http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/111th/ en-us Sat, 2 Jan 2010 20:10:30 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2419654/posts That's why federal spending above its revenues should be illegal, punishable by crucifixion (or perhaps something even more painful). Doug Ross @ Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2419654/posts#comment Sat, 2 Jan 2010 20:10:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419499/posts When the year began, the most pressing foreign policy issues facing the United States included the security threats in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Islamist terrorism, and the North Korean and Iranian nuclear standoffs. On the eve of 2010, and after almost a year of the Obama administration’s policy of engagement, there are few signs of improvement in any of those areas. Supporters of multilateralism welcome what they regard as a significant change in atmosphere, and polls do appear to signal a lessening of anti-American sentiment in some parts of the world. But actual achievements remain elusive. James Lindsay, director of studies... CNS News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419499/posts#comment Sat, 2 Jan 2010 15:09:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419470/posts The cost of war — on veterans’ health and taxpayer wallets — will loom a little larger in the new year. The Department of Veterans Affairs will issue a final rule to claim adjudicators to presume three more diseases of Vietnam veterans, including heart disease, were caused by exposure to Agent Orange. The rule, expected to be published soon, will make almost any veteran who set foot in Vietnam, and is diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, B cell leukemia or ischemic heart disease (known also as coronary artery disease) eligible for disability compensation and VA medical care. The exception would be... SIERRA VISTA Herald/Review http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419470/posts#comment Sat, 2 Jan 2010 14:25:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419432/posts Happy New Year to all my readers, and what better, oh, what better way to celebrate the start of a new year than by looking backwards. That's right...looking backwards at all the greatest failures of the Obama Administration from 2009, its first year in power! Here for your reading pleasure is a Top Ten compilation of what I deem to be the ten most failing moments of Barack Hussein Obama relating to his policies; this list is by no means complete, and he seems to add to it every day, but you get the picture. So, here's to a happy... Associated Content (AC) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419432/posts#comment Sat, 2 Jan 2010 13:09:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419455/posts <p>NEWTOWN - A Hartford man serving a 30-month prison sentence for burglarizing U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd's Hartford office died Thursday at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington.</p> <p>Gilbert Soto, 50, had been taken to the UConn Health Center after being found suffering from a head injury in the shower area of the medical wing of the Garner Correctional Center in Newtown. Police initially said his death was suspicious, but a preliminary investigation by state police detectives has determined that may not be the case.</p> Hartford Courant http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419455/posts#comment Sat, 2 Jan 2010 13:51:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419472/posts WASHINGTON – An already difficult situation for Democrats in Congress is worsening as the 2010 political season opens. To minimize expected losses in next fall's election, President Barack Obama's party is testing a line of attack that resurrects George W. Bush as a boogeyman and castigates Republicans as cozy with Wall Street. Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, who heads the House Democrats' campaign arm, said his party wants to remind voters who was on their side at a difficult time. "The Republican Party in Washington today is no different than the Republican Party that ran the Congress before," he said.... AP via Yahoo! News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419472/posts#comment Sat, 2 Jan 2010 14:29:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419571/posts After the EunuchBomber attack fizzled on Christmas Day, both Republicans and Democrats wasted no time in pointing fingers, primarily battling over the Department of Homeland Security, even though DHS had little if anything to do with the security issues involved in that attempt. Republicans called for the resignation of Janet Napolitano after her ridiculous insistence two days later that “the system worked.” Democrats blamed the attack on Senator Jim DeMint for placing a hold on Barack Obama’s nominee to head TSA, Erroll Southers, even though Obama hadn’t even bothered to nominate Southers until late September, and TSA had nothing to... Hot Air http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419571/posts#comment Sat, 2 Jan 2010 17:32:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419587/posts January 2nd, 2010 Maggie M. Thornton President Obama’s nominee to head the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) lied to Congress. His confirmation to the office has been moved-up to tomorrow (just kidding – but probably). Not only did he lie, but some in Congress knew he lied before advancing his nomination in November 2009. See video below. Travelling Tech http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419587/posts#comment Sat, 2 Jan 2010 18:05:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419644/posts Well, 2010 has arrived -- and because Congress devoted so much effort toward health care reform, we may have ourselves some death panels after all. While critics have dismissed Sarah Palin's "death panels" to dole out medical care as fiction, a tax loophole may in fact give the heirs of some wealthy people a financial incentive to make this new year their loved one's last. In 2001, then-President George W. Bush signed a law designed to phase out the estate tax -- a tax on the assets a deceased individual leaves behind. The law reduced the amount wealthy families were... ABC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419644/posts#comment Sat, 2 Jan 2010 19:57:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419636/posts "Call off the dogs" is the message Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson (D) sent a coalition of Republican attorneys general examining the constitutionality of the Senate's healthcare bill, according to media reports. That request, made by Nelson's chief of staff to South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster on Thursday, arrives just days after 13 states' top prosecutors signaled they would examine the legality of the bill's Medicaid provisions, which in part won Democrats Nelson's vote. At issue is a condition in the bill's Medicaid rules that would essentially cover all of Nebraska's new program participants. The deal, referred to by many... The Hill http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419636/posts#comment Sat, 2 Jan 2010 19:35:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-gop/2419332/posts -The Race42012 staff was asked to take look ahead and share their predictions for the coming new year. Our readers are encouraged to post their own predictions in the comments. Adam Brickley Sarah Palin continues her recovery and cements herself as de-facto leader of the GOP after vigorously campaigning through 2010, after which she begins work on a second and more issue-oriented book. Mike Huckabee decides that he rather likes being a media figure and veers away from presidential politics – he pursues either a nightly show on Fox News or a daily radio program. Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty... Race42012 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-gop/2419332/posts#comment Sat, 2 Jan 2010 04:17:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419300/posts Congress had made it illegal to deny visas to members of terrorist groups. So stated Clinton Administration CIA Director R. James Woolsey, describing the Frank amendment, in an interview for a Wall Street Journal review of Why America Slept-The failure to prevent 9/11 by Gerald Posner. Sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) the 1990 Frank amendment struck the exclusion clause from the Immigration and Nationality Act. The exclusion clause gave the US government the right to deny visas to foreigners who were known to or who were suspected of harboring anti-American views or associating with anti-American groups. The exclusion clause... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419300/posts#comment Sat, 2 Jan 2010 02:32:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419295/posts Senator Launches Ad Campaign at Home to Defend Key Vote on Health Bill Facing an outcry at home in Nebraska for casting the critical vote in favor of a health-care overhaul, Sen. Ben Nelson has launched a new ad campaign to defend his position. "I'm convinced this is right for Nebraska," says Sen. Nelson in the ad, which aired during the University of Nebraska's Holiday Bowl game Wednesday night and statewide Thursday. He says he took a "common-sense approach to improve the bill." Mr. Nelson, who faces re-election in 2012, backed the Senate health-care bill only after lengthy talks in... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419295/posts#comment Sat, 2 Jan 2010 02:21:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419084/posts WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Thank God for wardrobe malfunctions. On Dec. 22, 2001, Richard Reid failed in an attempt to blow up American Airlines Flight 63 using 50 grams of the explosive PETN and became known as "the shoe-bomber." Since then, we have all had to remove our footwear prior to boarding commercial aircraft bound for U.S. airports. On Christmas Day eight years later, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, wearing a bomb made from 80 grams of the same explosive, attempted to bring down Northwest Flight 253 en route from Amsterdam to Detroit. Had this 23-year-old Nigerian-born, Yemini-trained al-Qaida terrorist succeeded, he might... Townhall.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419084/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 19:30:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419255/posts Political furor over the attempted bombing of Northwest Flight 253 has thrust national security back to the center of American politics, with Republicans and the White House scrambling to blame each other for intelligence lapses and present themselves to voters as tougher on terrorism. Strategists in both parties believe that terrorism and, more broadly, foreign policy could emerge in the November midterm elections and in President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign as key issues for voters who have been focused primarily on the economy. GOP opinion leaders such as former Vice President Dick Cheney have seized on the attack to... WSJ http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419255/posts#comment Sat, 2 Jan 2010 00:52:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418777/posts GOP strategists see hopes for a comeback in the 2010 midterm elections, though, and they are focusing strongly on Democratic incumbents in McCain districts such as Marion Berry in Arkansas’ 1st District and Vic Snyder in Arkansas’ 2nd. While both of these veteran lawmakers maintain advantages in their races, the stepped-up GOP efforts to challenge them have prompted CQ Politics to change its ratings on the races — to Leans Democratic (from Likely Democratic) in Snyder’s race and to Likely Democratic (from Safe Democratic) in Berry’s district. CQ Politics http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418777/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 03:17:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2419247/posts Congressman Peter King talks to wcbstv about security failures, and says "It would now be absolute insanity for us to be sending Guantanamo detainees, the hardest of the hard core terrorists, to Yemen... "It would be criminal negligence." (Video) hotairpundit http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2419247/posts#comment Sat, 2 Jan 2010 00:17:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419234/posts President Obama's health-care bill is now moving toward final passage. The policy issues may be coming to an end, but the legal issues are certain to continue because key provisions of this dangerous legislation are unconstitutional. Legally speaking, this legislation creates a target-rich environment. We will focus on three of its more glaring constitutional defects. Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419234/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 23:48:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2419175/posts Hmmm. He must have seen the polls. If this isn't a full retreat, I have never seen one. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) reached out Thursday evening to South Carolina GOP Attorney General Henry McMaster, the leader of a group of 13 Republican state attorneys general who are threatening to file suit against the Senate health care bill, and urged him to forgo any legal action, POLITICO has learned. According to a copy of a memo sent by McMaster’s chief of staff to other GOP state attorneys general detailing the call, Nelson asked McMaster to “call off the dogs,” a reference... Patriot Room http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2419175/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 22:16:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419152/posts  Obama's Forty Ninth Week in OfficeLatest Additions to "The List""The List" for 1/1/2010 New Year's DayErroll Southers, the Obama White House's nominee to head the Transportation Security Administration, refuses to answer questions about whether he would work toward unionizing the TSA.   There are claims that Southers misled the senate in sworn testimony about about an incident 20 years ago in which Southers improperly accessed a government criminal database. The White House did not send Southers' nomination to the Senate until September 10, 2009 -- 243 days into the Obama administration. The nomination was then in committee -- controlled entirely by... Nachumlist http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419152/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 21:33:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419171/posts When members of the U.S. Senate finally head home this week, they will be leaving the future of 50 individual and business tax breaks in limbo. All expire at the end of 2009. Among the disappearing breaks are the research tax credit and an annual alternative minimum tax "patch," which keeps 23 million additional middle-income Americans from being forced into calculating and paying the dreaded AMT. (For 2009, with the patch in place, 4 million upper-middle- and high-income families will pay AMT.) Forbes.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419171/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 22:06:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419156/posts Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) reached out Thursday evening to South Carolina GOP Attorney General Henry McMaster, the leader of a group of 13 Republican state attorneys general who are threatening to file suit against the Senate health care bill, and urged him to forgo any legal action, POLITICO has learned. According to a copy of a memo sent by McMaster’s chief of staff to other GOP state attorneys general detailing the call, Nelson asked McMaster to “call off the dogs,” a reference to recent threats by the state AGs to file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a Medicaid provision... Politico http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419156/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 21:38:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419051/posts ROSWELL, N.M. — After losing the White House and nearly 70 congressional seats in the past two elections, Republicans are poised for a strong comeback in 2010, with significant gains likely in the House and a good chance of boosting their numbers in the Senate and statehouses across the country.The results could hamper President Barack Obama's legislative efforts as he prepares to seek re-election and reshape the political landscape for a decade beyond, as lawmakers redraw congressional and state political boundaries to reflect the next census.All 435 House seats, 36 in the Senate and the governorships in 37 states will... The Denver Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419051/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 18:24:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418952/posts Democratic U.S. Rep. Chris Carney said Tuesday he never did anything to encourage a national Republican committee's overtures last week to get him to switch parties. "No, not at all," Carney said. "Certainly not." The request was all the Republicans' idea, Carney said. The overtures included phone calls to Carney two days before Christmas by Arizona Sen. John McCain, the office of Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and close friend of McCain, and Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. The NRCC supports the party's House candidates. "I'm definitely not switching," Carney... The Times-Tribune (Scranton PA) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418952/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 15:09:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418966/posts MATTHEWS: Can a Republican lose this year coming up? Can a Republican incumbent lose any race anywhere next year? COOK: I would not be surprised to see no Republican incumbent, House or Senate, lose. MATTHEWS: How about a Democrat? We‘ve got five vulnerable people here, Specter, Lincoln, Bennet, Dodd. You say Dodd is the most vulnerable. Who is the second-most vulnerable? COOK: Reid— BROWNSTEIN: Reid or Lincoln. Lincoln is in a situation where, again, it‘s more generic than personal. This is a state kind of filled with the kind of voters that have been most resistance to the direction Obama... ArgueWithEveryone.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418966/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 15:48:04 GMT