Free Republic

This might sound rhetorical, but I assure you, it is a legitimate question: has Barack Obama served a single day as President? The thing is, according to Democrats and the President himself, nothing that ever goes wrong is ever Mr. Obama's fault. And since, under his leadership, things are constantly going bad, that means, if the Democrats are right, Mr. Obama has not served a single day as our Commander in Chief. Some examples: The United States being downgraded? Certainly not Mr. Obama's fault! It must have been the Tea Party and the Republicans who were pushing for a balanced...

In a deal reached on Thursday, the Senate passed a temporary Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization, ending a Congressional stand-off that has allowed the FAA’s official authority to lapse. The Senate agreed to pass the House version of the Bill which included $16.5 million in cuts to Extended Air Service (EAS) subsidies- a program which provides subsidized air travel to several secondary airports, particularly those frequently used by prominent congressional leaders. The Senate had refused to pass the House measure because of the EAS cuts before adjourning for the August recess, prepared to furlough tens of thousands of FAA workers to...

Osama bin Laden is dead. After nine and a half exhaustive years of searching, the terrorist mastermind was killed by US Navy Seals in Pakistan. After claiming his body, the US took, amongst other things, several pictures of the al Qaeda leader. Afterwords, the US gave bin Laden a "proper Muslim burial" at sea, making any future examination of the body impossible. The question now is: should those pictures, either all or some, be released? President Obama said no. About his reasons, he stated: "The risks of release outweigh the benefits. Conspiracy theorists around the world will just claim the...

To many, it's hardly a revelation to most, but when someone keeps taking the same action over and over again, even to his detriment, it can reveal a lot about that individual's belief system. This was an observation CNBC "Squawk Box" host Joe Kernen made about the Obama administration's willingness to embrace a populist "soak the rich" tactic against the wealthy in the United States, even though it isn't winning him favor with the American people, according to opinion polling. A new ABC News/Washington Post poll shows more people now think President Barack Obama's policies have hurt the economy than...

The “citizen class” is horrified. We’re speaking here of those Americans who, while they may disagree on a variety of social and public policy issues, nonetheless agree on a few, crucial matters. Those of us among the citizen class generally agree that the United States is a good country. While far from perfect, we see our nation as being a place of tremendous opportunity, and a force for goodness around the world. We also agree that being a U.S. citizen is a significant and distinct thing. While we respect the notion that all human beings are worthy of their “basic...

MOSCOW (AP)— Posters of Josef Stalin may be put up in Moscow for the first time in decades as part of the May 9 observance of Victory Day — the annual celebration of the defeat of Nazi Germany. This year, the 65th anniversary of Germany's defeat, a contingent of U.S. troops is expected to march on Red Square, a striking sign of vaunted "reset" of American-Russian relations. But Moscow city authorities may be preparing a less-welcome kind of reset with the posters, an honor denied since the Soviet dictator's crimes were publicly exposed more than half-a-century ago. The poster proposal...

Politics: Another bank failure is nothing new these days — except if the bank is run by the family of a U.S. Senate candidate who profited handsomely and lent millions to a convicted felon. But then, that's the Chicago way. 'I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat-cat bankers on Wall Street," President Obama said in a recent interview with "60 Minutes." Speaking to those bankers, he said: "You guys are drawing down 10, 20 million dollar bonuses after America went through the worst economic year that it's gone through in — in decades,...

Paramus man who claimed to be the assistant deputy director of Gov. Jon S. Corzine’s re-election campaign was arrested by East Rutherford police Friday, Oct. 30 for possession of Ecstasy. Jason Shih, 25, was arrested and charged at 11:28 p.m. with possession of Ecstasy, possession of drugs with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school, possession of drugs with the intent to distribute, talking on a cell phone while driving and possession of drugs in a car.

From the time he entered the White House, President Obama frequently has spoken about having “inherited” an economic mess, and he has been criticized for it. But the expression arguably has been used even more often by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Nine months later, it is a theme she returns to regularly at home and abroad. During her most recent trip, a six-day visit to Western Europe and Russia earlier this month, Clinton used the phrase publicly at least four times on three occasions. At a joint press conference with her British counterpart David Miliband in London on October...

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...

The health care reform bills Congress is considering would not require people who sign up for government health care programs to verify their eligibility. That opens the door for millions of illegal aliens and other non-citizens to receive medical services paid for by taxpayers, a panel of experts from the conservative Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) and the Heritage Foundation said Wednesday. Title II, Substitle C, Section 246 of the House health care bill (H.R. 3200) stipulates "no federal payment for undocumented aliens." The Senate Bill states that beneficiaries of federal health care programs must be a citizen or an...

Overall, only 47% somewhat approve of Obama's performance, the lowest level of total approval to date, while 52% disapprove. Rasmussen's national telephone survey reports that only 32% approve of a single-payer health care system while 57% are opposed...

Mark Lloyd has recently been appointed “Chief Diversity Officer” at the Federal Communications Commission. Conservative groups believe his installation is merely another way to impose the dangerous principles contained in the Fairness Doctrine. Lloyd is a longtime Democrat activist who has strategized about ways to censor conservative media under the guise of “local accountability.” In 2007, he co-wrote a report that called for, among other things, the restoration of local and national caps on the ownership of commercial radio stations and fines for commercial radio station owners if their stations didn’t air enough “progressive” content. Those fines would go directly...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: These guys have threatened me again. This was last Friday at the White House, Jake Tapper -- this the presidential daily brief. Jake Tapper says, "Rush Limbaugh went on a very long speech which he compared Democrats to Nazis, the president to Hitler, and I'm wondering if the president's seen any of this. Obviously the Nazi imagery has been condemned by Jewish groups, and I'm wondering if he feels anything about the language being used this way." GIBBS: Any time you make references to what happened in Germany in the Thirties and Forties, I think you're talking...

In the days before President Obama's last news conference, as the networks weighed whether to give up a chunk of their precious prime time, Rahm Emanuel went straight to the top. Rather than calling ABC, the White House chief of staff phoned Bob Iger, chief executive of parent company Disney. Instead of contacting NBC, Emanuel went to Jeffrey Immelt, the chief executive of General Electric. He also spoke with Les Moonves, the chief executive of CBS Corp., the company spun off from Viacom. Whether this amounted to undue pressure or plain old Chicago arm-twisting, Emanuel got results: the fourth hour...

The second substantial blow to Obamacare is in: Over the ten-year, trillion-dollar program only $2 billion will be saved with the latest compromise.

Just back from weekend at Bernies in DC.The Obama machine is beginning to leak. Obama's political henchmen now privately admit that an unpassed Obamacare bill will never survive past the August congressional recess. They know every member, particularly Dems from the House side and swishy R on the Senate side, will be bombarded with negative comments about Obamacare from most people back in their Districts. They admit that the next two weeks are critical to getting it passed, and are very worried about another phone blitz such as killed some other nefarious legislation in the past.Spread the word. Call every...

A look at what nationalized healthcare will look like in the future.

<p>American households lost $1.33 trillion of their wealth in the first three months of the year as the recession took a bite out of stock portfolios and dragged down home prices. The Federal Reserve reported Thursday that household net worth fell to $50.38 trillion in the January-March quarter, the lowest level since the third quarter of 2004. The first-quarter figure marked a decline of 2.6 percent, or $1.33 trillion, from the final quarter of 2008.</p>

...concerns have been raised about the course the President has thus far chosen to reveal. Robert Pear for the New York Times reports that the AMA will oppose a government sponsored insurance plan that Mr. Obama’s plan is thus far espousing. The opposition of the AMA could well be an insurmountable hurdle to the Obama Administration’s plans for Socialized Health Care. The Times goes further: “But in comments submitted to the Senate Finance Committee, the American Medical Association said: “The A.M.A. does not believe that creating a public health insurance option for non-disabled individuals under age 65 is the best...

Is the world overreacting to swine flu? The Indiana health commissioner says don’t shake hands with anyone. Vice President Joe Biden said try to avoid subways or planes, (although he backpedaled later). And people are buying up protective face masks left and right. Maybe a pandemic is in fact on its way — some reputable experts think as much. But maybe the much-cited example of the millions-killing Spanish flu of 1918 is less a guide to our immediate health future than the swine flu scare of 1976. Gerald Ford was president that year. He got caught up in the panic,...

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Bureau of Investigation earlier this year launched a nationwide operation targeting white supremacists and "militia/sovereign-citizen extremist groups," including a focus on veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, according to memos sent from bureau headquarters to field offices. The initiative, dubbed Operation Vigilant Eagle, was outlined in February, two months before a memo giving a similar warning was issued on April 7 by the Department of Homeland Security. ____________________________________ A Feb. 23 draft memo from FBI domestic counterterrorism leaders, obtained by The Wall Street Journal, cited an "increase in recruitment, threatening communications and weapons procurement by white supremacy...

Health and Human Services nominee Kathleen Sebelius recently corrected three years of tax returns and paid more than $7,000 in back taxes after finding "unintentional errors" — the latest tax troubles for an Obama administration nominee. The Kansas governor explained the changes to senators in a letter dated Tuesday that the administration released. She said they involved charitable contributions, the sale of a home and business expenses. Sebelius said she filed the amended returns as soon as the errors were discovered by an accountant she hired to scrub her taxes in preparation for her confirmation hearings. She and her husband,...

President Obama chucked his reliable teleprompter this evening in favor of a giant TV screen pictured here. The president conducted his second press conference since coming into office inside the East Room of the White House Tuesday night. (PAUL J RICHARDS/AFP/NEWSCOM)Leave it to FOX News to lead their coverage this evening with details on the new teleprompter President Obama used during his opening comments. Actually it was just a monstrously large TV screen. Some are speculating that it resembled a drive-in theater movie screen. Before recapping what the president said this evening, FOX anchor Brett Baier showed a photo of...

After a week of rough economic news, President Obama on Saturday gave a pep talk to America, using his weekly radio address to tell them he understands their hardships and to tick off the steps he's prodded government to take. "We will continue to face difficult days in the months ahead," Mr. Obama said. "But I also believe that we will get through this — that if we act swiftly and boldly and responsibly, the United States of America will emerge stronger and more prosperous than it was before." Mr. Obama also bragged about what he said were the brakes...

President Barack Obama offered his domestic-policy proposals as a "break from a troubled past." But the economic outlook now is more troubled than it was even in January, despite Obama's bold rhetoric and commitment of more trillions of dollars. And while his personal popularity remains high, some economists and lawmakers are beginning to question whether Obama's agenda of increased government activism is helping, or hurting, by sowing uncertainty among businesses, investors and consumers that could prolong the recession. Although the administration likes to say it "inherited" the recession and trillion-dollar deficits, the economic wreckage has worsened on Obama's still-young watch....

For all the talk of new politics and a new start with a new administration, the media person who has emerged as the chief voice of opposition during the first week of Barack Obama's presidency - Rush Limbaugh - has been doing this for 20 years. The talk-radio titan said, days before Obama was sworn in, that he hoped Obama failed because he didn't believe in the incoming president's policies. It's kept him in the headlines ever since, to the point where MSNBC on Thursday asked: "Is Rush running the GOP?" The day before, every Republican House member voted against...

More from Tennessee - Waiting to be Contacted by the FBI My anonymous source in Tennessee heard back from Lamar Alexander's office earlier this week. A staff member was kind enough to forward his/her request for information on to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, so hopefully we'll have more to report in the not too distant future. Please note: I have digitally altered this document by removing all information that could identify my source, or the staff member working for Senator Alexander. Everything else remains intact. (See letter at link)