Free Republic

Americans move to where your money is. Every day thousands of Americans vote with their feet on the best places to live and work, and these migration patterns can tell a lot about state economies—and economic policies. United Van Lines has released its annual report for 2009, based on those the moving company has relocated across one state line to another, and the winner is . . . (snip) As for the biggest winner, well, our readers won't be surprised to learn that it was Washington, D.C. by a large margin. United Van Lines moved nearly seven families to the...

Washington — Former Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Rick Santorum’s acquisition of political-outsider status since his 2006 loss to Democrat Bob Casey is affording him a lot of bluntness. “We were unethical,” he said of congressional Republicans involved in the scandals involving former lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the securing of earmarks for special projects in their districts. “Let’s just be frank about it.” Speaking at the American Conservative Union’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Omni Shoreham Hotel Saturday, the copious applause he received bespoke the self-criticism abounding in today’s conservative movement. The GOP’s performance on ethics, before the Democrats won Congress...

Even though the US congress has been mucking up the banking industry since 1916, few Americans are familiar with GSE’s, (Government Sponsored Enterprises). As a result, the people have hired the same people who destroyed the US economy to begin with, to fix the US economy. Those people are now attempting to save the nation from complete economic collapse via the same failed economic policies that caused the crisis… History repeats for benefit of those who have not yet learned the lesson Although the US Constitution affords the federal government no such power whatsoever to engage taxpayer revenue in banking...

In between meaningful football games yesterday, I saw clips of Vice President Cheney with Chris Wallace and read some comments on the interview. Frequent readers of my blog understands that I am far from a Bush / Cheney apologist. In fact, I am pretty close to a non-entity in conservative Republican circles because of my early public support for Obama last January. However, in this case, I have to agree with the Vice President (almost) in his opinion that the Congress is equally culpable in both the breach of civil liberties but also the Constitutional idea of checks and balances....

Dick Cheney's interview yesterday with Fox's Chris Wallace was filled with significant claims, but certainly among the most significant was his detailed narration of how the administration, and Cheney personally, told numerous Democratic Congressional leaders -- repeatedly and in detail -- about the NSA warrantless eavesdropping program. And, according to Cheney, every one of those Democrats -- every last one -- not only urged its continuation, but insisted that it be kept secret: WALLACE: Let's drill down into some of the specific measures that you pushed — first of all, the warrantless surveillance on a massive scale, without telling the...

WASHINGTON – When the Washington Nationals played their first-ever baseball game in the nation's capital in April 2005, two congressmen who oversaw mortgage giant Freddie Mac had choice seats — courtesy of the very company they were supposed to be keeping an eye on. Efforts to tighten government regulation were gaining support on Capitol Hill, and Freddie Mac was fighting back. The baseball tickets for home opener were means of influence. According to confidential company documents obtained by The Associated Press, Reps. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, and Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., spent the evening in hard-to-obtain seats near the Nationals dugout with...

WASHINGTON — A Capitol Hill sex scandal has reinforced public doubts about Republican leadership and pushed Democrats to a huge lead in the race for control of Congress four weeks before Election Day, the latest USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows. Democrats had a 23-point lead over Republicans in every group of people questioned — likely voters, registered voters and adults — on which party's House candidate would get their vote. That's double the lead Republicans had a month before they seized control of Congress in 1994 and the Democrats' largest advantage among registered voters since 1978. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-10-09-poll_x.htm [poll suggests 59 to...

Sen. John McCain's 2006 demand for regulatory action on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could have prevented current financial crisis, as HUMAN EVENTS learned from the letter shown in full text below. McCain's letter -- signed by nineteen other senators -- said that it was "...vitally important that Congress take the necessary steps to ensure that [Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac]...operate in a safe and sound manner.[and]..More importantly, Congress must ensure that the American taxpayer is protected in the event that either...should fail." Sen. Obama did not sign the letter, nor did any other Democrat.

C O M P A R A T I V E R E T U R N S Range 12/30/94 - 12/29/06 Securities Prc Appr Total Ret Annual Eq SPX Index 208.82 % 279.45 % 11.75 % Range 12/29/06 - 10/ 3/08 Securities Prc Appr Total Ret Annual Eq SPX Index -22.50 % -19.73 % -11.71 %

Presidential Debate, Sept. 26,2008 "Obama:...Two years ago, I warned that, because of the subprime lending mess, because of the lax regulation, that we were potentially going to have a problem and tried to stop some of the abuses in mortgages that were taking place at the time. Last year, I wrote to the secretary of the Treasury to make sure that he understood the magnitude of this problem and to call on him to bring all the stakeholders together to try to deal with it." Source: http://cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/26/debate.mississippi.transcript

I just want to be serious for a second, friends. This is a DEVASTATING video. It is absolutely unacceptable that this video is not being played on every news station and at every Democrat interview around the country over and over again. More Democrats denying there was an impending crisis at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - this time, outright denied by Maxine Waters (D), the moron who threatened to socialize...er, nationalize the oil industry. And Barney Frank (D). And more. So much more. Watch the whole thing, and send it to everyone you know. Link to it everywhere. Do...

Shocking Video Unearthed Democrats in their own words Covering up the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Scam that caused our Economic Crisis

Here you go-- Video proof that Democratic leaders refused to reform over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. ...Don't expect to see this on the nightly news. Shocking Video Unearthed Democrats in their own words Covering up the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Scam that caused our Economic Crisis: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs . . At this 2004 hearing Democrat after Democrat, including Rep. Barney Frank and Rep. Maxine Waters, covered up for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Democrats covered up and killed legislation that would reform their cash cows. Obama has received $105,849 from troubled mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/ ....

A September 11, 2003 New York Times article shows that President Bush proposed “the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago.” His proposal: An agency within the Treasury Department to supervise mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Fearing that mortgages would no longer be available to people who were unable to pay them back, Democrats eventually killed the proposal. The current meltdown in the mortgage industry is a direct result of giving mortgages to people who could not pay them back, a practice protected by Congressional Democrats.

McCain was pushing for Fannie/Freddie regulation back in 2006, while the O was out giving campaign speeches. This strikes me as a pretty big deal. Obama is ridiculing the idea of Mc regulating this mess, and in fact Mc saw the problem in 2006 (maybe earlier). Meanwhile, O has 2 former CEO of Fannie/Freddie as economic advisors, and is a major recipient of campaign contributions

As the war in Iraq grows more unpopular with increasing number of Americans, Democrats in collusion with the liberal mainstream media, continue to politicize the war by distorting the facts. Claim that President Bush lied about WMD in order to implement a grand strategy by neo-cons well before he took office supposedly aimed at using military force to install democratic regimes friendly to the U.S. throughout the Middle East. However, the left has never adequately answered the following question. If Bush knew there was no WMD, why would he send 150,000 troops into Iraq since his “lie” would be immediately...

PART 1In just one year. Remember the election in 2006? Thought you might like to read the following: A little over one year ago: 1) Consumer confidence stood at a 2 1/2 year high; 2) Regular gasoline sold for $2.19 a gallon; 3) The unemployment rate was 4.5%. Since voting in a Democratic Congress in 2006 we have seen: 1) Consumer confidence plummet; 2) The cost of regular gasoline soar to over $3.50 a gallon; 3) Unemployment is up to 5% (a 10% increase) 4) American households have seen $2.3 trillion in equity value evaporate (stock and mutual fund losses)...

BARACK OBAMA (D-IL) Top Contributors (for 2006) 1 University of Chicago $156,054 2 Kirkland & Ellis $143,138 3 Henry Crown & Co $79,500 4 Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal $74,950 5 Northwestern University $72,930 6 Exelon Corp $71,850 7 Sidley, Austin et al $71,432 8 Mayer Brown $69,960 9 Jenner & Block $62,710 10 Soros Fund Management $61,605 11 Goldman Sachs $61,500 12 Clifford Law Offices $59,550 13 Simmons Cooper LLC $58,500 14 Tejas Securities $57,250 15 JP Morgan Chase & Co $56,600 16 Ariel Capital Management $55,650 17 Skadden, Arps et al $54,071 18 Winston & Strawn $52,450 19 Piper...

The retirement of Dennis Hastert, the former Speaker of the House, has led to the loss of his seat from the Republican ranks. In a low-turnout special election, political newcomer Bill Foster beat Jim Oberweis to win the seat for the Democrats. The loss leaves the GOP looking even more impotent in Illinois than ever before (via Memeorandum): In a stunning upset Saturday that could be a sign of trouble for Republicans this fall, a little-known Democratic physicist won the special election for a far west suburban congressional seat long held by former GOP House Speaker Dennis Hastert.Rookie candidate Bill...

Frist Will Not Seek Presidency In 2008 CBS News Interactive: The 109th Congress CBS News: 2008 Republican Hopefuls (AP) WASHINGTON Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist will not run for president in 2008, Republican officials said Wednesday, as the field of White House contenders continued to shrink more than a year before the first convention delegates are chosen. Frist's formal announcement was expected later in the day. His decision caps a 12-year stint in electoral politics in which he rose from an underdog in his 1994 Senate campaign to the position of majority leader a mere eight years later. The decision...

RUSH: I want to go back to the archives of this program. I want to illustrate for you my prescience. When I tell you that you are on the cutting edge of the societal evolution if you are a regular listener here, this will establish it. October 18th, 2006. This is prior to the November elections, the midterms, and I was getting phone call after phone call from conservatives saying they were not going to vote. They were mad as hell. They were sick and tired of the Foley thing and Macaca. They were sick and tired of Republicans not...

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was close to leaving the Republican Party in 2001, weeks before then-Sen. Jim Jeffords (Vt.) famously announced his decision to become an Independent, according to former Democratic lawmakers who say they were involved in the discussions. In interviews with The Hill this month, former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and ex-Rep. Tom Downey (D-N.Y.) said there were nearly two months of talks with the maverick lawmaker following an approach by John Weaver, McCain’s chief political strategist. Democrats had contacted Jeffords and then-Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) in the early months of 2001 about switching parties, but in McCain’s...

Democrats say McCain nearly abandoned GOP By Bob Cusack Posted: 03/28/07 07:39 PM [ET] Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was close to leaving the Republican Party in 2001, weeks before then-Sen. Jim Jeffords (Vt.) famously announced his decision to become an Independent, according to former Democratic lawmakers who say they were involved in the discussions. In interviews with The Hill this month, former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and ex-Rep. Tom Downey (D-N.Y.) said there were nearly two months of talks with the maverick lawmaker following an approach by John Weaver, McCain’s chief political strategist. Democrats had contacted Jeffords and then-Sen. Lincoln...

In the following list, 99 senators are ranked according to their overall composite liberal or conservative scores based on National Journal's 2006 vote ratings

When conservatives lay out their long list of apostasies committed by John McCain, one of them is always his role in the Gang of 14, the 7 Democrats and 7 Republicans in the Senate who agreed to a judicial compromise in 2005. The deal that was struck eliminated the use of the "nuclear option" by the then-GOP-controlled Senate, and also limited the Democratic minority's ability to use the filibuster to block certain judicial nominees (at the time the deal was stuck, there were no pending Supreme Court nominations, only Appellate Court nominations were being held up). To put it plainly,...

Burns, a Republican, narrowly lost reelection to a fourth term in 2006 after Democrats made his relationship with Abramoff a key issue. Abramoff is at the center of a corruption investigation that has led to convictions of a former congressman, legislative aides, lobbyists and Bush administration officials.

The Department of Justice confirms former Montana Senator Burns is no longer part of an ongoing investigation of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. In an exclusive phone call to the News Station's Aaron Flint from his Washington, DC office, Senator Burns is calling it good news and says he feels "so great that it's unbelievable." Burns then released a prepared statement, saying the Department of Justice Public Integrity Section has notified his attorney Ralph Caccia that it (DOJ) has ended its investigation. Burns lost a close race to now Democratic Senator Jon Tester after Democrats questioned Burns about his ties to...

Summary Romney's latest ad attacks McCain in New Hampshire with false and misleading claims: It claims McCain "voted to allow illegals to collect Social Security." That's untrue. Nobody who is in the country illegally could be paid any Social Security benefits under McCain's immigration bill. It implies McCain supported "amnesty" for illegal immigrants. That word isn't accurate. Illegal immigrants wouldn't have received a blanket pardon under McCain's bill. Instead, they would have had to pay thousands in penalties and fees to gain legal status. In fact, in 2005 Romney called McCain's proposal "reasonable" and said it wasn't amnesty. The ad...

Fox News just announced Henry Hyde has passed away.

Several House Republicans who endorsed Fred Thompson for president now say that they are frustrated with what they view as an apathetic campaign, and at least one regrets having committed to the former Tennessee senator. “I think he’s kind of done a belly flop,” said an estranged Thompson backer who indicated he will not pull his public support before the “Super Tuesday” primaries. “We’ll just wait till after Feb. 5 because I think he’s going to get beat.”The disaffected members of team Thompson say that he has failed to put to rest whispers that he is unwilling to campaign hard...

New federal legislation says universities must agree to provide not just deterrents but also "alternatives" to peer-to-peer piracy, such as paying monthly subscription fees to the music industry for their students, on penalty of losing all financial aid for their students. The U.S. House of Representatives bill (PDF), which was introduced late Friday by top Democratic politicians, could give the movie and music industries a new revenue stream by pressuring schools into signing up for monthly subscription services such as Ruckus and Napster. Ruckus is advertising-supported, and Napster charges a monthly fee per student. The Motion Picture Association of America...

SAN DIEGO --- A jury on Monday found a Poway defense contractor guilty of bribing former North County Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham. The contractor, Brent Wilkes, was charged with bribing the Republican politician with more than $625,000 in cash on top of luxury vacations and jet boats in exchange for millions of taxpayer dollars in the form of contracts for his company. Wilkes faced 13 counts: one count of conspiracy, one count of bribery, one count of money laundering and 10 counts of wire fraud. He was found guilty on all counts Monday morning. The 53-year-old San Diego County native...

The Talk Shows Sunday, November 4th, 2007 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Former President George H.W. Bush. MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., Mark Penn, chief strategist for Sen. Hillary Clinton campaign.THIS WEEK (ABC): Former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C. LATE EDITION (CNN) : Mideast peace envoy and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair; Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., Chris Dodd, D-Conn., Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

Can the U.N.'s Law of the Sea Treaty not only be delayed but defeated outright in the Senate? That's the question that conservatives are delightfully pondering as a remarkable series of events has put the pact, supported by the Bush Administration and the liberal leadership in the Senate, in serious jeopardy. Perhaps the most significant development is the announcement by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell that he will oppose the White House and vote against the treaty. As opponents of the treaty make their case in advertisements and on cable TV and talk radio, Republican senators are increasingly hearing from...

As Sen. Hillary Clinton grapples with the burgeoning scandal surrounding disgraced fund-raiser Norman Hsu, she can't quite shake a fund-raising controversy from her 2000 Senate campaign. Mrs. Clinton's entanglement with a thrice-convicted felon named Peter Paul is proof of how long campaign-finance problems can haunt a public official. Mr. Paul became a problem for Mrs. Clinton when his criminal past became public shortly after he helped organize and finance a gala Hollywood fund-raiser for her in August 2000. The Clintons have denied any wrongdoing. Their attorney, David Kendall, says there was never any business arrangement discussed or contemplated between Mr....

The War on Weldon Gets Scarier, Part II © Jack Cashill WorldNetDaily.com August 21, 2007 This the second in a four part series detailing how and why a collaboration of Democratic activists conspired to unseat Pennsylvania congressman, Curt Weldon, in the November 2006 elections. Read Part 1. I met Congressman Curt Weldon for the first (and only) time in July 2006. He graciously consented to assist me in some research I was doing. I, in turn, was able to help connect some of the dots in the chain of forces aligned against him. All dots led to former national security...

You are earnestly urged to believe that the attacks and dirty tricks used against Congressman Curt Weldon, a Pennsylvania Republican seeking re-election, have absolutely nothing to do with the following: 1 — Congressman Weldon took the lead in getting House approval of SDI — the missile defense that was bitterly opposed by the Clinton White House. (See this column "Go along to get along? Not this congressman," Oct. 16, 2006). 2 — The idea of a U.S. missile defense system is also opposed (for obvious reasons) by the enemies of the United States (first the Soviet Union, then the terrorists)...

When the history of the Bush era is written, no scandal will impress the reader as more telling of the time and place than the one that has engulfed Curt Weldon, the deposed Republican congressman from Pennsylvania. To be clear, Weldon is not the perpetrator of this scandal but its victim. To understand how he got embroiled, a quick look back at a nearly forgotten chapter in the annals of the Clinton administration is in order. In January 1997, the Clinton White House went public with a 332-page report that bore the "Austin Powers"-like title, "Communication Stream of Conspiracy Commerce."...

Karl Rove, President Bush's political lieutenant, told a closed-door meeting of 2008 Republican House candidates and their aides Tuesday that it was less the war in Iraq than corruption in Congress that caused their party's defeat in the 2006 elections.

Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., violated ethics standards by giving reporters access to an illegally taped telephone call involving Republican leaders a decade ago, the House ethics committee said Monday. McDermott, who at the time was the panel's senior Democrat, failed to meet his obligations as a committee leader, said a report released two days after Congress adjourned for the year. The panel took no action other than the report. "Rep. McDermott's secretive disclosures to the news media . . . risked undermining the ethics process regarding" former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the committee said. It said McDermott's actions "were not...

WASHINGTON - The 109th session of Congress, frustrated by partisanship and criticized for its meager record of accomplishment, ended with flurry of bill-passing and promises of change when Democrats take over the House and Senate in January. Before the predawn finish Saturday, departing House Speaker Dennis Hastert acknowledged that after eight years, the longest stretch for a Republican in the job, he will welcome a return to the rank and file. "On Jan. 4, I will be privileged to rejoin you on these benches where my heart is," he said, The Illinois Republican will be succeeded on that day by...

The House yesterday passed a resolution "condemning the decision of St. Denis, France, to name a street in honor of Mumia Abu-Jamal, the convicted murder [sic] of Philadelphia Police Office Danny Faulkner." The vote was 368-31, with 8 members voting "present." Here's a list of what one might call the Cop-Killer's Caucus, the congressmen who voted against the resolution, all Democrats: The "present" votes came from Sam Farr (Calif.), Al Green (Texas), Luis Gutierrez (Ill.), Sheila Jackson-Lee (Texas), John Lewis (Ga.), George Miller (Calif.), Janice Schakowsky (Ill.) and Melvin Watt (N.C.). Tellingly, every member of the Pennsylvania delegation who was...

Frist is throwing out "unanimous consents" out like water .. speaking 90 mph. I think the tax bill extension was passed.

Since "Free Republic is an online gathering place for independent, grass-roots conservatism on the web. We're working to roll back decades of governmental largesse, to root out political fraud and corruption, and to champion causes which further conservatism in America.", I and others think it's a good idea to centralize what the goes on in the Senate (or House). So if you see something happening on the Senate/House floor and you don't want to start a new thread to ask if anyone else just heard what you heard, you can leave a short note on who said what and about...

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683 NRA-ILA SPECIAL ELECTION ALERT 10/11/06     PRO-GUN VICTORIES IN THE 109TH CONGRESS--Gun Owners’ Victories Since the 2004 Elections Elections matter.  Precisely because of our work and success in the 2002 and 2004 elections, we were able to lay the groundwork for the victories that you will read about below.  Now the question before us is, “What will the future hold?”  Two years from now, will we be reporting on more victories in our quest to protect and preserve the Second Amendment?  Or, will our update contain bad news for gun owners? ...

Congress started wrapping up its work Thursday ahead of a five-week stretch of campaigning before the midterm elections: _The Senate authorized the establishment of military commissions to prosecute terrorism suspects in legislation that also spells out violations of the Geneva Conventions, a treaty that sets international standards for the treatment of war prisoners. Congress expects to send the bill to President Bush by Friday. _The House moved toward passing a bill authorizing warrantless wiretaps of terror suspects. Differences between House and Senate versions of the bill probably cannot be bridged before the election. _The Senate scheduled a vote for Friday...

This morning, I read on the Drudge Report that Roger Waters (formerly of Pink Floyd) is sounding off about our upcoming elections as a part of his current tour... ...I was a Pink Floyd fan in my youth, and as such, I feel compelled to write an open letter to Mr. Waters. I will readily admit that the foregoing letter at times commits the logical fallacy of making ad hominem statements. So be it. Let's just say that, since I was a fan of Pink Floyd as a teenager, that I have temporarily regressed for the purposes of this letter,...

WASHINGTON - Senate GOP leaders facing rebellion in their own ranks against President Bush's plan to interrogate and prosecute terrorism suspects will call for a vote on the proposal as early as next week. Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell said no decision had been made on when to vote on the measure, which critics say does not go far enough to protect suspects' rights. He added that he hoped a floor vote would settle the issue. A Republican-led Senate committee defied Bush on Thursday and approved terror-detainee legislation the president has vowed to block. Republican Sen. John Warner (news, bio,...

House Republican appropriators remained unwilling yesterday to publicly endorse their leadership’s resolution requiring disclosure of earmark sponsors, setting up a possible rebellion by committee members that could bring down the resolution. Appropriations Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) huddled with his panel yesterday afternoon but emerged with no firm panel-wide plan to oppose the earmark-reform resolution. Many GOP appropriators believe the resolution singles out their committee’s product while applying a narrow definition of tax and authorizing earmarks. “We are attempting to communicate with leadership that this committee feels very strongly that earmark reform is a priority, but it should apply to everybody,”...

On Tuesday, the GOP primary in Rhode Island pits Sen. Lincoln Chafee against Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey. Whatever else may be said about Chafee, he has been a very reliable vote against obstructionist filibusters of judicial nominees. He's voted for cloture all 25 times (see details below the fold). According to Rasmussen, Chafee has pulled to within two points of Democratic challenger Sheldon Whitehouse in his bid for re-election (i.e. 44% for Whitehouse and 42% for Chafee). Whitehouse previously had a six point lead. But Chafee must first face off against Laffey, on Tuesday. Rasmussen has Whitehouse leading Laffey 58%...