Free Republic

Nearly three-fourths of Americans think 2009 was a bad year for the country, which was rocked by job losses, home foreclosures and economic sickness.

<p>FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin promises to limit her enthusiasm during her visit to North Carolina's Fort Bragg.</p> <p>The former Republican vice presidential candidate planned to sign copies of her new memoir at a post store Monday. Army officials say Palin will not make a speech, pose for photos, or personalize notes in the books she signs.</p>

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Cancer experts fear new U.S. breast imaging guidelines that recommend against routine screening mammograms for women in their 40s may have their roots in the current drive in Washington to reform healthcare. Critics of the guidelines, issued on Monday by the U.S. Services Task Force, an independent panel sponsored by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Quality, say the new guidelines are a step backward and will lead to more cancer deaths. Here are some of their concerns. * Dr Carol Lee, chairwoman of the American College of Radiology Breast Imaging Commission, said she fears insurers -- both...

Here is video of Jon Voight speaking at the anti-ObamaCare teaparty rally on the capitol steps. Voight said that "President Obama has his own obsession with trying to ram this health bill through to create a socialist America." Voight also asked "could it be he(Obama) has had 20 years of subconscious programing by Rev. Wright to damn America?" (Video)

Though Republicans oppose the so-called "public option," Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., is proposing the requirement to draw attention to the plan's alleged flaws. Republican Rep. Joe Wilson proposed an amendment Wednesday that would force all members of Congress to receive health insurance coverage through the government-run plan proposed in the House's reform bill. Though Republicans oppose the so-called "public option," the South Carolina gadfly -- who gained notoriety for shouting "you lie" at President Obama during his address to Congress two months ago -- is proposing the requirement to draw attention to what he sees as the plan's flaws. "They...

Let's not mince words here: The entire finance and real-estate "industry" is filled with massive, pernicious fraud, and we now have only one question remaining - will The Government do its lawful and mandated job, that of prosecuting the bad actors, or has it joined with the fraudsters, become one with them, and thus, declare itself as a gang of mobsters rather than a legitimate government? The latter, of course will beg only the question of what should be an ordinary American's response. Let's start with what may be one of the most outrageous yet least-actionable examples: Alan Greenspan. Alan...

Here is video of President Obama chiding those who oppose his agenda, scolding them for criticizing his use of a "socialist mop" to clean up the nation's messes. Obama was trying to be sarcastic, but may have inadvertently agreed with his critics that his approaches to governing are "socialist" in nature. Obama had said he rejected those who would sit back and criticize what he is doing to try and deal with issues, likening critics to someone who sits and criticizes the way someone is mopping up a mess:

The decline in consumer prices this year means no raise in Social Security payments next year for the more than 57 million Americans receiving benefits. It will be the first year without a raise since automatic increases for inflation took effect in 1975. “Last year, when consumer prices spiked, largely as a result of higher gas prices, beneficiaries received a 5.8 percent [cost-of-living adjustment], the largest increase since 1982. This year, in light of the human need, we need to support President Obama’s call for us to make another $250 recovery payment for 57 million Americans,” said Michael J. Astrue,...

WASHINGTON – A second Republican senator signaled Wednesday she's open to voting for sweeping health care legislation this year, putting President Barack Obama closer to a historic achievement that has eluded generations of Democratic leaders. But Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told The Associated Press that the bill approved Tuesday by the Finance Committee needs substantial improvements to make coverage more affordable, contain costs, and protect Medicare. Nevertheless, she joined her Maine GOP colleague Sen. Olympia Snowe in endorsing the goal of far-reaching changes.

For any candidate, independents are the most important voters. In most cases they are the difference between winning and losing. This was especially true in the last presidential campaign. Independents went for Obama in a huge way, and they were one of the keys to his victory. Independent voters are abandoning the President faster than people driving out of town just before a hurricane hits. According to the IBD/TIPP poll since February support for the President among independents has dropped from 73% to 45%. And even worse for the POTUS, the President has lost independent support on the Economy, Health...

If Barack Obama had campaigned on what he has actually done in his first 300 days in office, would he have been elected? That's the question so many are asking today. If Obama had told us he would appoint 34 czars, reporting only to himself and not vetted or confirmed in the constitutional way, building a powerful unitary executive branch of government, would he have been elected? What if he had told us that his green jobs czar had been a Communist, that the science czar wrote in a college textbook that compulsory "green abortions" are an acceptable way to...

October 9, 2009 Reid Congratulates President Obama For Being Awarded 209 Nobel Peace Prize Washington, DC—Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid released the following statement this morning upon the news of President Obama being awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize: “By ushering in a period of optimism in American politics, President Obama has become a great source of pride and inspiration for many Americans. I congratulate the President on this tremendous honor that he has earned with his dedication to a new type of politics based on hope instead of fear. I am confident that the President will work to continue...

This is a war if there ever was one. Barack Hussein Obama and the socialist leadership in Congress are working furiously to change America and to transform our nation in a way no one would have ever believed. They’re spending trillions of our tax dollars to do it. I am not talking about the type of miserable change Jimmy Carter inflicted on our nation. Thanks to Ronald Reagan we were able to reverse much of the course Carter had put us on, but what we’re seeing today isn’t like anything you and I have ever seen before! I’m talking about...

A libertarian non-profit organization in Washington today announced it was filing suit against the Obama administration for failing to adequately disclose global warming documents. As we reported two weeks ago the Competitive Enterprise Institute deemed inadequate the Treasury Department's response to a Freedom of Information Act request for documents on cap-and-trade. Months after the FOIA request, Treasury responded by giving CEI five documents and emails, when the group had expected 50. "Your response fails any reasonable test for compliance with FOIA and constitutes an effective denial of our request," CEI's Christopher Horner stated in the notice of appeal filed with...

On August 25th 2009, Big Hollywood’s Patrick Courrielche broke the story of a conference call he attended with other “rising artist and art community luminaries”: On Thursday August 6th, I was invited by the National Endowment for the Arts to attend a conference call scheduled for Monday August 10th hosted by the NEA, the White House Office of Public Engagement, and United We Serve. The call would include “a group of artists, producers, promoters, organizers, influencers, marketers, taste-makers, leaders or just plain cool people to join together and work together to promote a more civically engaged America and celebrate how...

NBC's Chief White House Correspondent Chuck Todd does not fault the state-run media for ignoring the communist-Truther Van Jones controversy. He says it was a waste of time. For the record-- Van Jones was in charge of doling out $80 billion of Stimulus money to selected green projects. He was certainly no low level czar as Chuck Todd suggested.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- The White House released the following excerpts from President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress later on Wednesday. "I am not the first President to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last. It has now been nearly a century since Theodore Roosevelt first called for health care reform. And ever since, nearly every President and Congress, whether Democrat or Republican, has attempted to meet this challenge in some way. A bill for comprehensive health reform was first introduced by John Dingell Sr. in 1943. Sixty-five years later, his...

Melissa Harris-Lacewell: His Resignation As "Green Jobs Czar" Is A Setback For Environmental Justice In March, I wrote here on The Notion in celebration of the appointment of Van Jones. I am both politically committed to and academically interested in issues of environmental justice. Jones' appointment was a clear victory for the EJ movement. The modern environmental justice movement emerged more than three decades ago. Its fight has been centered on two important issues: the disproportionate impact of local decisions that site polluting industries and undesirable land uses in poor and minority communities, and the damaging health effects of urban...

Van Jones is an exceptional and inspired leader who has fought to bring economic and environmental justice to communities across our country. He has chosen to resign because he believed he was serving as a distraction to the president's agenda. I respect that decision. Van was working to build a common ground agenda for all Americans, and I am confident he will continue that work. Unfortunately, his critics on the right could find no common ground with him. Clearly, Van was the subject of a right-wing smear campaign shrouded in hypocrisy. Van's chief tormentor Glenn Beck, who spent weeks engaged...

The night Van Jones resigned, Newsreal editor David Swindle emailed me and said: watch how long it takes them to use the “L” word. That’s not for liberal, mind you; it’s for “lynch.” Destruction of the enemy is always the agenda of the left. While conservatives prepare arguments, assemble evidence, leftists are busy looking into their quivers for a poison arrow, which always turns out to be a tainted label, and always pretty much the same label: racist (or sexist, or Islamophobe). So it wasn’t surprising to see the following post from Carl Pope the radical head of the Sierra...

A mysterious YouTube member named, conveniently, “megwhitmanonvanjones,” has uploaded a May 2009 San Francisco Chronicle video of 2010 GOP California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, in which the former CEO of eBay and former adviser to Mitt Romney and John McCain gushes about suddenly controversial green jobs czar Van Jones. "There’s a guy over in Oakland, I think his name is Van Jones. And he and I were on a cruise last summer in the Arctic, on climate change. And I got to know him very well. And a lot of the work he’s doing to enfranchise broader communities I’m a...

CBS just now released a bunch of details for the Cronkite memorial, which'll be Sept. 9, 10:30 a.m. at Avery Fisher...The big news Prez Obama will speak. Bill Clinton too! That's a little surprising, considering these guys didn't know each other particularly well....Mickey Hart, of the Dead, might seem to be a little unsual too, but he and Walter were buddies (though I'm reasonably certain Cronkite was not a Deadhead.)

Judging by some of the responses I've received to the previous posts in this health care series, I think it's important to make it clear that the illustrative features I talked about in my last post are not suggested components of some government run health care scheme. I oppose the government takeover of the health sector. It should also be clear from the ideas I've outlined that I oppose perpetuating the third party payer system in any form, whether as a single payer government run approach, or in continuation of the existing private corporate structure. One of the keys to...

Diane Watson is a racist Congressional Representative from California’s 33rd District, in Los Angeles. Just over a year ago, she chastised Ward Connerly for his having the nerve to wed a white woman. She’s telling us now that the only opponents of Barack Obama and his move to socialize America are those who object to socialism because, in her words, “[Barack is] the first President who looks like me.” In the same breath, she sings the praises of Marxist murderer Che Guevara and Marxist murderer Fidel Castro (who ousted Che). Hear it for yourself: Fact of the Day: Rep. Diane...

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, longtime Democratic senator and the patriarch of the Kennedy political family, has died after a lengthy battle with brain cancer. The Kennedy family released a statement early Wednesday morning saying, "Edward M. Kennedy – the husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle we loved so deeply – died late Tuesday night at home in Hyannis Port. We've lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever. We thank everyone who gave him care and support over this...

Just over 200 days into the Obama Administration and boy was I wrong. I guess I owe all of you an apology. I really missed the mark on this guy and feel terrible about it. In an effort to show just how wrong I was, let’s take a look at some of the highlights of his short Presidency. First and foremost, he took $800 billion of tax-payer money that the government didn't have and, in the name of “economic stimulus”,gave it away to radical left-wing groups, unions and ill-conceived municipal projects that included repaving airport runways that are rarely used,...

A Hollywood conservative has headed East. It's "Freedom Concert" time for Jon Voight. The Academy Award winner will join Sean Hannity in Cincinnati and Atlanta this weekend to honor fallen soldiers and present college scholarships to surviving children. Mr. Voight -- a warrior himself in many ways -- has been cogitating about the state of America, meanwhile. "There's a real question at stake now. Is President Obama creating a civil war in our own country?" Mr. Voight tells Inside the Beltway. "We are witnessing a slow, steady takeover of our true freedoms. We are becoming a socialist nation, and whoever...

Conservatives think of war as a metaphor when applied to politics. For radicals the war is real. That is why partisans of the left set out to destroy their opponents, not just refute their arguments. It is also why they never speak the truth. Deception for them is a military tactic in a war that is designed to elminate their opponents. Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals is first of all a broadside against the New Left. What Alinsky attacks about the New Left is its honesty — something I”ve always regarded as its o–nly redeeming feature. While American Communists — the...

Try this on for size: Palinism. What is it? It is an updated version of McCarthyism, which takes its name from the late Sen. Joseph McCarthy, the Wisconsin liar, demagogue and drunk, and means, according to Wikipedia, "reckless, unsubstantiated accusations, as well as demagogic attacks on the character or patriotism of political adversaries." As far as we know, Sarah Palin is not a drunk. But she certainly shares McCarthy's other attributes -- and this one as well: the ability to drive the debate. In McCarthy's day, it was anti-communism coupled with national security, and it hardly mattered that he frequently...

Anti-Americanism is a relatively recent phenomenon. The elites may have always despised American passion for individual liberties, but most common people admired America for exactly that. Upon gaining independence, a number of nations — from Uruguay to Greece to Togo to Malaysia — modeled their flags after the U.S. flag. Preambles of most Latin American constitutions closely resemble that of the U.S. Constitution, and the Latin American hero Simon Bolivar himself was an admirer of the United States and a believer in libertarianism and free markets, regardless of how his name and legacy are now being twisted by Hugo Chavez....

"WHAT'S up, old friend?" I asked the other day. But there was no response. The old friend was muffled, muzzled, unable to say anything, trapped in his new black straitjacket. I looked at him sadly. He looked back silently. I wanted to offer comfort, but what could you say? What could you do? "Thanks for the memories," I said, walking away. And Yankee Stadium -- the old one, the real one, the one presently wrapped by black scaffolding as it undergoes a painful transformation from national treasure and civic landmark to picked-apart, torn-asunder rubble -- didn't say a word. Noble...

The L.A.Times' Dan Neil is confused. He thinks that the so-called progressive movement is right on all the issues, but he just cannot understand why they can't win the public debate. Neil laments that they have all the "English majors" on their side but cannot win "any war of words." Just what is going on here, he wants to know? He's so frustrated that he took to his keyboard to ask these questions in a Pittsburgh Gazette article from August 9. In his piece, Neil wonders, for instance, why the "progressives" are so inept at debate and cannot convince the...

In a very orderly discussion of the Health care issue on Saturday 8/8/2009 Congressman Doggett was asked about mandating all Congressmen, Senators, government workers and the President to be required to use the same health plan as the American Public. His committee has studied health care for 2 years but says that such provisions are not part of the overall plan. Both sides of the healthcare reform issue cheered when this was brought up to the Congressman.

Ah, democracy! It never works better than when informed citizens gather in town hall meetings to discuss and debate the issues of the day. But, oh, democracy! It's never more damaged than when partisan zealots plot to disrupt town hall meetings in order to prevent any honest debate of the issues. And that's exactly what's happening in health care forums held across the nation by members of Congress. We've seen it in Philadelphia; Austin, Texas; Georgetown, Del.; Salisbury, Md; and other communities. Taking a page right out of a Nazi playbook, organizers bus in professional protestors and arm them with...

Check this out...

If you see anybody publicly opposing President Obama’s plan to implement a government-centric overhaul of the health care system, the White House wants you to report that person (or persons) ASAP. From the White House website: There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see...

Obama is asking for us to report suspicious reports on Health Care. Essentially, he wants to find who is behind reporting the truth on his proposed socialized medicine. From the White House: There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web...

The big lie: Democrats do not want a government takeover of your health care. This claim is so blatantly false that it is positively unreal. But count on Obama and his propagandists to keep repeating the big lie over and over and over again. As health care plan continued to sink in public approval, Obama recently said: “First of all,” Mr. Obama said, “nobody is talking about some government takeover of health care. I’m tired of hearing that. I have been as clear as I can be. Under the reform I’ve proposed, if you like your doctor, you keep your...

A poster depicting Barack Obama as Batman villain The Joker has been called 'mean-spirited and dangerous' by the U.S. President's supporters. The image, which has been adopted by Mr Obama's critics, shows him wearing the white face paint and smudged red lips of the character most recently played by the late actor Heath Ledger. Beneath the picture reads the word 'socialism'. The creator of the image remains unknown, but the website that first published the image crashed yesterday because so many had been attempting to view it. It has since been spotted in Los Angeles and Atlanta after it appeared...

WASHINGTON – The White House is turning to the Internet to hit back at a Web posting that claims to show President Barack Obama explaining how his health care reform plans eventually would eliminate private insurance.

Durbin warns other lawmakers of healthcare town hall 'sucker punch' @ 3:39 pm by Jordan Fabian Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) warned other members of Congress against antagonistic audience members at healthcare town hall events who may be funded by industry interest groups. "I hope my colleagues won't fall for a sucker punch like this," Durbin told the liberal blog ThinkProgress. "These health insurance companies and people like them are trying to load these town meetings for visual impact on television," he added. Liberal news sources have recently featured items about conservative and interest groups efforts to pack lawmakers' town hall...

Click here to watch the video. Video also available here, if that page is busy.

America has turned from the most representative form of government to a de facto judicial tyranny – Mark Levin, Men in Black If you wonder: Why you pay a high income tax rate while almost half of the population pays little or nothing. Why you can publicly burn an American Flag but cannot distribute pro-life leaflets within one hundred feet of an abortion clinic. Why illegal aliens get welfare benefits, public schooling and even civil service jobs. Why killing an endangered species lands you in prison while murdering a partially born human is a “right.” Why saying “God” in much...

PRINCETON, New Jersey (CNN) -- Health care reform has gotten off track. The president's news conference fell flat. Polls show growing unease with the proposals currently in play. And Congress will not meet the deadline that President Obama imposed. The status quo, as the president correctly explained to reporters, is not sustainable. Our health care system is not working. Millions of people lack insurance, costs are out of control, businesses and workers are struggling to keep up with premiums, and there are tremendous inefficiencies plaguing many parts of the system. Conditions will only become worse in coming years. Our health...

Why a website defending government? Because for decades, conservatives have been attacking government and not enough has been done to defend it. Ever since Ronald Reagan declared in 1981 that "Government is not a solution to our problem, government is the problem," Republicans have been waging a political war against this institution. Their core message: the free market is good and government is bad.

Organizing for America is a semi-underground DNC organizations designed to keep the Great Unwashed clamoring for more government handouts, and therefore, ensure more "love" for Obama. They are trying to organize phony demonstrations tomorrow to show how people supposedly really want Obamacare. This is the E-mail they sent out to Florida supporters today. Notice how the indoctrination phase, "victims" and speeches are already arranged planned and programmed. Can we all say ACORN! EMAIL: Friend -- Organizing for America volunteers have done amazing work over the last couple weeks -- and the pressure is working. Draft proposals are moving through Congress,...

Obama: We have reset U.S.-Russia relations @ 12:18 pm by Jeremy P. Jacobs President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev touted the results of the first day of their summit in Moscow at a press conference on Monday. Both presidents complimented the others' "business-like" approach to the summit and both appeared pleased with the agreements that came out of the first day. Obama said at the beginning at that shortly after taking office they "resolved to reset U.S.-Russian relations." "Today, after less than six months," he went on, "we have done exactly that." In particular, Obama touted the summit's agreements...

Government: It's been suggested that the White House has more czars than the Russian Romanov dynasty. Has the administration forgotten that we have a government of elected officials, not of imperial appointments?

Pelosi Won't Give Public a Week to Review Text of Health-Care Bill Before House Votes on It SNIPPET: "At her press briefing on Thursday, Pelosi was asked whether the health-care bill would be handled differently than the stimulus bill, which came up in February. The 1,071-page final text of that bill was posted on the House Appropriations Committee’s Web site late on a Thursday night and then voted on the next day. “When the stimulus bill came out earlier this year, members and citizens had less than two days to review the final version that came out of the conference...

Elites often propose health care solutions that limit options for the general public, secure in the knowledge that if they or their loves ones get sick, they will be able to afford the best care available, even if it's not provided by insurance. Devinsky asked the president pointedly if he would be willing to promise that he wouldn't seek such extraordinary help for his wife or daughters if they became sick and the public plan he's proposing limited the tests or treatment they can get. The president refused to make such a pledge, though he allowed that if "it's my...