Free Republic

I want to know how the situation covered on Hannity today is not cause enough for armed insurrection by the people of California against the tyranny of Washington DC. I want to know how governor Schwarzenegger has not called out the national guard and by force of arms turned the water on. I want to know how any rational human being can look at the starving of an area, the destroyed landscape, the human misery caused by artificially starving an area of a natural resource and defend it. I want to know if our government would accept such actions committed...

The morning after President Obama's address to Congress on health care reform last week, Jonah Sachs sat in a Berkeley cafe and took the pulse of a dispirited half of the country. "People working on progressive issues, with truth and information on their side -- those should be the greatest weapons," the co-founder and creative director of the design and strategy firm Free Range Studios said. "But those things are actually a huge liability. The left ends up relying on truth and information too much, and neglecting the impact of the emotional and the irrational." When it comes to the...

I don’t like soda pop. It’s bad for you, it’s a waste of money, it rots your teeth. I don’t like soda pop. So I don’t drink it. That’s how freedom works. If you like soda pop, you drink it. If you don’t like soda pop, you don’t drink it. It’s a great system. But Obama wants to screw with it. In an era in which the federal government seems intent on taking both your freedom and your money, the new target is soda pop. Get ready to get hosed. If you resist, you are a racist. This week, in...

Just when you thought Jimmy Carter could not disgrace the office he once held any further, he goes out and tops himself. The former president avers that "an overwhelming proportion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, he's African-American," Carter, 84, told NBC television. "I live in the South, and I have seen the South come a long way," Carter added. "But that racism inclination still exists, and I think it has bubbled up to the surface because of a belief among many white people, not just...

Heartland Democratic Presidential Forum 12/07 (forum exclusively for thousands of community organizers including Gamaliel and ACORN people) Heartland Democratic Presidential Forum 12/07 (forum exclusively for thousands of community organizers including Gamaliel and ACORN people) Obama said ACORN and friends, responsible for voting fraud and the subprime crisis, are going to be shaping policy for an obama presidency

WASHINGTON – The capital was rocked today by a taxpayer march and rally that could be the biggest protest ever – potentially dwarfing the Million Man March and the Promise Keepers Rally. Though crowd estimates vary from as low as 60,000 to 70,000 according to ABC News to a high of 2 million by London Daily Mail, photographs and videos of the march and rally demonstrate its enormity. The taxpayers stormed Washington, D.C., today, taking their fight against excessive spending, bailouts, growth of big government and soaring deficits to the front door of the U.S. Capitol. All week citizens have...

The White House - Press Office - Statement From The President On The Murder Of DR George Tiller. "I am shocked and outraged by the murder of Dr. George Tiller as he attended church services this morning. However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence." U.S. Department of Justice US Attorney General Eric Holder is dispatching US Marshals to protect abortion clinic and doctors around the country. Holder issued the following statement: The murder of Doctor George Tiller is an abhorrent act of violence, and his...

On national television, President Barack Obama contended this week that his plan to overhaul the country's health care system wouldn't spend a single federal dime on undocumented immigrants.As he spoke, a Republican congressman called the president a liar - once again bringing the incendiary issue of illegal immigration to the forefront of the national debate on health care.While some say undocumented immigrants are scapegoats in an already heated debate, others say they are part of a bigger problem about how to handle a national health care crisis to control medical costs. In a climate of economic trouble and rising insurance...

A couple of weeks before Van Jones resigned his Washington job, I happened to have a casual conversation with an old friend about a media organization we’d both been instrumental in founding in the distant last millennium. He was complaining that the group had, rather soon after it began, turned into an arena for ambitious self-promoters instead of being the advocacy organization which its founders intended. Most of this happened in the 15 or so years when I was too preoccupied with earning a living to pay attention, but I believed my friend’s annoyed recital of pointless power struggles within...

One of the (many) irritating things about being a Republican in the liberal Bay Area is the certainty that if there is a story out there that makes conservatives look stupid - like the protests against President Obama's Tuesday speech to America's students - then you know that wherever you go, folks are going to ask you about that particular flap. What do you think about Obama's speech to students? Or what about those nutty town hallers? Or what about those nasty people who claim Obama wasn't born in Hawaii? I'm supposed to be grateful for the opportunity to prove...

"We're asking questions progressives like but we're giving answers that conservatives should like," he said at last month's National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas. "We're not talking about expanding welfare, we're talking about expanding work. We're not talking about expanding entitlements, we're talking about expanding enterprise and investments. . . . We should be able to stand together and be one country on this." Yes, we should. But while Jones was calling for "one country," Beck and Co. were digging into his background like a political campaign's hit squad to smear Jones as a "communist-anarchist radical." Yes, Jones dabbled...

What is it about Americans? Change terrifies us. Even little changes. We fought the introduction of ZIP codes. We resisted direct dial telephony. We battled fluoridated water -- some fight still -- as a communist plot. What's our problem? Just plain crazy? Or are we so self-satisfied, do we really believe our present reality, whatever it happens to be, so wonderful that any conceivable derivation from the status quo would be, by definition, a decline? Do we really believe that? We are able to adopt certain new things. Everyone in America picked up a cell phone easily enough. There was...

Conservative movement traveling toward Washington, D.C.Conservative roadshow The Tea Party Express rolled into suburban New Lenox this Labor Day, drawing an expectation-breaking crowd of thousands who decried President Barack Obama, his health care initiative and stimulus spending. Organizers said they expected 200-400 people to attend the rally, but were blown away when a crowd -- which some claimed was north of 10,000 -- gathered with American flags and signs denouncing big government. New Lenox's Chief of Police, Bob Sterba, guessed the crowd was likely around 8,000 strong. A precise count was not available. Sterba said that one event organizer even...

It's clear that President Barack Obama's $787-billion stimulus hasn't worked as advertised, but some economists are worried it could backfire and cause something much worse. According to a new study by economists Charles Rowley of George Mason University and Nathanael Smith of the Locke Institute and endorsed by Nobel laureate James Buchanan, the Keynesian tactics employed by Obama "will ultimately hamper the long-term growth potential of the U.S. economy and may risk delaying full economic recovery by several years." The study accuses the president of making Depression-era mistakes. Stephen Moore, member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board and senior...

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows that 28% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-one percent (41%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -13 (see trends). Sixty percent (60%) now believe the President is at least as ethical as most politicians. Overall, 48% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. Fifty-one percent (51%) disapprove.

Trippi: GOP trying to turn Obama into another Jimmy Carter Posted: September 6th, 2009 12:21 PM ET From CNN Associate Producer Martina Stewart WASHINGTON (CNN) – A prominent Democratic strategist said Sunday that Republicans are trying to turn President Barack Obama’s administration into another “failed presidency” like that of former Democratic president Jimmy Carter. “They’re going to keep gunning,” Democratic strategist Joe Trippi said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union, referring to conservatives’ recent — and ultimately successful efforts — to target Obama’s green jobs adviser Van Jones over controversial comments he made before becoming a part of Obama’s...

Conservatives are taking too much solace in the precipitous drop in Barack Obama's approval ratings, and too many of us are overconfident that his administration is merely a replay of the hapless presidency of Jimmy Carter that was easily swept out in a landslide election. Today's situation is far different, far more conducive to our political adversary's political power, than that which faced Carter. And Obama is an entirely different breed of cat. He's more ruthless, more tactically savvy, and has far more dangerous objectives. A drop in his poll ratings isn't as serious a setback for him as similar...

Check out the photograph of the Obamessiah accompanying this White House blog entry: TUE, SEPTEMBER 1, 12:31 PM EST Photostream: Work and Rest in August Posted by Kori Schulman You may need to search for this caption: (President Barack Obama addresses a town hall meeting on health insurance reform inside a hangar at Gallatin Field in Belgrade, Mont., on Aug. 14, 2009. Official White House photo by Pete Souza) Here is the photo of interest. Look at the halo: Either the airplane hanger has a light directly behind Obama's head, or a halo has been photoshoped surrounding the messiah.

Labor Department: Non-Farm Payrolls Drop 216,000 in August; Unemployment Rate Jumps to 9.7%, Highest Since June 1983

Here is a new Naked Emperor News video with the audio of Obama Adviser and Green Jobs Czar saying in 2008 he had a goal of moving the United States from "suicidal capitalism" to a "Green Economy" that will "push it and push it and push it" until it "tranforms the whole society." He said "Complete Revolution is on the table," and the "Green Movement" would be the engine to bring it to pass. . . . (Listen to Audio)

So now the mainstream media is in catch-up mode. Having quietly fretted as Obama’s poll numbers drifted lower and misrepresented the extent of independent voters’ support, they now must explain that the town hall crowds weren’t simply crackpots or dupes of the insurance industry. Those people are actually quite representative of the electorate — especially the electorate willing to turn out to vote in the 2010 congressional elections. And while they swooned at Obama press conferences, the media must now admit that Obama has been colossally ineffective at persuading the public. The “catch-up” phenomenon is nothing new. We saw it...

It has occurred to me tonight that I do not remember hearing that the President had planned to have a two week long vacation. I had understood that he would take last week then, come back to Washington and go back to work. I heard today that he is "taking the rest of the week off". Did I miss something? If not, I cannot recall a time when a healthy President suddenly took an unplanned week off. Can anyone offer some clarity to this mucky water? I am concerned...

~ EXCERPT ~ ~ snip ~ President Barack Obama's job approval rating is down to 42%, with a decline in approval from Democrats the leading factor. The latest Zogby Interactive poll of 4,518 likely voters conducted from August 28-31 found 48% disapprove and 42% approve of the job Obama is doing. The poll found 75% of Democrats approve of Obama's performance, a drop of 13 points among Democrats from an interactive poll done July 21-24 of this year. That same poll found 48% of all likely voters approving of Obama's job performance, and 49% disapproving. ~snip~ In the time between...

(AXcess News) S. Orange, NJ - Here's a question that has been nagging me for months. Are Obama's ever-growing number of "czars" constitutional? I am not a constitutional scholar, but I have read the document. "Article II. Section 2. "He (the President) shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consults, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the...

The Obama administration's offer to drop a Medicare-like health insurance option for Americans under age 65 is neither a surprise nor a comfort, because it does nothing to change the administration's dangerous plan for health reform. Rather, it is a tactic designed to change the debate - one that fits nicely within the administration's broader strategy of deception. On Sunday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that a new government program modeled on Medicare is "not the essential element" of reform, and that the president is open to a government-chartered "co-operative." It was inevitable that the administration would...

President Obama should stop trying to win bipartisan support for national health care reform legislation.Obama seems loath to put pressure on fellow Democrats to embrace a government-run health insurance program as part of his reform plan.Instead, the president has waffled on this key point, most recently saying that it's "only a sliver" of his health care reform goals.This mushy approach is designed to win Republican votes in Congress. But Obama should recognize that hard-line Republicans are never going to support his health reform program because, for them, the Obama health proposals are a sideshow. Their real goal is to limit...

President Obama's Shadow Government has begun to attract attention as more is known about the people he has appointed to positions that need no Congressional approval.

BEFORE THE GOVERNMENT takes over more of our health care system, the least it can do is make a decent sandwich. ...The U.S. Senate Rules and Administration Committee oversees a network of restaurants, cafeterias and coffee shops throughout the Senate complex on Capitol Hill. Its crown jewel is the ornate Senate Dining Hall, where senators and their guests are served by waiters wearing jackets and ties. But there was a problem: The restaurant operation was losing lots of dough. Why? For starters, the food stunk. Many Senate staffers preferred to flock across the Capitol to lunch at the privately managed...

Rather than respond to their concerns and alter the plans accordingly, Obama continues to “stay the course” and ignore the will of the people he has pledged to represent. This is an unfamiliar situation for Obama; during the campaign he was often able to charm citizens into agreement with a fell swoop of his elegant rhetoric. Times have changed, though. President Obama will need much more than lofty prose to bring back a country that shifts against him more and more as the days wear on. He is becoming desperate. When the American taxpayer is footing the bill, desperate times...

Are you ready? Here's a quick lesson in African American social history. For more than a century, the East Coast black elite, including prominent artists, intellectuals and financially secure professionals, has gathered on the island of Martha's Vineyard, off the coast of Massachusetts, to relax and spend time with one another. By tradition, other ethnic groups do the same, and while the groups mingle socially, they largely live in segregated communities on the island. The black community has always summered near the town of Oak Bluffs, on the Island's northern coast. virtualtourist.comDock at Oak Bluffs, Martha's Vineyard The idea that...

Santa Ana, Calif. (AP) -- A federal judge in Southern California has dismissed on a technicality a same-sex marriage lawsuit that created a rift between President Barack Obama and his gay supporters. U.S. District Judge David O. Carter ruled Monday that the case challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act had been improperly filed in state court before it was transferred . . .

Ex-Marine Jack Burke went toe-to-toe with his congresswoman at a street fair in San Carlos last week, convinced that President Barack Obama's health care reform would mean politicians, not doctors, would make his medical decisions. It was not just health care making him angry, Burke said a few moments later. It was Obama's plan to limit global warming; it was the auto industry and all the other bailouts; and it was health care. The retiree said it all felt so wrong, so contrary to how he was raised. "I just feel the government is intruding in our lives," he said....

Just got back from Washington, where I emceed the swearing-in of Rosie Rios as the new U.S. treasurer. Rosie was part of my mayoral team, and we've been close ever since. My job was to introduce both her and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Geithner was incredibly restrained although very generous with his time, letting everyone take their picture with him. All I asked in return for my duties was a tour of the Treasury and a few minutes to be left alone so I could pick up my own personal stimulus package. No such luck. Washington itself was pretty much...

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows that 27% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-one percent (41%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -14. These figures mark the lowest Approval Index rating yet recorded for this President. The previous low of -12 was reached on July 30 (see trends). Prior to today, the number who Strongly Approved of the President’s performance had never fallen below 29%. Some of the decline has come from within the President’s own party. Just 49%...

At a recent Colorado town hall, University of Colorado at Boulder student Zach Lahn asked President Obama how private insurers could be expected to compete with a public health care plan. Lahn, 23, also told Obama, "I'd love to have a debate just all out, anytime, Oxford-style, if you'd like" on health care. Obama answered that "UPS and FedEx are doing a lot better than the Post Office." (If I were Obama, I wouldn't mention the post office while touting public health care.) Then the president observed, "It's good to see a young person who's very engaged and confident challenging...

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood assured car dealers Wednesday that they will be reimbursed for the money they have fronted to customers buying vehicles under the Cash for Clunkers program. LaHood was responding to complaints over a backlog of rebate payments. Dealers must cover customer rebates out of pocket and wait for reimbursement from the federal government. Some have said their reimbursement requests have not been approved, leading to a cash crunch. That’s key because dealers typically borrow money to put new cars on their lots and must repay lenders within a few days of a sale. “I know dealers...

Below Fox News Channel’s Glenn Beck explains the Apollo Alliance on his July 28 show. Beck mentions the Obama administration’s “stimulus” blueprint, “The New Apollo Program: Clean Energy, Good Jobs,” which you can read here.

President Barack Obama chastised the defense industry and a freespending Congress on Monday for wasting tax dollars “with doctrine and weapons better suited to fight the Soviets on the plains of Europe than insurgents in the rugged terrain of Afghanistan.” “Twenty years after the Cold War ended, this is simply not acceptable. It’s irresponsible. Our troops and our taxpayers deserve better,” he told a national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. “If Congress sends me a defense bill loaded with a bunch of pork, I will veto it.” ~snip~Obama, in his third appearance before the VFW but his first...

(snip) Mr. Obama drew some of his most enthusiastic applause when he hammered away at wasteful military spending, declaring, “It’s simple enough. Cut the waste. Save taxpayer dollars. Support the troops.” And he also took pains to praise a hometown politician and former rival — Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, who was traveling overseas and did not attend the event on Monday. Mr. Obama called him “a great veteran, a great Arizonan and a great American who has shown the courage to stand and fight this waste.” (snip)

There is an extensive body of writing from both sides of the political aisle that has analyzed the extraordinary depths of hatred leveled at former President George W. Bush. His birth into a wealthy and politically connected family is where a lot of the animus starts. His rejection of his Connecticut roots and adoption of a rugged Texan persona naturally riled his birth-constituency. His disjointed speaking style also alienated many others - especially those who covered him in the Northeastern media. Naturally, some of his initiatives were controversial. His allies say he didn't do enough.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration has filed court papers claiming a federal marriage law discriminates against gays, even as it continues to defend the law.

JERUSALEM - For the first time since coming into office, President Obama is under serious pressure to study the possibility of an Israeli military strike against Iran, a top Egyptian intelligence official told WND. The Egyptian official said the pressure does not only come from Israel but also from Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia that are at odds with Iran and its Shiite theocracy. The official said Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, has been involved in an intense, behind-the-scenes lobbying efforts urging the U.S. and other Western countries to do everything necessary to ensure Iran does not...

BACKSTORY At a Little Rock restaurant, after Mr. Clinton was elected president, Emanuel ticked off a list of disloyal Democrats and other political enemies, stabs the table with his knife screaming, ''Dead!'' ''Dead!'' ''Dead!'' after each name. Seven months after moving into the West Wing as Obama's COS, Emanuel is emerging as perhaps the most influential White House COS in a generation. But with his prominence in almost everything important going on comes a high degree of risk. As the principal author of Mr. Obama’s do-everything-at-once strategy, he stands to become a figure of consequence in his own right if...

A president famous for his campaign skills has let the opposition define the debate on health care reform, the central issue of his party and his presidency. As Democrats faced raucous town halls across the nation this week, President Obama labored to squelch doubts about draft health legislation rather than tout its virtues. He must turn the debate around by next month, when Congress returns to Washington, many analysts say, or repeat the fate of the last Democratic president who tried to reform health care 16 years ago. "Obama has lost control of the debate, and when that happens, it's...

Mark Lloyd has recently been appointed “Chief Diversity Officer” at the Federal Communications Commission. Conservative groups believe his installation is merely another way to impose the dangerous principles contained in the Fairness Doctrine. Lloyd is a longtime Democrat activist who has strategized about ways to censor conservative media under the guise of “local accountability.” In 2007, he co-wrote a report that called for, among other things, the restoration of local and national caps on the ownership of commercial radio stations and fines for commercial radio station owners if their stations didn’t air enough “progressive” content. Those fines would go directly...

-VIDEO- The more he speaks on defense of his health Plan, the deeper in the hole he goes. Today he said as far as quality and profitability goes, the private sector will be able to successfully compete with the government's health plan. As an example, he cited the competition between FedEx, UPS the U.S. Post Office. He said of the three, the Post office is the one that is always having troubles and is mis-managed.. Isn't the Post office a government run, financed, and managed operation? How does he hope to sway people by giving the post office as an...

A new CNN poll shows that more Americans consider the first six months of President Barack Obama’s administration worse than the same time period of his predecessor, former President George Bush. When asked whether they thought the first six months of Obama’s tenure in office has been a success or a failure, 37 percent responding to the poll released Friday said they believe it was a failure. After Bush’s first six months in office, a similar CNN poll from August of 2001 showed only 32 percent considered it to be a failure. Those who said the first half year of...

Obama Tells US Citizen Opposition to Shut Up--or Else Showing once again that he is no statesman--let alone President of the United States--Dictator-in-Chief Obama told his Union thugs to “get out there” and fight back against any and all US citizens who oppose both him and his programs. So, at Town Hall meetings in both Tampa, FL and St. Louis, MO they did. In Tampa, Randy Arthur was shoved up against a wall by purported SEIU thugs resulting in Arthur suffering chest injuries and a ripped shirt. At the same meeting, a Democrat Party official--Karen Miracle--was photographed assaulting Barry Osteen...

  The Enthusiasm Gap Why liberals should not be disappointed with the current lackluster health care legislation. Jonathan Cohn,  The New Republic  Published: Friday, August 07, 2009 Courtesy of socialistpartynyc.blogspot.com The news about health care is a little confusing these days. While polls show that Americans still support the key elements of health care reform that President Obama and his allies are trying to enact, there have been numerous reports of conservative activists showing up at congressional town halls across the country, protesting those same plans with an energy not matched by the other side.The imbalance may simply reflect the...

The Government's (0bama's) List ( via Yahoo )... 1. Ford Focus 2. Honda Civic 3. Toyota Corolla 4. Toyota Prius 5. Ford Escape 6. Toyota Camry 7. Dodge Caliber 8. Hyundai Elantra 9. Honda Fit 10. Chevy Cobalt Edmond's List... Edmunds.com: Top Clunker Buys The most purchased vehicles under Cash for Clunkers if 2WD and 4WD versions are included. Rank Vehicle Includes Includes 4WD Includes Hybrid 1 Ford Escape Yes Yes 2 Ford Focus No No 3 Jeep Patriot Yes No 4 Dodge Caliber Yes No 5 Ford F-150 Yes No 6 Honda Civic No Yes 7 Chevrolet Silverado...