Free Republic

With less than two weeks to head off a government shutdown, congressional Republicans and Democrats don’t look like they’re in the mood to compromise — at least judging by what’s on tap for Tuesday. As the clock ticks, here’s a sampling of what’s happening on Capitol Hill and elsewhere: Tuesday morning, Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, was set to speak on the Senate floor and blame the “far right” for the breakdown of budget talks. “Schumer will say the only hurdle to a deal at this point between House Republicans and the White House is the tea party...

A Justice Department corruption investigation that helped drive John Doolittle from office has now been closed without charges being filed, the former Sacramento, Calif.-area congressman said Friday. "I'm thrilled," Doolittle said in an interview. "They've dragged this thing out for six and a half years." Doolittle's relief, though, is tinged with bitterness at how he believes the Justice Department has mistreated him. He says he accumulated $600,000 in attorneys fees, some of which he was able to pay with campaign funds. The lingering investigation hindered his ability to find work. In the beginning, he said, it proved "very devastating" to...

Less than an hour ago, while watching the NBC nitely news covering the French President's visit to our whitehouse, they had a camera angle directly between Obama and Sarkozy to three flags on stands in the distance. The AMERICAN FLAG was hanging down so low it was touching the floor so plainly that one could see the bottom 4 to 6 inches were deflected by the floor in plain sight!!! Did anyone else see or capture this disgusting display of disrespect "as seen on TV"??? I sure hope so and I hope a big huge stink is made about it....

(snip) Before the Republican Party can make a comeback consistent with its principles, it needs help from the private sector. Specifically, it needs a private sector the public can believe in. The core selling point of a conservative political party is that the private sector is inherently more efficient, dynamic and ethical than the public sector. That’s a hard sell these days. There are too many examples of public-sector excess for the public to swallow free-market fundamentalism. It was the private sector, not the government, that got the bright idea to insure bundled mortgages. It’s a private-sector bureaucrat, not a...

The $50 billion that the disgraced money manager -- who pled guilty to federal charges in March and who's currently scheduled to be sentenced around the end of June -- stole from his clients over a couple of decades could disappear in a matter of weeks as the U.S. government ramps up its "stimulus" spending programs That's one way of thinking about the projection made by Deloitte Financial Services Advisory accounting types that as much as $1 in $10 of federal spending will end up compromised in some way or other by thieves, grafters and scam artists. See related story....

For small-government die-hards, the $787 billion economic stimulus bill recently passed by Congress isn't a life saver. It's the last straw. Lawmakers across the country are sponsoring resolutions — most of them only symbolic — asserting state sovereignty, in effect the right to ignore any federal law or policies they deem unconstitutional, including the stimulus bill, the No Child Left Behind Act and any new assault rifle ban. (snip) "This has been a progression from (the New Deal) days to today, with the only break being Ronald Reagan," South Carolina state Rep. Michael Pitts said by e-mail. Pitts, a Republican,...

Global credit crunch batters Venezuela Overnight lending rate climbs as high as 90% after central bank suspends open market operationsBy Polya Lesova, MarketWatch NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- In a fresh example of how the global credit crunch is hitting emerging markets, Venezuela's overnight lending rate climbed to as high as 90% Thursday after the central bank said it has suspended open market operations meant for pumping liquidity into the market. (snip) "This story is not an isolated Venezuela story, but rather a developing trend," he said, adding that money markets in both developed and emerging markets aren't functioning well at...

Jury finds couple guilty in pot case By: Penne Usher, Journal Staff Writer Two Cool residents were found guilty in federal court Thursday of manufacturing and selling large amounts of marijuana. But the Cool professionals, Marion "Molly" Fry, a doctor and her lawyer husband, Dale Schafer, say they are unfairly targeted and that the pot they were growing, completely legal, was allowed under the California Compassionate Use Act. "They were convicted by the jury of all charges in the indictment after three hours of deliberation," Rosemary Shawl, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office said Friday. "The are out of custody...

"2:00 U.S. Treasury posts record $383.6 bln receipts in April" This bulletin, on the rolling bulletin board of the BigCharts.com site a few minutes ago... NOTHING FOLLOWS!!! (except endless diversions from a growing flood of "revenue streams" to an engourged GovernMental milking machine of gargantuan proportions! Suffer babies!!!

Warming threat fails to sway foes of dam (Auburn, CA)AuburnJournal.com By: Gus Thomson, Journal Staff Writer Tying global warming and the possibility of increased flooding into efforts to build a multipurpose Auburn dam, a California State University, Sacramento survey indicates that the more people fear the threat of a shrinking ozone layer, the less they want the controversial flood-control project. The poll of 1,100 adult residents, including nearly about 200 from Placer County, indicated that 74 percent of those taking the survey think the threat of global warming is a serious one. Forty-eight percent said it was very serious while...

Bomb threat empties state power-grid offices - Published 12:00 am PDT Tuesday, April 17, 2007 Authorities on Monday were investigating two suspicious incidents involving the California Independent System Operator that led to the evacuation of employees from their offices, officials said. A suspect had been identified but had not yet been arrested, ISO spokeswoman Stephanie McCorkle said Monday night, adding she could not say whether the suspect is an ISO employee. Power to several ISO computer systems was interrupted late Sunday, McCorkle said, but it did not affect the state's power grid, and all systems were restored by 6 a.m....

Universal Health names ex-Sen. Rick Santorum to board By Gabriel Madway Last Update: 5:06 PM ET Apr 16, 2007 SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Universal Health Services Inc. said late Monday former Senator Rick Santorum has been appointed as a director. Santorum, who served in the Senate from 1995 until 2007, becomes the King of Prussia, Pa.-based hospital operator's ninth board member.

Greener governor seen as rootlessHis inconsistencies on environment befuddle activists. By Kevin Yamamura - Bee Capitol Bureau Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, April 15, 2007 In the latest issue of Outside magazine, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wears an untucked green shirt and jeans, posing as a champion of the environment. He sits on a rock surrounded by a squirrel, rabbit and other creatures of the forest. All while wearing his trademark boots made of dead animal skins. Schwarzenegger has suddenly become an international global warming hero, albeit one with a penchant for Hummers and alligator boots. California environmentalists still aren't entirely...

Just call him the pimpinatorGOVERNOR TAKES BIODIESEL PUSH TO `PIMP MY RIDE' By Kate Folmar MediaNews Sacramento Bureau Article Launched: 04/10/2007 01:34:25 AM PDT Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is hooking up with the MTV reality show "Pimp My Ride" for a special Earth Day episode that he hopes will boost the street cred of low-emission cars. Typically, the program features everyday people who have their trashed rides tricked out into bling-mobiles with built-in espresso machines or lava lamps. But for this episode, the crew will transform a 1965 Chevy Impala into a clean, green biodiesel machine. Efforts to reduce global warming...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- In a sign of increasing investor concern about global warming, two big insurers agreed to disclose information about the risks they face from climate change and how they'll try to combat those risks, mutual fund family Calvert and investors' coalition Ceres said Tuesday.

California stem cell debate goes back to court By Carolyn Pritchard, MarketWatch Last Update: 6:15 PM ET Feb 13, 2007 SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The fight over control of $3 billion worth of funding for stem cell research in California goes back to court this week, as one side in the legal battle challenges an earlier court ruling on the constitutionality of the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Act. The California Stem Cell Research and Cures Act, or Prop. 71, was approved by voters in 2004 and created a state-controlled agency to oversee the issuance of $3 billion in...

Other states siphon growth California's population increase slows, despite immigration, births.By Clea Benson - Bee Capitol Bureau Published 12:00 am PST Thursday, December 21, 2006 California continues to lose residents to other states, one factor driving a slowing population growth rate, the state Department of Finance reported Wednesday. Overall, the state gained a net 462,000 residents in the fiscal year that ended June 30, bringing the total population to 37.4 million. California lost a net of about 67,000 people to other states, the report said, but gained about 213,000 foreign immigrants. Those people, combined with hundreds of thousands of babies...

bulletin FANNIE MAE'S FORMER CEO, OTHERS CHARGED WITH MANIPULATING EARNINGS Ex-Fannie Mae CEO, others charged with manipulating earnings Last Update: 3:04 PM ET Dec 18, 2006 NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Federal regulators said Monday they have filed charges against three former Fannie Mae executives, former Chairman and CEO Franklin Raines, former Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer J. Timothy Howard, and former Senior Vice President and Controller Leanne G. Spencer. The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO)said the charges, "reveal how the individuals improperly manipulated earnings to maximize their bonuses, while knowingly neglecting accounting systems and internal controls, misapplying...

’S Wonderful BY STEVE PIONTEK This is an advisory to those people who upbraid me every time I write a column involving politics and tell me that politics has no place in a magazine covering the insurance business. This column is going to be all about politics, so be warned that if that doesn’t suit you, pass this one by. For those of you who are still with me, you know that I’ve made no secret of my political persuasion over the years. So let me just get this off my chest here at the get-go and then move on....

(snip) As the Legislature's nonpartisan budget analyst, Elizabeth Hill, pointed out a day after Schwarzenegger's speech: "At this advanced stage of the current economic expansion, California should be running projected operating surpluses instead of deficits. ..." Hill believes that as the economy cools, largely due to a marked slowdown in the powerful housing sector, the state's deficits may grow, especially as it begins repaying the money that it borrowed earlier in the decade to cover immense shortfalls. And that doesn't count the billions more dollars that the state may have to spend to fix its prison crisis, or the billions...