Free Republic

Tonight’s big news story is President Obama pushing back against Republicans who refuse to be intimidated by him: “Don’t call my bluff,” Obama says, by passing a short-term debt limit increase, which Obama says he will veto. It is a small point, but the Obama quote that the wire services are trumpeting makes no sense. If, in fact, he is bluffing, the Republicans should by all means call his bluff. Properly, Obama should be warning the GOP that he is not bluffing. Saying “don’t call my bluff” is the opposite of what Obama presumably means, sort of like saying that...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Four men who led mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and (FNM.P) Freddie Mac (FRE.P) were called before a U.S. House of Representatives panel on Tuesday and chided for making irresponsible loans that fueled a housing crisis and helped push the economy into recession. "The CEOs of Fannie and Freddie made reckless bets that led to the downfall of their companies. Their actions could cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars," House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Rep. Henry Waxman said. The committee reviewed over 400,000 documents, many that passed through the hands of Daniel Mudd, the...

"I blame the central banks," growled the bond trader, stabbing the air with a forkful of raw steak. "If Alan Greenspan hadn't kept interest rates so low at the start of this decade, we wouldn't be in this mess. Talk about refilling the punch bowl when the party guests are already as drunk as skunks!" "We told you we were not in the business of identifying bubbles, let alone trying to puncture them," replied the central banker, nibbling at a lettuce leaf. "We warned you that credit spreads, emerging-market yields and volatility in stocks and bonds were all too low,...

Embarrassment: Dem Front-Runner Disqualified for Ohio Ballot By Susan Jones CNSNews.com Senior Editor February 23, 2006 (CNSNews.com) -- In what Republicans are calling a "high-profile gaffe," a Democrat running for Congress in Ohio's 6th Congressional District has been disqualified from running in the Democratic primary. State Sen. Charlie Wilson failed to get the minimum number of petition signatures, election officials said on Wednesday. To qualify for the May 2 primary ballot, Wilson needed 50 signatures of registered Democratic voters, and although he submitted 96 signatures a few days before the filing deadline, only 46 were found to be valid, elections...

ARLINGTON, Va. (Army News Service, Jan. 24, 2006) -- Fewer people would know about a deployment or operation if you screamed it out at the Superbowl than if you posted it on a Web log or blog. Common sense will tell you not to discuss sensitive subjects on the streets of Baghdad. The same common sense should apply on the highways of cyberspace. Soldiers need to keep this in mind, not only because it is the right thing to do, but because it could land them in a world of trouble. The technology of communication is a double-edged sword and...