Free Republic

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(CBS News) CBS News has learned of a shocking link between a deadly drug cartel shootout with Mexican police last week and a controversial case in the U.S. The link is one of the grenades used in the violent fight, which killed three policemen and four cartel members and was captured on video by residents in the area. According to a Justice Department "Significant Incident Report" filed Tuesday and obtained by CBS News, evidence connects one of the grenades to Jean Baptiste Kingery, an alleged firearms trafficker U.S. officials allowed to operate for years without arresting despite significant evidence that...

<p>WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans conceded defeat on Wednesday in their bitter budget fight with President Obama over the new health care law as the House and Senate approved last-minute legislation ending a disruptive 16-day government shutdown and extending federal borrowing power to avert a financial default with potentially worldwide economic repercussions.</p>

The Associated Press has declared Newark Mayor Cory Booker the winner in Wednesday's special U.S. Senate election. Booker defeated former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan, a Tea Party Republican, to serve out the remainder of the late Frank Lautenberg’s term. Although the race was close early on, Democrats were quick to declare Booker the winner. Only 40 minutes after polls closed at 8 p.m., the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee was declaring victory. A short time later, state Sen. Barbara Buono, who is running against Governor Christie in the Nov. 5 election, offered her congratulations to Booker.

Capitol Hill talk regarding the Senate deal apparently includes a provision that would take away the Congress’ power to increase the debt ceiling. According to Politico, it looks like the buzz appears to be true.: The plan includes a proposal offered by McConnell in the 2011 debt ceiling crisis that allows Congress to disapprove of the debt ceiling increase, which means lawmakers will formally vote on whether to reject a debt ceiling increase until Feb. 7. Obama can veto that legislation if it passes. If Congress fails as expected to gather a two-thirds majority to override the veto, the debt...

A proposal to end the government shutdown and avoid default orchestrated by Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic Leader Harry Reid includes a $2 billion earmark for a Kentucky project. Language in a draft of the McConnell-Reid deal (see page 13, section 123) provided to WFPL News shows a provision that increases funding for the massive Olmsted Dam Lock in Louisville from $775 million to nearly $2. 9 billion.

Sens. Cruz, Lee say they won't block deal By Mike Lillis - 10/16/13 12:38 PM ET Sens. Ted Cruz and Mike Lee said Wednesday that they won't try to block the bipartisan deal to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling. "The timing of the vote will make no difference to the outcome," Cruz (R-Texas) said. "I have no intention of delaying the vote." Cruz and Lee (R-Utah) had spearheaded the campaign to attach ObamaCare language to any new budget bills, and had pushed their colleagues to take a hard-line stance. But the pair emerged from a meeting of...

Senate leaders reached agreement Wednesday to avert a threatened Treasury default and reopen the government after a partial, 16-day shutdown, according to a Republican senator who also said the House might vote first on the plan to speed its approval. The New York Stock Exchange soared on the news that the threat of default was easing in, rising nearly 200 points by late morning. "I understand they've come to an agreement but I'm going to let the leader announce that," Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H........

We need your continuing support to keep FR on the air. FR is funded solely by the donations made by the people who love and use it. We sell no advertising or merchandise; have no corporate sponsors or sugar daddies and accept no government subsidies. It's just us freedom-loving grassroots conservatives using and funding one of our favorite and most useful news and activism organizations. FreeRepublic.com - Defending God, life, family, country on the Net since 1996! Thank you all very much for your continuing support!! Your loyal support keeps FR alive and is greatly appreciated. And thank you all...

President Obama vowed Tuesday that he would pursue an immigration reform vote in the House the "day after" Congress reached an agreement to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling. "Once that’s done, you know, the day after -- I’m going to be pushing to say, call a vote on immigration reform," Obama told Univision's Los Angeles affiliate. "And if I have to join with other advocates and continue to speak out on that, and keep pushing, I’m going to do so because I think it’s really important for the country. And now is the time to do it."

Good morning Free Republic and good morning to the GREAT STATE of NEW JERSEY! Get up and go to you polling place!! VOTE FOR STEVE LONEGAN TODAY!! And with that -- I am off to do my civic duty and to make America proud!! (hope this isn't a repeat thread!)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell are finalizing a deal to avert a debt default and reopen the government, capping a frantic day that had Washington bracing for an economic crisis of its own making. The deal is essentially done, sources say, as aides for the two leaders finish drafting the legislative language Tuesday night.

----"Plan B" and fiscal cliff vote, redux. Having hammered out a deal to shoot back to the Senate tonight -- with most Republicans reportedly on board -- House GOP leadership has been forced to delay or cancel those votes after support among conservatives collapsed in the early evening hours. The rules committee meeting, which would have formally drawn up the bill and advanced it to the full house, has been postponed indefinitely. The reason is simple. They don't have the votes: What happened? The counter-offer's broad outline, which I've been following all day, seemed to be on track. Then the...

House Republicans are in trouble. GOP leadership pulled their bill to open the government and lift the debt ceiling because they didn’t have the votes to squeeze it through the chamber. There will be no vote Tuesday, which means Washington will have one day to lift the debt ceiling before the U.S. government reaches its borrowing limit. It’s unclear what Speaker John Boehner’s team will do next. This could, once again, sideline the House and kick action over to negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). The U.S. government reaches its debt limit...

WASHINGTON (AP) — House GOP leaders unveiled their own plan Tuesday to counter an emerging Senate plan to reopen the government and forestall an economy-rattling default on U.S. obligations. The bill would repeal a new tax on medical devices and take away lawmakers' federal health care subsidies in addition to funding the government through Jan. 15 and giving Treasury the ability to borrow normally through Feb. 7. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said Republicans plan to pass the measure later Tuesday. It could prove tricky because Democrats probably won't support it. The House move comes after conservative lawmakers rebelled at the...

Event Time 2013-10-15 00:13:00 UTC 2013-10-15 08:13:00 UTC+08:00 at epicenter 2013-10-14 17:13:00 UTC-07:00 system time Location 9.800°N 124.200°E depth=33.0km (20.5mi) Nearby Cities 2km (1mi) S of Carmen, Philippines 31km (19mi) ESE of Tibigan, Philippines 40km (25mi) SSW of Talibon, Philippines 41km (25mi) ENE of Tagbilaran, Philippines 636km (395mi) SSE of Manila, Philip

FOX NEWS ALERT! The barricades are back up!

Sunday’s rally at the WWII memorial in Washington, D.C., which was headlined by former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, has broken out in utter chaos, as both D.C. Metro and Park police attempted to shut down the event. According to one of the Shark Tank’s correspondent on the ground, ‘Special K,’ two police cruiser blocked entrance into WWII memorial, in an effort to stop truckers from arriving from the highway. Four marked Secret Service vehicles had arrived on the scene, joining dozens of law enforcement assets, who had already arrived, including a SWAT team dressing in full riot gear. Prior to...

Veterans from every branch of the military have a message for our government. The message will be delivered in person at 9 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 13, in Washington, D.C. and at war memorials all across the nation. The Million Vet March on the Memorials is a grassroots movement started by five military brats, a term used to describe children of military members, to honor the nation's veterans.

At the Million Vet March in DC people have torn down the barricades at the Lincoln Memorial and are carrying them to the White House to Barricade the White House. One man carrying a barricade said,"We are taking these things where they belong." Watch Live on Ustream. http://www.ustream.tv/channel/mlr13

We need your continuing support to keep FR on the air. FR is funded solely by the donations made by the people who love and use it. We sell no advertising or merchandise; have no corporate sponsors or sugar daddies and accept no government subsidies. It's just us freedom-loving grassroots conservatives using and funding one of our favorite and most useful news and activism organizations. FreeRepublic.com - Defending God, life, family, country on the Net since 1996! Thank you all very much for your continuing support!! Your loyal support keeps FR alive and is greatly appreciated. And thank you all...

The Talk Shows October 13th, 2013 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Bob Corker, R-Tenn.; Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio; Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H.; and John McCain, R-Ariz.; Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan. THIS WEEK (ABC): Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Reps. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, and Keith Ellison, D-Minn.STATE OF THE UNION (CNN): Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Susan Collins,...

Sarah Palin delivered another one of her great campaign speeches for Steve Lonegan today at his campaign rally. You can watch the full speech below:

S&P futures are now over 15 points off the day's highs, as it seems equity investors were hoping for a Cumbaya moment after the White House meeting today. However, as Bloomberg reports, •*BOEHNER LEAVES OBAMA MEETING WITHOUT SPEAKING TO REPORTERS •*REPUBLICANS LEAVE WHITE HOUSE WITHOUT MAKING STATEMENT •*OBAMA REJECTS REPUBLICAN PROPOSAL FOR SHORT-TERM PLAN: NYT It would seem that Obama's "unconditional surrender or default" position has merely placed the pressure to act back on Boehner's shoulders.

Obamacare's main signup engine attracted just 6,200 new customers on its launch day and 51,000 after the first weekAt the same rate, the 6-month open enrollment period would sign up just 2 million Americans, including 14 states and D.C., which have their own insurance exchangesThe Congressional Budget Office says Obamacare needs at least 7 million customers to stay afloat financiallyNumerous Obama administration officials have denied seeing any enrollment figures at allMailOnline's sources are two Health and Human Services workers who have access to the data as it's crunchedTexas congressman says anemic national enrollment numbers are 'roughly the population of...

<p>Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was sentenced Thursday to 28 years in prison for corruption, the apparent last step after a series of scandals destroyed his political career and helped steer a crisis-laden city even deeper into trouble.</p> <p>Kilpatrick, who served as mayor from 2002 until fall 2008, fattened his bank account by tens of thousands of dollars, traveled the country in private planes and even strong-armed his campaign fundraiser for stacks of cash hidden in her bra, according to evidence at trial.</p>

Updated 12:28 p.m. | House Budget Chairman Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., told reporters Thursday morning that he intends to go to conference on the budget, signaling the end to one of the year’s greatest impasses between the two parties and chambers. “We’re gonna start negotiations,” Ryan said. “I intend to go to conference. “I think when Leader Pelosi said that they would remove all the motions to instruct, that was a good-faith effort to get serious negotiations going,” he continued. “We intend to go to conference on that. As you know, a budget resolution is not sufficient to do all...

Details are sketchy at this late hour, but CNN and others are reporting via Twitter that the Libyan PM has been “kidnapped.” revenge for al Libi raid?

Abu Dhabi-based Sky News Arabia quoted Libyan security sources as saying that Zeidan was seized from a hotel where he was staying in the Libyan capital and taken to an unknown destination.

Federal Reserve chair nominee Janet Yellen Wednesday suggested that she will put a renewed emphasis on “jobs” in her role as Chairwoman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank. President Obama nominated Yellen, a vice chairwoman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and former president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, to run the U.S. central bank Wednesday. If confirmed by the Senate, Yellen will become the first woman to run the Fed in its hundred-year history. Yellen is expected to accelerate the devaluation of the dollar by continuing or even expanding the...

* Contingencies eyed if Congress fails to raise debt limit* Treasury, Fed officials focused on default options* Top Republican says Congress should see plans* Officials stress failure to raise debt limit disastrousBy Tim Reid and Jonathan SpicerWASHINGTON/NEW YORK, Oct 9 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve officials worried about the growing possibility of a catastrophic default are crafting contingency plans to mitigate the economic fallout if Congress fails to extend America's borrowing authority, a source familiar with the plans said.With just eight days before the Treasury Department says the U.S. will hit its $16.7 trillion borrowing limit, lawmakers and...

<p>A "very disturbed" President Obama has ordered his top aides to restore death benefits today for families of military service members killed in action.</p> <p>"The president was very disturbed to learn of this problem," said White House press secretary Jay Carney. "The president expects this to be fixed today. He was not pleased."</p>

Readers have to get halfway into the Associated Press report on its new AP-GFK poll to find this out, but Barack Obama’s job approval numbers have cratered in the shutdown. His overall job approval is now 37/53, and a majority want Obama to start cooperating more with Republicans, as 63% want Republicans to meet Obama part-way, too:Americans are holding Republicans primarily responsible for the partial government shutdown as public esteem sinks for all players in the impasse, President Barack Obama among them, according to a new poll. It’s a struggle with no heroes. … Most Americans disapprove of the way...

(WJLA) - The government shutdown is causing branches of the United States military to withhold death benefits for the survivors of members of the military killed in action. Continue reading Defense officials said Monday that among many critical programs and benefits for military members being stifled due to the shutdown, family members of several troops killed in action are not able to access the gratuities guaranteed to them. These benefits, according to the Associated Press and USA Today, include a $100,000 cash payment due within three days of a service member's death, travel costs to and from Dover Air Force...

Just announced on Fox.

The team of less than two dozen Navy SEALs from Seal Team 6 huddled in one fast boat and headed toward the Somali shoreline under the cover of darkness in the early hours of Saturday morning. Three more small boats with additional SEALs flanked the assault team’s craft, to provide back-up and assist with the planned extraction of an al Shabaab warlord named Ikrima. According to multiple U.S. military sources, the lead boat landed, and the assault team hit the beach near the Southern Somali town of Barawe, headed for the fortified seaside compound of their target. U.S. intelligence had...

Over the past few weeks, Democrats have indicated that they have no intention of negotiating over Obamacare, opting instead to shut down the government. They are justifying their obstinacy by asserting that Obamacare is the law of the land. Well, if that is the game they want to play, we should return the favor with the debt ceiling. The debt ceiling, pursuant to the Second Liberty Bond Act of 1917, is the law of the land. And it has been so for far longer than Obamacare. Throughout this debate over funding Obamacare in the budget bill, House GOP leaders have...

Via the Corner, the exciting conclusion to Friday afternoon’s drama about the Dems trying to force Boehner to bring a clean CR to the floor. Pelosi sent a letter to him on Saturday signed by 195 House Democrats calling for a vote; that means all she’d need for a successful discharge petition is 22 House Republicans to sign too — and coincidentally, there are 22 House Republicans who’ve said things to the effect that a clean CR would be awfully nice right now. Peter King, whose incessant Cruz-bashing has made him the new de facto RINO Pope, is of course...

The Talk Shows October 6th, 2013 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Treasury Secretary Jack Lew; Reps. Peter King, R-N.Y., and Tom Graves, R-Ga.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Lew; Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Lew; Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas; Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. THIS WEEK (ABC): House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio; Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C.; Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. STATE OF THE UNION (CNN): Lew; Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Reps. Steve King, R-Iowa, and Donna Edwards, D-Md.

HOUSTON — Thanks to Texas’ new senator, Dale Huls is out of a job — at least for now. Yet Huls has never been prouder that he voted for him. “Without Ted Cruz this doesn’t happen,” said Huls, a NASA systems engineer who was among roughly 3,000 federal employees furloughed from Houston’s Johnson Space Center after tea party Republicans triggered the partial government shutdown. “This is something Americans have to get used to,” said Huls. “Even if it affects your livelihood, you’ve got to stand up.” . . . . . . The state is one of the richest beneficiaries...

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, blamed by Democrats and some of his fellow Republicans as a chief architect of the ongoing government shutdown, struck back on Saturday, faulting President Obama and Senate Democrats for the political stalemate. “Let me be very clear, I don’t think we should be in a shutdown,” Cruz said in a speech to conservatives in the Virginia state capital. “Throughout the course of it, I have said we should not shut down the government. But sadly this is Harry Reid’s and President Obama's shutdown.” The government shutdown began Tuesday when the president refused to give in to...

And now the feds have put up cones to keep people out of scenic overlooks on Mount Rushmore.

As the fifth day of the federal government shutdown began, members of the House came together in a moment of rare bipartisanship to pass a bill, by a vote of 407 to 0, approving back pay for furloughed government workers....

FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 526

A Navy SEAL team targeted a senior leader of the Shabab militant group in a raid on his seaside villa in the Somali town of Baraawe on Saturday, American officials said, in response to a deadly attack on a Nairobi shopping mall for which the group had claimed responsibility. The SEAL team stealthily approached the beachfront house by sea, firing on the unidentified target in a predawn gunbattle that was the most significant raid by American troops on Somali soil since commandos killed Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a Qaeda mastermind, near the same town four years ago. The Shabab leader...

A World War II veteran and the nation's oldest living Medal of Honor recipient has died in New Jersey. Nicholas Oresko, an Army master sergeant who was badly wounded as he single-handedly took out two enemy bunkers during the Battle of the Bulge in 1945, died Friday night at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, hospital officials announced Saturday. He was 96. Oresko had been hospitalized after injuring himself in a fall at an assisted living center in Cresskill. He died of complications from surgery.

Another open-air memorial in the Washington area is closed and barricaded off: the Iwo Jima Memorial, just across the bridge from D.C. in Rosslyn, Virginia. A source sends along this picture of the barricade set-up at the memorial, which is also called the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial: "I took the picture yesterday afternoon. Those barricades had been there at least a day. People can still walk into the Memorial area, but for many elderly and disabled vets, it is important they be driven and park right next to the statue," the person who took this picture emails. "There has...

SNIP Like the hundreds of World War II veterans who came to National Mall to pay their respects this week, a group of Vietnam veterans found a barricade blocking the way to their memorial Friday. News4's Mark Segraves said two U.S. Park Service Rangers manning the gate asked that the group respect the government's shutdown but moved aside. Segraves described the exchange as pleasant and respectful. The veterans then moved the barricade and walked down to the wall to pay their respects. But a flood of tourists followed even though the memorial is closed to the general public. U.S. Park...