Free Republic

Socialism's greatest lie is that it promises the people something for nothing, services and programs of all kind that will either be "free" or more affordable than the free market variety. But just like the ads promising you a free iPod or a chance to make millions from home while you yawn, socialism is not something for nothing, instead more often it's nothing for something. The idea that the government will take care of you is appealing, entire nanny states have been built on that proposition. But the government can't take care of you, it can't even pay its own...

Mark Hemingway (h/t Glenn Reynolds) writes: But what I can’t wrap my head around is that it took the President four days to acknowledge what he termed a “catastrophic” national security failure, but Cheney criticizes the administration’s handling of the war on terror and they have a rapid response on the White House blog in a matter of hours? Priorities! Then again, it took six days to respond to the riots in the streets of Tehran during their election, so four days seems about right for a barely averted domestic catastrophe. Also, is the White House aware of how small...

There's a new "chill" that has nothing to do with claims of global warming or climate change and everything to do with the failing confidence Americans feel in their own freedoms, according to a new poll. "More Americans this month felt that there was more of a climate of fear over their freedom of association – with more than one in three – 36 percent – saying that they believed Americans had reason to fear punishment or retribution based on who their friends were or who they met with. This is chilling stuff!" said Fritz Wenzel of Wenzel Strategies. The...

Jarrett: Accusations of 'seedy Chicago politics' at WH unwarranted By Jordan Fabian - 12/26/09 03:30 PM ET One of President Barack Obama's closest advisers Saturday said claims that the White House is engaging in "seedy Chicago politics" are "completely unwarranted." Senior adviser Valerie Jarrett pushed back against the Republican refrain in a year-end interview with Politics Daily. Jarrett focused specifically on Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-S.C.) use of the phrase in a recent CNN interview. "It was definitely a cheap shot and completely unwarranted," said Jarrett, who is one of several Chicagoans to join the Obama administration. "I think what people...

Politics: Sen. Mary Landrieu was the new "Louisiana Purchase." Sen. Ben Nelson got the federal government to pick up his state's future Medicaid tab. Maybe we should just put Senate votes up on eBay. Nelson, the 60th vote in the middle-of-the-night Senate party line vote on health care reform, will go down in American political history as the inventor of the permanent earmark. His seemingly principled stand against including federal funding for abortion evaporated like the morning dew as he decided to take what was behind door No. 1. The deal for Nelson includes special Medicaid funding for Nebraska, along...

A key House investigating body has dropped its probe of Rep. John Murtha (D., Pa.) and two other members of the House’s defense-spending committee, according to people familiar with the matter. The Office of Congressional Ethics has informed aides to Murtha as well as Reps. Norm Dicks (D., Wash.) and Jim Moran (D., Va.) that it is no longer looking into allegations that they traded government funding earmarks for campaign donations. Dick’s chief of staff, George Behan, said the congressman received a phone call earlier this month from an official at the Office of Congressional Ethics informing him that he...

On Tuesday, the Weekly Standard's Michael Goldfarb, citing an unnamed Senate aide, wrote that "the White House is now threatening to put Nebraska's Offutt Air Force Base on the BRAC list if Nelson doesn't fall into line." Translation: Goldfarb is reporting that, according to his source, the Obama administration is suggesting to Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska (left), who has been hesitant to support the Senate health care bill due to his concerns over abortion, that it will close the base if Nelson doesn't back the bill. It was, the source said, a "naked effort by Rahm Emanuel and...

Politics: If the Democrats' stitched-together Frankenstein monster of health care reform gets the 60 votes to get through the Senate, it will have been done through an assortment of bribes and brass knuckles. (snip) Sen. Ben Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat, has also been critical of the buy-in and public option, but he has an additional issue about whatever comes out of the Senate not involving public funding of abortion in any way. Michael Goldfarb on the Weekly Standard blog quotes a Senate aide as saying the White House is now threatening to put Nebraska's Offutt Air Force Base on the...

How do you say "corruption" in Arabic? A college pal of Tony Rezko who was accused of embezzlement, jailed in Iraq's Green Zone, and then escaped from prison and fled to Jordan is now running for a seat in Iraq's parliament, reports USA Today. Aiham Alsammarae, a dual U.S.-Iraqi citizen who attended the Illinois Institute of Technology with Rezko -- and who helped raise part of Rezko's $8.5 million bail -- was appointed to run the electricity ministry in 2003 after Saddam Hussein's ouster. During his tenure, a Rezko-owned company won a $50 million contract from Alsammarae's ministry. The deal...

His frustration over Olympic outcome was apparent at volunteers' final gathering ### When Mayor Richard Daley spoke at the private and final meeting of Chicago 2016 volunteers, he was, according to one attendee, "in rare form." Another described him as "on a rant. It was straight off the cuff. ... He looked angry, and he was angry." Now, we weren't there. The press was barred from last week's meeting at the Aon Center and the reception that followed at the private Mid-America Club on the top floor of the building. About 150 to 200 volunteers attended, and four shared their...

Contentious exchanges between White House press secretaries and members of the media have been fairly commonplace during the past few presidential administrations. However, the one that took place Wednesday between White House press secretary Robert Gibbs and April Ryan of American Urban Radio, in which Gibbs essentially compared Ryan to a petulant child, is among the most heated (and entertaining) in recent memory. The testy exchange was sparked by Ryan's insistent questioning of White House social secretary Desiree Rogers' role at the recent state dinner, which has been in the headlines because of the fallout from Tareq and Michaele Salahi's...

The archive contains eight stories censored or removed from the on-line archives of the Guardian, Observer, Telegraph and New Statesman. Seven stories were removed in their entirety and one partly redacted following legal pressure by Iraqi-British billionaire fraudster Nadhmi Auchi who has been linked to US senator Barack Obama via the so-called “Rezko Affair”. The action was taken during April-June 2008. The material complements the Wikileaks release a few days ago of a significant 2004 Pentagon Inspector General's report into Mr. Auchi's, apparently grossly fraudulent, activities in Iraq — see US Defense Inspector General: Mobile Telecommunications Licenses in Iraq, 2004....

Oversight: After an unjust firing and campaign of character assassination, the former AmeriCorps inspector general has been cleared of acting improperly. Now where does he go to get his job and reputation back? On June 10, Gerald Walpin was fired with one hour's notice as the watchdog of AmeriCorps in violation of a federal law requiring Congress to be given a heads-up 30 days in advance. He then fell victim to a campaign of character assassination. When pressed for a reason for the sudden and improper dismissal of a federal watchdog, the White House responded with a letter to Sens....

Oversight: If the White House really believes that AmeriCorps' inspector general was "confused" and "disoriented," how about open congressional hearings where the American people can see for themselves?The storm that erupted after the firing with one hour's notice of Gerald Walpin, the inspector general overseeing AmeriCorps, has not died down. Pressed for an explanation as to the reasons for the firing and why the law requiring Congress to be given notice and reasons 30 days in advance was not followed, the White House has resorted to old-time Chicago-style political smears.

As Christopher Kelly was being treated for a fatal overdose, the political fundraiser who was being pressured to testify against ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich confided to his girlfriend to "tell them they won." "It's my life," Kelly told Clarissa Flores-Buhelos, according to a police report released today to the Tribune. "Tell them they won, tell them they won." The report does not specify to whom Kelly was referring. It was one of several new details contained in the 47-page police report released by Country Club Hills, where Kelly took numerous pills before his Sept. 12 death that authorities have ruled a...

We may never know what drove Chicago School Board President Michael Scott to take his life. At the time of his death, Scott had been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury looking into the admissions practices at Chicago's selective-enrollment schools. As a member of Mayor Daley's failed Olympic bid team, he also came under unfavorable media scrutiny for helping a group of ministers develop land that would have netted a hefty profit had the bid been successful. Scott denied having a financial interest in the development. Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th), who has been charged with taking bribes and has been...

Grief and anger, like clouds of a coming storm, moved back and forth across the landscape of Mayor Daley's face in public appearances last week. And why not? Michael Scott, his longtime, loyal friend, was dead. Suddenly. Violently. By his own hand, according to the Cook County medical examiner. When we lose someone we love, particularly like that, don't we ask ourselves what it was we failed to see? Or failed to do? Our own helplessness adds rage to sorrow. It's understandable. It's human. That's the best explanation I can come up with for what happened Wednesday at the mayor's...

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 1 Peter 1:3 It seems the Olympic suicide flu is spreading through Chicago. Michael Scott another dirty political partner of Valerie Jarrett decides to blow his brains out. We all know the Daley motto, dead men tell no tales and Scott won’t be talking. Of course we also know that suicide in Chi-town is like going for a swim w/lead sneakers in NJ. This is...

Englewood saw two homicides this week, bringing its 2009 murder toll to 17 victims. On Sunday, a 20-year-old man was found shot to death in the 500 block of West 58th Street, according to police information. The next day, a 21-year-old man was shot and killed about four blocks away. This year, Englewood has seen 16 shooting deaths and one fatal beating, a RedEye analysis of preliminary police data found. Fourteen of the 17 victims were male, 14 were under the age of 30 when they died and all victims were black, according to data from the Cook County Medical...

The U.S. Army plans to prevent media from covering Sarah Palin's appearance at Fort Bragg, fearing the event will turn into political grandstanding against President Barack Obama, officials said Thursday

Obama Envoy Wanted by Lucknow Police 8 November 2009 LUCKNOW: An Obama diplomat is wanted by the Lucknow police. Presently enjoying the status of an ambassador by virtue of representing the US in the United Nations Management and Reforms Committee (UNMRC), Jide Zeitlin was slapped with criminal charges like cheating and dishonestly, including delivery of property and criminal breach of trust, in case crime number 743/08 lodged with the Aliganj police station here in 2008 end. The criminal case has been lodged under Section 406 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) by a group of 16 telecom sector...

Using stimulus dollars as bait, President Obama is coaxing states to rewrite education laws and cut deals with unions as they compete for $5 billion in school reform grants.

Private Firm Would Jack Up Rates For Residents, Watchdogs Warn _________________________________________________________ If the parking meter deal put a bad taste in your mouth, try swallowing this: Chicago is considering leasing its water system to help fix the budget. The new boss could charge whatever they want for water, CBS 2's Roseanne Tellez reports. Could it happen here in Chicago? It already has nearby. Homer Glen in Will County relies on Lake Michigan water, but the supply comes from a German-owned firm. Locals say there's a lot more than water going down the drain. It's a vital resource you can't live...

Arguments go back and forth about whether or not the Obama administration is really "socialist" in the sense that they wish to control the means of production, takeover all businesses, and put the "people" (unions) in charge. Wherever you come down on this issue, there is no denying the straight line from Obama's Chicago roots and ways of getting things done to the White House. I wrote about it a while back when Chrysler dealers were being closed down, in a post I called "Not Socialism: Gangsterism:" "It can happen because we are barking up the wrong tree when we...

*snip* Turns out that when the former governor instituted a state-hiring freeze back in 2003, it was just a ruse so that he could do favors for a bunch of politically connected buddies. He ended up hiring just over 2,500 people during the so-called freeze. But these weren’t ordinary applicants; politicians, including then-state-senator Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, pushed all the job seekers on Blago. None of the politicians in the report are accused of doing anything wrong -- leaning on clout is the status quo in Springfield -- but the report does illustrate the insider game that occurs...

Even before he was elected governor in 2002, Rod Blagojevich and three of his closest friends schemed about ways to enrich themselves by controlling state government, the former governor's former chief of staff alleged as part of a plea agreement today with federal prosecutors. When Blagojevich took office, his three friends became key players in his administration and met repeatedly with the governor to share moneymaking ideas and get updates on their plans to bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars that they could split up later, former top aide Alonzo "Lon" Monk alleged. Monk, who also was a groomsman...

Here is video of Karl Rove on "Fox News Sunday" talking about the White House's attacks on Fox News. Karl Rove said "I think this White House is dominated by Chicago style politics." Rove said the "President of the United States should not be picking out enemies in the media like that, and personalizing it, and allowing his people to personalize it as well." . . . (VIDEO)

Are you tired of hearing how “smart” Barack Obama is? I reached my limit over the summer, when The New York Times Magazine quoted Valerie Jarrett, the president’s liaison to Chicago City Hall, declaring, “I mean, he’s really by far smarter than anybody I know.” Well, as any Chicago schoolboy knows, there are many different kinds of smart. And right now our commander-in-chief is not looking particularly brilliant— at least on the level of substantive politics. Take, for example, Obama’s intervention in Chicago’s failed bid for the Olympic Games in 2016. The Daley machine has escorted Obama most of the...

Two aldermen are floating the idea of putting a casino and entertainment complex where Chicago had hoped to build an Olympic Village for the 2016 Games. Alds. Richard Mell, 33rd, and George Cardenas, 12th, have not yet broached the idea with Mayor Richard Daley, who for years has wavered on the notion of bringing land-based gambling to Chicago. In the week since the city lost its Olympic bid to Rio de Janeiro, Daley has said he is confident the 37-acre parcel site of the abandoned Michael Reese Hospital would be attractive to developers. The city recently bought the Near South...

Czarface thinks it is better to be feared than loved. His right-hand men, the Axe and the Shank, know where all the bodies are buried, but their secrets will go with them until the grave or until they get a million dollar book contract.

It's quite damning for Dear Leader when even his concubines at the New York Times think he was off his rocker for traveling to Copenhagen only to get bitch slapped by the 18 votes his beloved Graftland got from the International Olympic Committee after his little speech: "As for why Mr. Obama went — especially if he wasn’t sure Chicago would win — here are two possible explanations: One, Mr. Obama, and his White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, another Chicagoan, love a good competition; the other is that they have a tad too much confidence in Mr. Obama’s...

Watch live coverage from Copenhagen starting at 1:45 a.m. Friday as Chicago and the other bid cities present. Chicago will be the first to present to the International Olympic Committee on Friday. Watch that live on-air on Channel 7 and online on ABC7Chicago.com, starting at approximately 1:45 a.m. ABC7Chicago.com will also carry presentations of the other three bid cities, Tokyo, Rio and Madrid. Online coverage will also include live video of the gatherings in Chicago and other cities around the world. Starting at 4:30 a.m., watch Channel 7 for an expanded ABC7 News This Morning.

The president of the United States shouldn't have to fly halfway around the world to humble himself before a posse of international sports influence peddlers and beg for a track meet. But that's exactly what he is doing. By going to Denmark with all the other City Hall politicos, including those from the White House, President Barack Obama is doing more than asking the International Olympic Committee to allow Chicago to host the 2016 Games. He's asking the IOC to make Mayor Richard Daley the king of Chicago for life. If Chicago gets the games, it will be Obama who...

Michelle Obama: It's a 'sacrifice' to travel to Europe to pitch for the Olympics. For Oprah and the president, too. But we're doing it for the kids. By: Byron York Chief Political Correspondent09/30/09 5:12 PM EDT In her speech in Copenhagen today, First Lady Michelle Obama said her trip to Denmark, along with the travel of her "dear friend" and "chit-chat buddy" Oprah Winfrey, as well as tomorrow's visit by President Obama, is a "sacrifice" on behalf of the children of Chicago and the United States. "As much of a sacrifice as people say this is for me or...

The Supreme Court will wade deeper into the debate over gun rights this term when it hears a challenge to registration requirements in Chicago. McDonald v. Chicago is the first such case since the Court declared an individual's right to own a firearm in 2008, and gun rights proponents are hoping to strike down requirements that Chicago residents register firearms before they buy them, and that the weapons be re-registered annually. Advocates say the re-registration is nothing more than an annual tax on guns. The suit also challenges Chicago's ban on handgun registration, which gun rights advocates say amounts to...

AT Political Correspondent Rich Baehr has an excellent article today on why he supports President Obama's efforts to bring the 2016 Olympic games to Chicago. However, I disagree with my distinguished colleague and associate myself with this devastating piece in the New York Post by Michelle Malkin: "Bringing the games to the Windy City is Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley's "vision." The entrenched Democratic powerbroker -- in office since 1989 -- would like to cap off his tenure with a glorious $4 billion bread-and-circuses production. The influential Daley machine backed Barack Obama in the presidential primaries. Obama lavished praise on...

A federal judge Monday said the Congress Plaza Hotel has a right to a sidewalk cafe, ruling that -- at least in this instance -- the U.S. Constitution trumps a Chicago alderman's clout. Judge Ronald Guzman enjoined the City of Chicago and Ald. Robert Fioretti, 2nd, from denying the hotel a cafe due to a long strike by hotel employees. Guzman wrote that "the only reasonable conclusion" was that the alderman refused to sign off on the hotel's application because he's a strong backer of the striking union. In its suit, the hotel claimed that the alderman's actions violated the...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- First lady Michelle Obama vowed Monday to "take no prisoners" as she and her husband launch an unprecedented bid for Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid. "It's a battle -- we're going to win -- take no prisoners," the first lady said with a smile at a roundtable discussion with reporters in the White House State Dining Room. She compared the intense lobbying effort to the 2008 presidential campaign, noting that in the election campaign, a lot of voters made their decision in the final days. She said members of the International Olympic Committee may do the same.

President Obama's trip to Copenhagen, Denmark for the International Olympics Committee meeting just happens to take him out of the country the day the unemployment numbers for September are announced. UPDATE: Just FYI, the flight to Copenhagen takes about eight hours, so at a cost of $56,518 per hour (according to a 2006 report) to fly Air Force One, the cost to taxpayers for this trip is roughly ..................$904,288. Since Michelle Obama is traveling separately, she has separate costs...

Updated 7:30 AM CDT, Mon, Sep 28, 2009 President Obama will travel to Copenhagen to make a pitch for Chicago’s Olympic bid, White House officials have confirmed to NBC News. Obama will leave for Denmark Thursday night, hours after his wife Michelle departs for the vote. The president made the final decision Saturday night after returning from the G20 summit in Pittsburgh. The announcement ends months of speculation of whether the president would lend his considerable fame to the pitch. The president has dropped hints all month long that he may attend the event. Last week he sent an advance...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill.--The day after the oddest of sex scandals drove his GOP opponent out of the race for the U.S. Senate, Barack Obama sat in his campaign office here, assessing his circumstances--the sudden elevation to political superstardom, the cascade of campaign cash, and the favorable, almost fawning, attention that has now yielded a prized invitation to deliver the keynote address at this week's Democratic National Convention. "A useful quality I have," he says, "is that the more things seem to be breaking my way, the more stressed I get." The stress, by now, must be unbearable. In addition to the...

The Chicago Police Department will discontinue overtime details assigned to guard President Obama's Hyde Park home. The police details, put in place after Obama's election last November, will end Oct. 1.

Glenn Beck/Scott Baker - Obama Connections, Part 1 of 2 Part 2

President Obama is dispatching an advance team to Copenhagen to pave the way for a possible personal appearance before the Olympic committee next month. The decision doesn't necessarily mean Obama will be able to make an in-person appeal for his adopted hometown of Chicago, which is bidding to to host the Olympics in 2016, a senior advisor to the president said this afternoon. But the president wants to make sure he has the option to go, in case he can get away from the health care discussions to make the trip. Before any presidential trip, the White House advance teams...

We're all learning more details about the apparent suicide of politically connected contractor Christopher Kelly. He pleaded guilty to corruption charges, was facing years in federal prison and had the option of telling federal authorities about city airport contracts and his buddy, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. But today, readers get their writes on Kelly, a self-inflicted victim of corruption the Chicago Way. John, I have known Chris since early days in Champaign, during college, and thereafter. Chris drank in college (like most college students) but has been a strict non-drinker for at least a decade, perhaps two. Chris would rather...

There are plenty of questions surrounding the death of Christopher Kelly, the one-time confidante of Rod Blagojevich who was headed off to prison soon. Questions about what drugs Kelly took. Questions about the "mystery man" with gray hair who tried to pick up Kelly's Cadillac SUV from the hospital. Questions about whether the pressure to cooperate with federal authorities or the prospect of a long stretch in prison, drove him to suicide. Questions about how his death will impact the prosecution of Blagojevich. There's something else that deserves real scrutiny: What kind of medical care did Kelly get at Oak...

Request followed shouting match at Milwaukee Ave. club ### Just days before he died of an apparent overdose, a defiant Christopher Kelly was resolved to fight a corruption trial he faced, if only to thumb his nose at federal authorities. Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's fund-raiser and adviser suddenly flip-flopped, however, after faced with another point of pressure. On the eve of trial, the government asked a judge to revoke Kelly's bond, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned. Hospital tapes from over the weekend are "very helpful and revealing" in their attempts to unravel the final hours before Christopher Kelly's death, Country...

The federal monitor over Cook County government hiring issued a progress report on patronage problems today -- *snip* Some workers for the county are actively undermining efforts to take politics out of personnel practices. Read the report here.

Two sources with knowledge of the situation told the Tribune today they have been notified that Christopher Kelly, a key figure in the federal corruption probe into former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, is dead. The Cook County medical examiner’s office today confirmed that a body identified as Christopher Kelly was brought to the morgue from Stroger Hospital. The office would not provide any details, including his age, address and manner of death, because the family had not yet arrived at the office. Kelly’s attorney, Michael Monico, declined to comment today when reached by a Tribune reporter. Kelly is a former confidant...