Free Republic

<p>A sign at the Placer County Democratic Party booth was printed in Spanish inviting people to register to vote, but none of the volunteers spoke Spanish and all the voter registration cards were printed in English.</p> <p>The booth at the Hispanic Heritage Festival in Roseville attracted few people compared to the one a few feet away belonging to the Republicans.</p>

<p>California School Employees Association members protest the budget stalemate on the Capitol's north steps on Wednesday. They urged the Legislature to immediately pass a state spending plan - but without cutting funding for public education.</p> <p>The Davis administration on Wednesday told state departments to plan for permanent 20 percent cuts to their budgets next July 1, including a likely reduction in programs and staff layoffs.</p>

<p>SACRAMENTO - Gov. Gray Davis on Wednesday directed state agencies to monitor their own technology projects in coming months as state officials develop a new agency to oversee California's technology systems after the demise of the Department of Information Technology.</p>

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- President George W. Bush (news - web sites) acknowledged Friday that his plan to reorganize the government so that one federal department has primary responsibility for defending against terrorist attacks will be a tough sell, but he expressed confidence that he will succeed. "This is going to be a tough battle because we are going to step on people's toes. I understand that. You see, when you take power away from one person in Washington , it tends to make them nervous," Bush told supporters in Iowa . "So, we are just going to keep the pressure...

If the federal agencies tasked with protecting the American people against terrorism were a single person, that person would be committed for some heavy duty psychiatric treatment. But, since this craziness is the accumulation of programs of federal agencies, Americans seem it write it off as business as usual. Let's start with the obvious: A few radical Islamic fundamentalists hate us enough to become homicide bombers in order to kill a few of us. Therefore, our government "cracks down" on all American citizens at airports and other areas. So as to be "fair" -- and not just target that group...

Bush Administration Took Appropriate Action in Response to General Threats Americans know that President Bush when faced with credible information about a threat would act swiftly and strongly. It is terribly unfair to the victims and victim families of the terrible tragedy of September 11 for anyone to suggest anything to the contrary. Such statements are irresponsible and politically motivated. Last summer, President Bush received briefings that contained general information about possible threats. The information was not specific. It did not mention time, place or method. These general threats were also uncorroborated. Any briefings containing specific information were uncorroborated and...

Dear subscriber, Here is today's ACTION ITEM: ISSUE: In a recent report, CNSNews.com asked, "What can be done about a federal bureaucracy run amok? Set an expiration date for federal agencies and let Congress intervene if it wants them saved from extinction. That's the solution put forward by Republican Congressman Kevin Brady and Democratic Congressman Jim Turner." It's called "sunsetting." Sunsetting establishes the process to evaluate the performance of federal agencies. The law proposed by Brady and Turner, the "Abolishment of Obsolete Agencies and Federal Sunset Act of 2001" (H.R. 2373), would also promote accountability and customer service within agencies...