Free Republic

Democrats appear to have the upper hand on the politics of the fiscal cliff, which might explain their brash pronouncements and mind-blowing conceptualization of "compromise." ... The GOP's dilemma is a doozy. Their opponents, emboldened by the election, are pushing for counter-productive tax hikes on "the rich" -- a politically popular proposition at the moment -- while offering almost nothing meaningful in return. Meanwhile, Democrats' allies in the media have been crafting a 'Republicans-as-stubborn-obstructionists' narrative for years. To a large extent, they've been successful; Republicans are poised to bear the brunt of an irate public's blame if a fiscal cliff...

Operation Christmas Child is a rewarding deed and will change the lives of many children around the world, according to Nashville Collection Center Coordinator Beverly Starr. This year was extremely successful for the Nashville and the collection area. Volunteers gathered a record 10,202 shoeboxes. They also took an additional 21 late boxes to Boone, N.C., with them. The total number of shoeboxes collected worldwide won’t be known until the middle of December. The goal for this area was 7,500 shoeboxes, and obviously, OCC exceeded this goal for the year, shattering the old record of 7,340 set in 2011. Starr said,...

The U.S. Senate has unanimously approved an amendment that reaffirms Washington's commitment to Japan in its territorial dispute with China over islands in the East China Sea. The measure was attached Thursday to the National Defense Authorization Bill for Fiscal Year 2012, which is still being debated in the Senate - the upper body of Congress. The amendment says that the U.S. acknowledges Japan's administration over the Senkaku Islands, but does not take a position on the ultimate sovereignty of the territory. It also notes U.S. opposition to any efforts to coerce, threaten or use force to resolve the territorial...

streets of Cairo have remained flooded with protestors ever since Mohamed Morsi issued decrees that “temporarily” maki him a dictator — or as some say, a pharaoh. Morsi pledged to end his decrees as soon as Egypt votes on the constitution drafted by his Muslim Brotherhood and Salafist allies, but that has not slowed down opposition. CNN reports this morning that women flooded into Tahrir Square to protest both Morsi and his Islamist allies, and pledge to remain until Morsi cancels the plebiscite on his draft constitution and his decrees Expect Morsi to approve the plebiscite today, though, because by...

President Barack Obama faces mounting pressure on a decision he had put off during his re-election campaign: whether to approve the $7 billion proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline between the U.S. and Canada. ........................Estimates for how many jobs the pipeline would create range from a few thousand up to 20,000 or more. At 36 inches in diameter, the pipeline will have an initial capacity of 700,000 barrels a day. That's significant, because demand for oil and gas pipelines is expected to surge over the next four years, according to a November report by The Freedonia Group, a market research firm....

Just horrific news out of Kansas City this morning. According to multiple reports, Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher shot and killed his girlfriend, and then drove to the team’s facility and killed himself. The team confirmed the incident in a statement. “We can confirm that there was an incident at Arrowhead earlier this morning. We are cooperating with authorities in their investigation.” The 25-year-old Belcher, who started 10 games this season, reportedly fired the first gunshots around 8 a.m., and then drove to the facility a short time later. Making matters worse, Belcher and his girlfriend had a baby less than...

President Barack Obama attended the November summit to sell a US-based Trans-Pacific Partnership excluding China. He didn't. The American led-partnership became a party to which no-one came. It is symptomatic of the national condition of the United States that the worst humiliation ever suffered by it as a nation, and by a US president personally, passed almost without comment last week. I refer to the November 20 announcement at a summit meeting in Phnom Penh that 15 Asian nations, comprising half the world's population, would form a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership excluding the United States. Instead, the Association of Southeast...

Washington -- Unless Congress acts soon, the New Year will bring plenty of misery for Connecticut's doctors. On Dec. 31, a temporary measure known as the "doc fix" will expire, resulting in a 30 percent decrease in fees to all doctors who treat patients through Medicare, the government-run health program for the elderly, and active and retired members of the military who are covered under the government's TRICARE program. "This would basically result in a collapse of our ability to provide care," said John Foley, a cardiologist in Norwich and president of the Connecticut State Medical Society. Foley said that...

I understand that crazy old Uncle Hank Johnson is at it again. No, he hasn’t predicted that Manhattan will fall into the ocean or anything like that. That was Guam, and it was a long time ago.This time he just thinks we need to pass a constitutional amendment that places limits on freedom of speech.Constitutional amendment!?! When an Executive Order would suffice? Isn’t that a bit of overkill? Don’t be concerned though,for now he’s only talking about corporate speech:   “We need a constitutional amendment that would allow the legislature to control the so-called free speech rights of corporations,” Because “corporations...

It's not the first time we've heard fantastical news from North Korea's state news agency. And if you thought the "peculiar natural wonders" would be buried along with the Dear Leader, my were you mistaken. Today, the Korean Central News Agency said that archaeologists from the History Institute of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea "reconfirmed" the "lair of a unicorn" that was ridden by King Tongmyong. Via the Japan-based Korean News Agency, which distributes KCNA news, here's a bit more of the breaking development: "The lair is located 200 meters from the Yongmyong Temple in Moran Hill in Pyongyang...

DEVELOPING: Arrowhead Stadium, the home of the Kansas City Chiefs, was placed on lockdown early Saturday morning after local reports of two shootings at the stadium.

There has been a report of a murder-suicide involving the Kansas City Chiefs. Various reports indicate a player shot and killed his girlfriend this morning about 8am local time, then drove to the Arrowhead stadium facility and committed suicide. No details regarding the player's identity has been ascertained.

The latest cause-celeb of the American-hating liberals, Pfc. Bradley Manning’s defense team is making a half-baked effort on a plea deal on lesser charges. In the deal Pfc. Manning will admit guilt for providing classified materials to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks. Manning is responsible for the largest leak of classified material in American History. Why The effort to plea to a minor charge is an attempt to dissuade prosecutors from perusing more serious charges against the alleged leaker. To help Manning avoid serving time, the defense team will most likely argue, that since he was mistreated during pre-trial lockup he...

The spirit of Lassie is alive and well in a dog named Ashapoo. The trusty canine was always at the side of his owner's two-year-old grandson, Peyton. And that was a good thing when Peyton's grandfather turned his back for a minute as he was planning to take the boy on a trip on the family land in Clover, South Carolina, to find a Christmas tree. When he turned around, the energetic kid was gone. But so was Ashapoo. By the time Peyton's parents showed up to join the hunt for their missing son on the 300 acres of woods,...

<p>Federal authorities were hunting Friday for more than 100 rifles stolen from a boxcar parked in an Atlanta train yard.</p>

Former Congressman Mel Reynolds, who resigned in disgrace from the Illinois 2nd Congressional District after being convicted of having sex with an underage campaign worker, wants his old seat back. Reynolds announced at a press conference on Wednesday that he would join the avalanche of Democrat candidates jumping in line for a chance at picking up the coveted 2nd district seat, now vacated by Jesse Jackson Jr., in the upcoming special election.

Four people were shot and killed Friday night and Saturday morning, and a fifth person who may have been dead for days or weeks was found with gunshot wounds. In addition to the shootings, a man was stabbed to death on the Southwest Side about 12:45 a.m. Saturday. At least 11 others were wounded by gunfire in shootings from the Uptown neighborhood on the north to the Chatham neighborhood on the south, police said.

Long have atheists cried foul when plastic baby Jesus was placed in front of a courthouse, when public schools cultishly indoctrinated their children with choir songs about silent nights involving baby Jesus, when animated holiday specials suddenly transitioned into stories about the adorable baby Jesus and how three kings gave him expensive jewelry, and he turned milk to chocolate milk and started talking at 6 months instead of the usual 12 to 14 and tested well in placement evaluations, etc., and so forth. Atheists deserve a holiday free from problematic religious associations (or as atheists call it, Insidious Mind Poison),...

Many Americans didn't bother to vote in the past presidential election, some out of apathy or a belief that the election would hardly affect them. They are in for a rude awakening now that Obama has won re-election. His Santa Claus false promises are unsustainable, so there are going to be few winners and a lot of losers as he redistributes wealth. Obama ran on a platform of making the rich “pay their fair share of taxes,” but raising taxes on the wealthy will only fund the federal government for eight days a year. In order to even partially keep...