http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/2006election/ en-us Tue, 19 May 2009 18:46:51 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2254092/posts (Washington, DC) -- Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is rapidly losing popularity. A telephone poll taken late last week shows 48-percent of Americans don't approve of how Pelosi is doing her job. The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll comes as the California Democrat faces intense criticism over what she knew and when about government use of enhanced interrogation techniques. Last week, Pelosi said in a news conference that the CIA lied to Congress in 2002 and 2003 about its use of interrogation methods like waterboarding on terror suspects. Pelosi's new 39-percent approval rating makes her less popular than other congressional... mystateline.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2254092/posts#comment Tue, 19 May 2009 18:46:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2243825/posts The most ethical Congress ever. Draining the swamp. Doing away with the culture of corruption. Insert whatever Pelosi talking point you want, Nancy appears to want to insulate federal lawmakers from being investigated House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is working to buffer lawmakers from federal investigators. This is a bad idea. Special legal protections for politicians encourage unethical conduct.Irvin B. Nathan, general counsel of the House of Representatives, sent a letter to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on Monday about establishing a protocol on how to handle “hopefully rare searches and electronic surveillance involving members of Congress.” Mr. Nathan... Stop The ACLU http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2243825/posts#comment Mon, 4 May 2009 15:40:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2151472/posts COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Disgraced evangelical leader Ted Haggard says in a new documentary that he still struggles with his sexuality yet is committed to his marriage for the sake of his children. Haggard, 52, resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals and was fired as senior pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs in November 2006 after a former male prostitute went public with allegations that Haggard paid him for sex and used methamphetamine. A father of five, Haggard had said he bought the drugs but never used them. He confessed to undisclosed "sexual immorality" and... Fox News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2151472/posts#comment Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:28:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2065490/posts Patriotism: Joseph Lieberman will be called a Judas for speaking to the Republican Convention, but he was betrayed by his own party for refusing to support losing a war for political gain. It's only a matter of time before the long knives are unsheathed for Connecticut's "independent Democrat." Al Gore's 2000 running mate still caucuses with the Democrats, which lets the four-term senator maintain his seniority in committee assignments. Lieberman serves in the plum post of chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, where earlier this year he published a powerful and fascinating report on how terrorist groups such as... Investors Business Daily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2065490/posts#comment Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:02:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2031752/posts Have you seen this delicious little quote from Pennsylvania Democrat Congressman Paul Jankorski? Why it would seem that Mr. Jankorski is admitting that the Democrats lied about what was going on in Iraq during the 2006 mid-term elections? Here's his quote: "I'll tell you my impression. We really in this last election, when I say we ... the Democrats ... that if we won the Congressional elections we could stop the war. Now anybody who was a good student of government would know that wasn't true. "But you know ... the temptation to want to win back the Congress ...... nEALZ NUZE http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2031752/posts#comment Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:04:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2020081/posts Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) has been a fairly undistinguished member of the House of Representatives for nearly a quarter of a century. He is a career member of the Financial Services Committee who has made little or no name for himself since his first electoral victory, and has maintained incumbency through the funneling of pork back to his district. Even his Wikipedia entry says that Kanjorski "usually plays behind-the-scenes roles in the advocacy or defeat of legislation and steers appropriations money toward improving the infrastructure and economic needs of his district." “But [in] the temptation to want to win back... jeffemanuel.net http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2020081/posts#comment Fri, 23 May 2008 04:25:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1998381/posts Data from the Defense Intelligence Agency indicates that enemy-initiated attacks on U.S. troops, Iraqi security forces and Iraqi civilians peaked in October 2006, the month leading up to the U.S. midterm elections. At the time, Vice President Dick Cheney said the insurgents were "very sensitive to the fact that we've got an election scheduled" and were trying to "break the will of the American people." Democrats, who cast the 2006 midterm election as a referendum on Iraq, ended up taking control of both the House and the Senate. The DIA data shows that between November 2006 and May 2007, attacks... CNS News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1998381/posts#comment Tue, 8 Apr 2008 12:39:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1737093/posts On Election Day 2006, American voters did almost exactly what history would predict: giving a president in the sixth year of his administration a serious smackdown, as an electorate wary of politicians and parties hedged its bets and chose a divided government. Since World War II, the parties that controlled the White House for two terms have lost an average of 29 House seats and six Senate seats in their second midterm elections. This election fits tidily into that pattern. President Bush bucked another ubiquitous trap of modern presidents when he actually picked up Congressional seats for his party in... CBSNews.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1737093/posts#comment Sun, 12 Nov 2006 01:19:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1791911/posts House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is discovering the cold truth about governing with a slim majority: It's much easier to promise behavioral change for Congress than to deliver it. Pelosi vowed that five-day workweeks would be a hallmark of a harder-working Democratic majority. So far, the House has logged only one. Lawmakers plan to clock three days this week. The speaker has denied Republicans a vote on their proposals during congressional debates -- a tactic she previously declared oppressive and promised to end. Pelosi has opened the floor to a Republican alternative just once. Pelosi set a high standard for herself... The Politico http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1791911/posts#comment Tue, 27 Feb 2007 15:15:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1774644/posts Former congressional candidate Vernon Robinson sounds resigned, and more than a little tired, when you ask him to explain his defeat. "The 2006 election was not a referendum on immigration," he says. "I would have liked it to be, but it didn't happen." That's an understatement. In the tumultuous political year of 2006, Robinson, a former city councilman from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, became one of the country's most notorious voices for a crackdown on illegal immigration. In March, as the Republican-led House of Representatives wrestled with a harsh reform bill that would build a wall on the border and classify... Reason magazine http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1774644/posts#comment Sat, 27 Jan 2007 16:55:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1747900/posts Support for embryonic stem cell research played an important role for voters in the 2006 election. The Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative passed in Missouri, and candidates who used support for stem cell research as a central campaign issue were quite successful - 62 percent of races between an opponent and supporter of stem cell research went to the supporter. The key stem cell candidate victories occurred in Missouri and Wisconsin. Sen. Claire McCaskill's support of stem cell research and the embryonic stem cell ballot initiative helped her defeat incumbent Jim Talent in Missouri. And Gov. Jim Doyle won... Center for American Progress http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1747900/posts#comment Sun, 3 Dec 2006 21:23:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1747836/posts Thank you for publishing Paula Morris' guest column (The Star, Nov. 30). Make her a regular, please. Her articulate statement of the liberal position made this almost 72-year-old crone jump up and down and yell. (My dog thinks I'm demented but he has lots of company). Ms. Morris is correct about the backlash. It can be vicious. As I drive to my office each day I pass a building with a sign in flashing light bulbs which has the statement ever since the mid-term election, "al-Qaida celebrates!" Whoever is behind it has a right to his or her opinion but... Star Newspapers (Chicago) letter to the editor http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1747836/posts#comment Sun, 3 Dec 2006 16:41:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-gop/1742690/posts A runoff between Republican U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla and his Democratic challenger will be held Dec. 12, Gov. Rick Perry said Tuesday. Bonilla finished with 49 percent of the vote in the Nov. 7 special election. He will face former U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, who got about 20 percent of the vote. Early voting will begin Dec. 4. Eight candidates participated in the special election that was called after the U.S. Supreme Court found a portion of the congressional district boundaries unconstitutional. Houston Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-gop/1742690/posts#comment Wed, 22 Nov 2006 17:52:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1741096/posts 'Free to lose' isn't good philosophy for the right wing November 19, 2006 BY MARK STEYN Sun-Times Columnist If Milton Friedman had to die, then a week after the defeat of a Republican Congress that had apparently forgotten every lesson Friedman taught in Free To Choose is eerily apt timing. As it happens, had ill health not intervened, Professor Friedman would have been disembarking round about now from a National Review post-election cruise with yours truly and various other pundits and commentators. Instead, we were obliged to sail without him, and in the days that followed I found myself wondering... Chicago Sun-Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1741096/posts#comment Sun, 19 Nov 2006 10:39:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1740707/posts 11/18/06 Buchanan still ahead after second recount SARASOTA -- Republican Vernon Buchanan's lead stood at 400 votes as the race's second recount ended Friday at a secure warehouse just outside of town. Buchanan's battle with Democrat Christine Jennings for the 13th District Congressional seat next moved to the Supervisor of Elections office at 2001 Adams Lane for a count of overseas military ballots. The count was to be completed by 5 p.m. Saturday. Veterans Lee Kichen and Rich Swier were on hand to observe the count. Swier represented the Sarasota County Veterans Commission, which comprises "over 50 military, veterans and... Sun Herald http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1740707/posts#comment Sat, 18 Nov 2006 05:11:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1740116/posts For most of the press and pundits and, certainly, the party establishments, last week's election was a numbers game. It wasn't so much about personalities and candidates and ideas as it was about how many seats it took for a change in power in the House and Senate. For many, lost in the power politics of Election Day was the fact that some very good men lost their jobs – and with those lost seats, the American people lost dedication, experience and principle. Anyone who knows me understands that I do not suffer fools nor have much patience with politicians.... Worldnetdaily.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1740116/posts#comment Fri, 17 Nov 2006 07:37:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1739255/posts In the past week, there are 476 documents on Nexis heralding the magnificent achievement of Nancy Pelosi becoming the FIRST WOMAN speaker of the House. I thought we had moved beyond such multicultural milestones. The media yawned when Condoleezza Rice became the first black female secretary of state (and when Lincoln Chaffee became the first developmentally disabled senator). There were only 77 documents noting that Rice was the first black woman to be the secretary of state, and half of them were issues of Jet, Essence, Ebony or Black Entrepreneur magazine. A New York Times profile of Rice at the... AnnCoulter.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1739255/posts#comment Wed, 15 Nov 2006 23:09:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1738486/posts As Democrats take control of the House and Senate, many wonder whether it makes a difference. The corporate lobbies aren't gong anywhere -- they started to hedge their bets by contributing to Democrats late in the election. The foreign policy establishment that led us into Iraq and continues to support a global economic posture that benefits the capital but undermines work isn't going anywhere. Does it make a difference? Yes, it does, in ways that are big and small. First, the agenda of the country will change. Consider the six-point agenda that Democrats will pass through the House in the... Chicago Sun-Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1738486/posts#comment Tue, 14 Nov 2006 18:32:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1737776/posts As George Bush put it, the Republicans took a “thumpin’” on November 7th. By the time the counting and recounting is finished, the balance of power in the House of Representatives will have essentially flip-flopped, giving the Democrats approximately the same numerical strength that the Republicans had prior to the election. In the Senate, they will hold a one vote majority, providing that recently exiled Joe Lieberman makes good on his word to continue to caucus with the party that abandoned him. That’s the result of what happened on Tuesday, but what actually happened? Well, a lot of things. To... Conservative Outpost http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1737776/posts#comment Mon, 13 Nov 2006 15:45:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1737728/posts Two months after Germany's surrender in World War II, British voters dumped the Conservative prime minister who had led the nation to victory -- Winston Churchill -- and replaced him with Clement Attlee, whose Labor Party had won the election in a landslide. Embittered by his defeat, Churchill spurned King George's offer of a knighthood. "I could not accept the Order of the Garter from my sovereign," he said, "when I have received the order of the boot from his people." Last week, American voters gave Republicans the order of the boot, stripping them of at least 29 seats in... Townhall.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1737728/posts#comment Mon, 13 Nov 2006 14:46:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1737531/posts Few election results were less surprising than last Tuesday?s. It?s not as if there was no reason for a general backlash against Republican Party dominance in Washington, D.C. There were, in fact, more reasons to vote against Republicans than for them. The Grand Old Party, in actual operation as a ruling party, had stood by just a few principles. Most people could only name two: Republicans had stuck to their guns on gun ownership rights and on a few tax cuts. But general tax cuts? No. A general tax simplification reform? No. Spending cuts? A resounding no, no, no, echoing... Townhall.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1737531/posts#comment Mon, 13 Nov 2006 02:13:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1737514/posts "Ballot-bag problems may slow counting of 8th District votes" ?King County Elections staff said about 100 bags -- containing up to 20,000 absentee ballots that had been dropped off at polling sites on Election Day -- remain uncounted because of an array of problems caused by the bags' being overstuffed. ?Jim Buck, King County's interim elections director, acknowledged that the problems -- including broken zippers and unclosed bag seals -- could potentially have allowed ballots to be cast after voting ended. Not clear yet whether any of the ballots are actually ineligible, and it's unlikely there could be nearly... Sound Politics http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1737514/posts#comment Mon, 13 Nov 2006 01:34:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1737364/posts Reason Magazine Blogger Finds Pleasure in Tears of Rick Santorum's 8-year-old Daughter Because the libertarian universe has no place for the vulnerable, weak, or the dependent--since none are autonomous adult-choosers in search of virtual kiddie porn--it has no qualms in providing a forum in which children and their families can be verbally abused and have profanities hurled at them. Read and weep Julian Sanchez's "Your Tears Are So Yummy and Sweet" in which the writer says he finds joy in the tears of Rick Santorum's eight-year-old daughter, who is pictured crying next to her father as he gives his concession... Right Reason philosophical conservatism. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1737364/posts#comment Sun, 12 Nov 2006 18:48:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1737217/posts On the radio a couple of weeks ago, Hugh Hewitt suggested to me the terrorists might try to pull a Spain on the U.S. elections. You'll recall (though evidently many Americans don't) that in 2004 hundreds of commuters were slaughtered in multiple train bombings in Madrid. The Spaniards responded with a huge street demonstration of supposed solidarity with the dead, all teary passivity and signs saying "Basta!" -- "Enough!" By which they meant not "enough!" of these murderers but "enough!" of the government of Prime Minister Aznar, and of Bush and Blair, and troops in Iraq. A couple of days... Chicago Sun Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1737217/posts#comment Sun, 12 Nov 2006 10:42:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1736957/posts At the White House senior staff meeting in the Roosevelt Room at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Chief of Staff Josh Bolten thanked Karl Rove for his hard work in the elections, and the group around the big table burst into spontaneous applause. It was a much-needed moment of cheer for Rove, the President's chief strategist, after Republicans lost the House and were headed toward the same fate in the Senate in midterm congressional elections that turned into a blue rip tide of voter ire. "The profile of corruption in the exit polls was bigger than I'd expected," Rove tells TIME.... TIME Magazine http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1736957/posts#comment Sat, 11 Nov 2006 18:37:52 GMT