Free Republic

The Polish champion of freedom and liberty, founder of Solidarity, winner of the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize, and first President of modern Poland Lech Walesa had been rumored to possibly be traveling to New York to stand with Occupy Wall Street protesters. Press accounts reporting this “breathless” news had given all of us pause.

My best friend needs a 1,000 views on his short video about Governor Quinn in IL. Thanks my FReeper Friends!

WASHINGTON — The House has approved a Republican proposal to block federal aid for Planned Parenthood. The 240-185 vote on Friday is a victory for anti-abortion forces led by Indiana GOP Rep. Mike Pence. He says taxpayer money should not go to groups that provide or promote abortion. Democrats say Planned Parenthood provides contraception and other valuable family planning services, and that cutting off the money will make it hard for women to get such basic help.

The House on Wednesday narrowly approved an amendment that would eliminate funding for a second engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, a move that would contribute an additional $450 million to the estimated $61 billion in federal spending cuts that House Republicans have proposed for the rest of the current fiscal year. The amendment, offered by two-term Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.), passed the House on a 233-to-198 vote. Its passage was a victory for conservative Republicans as well as Defense Secretary Robert Gates, both of whom had criticized the alternate-engine program as unnecessary and wasteful.

Indiana governor Mitch Daniels has given yet another interview in which he talks about a social issues truce he put forward this summer that upset pro-life conservatives. The interview with WANE follows on the one he gave the Indianapolis Star in which he appeared to shift position and suggest the truce was meant for liberals, not social conservatives concerned about issues like abortion. In the Star interview, Daniels suggested the truce was meant for liberal activists like those who favored repealing the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy — and he continued that line of thinking in the WANE question and...

Nearly two years into the Obama presidency, voters still believe the nation’s continuing economic problems are due more to President George W. Bush than to the policies of the current occupant of the White House. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 50% of Likely U.S. Voters think current economic problems are due primarily to the recession which began under the Bush administration. Forty-two percent (42%) say Obama’s policies are more to blame. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Ending Sunday's "Face the Nation" in poetic fashion, CBS's Bob Schieffer gave a year-end commentary where he portrayed John Boehner as the flustered "orange-faced" leader of a divided House GOP. Schieffer also snidely criticized the Arizona immigration law.

Mr. Frank's attitude seems to be that Americans need to justify why they should keep the money they inherit instead of the government needing to justify why they should be allowed to confiscate it. Video at link.

World oil prices rose on Friday as the dollar fell against the euro amid improving demand for crude, analysts said. Brent North Sea crude for delivery in February climbed 29 cents to 91.89 dollars a barrel in London trade. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for January delivery, gained 16 cents to 87.86 dollars. The dollar fell against the euro on Friday as positive German economic data and EU efforts to safeguard the single currency helped to offset a huge ratings downgrade for Ireland and more Spanish debt problems. A weaker dollar makes crude priced in dollars cheaper for...

"I want to be clear: this continues to be a very difficult endeavor, but I can report that, thanks to the extraordinary service of our troops and civilians on the ground, we are on track to achieve our goals," President Obama said at a press conference today.

The Clinton First Home Museum in Hope, Ark., will become an official National Park Service historic site at the beginning of next year. It’s a two-story house on South Hervey Street that served as the center of future president Bill’s life until he was 10. With its white clapboards, green trim, broad eaves, and front porch, the place looks like it was tele-transported into this century from the early 1950s. There’s good stuff inside, such as a Lionel train set little Bill’s stepfather gave him. The private foundation that has run the museum for some years and is now donating...

Did not see a thread posted. Here we go.

The only personnel change that a senior administration official characterized as “maybe, but unlikely” to come before the first of the year is the announcement of a new chairman of the National Economic Council to replace Larry Summers. The top three contenders for the job, administration officials said, are Richard Levin, president of Yale University; Gene Sperling, head of the National Economic Council during the Clinton administration and currently an adviser to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner; and Roger Altman, chairman and CEO of Evercore Partners and another Clinton administration veteran. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters this week...

Former President Jimmy Carter says his biggest failure during his term in the White House was that he didn't get to spend another four years there. "I guess my biggest failure was not getting reelected," he said in an interview with Big Think, referring to the 1980 presidential election. Carter, 86, said the loss taught him "not to ever let American hostages be held for 444 days in a foreign country without extracting them." He added, "I did the best I could, but I failed." Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) challenged Carter in the Democratic primaries "and then that cost me...

Text of H.R. 3082: Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010 HR 3082 EAH In the House of Representatives, U. S., December 8, 2010. Resolved, That the House agree to the amendment of the Senate to the bill (H.R. 3082) entitled ‘An Act making appropriations for military construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes.’, with the followin

After his wife told CBS' Leslie Stahl how much of a journey it has been for the family that her husband John Boehner went from nighttime janitor to Speaker of the House, the Congressman began to cry. "You know what's happening over here," Stahl said, pointing at Boehner while tears begin to form. "What set you off that time," a perplexed Stahl quizzed Boehner. "He cries all the time?" Stahl asked in complete wonderment. "He's gone from mopping this floor (points to floor) to being Speaker of the House," Stahl said while Boehner was holding back tears. "Welcome to America,"...

The DREAM Act got a last-minute reprieve on the Senate floor last night as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pulled the bill and gave its advocates more time to whip up the votes it still needs to break a Republican filibuster. The moment involved a bit of the Senate’s signature procedural drama. A motion to end debate—which requires 60 votes that haven’t yet materialized—was scheduled to take place just hours after the House made history Wednesday night, passing the decade-old DREAM Act for the first time in either chamber. But 15 minutes after the 11 a.m. “cloture” vote was supposed...

President Obama has been compared to a lot of past presidents. In the first days of his administration, he was compared to great presidents like Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, as well as John F. Kennedy. These days, Mr. Obama is being compared to some other presidents. Sometimes, Mr. Obama is described as another Bill Clinton. After watching his Democrats take a pounding in the 1994 midterm election, Mr. Clinton pivoted to the center in 1995-96 in an effort to improve his own standing as his re-election drew near. (Like Mr. Obama, Mr. Clinton was perceived by some...

St. Paul, Minn. — Minnesota 5th District Congressman Keith Ellison said Thursday that Democratic lawmakers "need to create a real crisis" to force Republicans to renegotiate the tax cut compromise. House Democrats voted Thursday to reject the tax cut deal between the White House and Congressional Republicans. The compromise would extend Bush-era tax cuts for all Americans, including the wealthy. It also would renew benefits for the long-term unemployed, a measure President Obama had pushed for to prevent about 2 million Americans from losing benefits in the coming weeks. Republicans had opposed extending unemployment benefits. Ellison, who was recently elected...

More than 609,000 jobs disappeared during Gov. Granholm's eight years in office, and Michigan lead the country with the highest unemployment rate for 49 months. Now, she is giving advice to the country … about how to create jobs. Granholm served as a guest op-ed writer for the national news site POLITICO. Saying the nation needs a "moon shot" jobs strategy to create 3 million new jobs, she used as an example Michigan government's recent bet that the lithium-ion battery industry should be cultivated with special treatment and favors from state government. Granholm wrote: "If the states are the laboratories...

Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Michigan) says the tax extensions presented by Republicans and agreed on by Obama are a "mistake."

(CNN) -- The Richard Nixon Presidential Library will open a trove of records at the facility and online Thursday, including 265 hours of White House tapes, officials said. The library, in Yorba Linda, California, will also open more than 140,000 pages of presidential records and 75 hours of video oral histories, officials said. The library is part of the National Archives. The White House tapes span February 1973 to March 1973 and include a few from early April 1973. There are no transcripts for these tapes, but the library has produced a detailed subject log for each conversation, National Archives...

WASHINGTON -- Despite weak demand in the U.S. and Europe, oil prices climbed this week to near $90 a barrel, and gasoline prices have passed $3 a gallon on the West Coast and parts of the Northeast. Why? If demand is down and supplies are plentiful - and they are - why would prices be going up? Because Wall Street speculators are driving up oil and gasoline prices again - just in time to dampen holiday cheer. "It's all about investor optimism, and that's been the story about 2010. ... That's the primary reason why we're seeing oil prices at...

Outgoing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi says the DREAM Act represents the new "American dream." "In coming here, these new comers, from that time a couple hundred years ago and to this day, by coming with that optimism and hope and commitment to a better future for the next generation, they made America more American. So tonight, we have an opportunity to identify with the aspirations of our founders," Pelosi said on the House floor prior to the vote.

Democratic strategist Bob Shrum defends President Obama compromising on extending the Bush-era tax cuts. Shrum calls the bill a "second stimulus."

Video at link

The White House is reaching out to fence-sitting Republican Senators trying to earn their vote on the DREAM Act. A new report from the National Journal says that members of the President's cabinet are targeting Sens. Collins and Snowe from Maine, Sen. LeMieux of Florida, and Sen. Hutchison of Texas. Call the Capitol Switchboard NOW and urge these Senators and your Members of Congress to oppose the DREAM Act Amnesty -- 202-224-3121.

SEN. BOB MENENDEZ (D-NJ): "Do you allow yourself to be held hostage and get something done for the sake of getting something done, when in fact it might be perverse in its ultimate results? It’s almost like the question of do you negotiate with terrorists.”

President Obama makes a surprise visit to the troops in Afghanistan at Bagram Air Base. Video at link.

Ingraham: "Is anyone going to run as a Bush Republican in 2012 and if so who?" Rove: "Every one of them is going to run as a Bush Republican by saying 'I want to continue to fight the war on terror' -- with maybe one or two exceptions -- and, 'I want to continue the Bush tax cuts Video at link.

We’ve come to expect fireworks from NJ Gov. Chris Christie, and he usually delivers. Like at Jeb Bush’s Excellence in Action Conference, where he explained how you stand up to a bully like the New Jersey teachers union NJEA (starts at 3:22):

President Obama and Vice President Biden ask newly elected Governors to call the White House before they "are really mad about something" and go to the media. "We prefer not to read about it in the press," Obama said. Video at link.

Good Morning America's Claire Shipman on Thursday tried to disguise a Democratic activist as just a jobless American who would be hurt by Republican failure to extend unemployment benefits. Shipman sympathetically recounted that Edrie Irvine, who she didn't explain spoke at a Nancy Pelosi press conference on Wednesday, "never thought her very livelihood would depend on a political debate in Congress." A graphic reading "unemployed" appeared onscreen as Irvine complained, "They are talking about tax cuts for the rich and are holding people like me hostage." Who is Ms. Irvine? According to her bio on the leftist Democracy For America...

Former president Jimmy Carter lied in an interview with NPR talk-show host Diane Rehm on Tuesday. She ended the interview by asking about the Tea Party and he claimed he had never criticized them -- despite smearing them as racists in 2009 in an NBC interview with Brian Williams:

As metro Atlanta's temperatures grow colder, the demand for heat is, well, heating up. A day after hundreds of people queued up outside a Marietta community center to apply for assistance with heat and power bills, hopeful applicants began lining up again around midnight, waiting in the sub-freezing temperatures for the doors to open Thursday morning. This time, however, officials let those in line come into the Mansour Center on Roswell Street an hour early at 7:30 and get relief from temperatures that dropped to 27 degrees. “We’re freezing,” said Lecher Eady, a Marietta mother who arrived at midnight seeking...

Gov. Rendell is pushing to issue $1 billion in new state debt before he leaves office in January. Of course, before the bonds are issued, either the Auditor General or the State Treasurer—Jack Wagner and Rob McCord, both independently elected Democrats—have to sign off on the plan. However, both Wagner and McCord seem reluctant to approve the additional borrowing, noting the growing burden of state debt, and the largness of Gov. Rendell's request, even compared with the spending spree's of other lame-duck governors

Stocks were up more than 2% Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) holding a 200-point gain as an increase in private-sector employment and speculation that the European Central Bank will enact measures to contain the eurozone debt crisis when policymakers meet Thursday. At 1:16 p.m. ET, the Dow was up by 254 points, or 2.3%, at 11,260. The S&P 500 ($INX) was gaining 27 points, or 2.3%, at 1,207, and the Nasdaq ($COMPX) was ahead by 59 points, or 2.4%, at 2,557. "The market was slated to open higher on two factors: China’s manufacturing sector grew and we...

Following an exclusive appearance on CBS News' political webcast "Washington Unplugged," President Jimmy Carter was at the White House Tuesday for a meeting with national security advisor Tom Donilon. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters in his daily briefing President Obama asked the former president to stop by. Mr. Carter further discussed his foreign policy experience, detailed in his newest book "White House Diary," with CBS News White House correspondent Bill Plante on Monday

Video at link. Older couple talking about health care bill.

Voters continue to blame the George W. Bush administration more than President Obama's policies for the country's ongoing economic problems. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 50% of Likely U.S. Voters say the current economic problems are due to the recession which began under the Bush administration. Forty-one percent (41%) believe the current policies of President Obama are more to blame.

Video at link.