Free Republic

The Wall Street Journal reports on what National Review Online’s Veronique de Rugy calls one more in the law of ”unintended consequences” to the implementation of our President’s “signature law” – ObamaCare (via Memeorandum -bolded emphasis added by me): "Employers are increasingly recognizing they may be able to avoid certain penalties under the federal health law by offering very limited plans that can lack key benefits such as hospital coverage. Benefits advisers and insurance brokers—bucking a commonly held expectation that the law would broadly enrich benefits—are pitching these low-benefit plans around the country. They cover minimal requirements such as preventive...

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney is sweating it out under the harsh lights of the White House briefing room these days, revising stories and spinning away suspicious facts in what is becoming an almost comical daily exercise in scandal avoidance.

More at Reaganite Republican...

Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog For four years, IRS supervisors were too dumb to notice that their own employee was embezzling money from the IRS Wow! This shows just how incredibly stupid the supervisors at the IRS are. For four years, they were too stupid to notice the altered receipts that one of their employees was giving them when she used her IRS credit card to make personal purchases.Anyone who is too stupid to notice that, should not be working as a supervisor at the IRS.The Smoking Gun reports:Entrusted with a government credit card, an Internal Revenue Service worker allegedly used...

Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog Why is the Obama administration using the IRS, OSHA, ATF, and FBI to harass tea party member Catherine Engelbrecht? Catherine Engelbrecht is a tea party member who lives in Richmond, Texas. She and her family own a small manufacturing business. As far as I’m aware, Ms. Engelbrecht and her family are law abiding citizens who work hard and pay their taxes.Ms. Engelbrecht founded a conservative organization called True the Vote. After she sent the group’s application for nonprofit status to the IRS, the IRS went three years without responding.But it’s much worse than that.During those three...

The Tsarnaev brothers’ brutal attack in Boston sparked renewed interest in terrorism in Eurasia. The subsequent disclosure that two students from Kazakhstan allegedly tried to hide incriminating evidence against Djokhar Tsarnaev has only heightened that interest. The not-guilty plea of Fazliddin Kurbanov, the alleged Uzbek terrorist in Idaho, underscores the new threat. And that’s a good thing. Understanding what was and is happening in Eurasia can help us better fight terrorism and prevent future attacks rooted in that region. Chechens and Uzbeks fought in Afghanistan with the Taliban, and fighters from the North Caucasus are involved in Syria on the...

MOSCOW — "Russia is like a tub full of dough. You push your hand all the way to the bottom, pull it out, and right before your eyes, the hole disappears, and again, it is a tub full of dough," Nikita Khrushchev once said, assessing the country he ruled. The former premier -- my great grandfather -- who 60 years ago denounced Joseph Stalin and his pervasive security apparatus, must be turning in his grave. Russia's legal institutions are still run along the lines of Stalin's "show trials." Following the politically motivated prosecutions of former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky and...

If you can believe that President Obama doesn’t know anything about his own administration, then I’m sure it isn’t hard to believe this:

Obama Attacks The 1st AmendmentObama goes after the AP and Fox News5/21/2013Fox's Bret Baier Reveals That DOJ Also Seized Phone Records For James Rosen's ParentsNYT Editorial: Another Chilling Leak Investigation (FNC, James Rosen)Obama administration mistakes journalism for espionage5/20/2013DOJ's secret subpoena of AP phone records broader than initially revealedHolder Won't Say if DOJ Ever Enforced Born Alive Infant Protection Act: Answers "I don't know" the committee 56 timesJustice Department affidavit labels Fox News journalist as possible 'co-conspirator'Report: Three Fox News Staffers Targeted By Justice DepartmentObama DOJ formally accuses journalist in leak case of committing crimes: James RosenBefore AP: DOJ Targeted Fox...

Today was supposed to be a fun one for liberals on the Investigations subcommittee for the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. They were going to haul in Apple’s CEO, CFO, and head of Tax Operations to browbeat them over their lack of — what, patriotism? Dumbness? — for having avoided tax liability last year. This was supposed to provide a little diversion from a week of wall-to-wall Obama administration scandals. Instead, Sen. Rand Paul rained on everyone’s parade, providing an exemplary rebuttal of the brain-dead populism that politicians so often engage in when it comes to corporate...

Surprise! Surprise! The DUmmies SUPPORT IRS official Lois Lerner for pleading the Fifth Amendment as it is reported she will do tomorrow during a congressional hearing tomorrow. At least the DUmmies have revealed themselves since I checked KOmmieland and there is NADA there about this. There was a lot of reaction at the HUffington Post but since they allow NORMAL people in there, over 90% of the posters condemned Lerner. Of course, there were a few voices of reason in this DUmmie THREAD, "IRS Official Lois Lerner Will Plead The 5th Amendment," which leads me to suspect that those...

At the risk of being investigated by the by the Gestap---er,uh---, Infernal Revenue "Service" (no typo), I bid you greetings, fellow patriots. Just for fun and an undying thirst for the truth, let's talk about the infiltration of of radical Islamonazis of the State Of Confusion Department under Hitlery Clinton, friend of the PLO and Hamas. Now before we get started, a little housekeeping is in order. I am not a conspiracy theorist. I'm not an Alex Jones groupie. I'm not a Paultard who blames Mossad or the CIA for 9/11/01 between bong hits. I'm simply an observant person who...

Full title - "SHOCK: Obama was 'incapacitated' due to 'staggering, inapt activities' between the hours of 1800 and 2300 on the night of Benghazi... ""Two sources close to the inner circle of the Obama White House have communicated exclusively to RedFlag News that during the night of Benghazi, President Obama was 'incapacitated' due to 'staggering, inapt activities' between the hours of 1800 and 2300."

Two years ago, Zero Hedge first made the observation that the bulk of Fed reserves (also known simply as "cash created out of thin air" because money is first and foremost fungible no matter what textbook theoreticians may claim, and the only cash allocation preference is the capital allocation IRR analysis) had been parked not with US banks, but with foreign banks with US-based operations. We followed that with more analyses, showing explicitly how the Fed was providing a constant cash injection to foreign banks courtesy of the rate on overnight reserves which is the amount Fed pays to banks...

BREAKING: Just moments ago, to the nauseating La Raza audience chants of "Sí Se Puede"....The Senate Judiciary Committee PASSED the final, amended 'Gang of Eight' amnesty bill to the full Senate. The vote was 13-5, with all Democrats, plus disgraceful traitors Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) joining them in handing IMMEDIATE amnesty for 20+ millions illegal aliens, plus full welfare and ObamaCare coverage, with absolutely NO border security triggers. This is a shameful day for the U.S Senate.ALL conservative activists are are urged to IMMEDIATELY CALL THEIR SENATORS and DEMAND they oppose this disgrace: ***CALL...

It now seems clear that the Department of Homeland Security’s stockpiling of ammunition and other warfare supplies can no longer be dismissed as “conspiracy theory,” but is a very real development in the actions of an overreaching federal government. Many have suggested and assumed that the ammo and gun shortage experienced across the country is the result of private citizens’ unprecedented purchases, in recent years, in preparation for impending gun control measures. While this is true in part, it is only half of the logical explanation that can be assessed based upon available facts. This phenomenon has been described as...

E.W. Jackson Electrifies RPV Convention via kwout

Four Armed Colorado River Tea Party Members Exercise Their Rights About 50 people showed up at high noon in Yuma to exercise their First and Second Amendment rights. A common theme among the Tea Party members was that using the machinery of government to suppress dissent and political opposition is the very essence of tyranny. Signs varied from "Shut Down the IRS" to "We will not be Intimidated" to "Obama IRS Tyrant!" to "Congress disregards the Constitution it's up to us to do something" About 50 Protesters Showed up. I counted nearly 40, and several joined the group over...

Women of America – particularly female "Star Trek" fans – co-writer/producer Damon Lindelof has something to say to you: There was no practical reason for Alice Eve to appear in her lingerie in "Star Trek Into Darkness," and he's sorry for that.

One of my favorite shows is a program called “Person of Interest’ on CBS. The story revolves around a government computer that knows when someone somewhere is in danger and passes that information along to a team of ex government types who go on to save that particular Person of Interest. The show’s device is that the machine can tap into virtually every piece of electronic data on the planet and harness the video feed from every surveillance camera in the world. While the heroes saving the day makes for a feel good show, it’s never a cakewalk. Besides the...

I wish I could say this post was unprovoked, but one Democrat wasted no time politicizing the Oklahoma tornado tragedy. They're forcing the point...shamelessly.

Do those who want the Boy Scouts to allow openly homosexual boys to participate understand why it's the Boy Scouts rather than the Boy and Girl Scouts? Do they think boys and girls should share tents on camp outs? Male homosexuals claim they look at other males the way males look at females. If that is true than they sometimes look at other males as potential sexual conquests. They sometimes invade the sexual privacy of other males by imaging sexual contact with them. I don't know if the claim is true or not. I only know that scientific research indicates...

Islam is a supremacist doctrine that affirms not only Muslim superiority over non-Muslims, but also Arab superiority over other ethnic groups and races. Both Islam's holy texts - the Quran and the Hadith, namely Muhammad's official biography - and scholars are testament to that. Muhammad himself bought, sold and kept African slaves. Historically, Muslims' slave trade of black Africans has been by far the world's greatest numerically and the most long-lasting, spanning over 1400 years (watch the video "The Arab Muslim Slave Trade Of Africans, The Untold Story", by clicking on the link just below this post title). Arab Muslims...

by Roger L Simon PJM EXCLUSIVE: Ex-Diplomats Report New Benghazi Whistleblowers with Info Devastating to Clinton and Obama May 21st, 2013 - 12:05 am More whistleblowers will emerge shortly in the escalating Benghazi scandal, according to two former U.S. diplomats who spoke with PJ Media Monday afternoon. These whistleblowers, colleagues of the former diplomats, are currently securing legal counsel because they work in areas not fully protected by the Whistleblower law. According to the diplomats, what these whistleblowers will say will be at least as explosive as what we have already learned about the scandal, including details about what really...

To be honored at a dinner on Tuesday night. Next Generation’s Allen West will be honored at a dinner hosted by the American Freedom Alliance on Tuesday night with their “Heroes of Conscience Award.” AFA describes the award as: [M]en and women who work daily to support the values and ideals which have formed the very cornerstone of our civilization. We are grateful for their courage and tenacity in elevating the study of the classics, promoting democracy and free enterprise and focusing on the elements that guarantee individual liberty. In defense of our freedoms, they have dared to venture beyond...

Tuesday afternoon a bombshell was dropped into the already explosive IRS scandal when it was reported that Lois Lerner, a top IRS official in the non-profit division that paralyzed Tea Party groups with ongoing harassment, would invoke the Fifth Amendment and refuse to answer questions during Congressional testimony schedule before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday. The LA Times reports that Lerner will refuse to answer any questions about what she knows about the targeting of conservative groups. She will also refuse to explain why she is refusing to answer questions. Lerner has retained defense attorney William W. Taylor 3rd,...

The tornado-devastated town of Moore, Okla., had complained in February about regulatory delays from state and federal agencies that were preventing it from getting money for its county-wide tornado shelter rebate program. "The city's safe room rebate program is still 'on hold,' with not a lot changed from our update of last May [2012]," a statement posted on the City of Moore website said. "Our county-wide Hazard Mitigation Plan still has not been approved by the state and FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency]... "There were changes to the federal requirements for this plan that occurred while our contractor was writing...

Are you f*&!ing serious? As a native Buckeye who’s lived in Washington for eight years, this was my first reaction to the data analysis released today by our Marchex Institute, which found that people in Ohio curse the most in the country. Washingtonians, by contrast, curse the least. (WTF?) The data also placed Ohioans in the Top 5 “Least Courteous” category. Apparently, residents there have a harder time saying “please” and “thank you,” which were the keywords that Marchex’s Call Mining technology scanned for when aggregating data on pleasantries. It’s fascinating stuff. And it coincides with National Etiquette Week, a...

Yesterday’s and today’s press conferences by White House press secretary Jay Carney provide ammunition to the thesis proposed this week even by a few mainstream journalists. By Carney’s account, Obama knows little or nothing about several really awful things happening in his own administration. He is (as Carney claimed) deliberately kept in the dark by senior staff regarding matters you’d expect a president would really want to know about, such as a major scandal about to erupt regarding the IRS targeting Tea Party groups, which began just as his health care bill was running into difficulty. The long and the...

During Tuesday's Senate hearings into the widening IRS scandal, Senator Ron Wyden (OR-D) suggested that the conservative groups, targeted for paralyzing IRS harassment and leaks to the left-wing media, had it coming. (snip) (from John Harwood) Sen Wyden: If political groups don't want hassles from government, they shouldn't go to government asking for tax-exempt status.

On May 15th, the Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and two leaders linked to the Muslim Brotherhood visited Lanham, Maryland to celebrate the future opening of a $100,000,000 mega-mosque. The project is being funded by the Islamic government of Turkey. Erdogan has seen his share of controversy. In February, he stated that Zionism is a "crime against humanity." In June 1997, he stated, "The Jews have begun to crush the Muslims of Palestine, in the name of Zionism. Today, the image of the Jews is no different from that of the Nazis." The Muslim Brotherhood and their connection to antisemitism...

Some might recall Lt. Col. Matthew Dooley, the decorated Army officer (who says) he was fired last year from his position as a war college instructor because of his teachings about jihad and Islam. Now, he’s suffered another setback in his career: he’s been rejected as commander of a combat battalion.[snip]“But after 18 years of hard work, family sacrifice, six deployments and outstanding officer evaluations, Matt’s dream was shattered by Gen. Dempsey.”[snip]...“Yet, despite Gen. Dempsey’s personal attacks on LTC Dooley, a command review board consisting of generals and colonels voted to retain LTC Dooley on the list for battalion command....

Barack Obama’s “legacy” continues to erode as more and more corruption, government abuse of power, lying, and cover up stories are exposed and made public. In the latest derailment of the Obama tyranny express, it has been reported by The Washington Post, of all institutions, that Eric Holder and Barack Obama have declared all-out war against conservative media types at FOX NEWS. James Rosen, the network’s chief Washington correspondent, has become a First Amendment cause celebre over his treatment by the Obama administration. But the DOJ, Fox says, also investigated the Emmy Award-winning investigative reporter William La Jeunesse and Fox...

I wish we could say this type of nonsense couldn't have been expected from the left, but that wouldn't be true.Someone should start a countdown for when Chris Matthews thanks mother nature for a deadly and destructive storm...it wouldn't be the first time he did it.

Sen. Paul's questions today for tax attorney J. Richard Harvey, in regard to Apple and the current US tax code: "SEN PAUL: I don’t know of anybody on this panel who tries to maximize their tax burden. I mean my question for Mr. Harvey : Do you take any deductions on your taxes? MR. HARVEY: Obviously I do. SEN PAUL: Do you choose to maximize your tax burden or minimize your tax burden? MR. HARV...EY: Uh minimize it. SEN PAUL: Do you think you’re a bad person for doing that? MR. HARVEY: Absolutely not."

As is often the case with my brain, I need to mull over things sometimes to decide what I think about them. Such is the case with Jason Richwine, the Heritage Foundation scholar who was driven out when it was discovered that his thesis (which passed inspection at Harvard) reached the following conclusions: So what is actually in the dissertation? The dissertation shows that recent immigrants score lower than U.S.-born whites on many different types of IQ tests. Using statistical analysis, it suggests that the test-score differential is due primarily to a real cognitive gap rather than to culture or...

There is talk about Fox News reporter James Rosen being named as a co-conspirator for the crime of being a journalist. A Fox News correspondent was accused in a Justice Department affidavit of being a possible criminal "co-conspirator" for his alleged role in publishing sensitive security information -- in a leak case that takes the highly unusual step of claiming a journalist broke the law. According to court documents, the Justice Department obtained a portfolio of information about Fox News' James Rosen's conversations and visits to the State Department. This included a search warrant for his personal emails. The effort...

Sex Beast Muslim Taxi Driver Tried Raping Girl,15 In Oldham May 21 Posted by kafircrusaders Another vile Muslim sexual predator guilty of  sex crimes against children. Pervert taxi driver Tamur Yaqub from Oldham thought because he made eye contact with a 15-year-old girl as he drove past her in his cab. That it somehow entitled him to drag her in his car, drive her to a secluded spot and attempt to rape her.Yaqub is a good Muslim husband and father of 6 children. Yet like we keep on seeing time and time again, Muslims treating infidel females with contempt in a way...

Just as they SHAMELESSLY exploit the deaths of children to a psychopath in Connecticut, the Democrats cannot wait a day to exploit the dead in Oklahoma due to tornadoes. There is no depth of scum to low in which they will immerse themselves. I posted this on May 20th and the swindlers have not failed to do what was expected. (video)

Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the second-highest Republican member of the Senate, has drawn a 2014 primary challenger. Erick Wyatt of Rockport, Texas filed papers this week with the Federal Election Commission to run for Senate against Cornyn, the Senate Minority Whip, who is up for re-election in 2014. Cornyn is seen as vulnerable to a challenge from the right, and has said he’s been expecting and preparing for a primary battle. He was one of just three senators who voted against John Kerry’s confirmation as Secretary of State. He cast the vote with Texas’ junior senator, tea party favorite Ted...

The IRS has admitted to harassing conservative groups seeking tax exempt status, singling out for extra special scrutiny organizations which featured “patriot” or “tea party” designations in their name. We now know that a number of these groups were forced to withdraw their applications, being unable or unwilling to continue what in some cases had become a 3 year battle with the corrupt federal agency. But few in the media have bothered to ask who directed the IRS to engage in this criminal behavior. It has been reported that Senators Chuck Schumer and Al Franken addressed a letter to IRS...

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are focused on wooing two conservative Republican senators they consider crucial to expanding support for immigration reform beyond the Gang of Eight and maximizing pressure on the House. Some Democrats believe they have a shot of securing the support of Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), the Senate’s second-ranking Republican, who offered encouraging words early on in the Judiciary panel’s markup of the legislation. But Democrats say they’ll first need to win backing from Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), whom they consider key to getting Cornyn, as well as other Republicans outside the Gang of Eight, on...

Recently I asked if housing was in a bubble. Today, Zillow released their house price data by metro area to get a closer glimpse of a potential housing bubble … again. According to Zillow, Phoenix AZ, Sacramento CA, San Jose CA, San Francisco CA, Modesto CA, Vallejo CA, Las Vegas NV, Reno NV, Stockton CA and Santa Rosa CA all grew over 20% Year over year in terms of house prices. Even Detroit rose 13.97%. While California housing is on fire, not all US cities are rising. Rockford IL is the biggest loser in terms of house prices. And Chicago...

No political campaign ever justifies obstructing justice, or harassing individuals, or compromising those great agencies of Government that should and must he above politics. To the extent that these things were done in the 1972 campaign, they were serious abuses, and I deplore them. As we look at Watergate in a longer perspective, we can see that its abuses resulted from the assumption by those involved that their cause placed them beyond the reach of those rules that apply to other persons and that hold a free society. It became fashionable as individuals and groups increasingly asserted the tight to...

Question: When does a Drudge story become a scandal? Answer: When the MSM says so. Question: When does the MSM say so? Answer: 1) When it involves Republicans; and 2) When it’s about them. (SNIP)   No, you shut up! How else to explain the Media’s sudden interest in the Federal Government’s abuse of power? They weren’t the least bit captivated by Fast and Furious (Gun running to Mexican cartels? No story there), Pigford (Massive fraud at USDA? Pass, story’s got no legs), Extortion 17 (Suspicious downing of helicopter filled with Navy Seals? Lunatic rightwing conspiracy theorists!) or Benghazi...

You know what’s rallying? Crap! The most-indebted U.S. companies are rallying more than any time in almost four years compared with the rest of the stock market amid the broadest rally since at least 1995.Federal Reserve interest rates near zero and the expanding economy are allowing Standard & Poor’s 500 Index companies with the lowest working capital, smallest earnings and highest debt ratios to reduce borrowing costs and avoid default. The stocks surged 27 percent this year, almost double the gains for businesses with the most cash and least borrowing, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and Goldman Sachs Group...

It’s safe to say not too many zeroes are handed out to students who have actually completed their assignment and have handed it in. Most flat-line marks are due to, as seen in the Dorval case, required work the student failed to do. If there is nothing to grade, it stands to reason no grade is given.

Though the Highland Park School District spent $19,634 per pupil in 2010-11, which was the highest in the state, district schools were so mismanaged that they had rodents in the classrooms, holes in the ceilings and walls, and horrendous filth in the bathrooms. "I [saw] it in the media center," DeCarlos, a junior at Highland Park Community High School, said of a mouse he saw running along the floor from a nearby room. He wasn't alone. "It was terrible," said Delshon, a senior at HPCHS. "We had to worry if something was going to crawl on us; worry if the...

Truth is the mortal enemy of the lie. The “Truth” always comes out regardless of how hard individuals try to hide it. I believe with all my heart as do many that there are honorable men and women within government who will not sit idly by and let the crimes continue by those in this current administration. There is an eerie sound coming from the far winds of the earth where many protect our very freedoms. This isn’t going to be pretty for Obama, Hillary, and his administration. Whistleblowers are poised to strike in the escalating Benghazi scandal amongst other...

Gabriel E. Gomez picked up some celebrity Republican support as he hit the campaign trail with U.S. Sen. John McCain 
(R-Ariz.) yesterday. The 2008 GOP presidential nominee called Gomez “the next generation of leadership in this country” and said all is forgiven for Gomez’s 2008 donation to President Obama. McCain said Gomez is a 
bipartisan pol needed to bring balance in the Senate. .“I’m here because I believe in this young man,” he said. “The one thing we need in Washington more than anything else is bipartisanship.” The Arizona Republican was hosting a fundraiser for 
Gomez, who will face off...