Free Republic

Listen up, sisters! Deficit hawks will eat your lunch, your kids, your jobs and your retirement. An economy without a deficit is like a fish without water. Reducing the U.S. federal deficit will make unemployment and poverty worse–way worse. And that means that women’s economic condition will deteriorate even further. Today’s deficit hawks (and way too many Democrats are flying with this flock), fundamentally and deliberately misinform by insisting on a fictional symmetry between private sector (household and corporate) bookkeeping and the U.S. federal debt.

Democratic State Representative Jason Bartlett, who's district includes Bethel, Danbury and Redding, was arrested on several motor vehicle charges after being pulled over in Newtown. Newtown Police Sgt. Dominic Costello says Bartlett was pulled over by an officer who saw him driving while speaking on his cell phone, without a hands free device. After a short investigation, the officer determined that his registration had expired and his license was suspended. Costello did not know why Bartlett's license was suspended. Bartlett says he will be releasing a statement about the incident this afternoon.

WASHINGTON – The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced on Oct. 30 a 21.2 percent 2010 pay cut for physicians participating in Medicare. CMS officials said they had anticipated a 21.5 percent pay cut for physicians in 2010, but new data allowed them to lower the cut to 21.2 percent. "The administration tried to avert the pending fee schedule cut in the FY 2010 budget proposal that it submitted to Congress, and remains committed to repealing the sustainable growth rate," said Jonathan Blum, director of the CMS' Center for Medicare Management. In the meantime, CMS officials are preparing a...

An unusually large crowd of fans had come to support the Helsinki councillor Jussi Halla-aho (True Finns/Independent) in court proceedings that began on the fourth floor of the Helsinki District courthouse yesterday - Tuesday. Most of the supporters were youngish adult men. Halla-aho is being charged at the Helsinki District Court with violation of the freedom of worship and incitement to racial hatred. The charges were sparked by Halla-aho’s Internet blog writings more than a year ago. In his blog entry, Halla-aho made two statements that violated the law, the prosecutor said. In one of the entries Halla-aho linked Islam...

Police want to charge a state legislator with criminally negligent homicide in connection with the January death of Carol Sinisgalli, who died of exposure in a remote area of Rocky Hill. Prosecutors in Superior Court in New Britain are reviewing an arrest warrant application seeking to charge state Rep. James O'Rourke, sources close to the investigation said. The warrant must be signed by a prosecutor and a judge before an arrest may be made. Criminally negligent homicide is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and/or a fine of up to $2,000.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- A Connecticut legislator was with a state employee last Wednesday night before she was found dead the next afternoon of hypothermia, Rocky Hill police said Tuesday. Rep. James A. O'Rourke III, a Cromwell Democrat, provided investigators with a written statement on Tuesday, said Lt. John Herbst. He told police he left O'Leary's Digger McDuff's Tavern in Cromwell around the same time as 41-year-old Carol Jean Sinigalli of Rocky Hill, at about 11:30 p.m. He said Sinigalli, who was in an altercation earlier that evening with another patron, ran out to his car, pulled open a back...

From page 180 of the Bailout bill: 1 SEC. 116. CERTAIN INCOME AND GAINS RELATING TO IN2 DUSTRIAL SOURCE CARBON DIOXIDE TREAT3 ED AS QUALIFYING INCOME FOR PUBLICLY 4 TRADED PARTNERSHIPS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (E) of section 6 7704(d)(1) (defining qualifying income) is amended by in 7serting ‘‘or industrial source carbon dioxide’’ after ‘‘tim8 ber)’’. 9 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 10 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 11 of this Act, in taxable years ending after such date. 12 SEC. 117. CARBON AUDIT OF THE TAX CODE. 13 (a) STUDY.—The Secretary of...

This is a picture of Sarah Palin, who appears really pregnant: Link

Danbury (AP) _ Danbury officials have been notified they are being sued by a student who was awakened in class by a teacher who made a loud noise. Documents filed with the Town Clerk, a prelude to a lawsuit, claim that a sleeping student suffered hearing damage when his teacher woke him up by slamming her hand down on the boy's desk. in December. Attorney Alan Barry says 15-year-old Vinicios Robacher suffered pain and "very severe injuries to his left eardrum" when teacher Melissa Nadeau abruptly slammed the palm of her hand on his desk on Dec. 4. A city...

Connecticut 22nd District State Senate Special Election Results Unofficial numbers: Russo (R) - 3639 Mulligan (D) - 2215

This is an excerpt: Mr. Brodie [The Canadian Prime Minister's chief of staff], apparently seeking to play down the potential impact on Canada, told the reporters the threat was not serious, and that someone from Ms. Clinton's campaign had even contacted Canadian diplomats to tell them not to worry because the NAFTA threats were mostly political posturing.

A specialist in early childhood education in Oslo is giving new meaning to the term "sexual games," and stirring widespread debate. Norwegians woke up Tuesday morning to news that a respected Oslo pre-school teacher, backed by child psychologists, thinks children should be allowed to openly express their own sexuality, not least through sex play and games in the local day care centers known as barnehager, or kindergartens. The vast majority of Norwegians send their children from the age of one to the kindergartens, where they spend their days until they begin school at age six. Pia Friis, leader of the...

Here is a compilation of the 2006 house election results. DISTRICT REP ? R VOTES ? DEM ? D VOTES ? R MARGIN ? NOTES ? BUSH 04 % Alabama--1 ? ? Davis ? UNOPP ? ? ? 64.0% Alabama--2 Everett ? 124,212 ? James ? 54,398 ? 69,814 ? ? 61.0% Alabama--3 Rogers ? 97,742 ? Pierce ? 62,891 ? 34,851 ? ? 52.0% Alabama--4 Aderholt ? 128,412 ? Bobo ? 54,338 ? 74,074 ? ? 61.0% Alabama--5 ? ? Cramer ? UNOPP ? ? ? 54.0% Alabama--6 Bachus ? UNOPP ? ? ? ? ? 74.0% Alabama--7 ?...

STAMFORD -- An ex-con celebrated his return to freedom early yesterday by stealing two cases of beer from a parked delivery truck downtown, police said. Police arrested Steven Linton, 36, of the homeless shelter at 597 Pacific St., when they found him drinking the stolen beer near where the truck had been parked, Sgt. Robert Shawinsky said. Linton's parole expired yesterday morning after he finished a six-month sentence on drug charges, state officials said.

BRUSSELS--Belgium is the birthplace of René Magritte. So perhaps it's not surprising that, in politics, even the fascism here is surreal. Take Belgian Socialists, Flemish or Walloon. The hallmark of nearly every European socialist party has long been hostility to religion. In recent years, Belgium's ruling Socialist-Liberal coalition has antagonized Catholics by legalizing gay marriage and euthanasia, banning crucifixes from government buildings, and abolishing the traditional Te Deum service previously held by the government to commemorate the inauguration of Leopold I, first king of the Belgians.

"As a child, Ned's family dinners were animated by political discussions, with lively exchanges between his grandfather, a banker, and his uncle, a Democratic activist," reports Ned Lamont's Web site. This passage could just as easily have been written by the mainstream news media in one of their incurious biographical sketches of the state's newly minted Democratic U.S. Senate candidate. But this is how the Lamont propaganda machine wants it. As The New York Times reported Aug. 3: "Mr. Lamont prefers not to talk about his background. 'I've been blessed,' he will say, but beyond that he can turn testy."...

The Republican primary fight for the right to challenge U.S. Rep. John B. Larson, D-1st District, in November has turned on religion with challenger Miriam Masullo attacking the religious denomination of the GOP's endorsed candidate, Scott MacLean. In a recent letter to the district's Republican leaders, Masullo accused the leadership of the United Church of Christ of supporting terrorists and suicide bombings. And because MacLean is a retired minister in the church, Republicans should reject him in the Aug. 8 primary, Masullo said.

Connecticut Republicans may soon have a vacancy to fill for their United States Senate nomination. Former state Representative Alan Schlesinger is being dogged by gambling rumors, and Bradley Beecher, former commanding officer of the state police’s casino licensing and operations unit, says he received a call from Schlesinger on Tuesday, July 11th seeking information on who was checking out his gambling habits. Beecher is now a consultant on casino security and law enforcement. He’s also a critic of Connecticut gaming policies. Beecher, who was familiar with Schlesinger, says the Republican nominee told him he is, in gambling parlance, a card...

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- Mayor John M. Fabrizi admitted Tuesday he had abused cocaine while in office and said he wanted to apologize "to all the people of the city" but had no plans to resign. The admission followed the inadvertent release of an FBI document in which an alleged drug dealer claimed an associate had a videotape of the mayor using cocaine. In a tearful speech to about 200 city employees and residents in City Council chambers Tuesday, Fabrizi said he had not used drugs in 18 months and had sought help for a drug addiction that he had hoped...

I am fortunate enough to receive The Ridgefield Press every few weeks and enjoy keeping abreast of the local issues currently pressing in our small town. I am a U.S. Marine Infantryman currently serving in Fallujah, Iraq, and my mother usually includes The Press in the many care packages she sends me. Since we have very limited access to telephones, The Ridgefield Press is the primary means by which I receive local news. Almost every week, I open The Press and find an article or letter to the editors denouncing the coalition effort in Iraq. Invariably, the individuals behind these...