph reads as follows: "Remember James Watt, President Ronald Reagan's first secretary of the interior? My favorite online environmental journal, the ever-engaging Grist, reminded us recently of how James Watt told the U.S. Congress that protecting natural resources was unimportant in light of the imminent return of Jesus Christ. In public testimony he said, 'after the last tree is felled, Christ will come back.' " I have never thought, believed or said...

Former Secretary of the Interior James Watt says commentator Bill Moyers smeared him by falsely claiming he was a religious nut who told the U.S. Congress that protecting the environment was not important because Jesus would come back soon. Watt, who served under President Reagan, has asked Moyers to apologize for his assertions in a speech published Jan. 30 as an op-ed piece in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Commenting on President Bush after receiving an environmental award from Harvard Medical School, Moyers said the administration's environmental policies are "based on theology" and therefore "delusional." Moyers said: Remember James Watt, President...

U.S. Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C., denied Thursday that he ever cursed at presidential candidate Ralph Nader. Nader has accused Watt of directing an "obscene epithet" -- the f-word -- against him when Nader met June 22 with members of the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington. Watt is a member of the caucus. "I emphatically deny that I used the 'f' word or any curse word or other 'obscene epithet' in the meeting," Watt said in a statement. Watt said he has confirmed with other caucus members and staff who attended "that Mr. Nader's version of what transpired is untrue in...