Free Republic

On Saturday the United States Senate voted for legislation that will impose heavy, unnecessary burdens on the backs of military men and women. They are the ones who will pay a very high price for Congress’ reckless decision to help President Barack Obama deliver on political campaign promises to LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) activists.Sixty-five senators voted for the no-amendments-allowed “privileged” bill in a lame-duck session. History will note that the outgoing 111th Congress acted with needless haste allowing no time for substantive hearings to examine findings and controversial recommendations in the Pentagon’s Comprehensive Review Working Group Report.

A person of normal sensibilities would have to be intellectually numb, overly medicated or otherwise too preoccupied with keeping food on the table and the proverbial wolves from their door not to realize that there is something very, very wrong going on today. By now, most Americans have heard about the sighting of what appears to be a missile, and a big one at that, apparently being launched from a location about 35 miles off the coast of Los Angeles near sunset last evening. Video of the incident was taken from a KCBS news helicopter flying over the mainland at...

After nearly nine months off line, the Presidential Prayer Team announces the re-launch of Adopt Our Troops in Prayer. --- Limited donations and technological resources forced us to halt, but we're thrilled to announce Adopt Our Troops in Prayer IS BACK! Click the link to either register a Troop or Adopt a Troop for prayer.

(CNSNews.com) – The White House and congressional Democratic leaders reached an agreement Monday night on a so-called “compromise” that could force a vote within days on a bill to end the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy on homosexuality, but which outraged conservatives say would delay implementation until at least December – after the congressional elections.

May 3 (Bloomberg Government) -- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and 12 other business groups asked members of President Obama’s cabinet including Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner for more leeway in implementing the health-care overhaul. The groups said they’re being forced to make contract, employee-benefit and other decisions without guidance on how to comply with provisions that take effect in September. The letter dated April 30 was sent to Geithner, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.

Canadian citizenship hurdle to be U.S. president? The governor of Michigan has pooh-poohed concern over her allegiance to Canada – she was born there and has dual citizenship in the United States and Canada – and whether that would impact her candidacy if she chose to run for president.... "Your two terms are up at the end of this year. Do you have any interest in moving here to Washington and working in the administration?" he asked. "Are you offering me a job? No, I …" she said. ... "No, I'm totally focused this year on creating every single job...

(CNN) -- The recent closure of 32 privately owned radio stations and a proposed law to punish "media crimes" are signs that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is moving to quash criticism of his government, according to a recent U.S. intelligence report. Chavez's government is "moving forcefully to silence critics," said the unclassified U.S. analysis prepared by the Open Source Center, a U.S. government office that translates and analyzes reports from foreign news organizations. The relationship between privately owned media in Venezuela and the leftist Chavez have never been rosy. Chavez has accused private television stations of supporting his brief ouster...

Lawrence Summers, a top economic adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama, was paid about $5.2 million by hedge fund D.E. Shaw in the past year, disclosure forms released by the White House showed on Friday. Summers was also paid $2.7 million in speaking fees by a range of organizations and companies, including several troubled Wall Street financial firms. The disclosure documents on Summers and other White House officials advising Obama on the global financial crisis covered 2008 and the first few months of this year. Summers became an official adviser on January 20 when Obama took office. Summers, who was...

The White House on Monday said President Obama would consider asking Congress to delay the summer break if he hasn't seen sufficient progress on healthcare reform by the August recess. Hours after Obama told reporters that he is "going to get this done," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said that it is unlikely legislation will be finalized before the recess.

As reported by Ed Morrissey (2008), two years ago when the large nuclear utility Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) wanted Illinois state lawmakers to back a large rate hike two years ago, it took a creative lobbying approach. Its parent company, Exelon Corporation, contracted with ASK Public Strategies, a consulting firm, to a build a fake "front company" that appeared to be devoted to the public interest called Consumers Organized for Reliable Electricity (CORE). Then the "front company" (CORE) ran TV ads warning of a “California-style energy crisis” if the rate increase wasn’t approved. The CORE ads, however, failed to disclose in...

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Jack Cashill writes that barring the calamitous, former United States Senator from Tennessee Fred Thompson will be the next president of the United States. In 1997, then Senator Thompson chaired a committee that investigated what he rightly called “the most corrupt political campaign in modern history.” Hillary’s fingerprints were all over that campaign. Beginning early in 1995, the Clintons launched an unprecedented series of expensive, untruthful, arguably illegal TV ads. For cover, they laundered the campaign through the Democratic National Committee (DNC). According to Clinton advisor Dick Morris, Hillary signed off on everything. The media, true to form, chose not...

Washington, D.C. ­– Today, U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) introduced the Consumers Having Options in Cable Entertainment (CHOICE) Act of 2006. The bill is designed to encourage broadcasters and cable companies that own cable channels to sell their channels individually to subscribers. It also promotes cable channel distribution over the Internet. Attached are Senator McCain’s floor statement that was submitted for the record today, a copy of the bill, the bill summary, and a copy of the of the opinion editorial by Senator McCain and FCC Chairman Martin as it appeared in the Los Angeles Times on May 25, 2006.

<p>SYDNEY, Australia - Brothel owners in the southern state of Victoria have called for an exemption to a new ban on smoking in the workplace, saying customers like to light up after sex.</p> <p>The Australian Adult Entertainment Industry has written to Victoria's health minister arguing that new laws banning smoking in bars and brothels could push prostitution back into the streets, according to a report in the Sunday Herald Sun newspaper.</p>

Abdullah Khadr, the eldest son of a reputed Canadian Al Qaeda financier, was arrested by the RCMP yesterday on terrorism-related charges at the request of American authorities. The 25-year-old Canadian recently returned from Pakistan where he was held for 14 months without charge. He was arrested last night after agreeing to meet an RCMP officer at a McDonald's near his Scarborough apartment, his relatives said last night. His mother, Maha Elsamnah tried to intervene in the arrest and was also taken into custody, but later released without charges. Khadr's brother, 22-year-old Abdurahman was also at the fast food restaurant and...

If the Repulblican Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee wants to get a second opinion on how the war in Iraq is going, where does he turn? To the Pentagon, but not to the top brass this time. In an unusual closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill last week, Virginia's John Warner, joined by Democratic Senators Carl Levin of Michigan and Mark Dayton of Minnesota, sat across the table from 10 military officers chosen for their experience on the battlefield rather than in the political arena. Warner rounded up the battalion commanders to get at what the military calls "ground...

Loss of skilled troops due to policy said to cost nearly $200 million. Hundreds of highly skilled troops, including many translators, have left the armed forces because of the Pentagon’s rules on gays, at a cost of nearly $200 million, the first congressional study on the impact of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy says. The estimated cost was for recruiting and training replacements from 1994 through 2003 for the 9,488 troops discharged from the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marine Corps because of the policy, the General Accountability Office estimated. The study released Thursday said the government does not...

Ask a Vermonter In the last few weeks we have seen the Democratic candidates running against Dean try to gain ground on the supposed front runner. If they need help they should come to Vermont and ask us what 10 years of political quackery did for us. Twenty-four million dollars down the drain on a commuter rail, featured three times on NBC's "Fleecing of America." A $3 million bike bridge over the Winooski River replacing a ferry that worked fine and cost the taxpayers little or nothing. The Act 60 property tax fiasco forcing the poor and elderly to have...

Bush will ask for help to govern Iraq in UN address By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles 22 September 2003 One year after he told the United Nations he was prepared to go it alone in Iraq if necessary, President George Bush will return to the UN General Assembly tomorrow to appeal for international help to meet the mounting human and financial cost of maintaining a post-war occupation force. Mr Bush's cap-in-hand gesture seems unlikely to be accompanied by much humility, however, as the prevailing rhetoric in the United States continues to blast the French for obstructionism and suggests that...

Democratic candidate Dean asks Wesley Clark to be running mate By Rupert Cornwell in Washington 12 September 2003 Howard Dean, presidential front-runner in the Democratic Party, has asked retired General Wesley Clark to join his campaign, should the former Nato commander decide not to join the race himself. The move will strengthen speculation that if Mr Dean wins the nomination, he will select General Clark as his running mate to challenge George Bush in 2004. Mr Dean's campaign officials confirmed the men had a private meeting in California at the weekend. Neither side would give details, but General Clark told...

New York, NY, April 10, 2003 – Last week, VIP's gathered at Cipriani to support PAX: the fastest growing gun violence prevention organization in the country. Through its innovative national campaigns, PAX promotes practical solutions that are saving children’s lives every day. This year's event was chaired by Steven J. Heyer, President & COO of Coca-Cola and honored Michael D. Drexler, CEO of Optimedia. Actor and comedian Richard Belzer (Law & Order) emceed the evening with help from comedians Mario Cantone (Sex and the City) and Joy Behar (The View). The event featured a special musical performance by Roberta...

(New Haven-WTNH, Aug. 20, 2002 5:12 PM) _ Does Connecticut law do enough to keep kids safe from gun violence? That question is being raised after two separate incidents with kids and guns had deadly consequences. In both cases it was a child who pulled trigger and two young people were killed. The laws are there. They require gun safety locks and the person who owns the gun is responsible no matter who pulls the trigger. It's obvious those laws don't always keep guns out of kids hands, so the question is what can be done to prevent another tragic...