Free Republic

....Mr. Obama has already attended 103 fund-raisers, roughly one every three days since he kicked off his campaign last April (twice his predecessor's pace). The president faces other fund-raising challenges. For one, there are only so many times any candidate can go to New York or Hollywood or San Francisco for a $1 million fund-raiser. Team Obama is running through its easy money venues quickly. For another, many of Mr. Obama's 2008 donors are reluctant to give again. The Obama campaign itself reported that fewer than 7% of 2008 donors renewed their support in the first quarter of his re-election...

JAY CARNEY, WH Press Secretary: "They don't give a lick about the day and time: ED HENRY, FOX News: "Why doesn't he give a speech from the oval office tonight saying here's my plan?" CARNEY: "He wants to speak before Congress because he recognizes that while there are things he can do without Congress, and he will do them, there are actions that need to be taken with Congress that require legislation to grow the economy and create jobs. And he wants to go to Congress, speak directly to members of Congress, and layout his proposals."

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Does anybody now doubt that this is on purpose? I mean, after all, Barack Obama inherits a AAA credit rating from George W. Bush, and look what he does to it. Obama is always running around complaining and whining and moaning about all that he inherited from George W. Bush. Well, he inherited a AAA credit rating, an unemployment rate of 5.7%. Does anybody doubt that this is on purpose? Well, look, my credit rating doesn't suck. There are a lot of individual Americans whose credit ratings aren't in trouble. The United States has never been in...

CNBC just broke in and told the audience that the President has requested airtime and will speak to the nation at 1300hrs EST (12 noon central, 10 AM PST) on the US national debt downgrade.Developing...

A top Obama adviser blames tea party for downgrade WASHINGTON — Who's to blame for the U.S. debt-ceiling mess? Politicians and political advisers took to the airwaves Sunday to point fingers, mostly at each other. David Axelrod, a top political adviser to President Barack Obama, blames the downgrade of the U.S. credit rating on tea party Republicans for being unwilling to compromise on how to reduce the federal debt. The Obama campaign strategist tells CBS' Face the Nation on Sunday that the decision by the Standard & Poor's credit agency to downgrade the U.S. from AAA to AA+ for the...

I just read two very interesting articles on the U.S. economy, written from historical perspectives. They compelled me to share my own historical perspective. And what I want to say is more about our changing culture than our economy. One of the articles, by Julie Crawshaw of MoneyNews.com, notes that the "Misery Index"—the combined unemployment and inflation rates—made infamous under President Jimmy Carter, has hit a 28-year high. It's also 62 percent higher than when President Obama took office. But that's nothing compared to Mort Zuckerman's article in U.S. News & World Report. Zuckerman measures the current situation against the...

President Obama on Tuesday said he cannot guarantee that retirees will receive their Social Security checks August 3 if Democrats and Republicans in Washington do not reach an agreement on reducing the deficit in the coming weeks. "I cannot guarantee that those checks go out on August 3rd if we haven't resolved this issue. Because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it," Mr. Obama said in an interview with CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley, according to excerpts released by CBS News.

House Speaker John Boehner is turning up the heat on President Obama, calling the debt-ceiling increase "his problem" and putting the onus on him to present a deficit-reduction plan that can pass Congress. Republicans in both chambers had tough words for the administration ahead of another White House sit-down Tuesday afternoon. On the Senate floor, GOP Leader Mitch McConnell accused the president and his party of "deliberate deception." The comments may reflect increasing pressure from rank-and-file Republicans to press for deeper spending cuts and not cave in to the administration's call for tax hikes.

After meeting for exactly 90 minutes, the president and members of congress achieved absolutely nothing except for what ZH readers already knew: that a debt deal has to be reached by July 22 or else. "President Barack Obama said Sunday that "we need to" work out a debt deal within the next 10 days as he convened a meeting with congressional leaders, aiming to fashion a deficit reduction package for the next 10 years. As the meeting opened, Obama and the leaders sat around the table in Sunday casual dress. Asked whether the White House and Congress could "work it...

Just as Israeli officials feared, US President Barack Obama's "vision" of pushing Israel back to it's 1967 borders has become the basis for international peace efforts in the Middle East. Last week, France offered to host renewed peace talks based on the "Obama vision." Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas at the weekend accepted the French proposal, even though it would likely end his campaign to unilaterally declare a Palestinian state at the UN in September. But it appears just the threat of taking such unilateral action has paid off. A former adviser to US presidents on Middle East issues said that...

The White House has finally forged a bipartisan consensus in Congress. Unfortunately for President Obama, lawmakers are uniting in opposition to his approach to the ongoing U.S. involvement in the Libyan civil war. Some see the operation as an ill-advised and useless military venture; others argue that Mr. Obama is breaking the law.... The War Powers Resolution comes into effect “in any case in which United States Armed Forces are introduced into hostilities or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances.” The plain words of the statute apply to Libya. On April 26 the...

Democrats try to wave off the birther controversy as a right-wing tempest in a teapot, but the president, his own staff and backers are the rainmakers who have stirred the recent storm. Even when conservative critics of this administration try to ignore the numerous conspiracy theories flying around Mr. Obama, Democrats like Mr. Matthews keep bringing the issues to the fore and thus make the scandals more bipartisan and mainstream. Hawaii Democrat Neil Abercrombie - a left-winger who made his political debut in 1970 as a longhaired Vietnam war protester - is another example. After being elected governor in November,...

Egypt's foreign minister has rebuffed calls from Washington to speed up the pace of political reform. Rejecting a US demand to lift a state of emergency, Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Washington should not "impose" its will on "a great country".

One score and four months ago, American voters brought forth in this country a historic presidency, conceived in hope and dedicated to the proposition that yes, we can. Now I am engaged in a great political war, the conditions of which I largely inherited from my predecessor, testing whether this presidency, or indeed any presidency, at least one so crowned in virtue, can long endure.... And from these honored dead I take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion to me. I highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in...

The darnedest thing just happened on TV. Still happening. Obama takes Clinton to the White House press briefing room. Turns the podium over to Clinton, and leaves the room. If you didn't have the sound on your TV, it looked like Obama resigned and handed over to Clinton. Clinton still talking, setting up dueling filibuster with Bernie Sanders. Clinton at that podium is bad deja vu.

Bush job approval rating higher than Obama's By: James Hohmann December 6, 2010 01:46 PM EST George W. Bush’s job approval rating as president has spiked to 47 percent, according to a Gallup poll released Monday. That’s one point higher than President Barack Obama’s job approval rating in a poll taken the same week. This is the first time Gallup asked Americans to retrospectively rate Bush’s job performance. And it was a stunning turnaround from his low point of 25 percent in November 2008. The 47 percent number is 13 points higher than the last Gallup poll taken before Bush...

One of the Wikileaks cables gives new insight into President Obama’s embarrassing bow to Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah. The incident took place on April 1, 2009, at the G-20 summit in London. This was preceded by a March 15 meeting between the king and Ambassador Ford Fraker, Ambassador Clint Williamson, and White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, in which the king praised Mr. Obama effusively. A March 22 cable, classified SECRET, contained the following paragraph headed “THE WORLD NEEDS OBAMA:”

MANILA, Philippines – The government is prepared to “evacuate all” 60,000 Filipinos in South Korea “if and when needed,” Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Esteban Conejos said Wednesday. “Everything is in place. We have an updated plan that addresses the security contingent arising in Korea. We will evacuate all if and when needed,” he said in a phone interview with INQUIRER.net. The constant tension in the Korean Peninsula starting with the North Korea’s nuclear testing about two years ago prompted the Philippine government to draw up a plan that includes mobilizing its “extensive network” of Filipino community leaders...

Reuters) - North Korea said on Friday the South and the United States were pushing the peninsula to "the brink of war" with their plan to conduct large-scale military drills, days after the rival Koreas exchanged artillery fire. "The situation on the Korean Peninsula is inching closer to the brink of war due to the reckless plan of those trigger-happy elements to stage again war exercises targeted against the (North)," the North's official KCNA news agency

For the second time in two weeks, Japanese TV viewers have received very fair, unfiltered and actually rather complementary TV coverage and background reports on Sarah Palin and a possible run for the presidency; in the same vein, Obama has been subjected to unprecedented scrutiny and negative reporting. One such report which aired yesterday here in Tokyo referred to the November Midterms Election as essentially a National Vote of No Confidence Against the Obama Administration. 「オ�マ大統領�対����信任決議�

Go to the Link HERE.Stream the one minute report--by hitting the white triangle in center of page, showing Obama meandering throughout Asia country by country, but ending on the tone that "his Asian trip basically accomplished little", and saying that President Obama now heads into a weakened situation back home with the emboldened and multiplied Republicans waiting for him in D.C.Most computers can stream this short JNN video, voice over is in Japanese but good visuals of Obama "in action"; it will be up for a day or two.

The most conceited White House in memory thinks it is making history in Asia. Instead, President Obama is completing his longest foreign trip with no real accomplishments to show for himself—and a reinforced image as a weak leader in over his head...

Where is the substance in the just-concluded Obama jamboree, asks Rajeev Srinivasan. A casual observer, the proverbial Martian, would have concluded from the breathless media coverage during the Barack Obama love-fest that this was a visit of the King-Emperor of India's colonial master. The pageantry and pomp and circumstance hid the sad fact that the emperor had no clothes, that is to say, there was precious little of substance in evidence. Lots of style, though: An Obama trademark. But then Indians love a good party, and this was like a Big Fat Punjabi Wedding: Plenty of dancing, much drinking, and...

MUMBAI: Implicitly acknowledging the decline of American dominance, Barack Obama on Sunday said the US was no longer in a position to "meet the rest of the world economically on our terms".Speaking at a town hall meeting in Mumbai, he said, "I do think that one of the challenges that we are going face in the US, at a time when we are still recovering from the financial crisis is, how do we respond to some of the challenges of globalisation? The fact of the matter is that for most of my lifetime and I'll turn 50 next year -...

A much subdued President Obama admitted yesterday that he took a "shellacking" in the midterm elections. Despite that meek concession, he doesn't appear to have gotten the order voters sent: Cease and desist. The Obama agenda has become a zombie, dead but continuing to walk among us.... Voters fundamentally rejected Mr. Obama's preference for government action as the solution to all of life's problems. The president pledged that he would find ways to be more effective in his job, but what the voters really want is for him to rethink his job description.

Japanese news today over here (newspapers above the fold, magazines, non-stop TV networks) are filled to the brim with news of Mr. Obama's humiliating defeat at the hands of the Republicans.Many of this is bringing Japanese up to speed as to how unpopular Mr. Obama really is, as for the last two years by and large they perpetuated the image of him being successful and popular (mostly in order to sell books and English instruction tapes using his speeches). What a rude awakening.Well, my favorite title is from this morning's Hokkaido Shimbun: Essentially: "Obama Agenda For "Change" Delivered Strong...

Chugoku Shimbun (News), in Japan, is from the Hiroshima region of the country. Their online report of the election just appeared in original Japanese. During these wee hours in the USA, I'm happy to "FReepranslate" the first paragraph and article headline as follows: "US Midterm Elections: Republicans Heading For Landslide?" "Washington Reporter, Tohru Mukai: "Polls one day before the big US midterm elections show a 15 point lead of popularity of the Republican Party over the Democratic Party. For all intents and purposes, tomorrow's vote in the US is a vote of confidence or no confidence against President Obama....

Tonight, Republicans will watch the election returns hoping for an upset takeover of the U.S. Senate. And if President Obama has any sense, he will be rooting for the GOP as well. Don't get me wrong, I would enjoy the epic Democratic humiliation symbolized by a Republican Senate takeover as much as the next guy - assuming the next guy isn't Harry Reid. But that thrill would be short-lived as the realities of Washington politics set in. The GOP governing majority would be slim; there would be little chance of getting meaningful legislation passed, and no chance at all of...

Just wondering if this terror alert is fake. It seems like the kind of thing the Dems said Bush would do. What do you think?

"Barack Obama’s senior advisers have drawn up plans to lower expectations for his presidency if he wins next week’s election, amid concerns that many of his euphoric supporters are harbouring unrealistic hopes of what he can achieve. The sudden financial crisis and the prospect of a deep and painful recession have increased the urgency inside the Obama team to bring people down to earth, after a campaign in which his soaring rhetoric and promises of "hope" and "change" are now confronted with the reality of a stricken economy...."(snip)

The Wikileaks organization has morphed from a relatively harmless aid to government whistleblowers into a threat to U.S. national security. It should be treated accordingly.... There are a variety of means whereby technicians could render inoperable the sites distributing the classified information. Wikileaks could respond by using alternate sites, but those could be targeted as soon as they came online. Wikileaks has a small staff and limited resources. Relentless attacks on the servers and sites dispensing this classified information would have a debilitating effect on the leakers' morale and help widen the fissures that already have appeared in the group....

SCROLL DOWN FOR THE FUN AND GAMES) "September 19, 2007 Rudolph Giuliani is raising campaign cash in London. Only U.S. citizens and green-card holders can legally give to U.S. campaigns. But Giuliani, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton are all holding events for Americans living in the British Isles. ROBERT SIEGEL, host: Today, Republican Rudolf Giuliani campaigned for the White House in England. Tonight he's got a lecture and dinner with former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. But in this cash-craze race for the White House, he also did something no other presidential candidate has ever done: He held a fundraiser on...

President Obama was elected by a country that doesn't deserve to be ruled by someone as enlightened as he is - or so he thinks. Last weekend, as it became increasingly evident that the president's party is headed for historic losses in the midterm elections, Mr. Obama offered his explanation for the electorate's thanklessness. "Part of the reason that our politics seems so tough right now, and facts and science and argument does [sic] not seem to be winning the day all the time is because we're hardwired not to always think clearly when we're scared," he told attendees at...

NEW DELHI: US President Barack Obama will not visit Amritsar during his stay in India next month. While there was no official confirmation from the government, sources said the proposal to visit Amritsar had been dropped owing to reservations of US officials over the kind of scarf Obama would have to wear to visit the Golden Temple. The decision was yet to be communicated to the government till late on Tuesday. However, sources said Obama, who will arrive in Mumbai on November 6, will directly come to Delhi now after a day's stay in the country's commercial capital. Earlier, he...

Title: "Sitting Out The Elections? Think Again"

It appears at the end of this CLIP ... Just "click" on the pic of our beloved President.Tips:--May not stream on all computers, but probably most worldwide.--This is a link to the Japanese newspage that THEN has the video link/can be found in the middle of the page, Obama with white triangle. You can stream it from there.--Video might be up for another day or so.See it while you can.The story started about the book thrown at Holy O the other day, but ended up with footage of a Shoe Throwing Fest in Tel Aviv featuring an image of the...

Sources within the Obama Administration as well as with the ruling Japan Democratic Party here have leaked and confirmed that Obama (and Japan side) have come to the conclusion to make the decision to cancel any side trip to Hiroshima, Japan in November as part of O's ongoing worldwide apology tour.

Obama crushed in abortion debate by 12 year-old girl. Watch the video HERE.

Muslims making a spectacle of desecrating the American flag.

The White House invited criticism of the president's leisurely approach to his job when spokesman Bill Burton criticized BP CEO Tony Hayward for taking his yacht out for a race; this as Mr. Obama was enjoying himself on the links with the vice president. Mr. Burton dismissed critics by saying that Mr. Obama taking time for golf "probably does us all good as American citizens" because it gives him an opportunity to "clear his mind." Husbands who spend every weekend out golfing should try that excuse out on their wives and see where it gets them. Mr. Obama is well...

Leadership: The summoning of the president's hand-picked Afghan commander to the White House to explain a critical magazine profile does not bode well. Are we looking for scapegoats or victory? To some, it evokes President Truman's meeting with Gen. Douglas MacArthur on Wake Island during the Korean War, shortly before Truman sacked the general who believed that in war there's no substitute for victory, a word that doesn't appear on administration teleprompters these days. Gen. Stanley McChrystal has been summoned to the White House to explain a profile to be published in Rolling Stone on Friday. The piece contains unflattering...

<p>2010 is shaping up to be an excellent year for conservatives, who are leading in most of the races around the country for the November midterm elections.</p> <p>A brief panoramic view of the various campaigns will reveal that voters are clearly intent on making significant changes to Congress this year.</p>

Citing what he believes are clear signs the economy is bouncing back from recession, Vice-President Joe Biden yesterday touted Barack Obama's 'stimulus package' and bailout of Wall Street. Time for yet another fact-check on the pathological liars of the Obama Administration. Banks are failing at double the rate of last year. During 2009, which the government claims was the peak of the recession, the total number of bank failures at this point in the year was 40. It is already 83 for this year. Yet the FDIC is running ads on radio stations across the country attempting to scare people...

Presumably, the goal of the Muslim outreach effort has been to soften opposition to our wars in the Middle East, but this too has failed miserably. The Pew report notes that Mr. Obama "receives overwhelmingly low ratings from publics in predominantly Muslim countries for his job performance on Iraq and Afghanistan." Approval ratings ranged from 4 percent to 22 percent, with disapproval ranging 53 percent to 84 percent. When Mr. Obama took office, he promised a regional framework strategy, "AfPak," for resolving the war in Afghanistan that supposedly was more sophisticated than that of his predecessor. With just 6 percent...

While the country is focused on the growing catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico resulting from the BP oil spill and decades of asinine policies enacted by environmentalist extremist politicians, another looming threat is being overshadowed. Illegal aliens are continuing their assault on America, aided and abetted by the Obama Administration. (AP Photo/Drew Angerer). Hillary Clinton chimes in on the federal government's intention to sue Arizona over its new illegal alien law. Federal law is very clear on the subject of illegal aliens. It is a felony to aid or abet an illegal alien in any way in the United...

The White House kicked off a "recovery summer" public relations blitz yesterday to promote the alleged benefits of stimulus spending. The mood of self-congratulation was interrupted by a Labor Department report that found initial jobless claims for the week climbed by 12,000. A Conference Board survey showed the average wait in unemployment lines increased from 30 weeks at the start of the year to 34.4 weeks in May. It won't be a summer of love in those households.... It is easy to "create jobs" when one uses the Treasury as an unlimited checking account where the bills never come due....

In a display that was indicative of political opportunism at best and hypocrisy at worst, members of the House committee on energy ripped into BP as if Congress is the shining example of honesty and integrity. Time for a serious fact-check. Congress has no moral authority to rip BP if they do not include themselves in the blame-game. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon). BP CEO Tony Hayward with Rep. Henry Waxman, D-California, one of the worst of the extremist environmentalists in Congress. Some of the very ones on the committee who did the most moralistic sermonizing to BP CEO Tony Hayward are...

As the deepening crisis of the catastrophic Gulf oil disaster continues to unfold, several oil spill stories of major importance have been virtually ignored. Even the conservative media have refused by and large to cover these stories. Conservative Examiner was among the first to break these stories, yet to this day not a single major media outlet has been willing to report them, not even Fox News or conservative talk radio. These stories are explosive, conclusive, factually verified, and of utmost importance to understanding what is truly happening in the Gulf and the scenario that led to it. First, on...

Despite Mr. Obama's dark vision of shadowy forces and gutless politicians denying the world a utopia of green fuels, alternative-energy sources are called "alternative" for a reason. Current technology will not support their economical and affordable use. Scientists have been working on these challenges for decades and hardly need Mr. Obama's nattering advice. For all the condemnations of the internal-combustion engine, gasoline is an extremely efficient, safe and affordable fuel. Gasoline has 80 times the energy by weight of lithium batteries, which are energy-intensive to produce and toxic when disposed. Other potentially viable alternatives are stymied by government regulations. The...

Energy Policy: President Obama says the oil disaster proves the need to get off fossil fuels. But before we save the planet, let's save the Gulf and stop exploiting crises to deny America the energy it needs. Saving the planet is nice, but just how do we plug the hole again? With an abundance of hand gestures, the president didn't really say in his speech Tuesday night. He did say fossil fuels were bad and green energy is good, but the people of the Gulf states don't need wind turbines right now. Contrary to Obama's assertions, our "addiction" to foreign...