Free Republic

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) – South Africa will not sign any deal that would compromise the country's economic development chances at the upcoming climate change conference in Copenhagen, the environment minister said Tuesday. "All negotiators are there to pursue national interests ... and South Africa is no different in this regard. If a deal is going to compromise our national interest we are not going to support it 100 percent," Buyelwa Sonjica told journalist. In the lead up to the crucial climate summit in December which hopes to thrash out a new climate treaty, Sonjica said it was unrealistic for developing countries...

WASHINGTON – Even as liberals urge President Barack Obama to demand bold, far-reaching changes to the nation's health care system, the White House signaled openness Thursday to compromises that might attract moderate congressional Democrats as well as some Republicans. Obama believes in "fundamental principles" about overhauling health care, top presidential adviser David Axelrod told The Associated Press, but "he's not dogmatic about how we get there." Axelrod's comments did not definitively answer how hard Obama will push for the most ambitious parts of his proposal, including health insurance for virtually all Americans and a government-run plan to compete with private...

Many members of the clergy must be using the Bible like the old Sears catalogue – for toilet paper – because they obviously don't read it. Last week, another once-great church succumbed to the relentless, media-savvy campaign of determined homosexuality. "Leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America voted to lift the ban that prohibited sexually active gay and lesbian people from serving as ministers," reported the Associated Press. In July, the Episcopal House of Bishops and laity approved liturgies for same-sex couples and endorsed the right to elect gay bishops. Lutherans and Episcopalians join other denominational giants, Unitarians and...

Don't look now, but post-partisanship is making a comeback. Nobody is celebrating, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers have just demonstrated again that it's possible to bridge the deep partisan divide that has frozen California's Legislature in a condition of near perpetual gridlock. Last week, for the second time in five months, Schwarzenegger cobbled together a difficult budget plan and joined lawmakers from both parties to support the compromises necessary to pull the state back from the brink of insolvency. In February, he got fellow Republicans to raise taxes temporarily. And now he has persuaded Democrats to make deep...

Dr. Howard Dean’s fans come out for the big Democratic summer shindig As Tom Andrews, the director of the leading national antiwar coalition, began his speech at the Maine Democrats’ big outdoor summer shindig in Falmouth, John Baldacci signaled his bodyguard/driver to move the large, dark SUV up the driveway. The vehicle soon hid in the trees, its engine quietly humming. At first, the governor seemed to be paying attention as Andrews, the former First District congressman, launched into rousing tales of how the country, under President George W. Bush, had gone "from peace and prosperity to war and recession."...

If you are a California Resident, let the state party know that you won't give them ANY money or votes if any member of the party votes to endorse the reported $4bil in additional "Revenue Enhancements" to "balance" the budget.No money, no votes.info@cagop.org

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--An anti-abortion Democrat on Monday said he is negotiating a compromise aimed at resolving concerns that House health-care legislation would allow federal funding of abortions. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., said he is in talks with Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on the language. Stupak said his and Waxman's staff discussed the issue over the weekend and suggested that a compromise could be voted on this week as an amendment to a health-care bill under consideration by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Stupak represents an important vote on the health-care measure, which already faces possible opposition...

An Open Letter to Pastor Rick Warren By Jan Markell On July 5 the Washington Times online reported that Pastor Rick Warren told his Islamic audience, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA,) that he envisions "a coalition of faith." Whether Pastor Warren knows this or not, this is just another term for the coming one-world religion outlined in Revelation 13. It is further outlined in Revelation 17. I have not taken on the issue of Rick Warren all that often, but after reading what the Washington Times has to say about his message to a group of spiritually lost...

"It is a people that shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations." (From this week's Torah portion, Balak, Numbers 23:9) Currently, Israel's very essence is its unrequited ambition to be reckoned among the nations. Official Israel does all in its power to be "normal -" in other words, to be like the nations of the world. Israel yearns to be accepted, to "belong," to enjoy the patronage of the nations. It will settle for almost anything. As long as it will not have to dwell alone. Jewish home in outpost. Sign says "G-d is King." But...

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If you've spent any time at all on Internet message boards or in college debate class you'll have seen the rafters vibrate with righteous condemnation against the "slippery slope argument." It is claimed that a worst case, ultimate extrapolation of a thing is a bad argument because it isn't necessarily a truism. Supporters of the Second Amendment, for instance, are scolded by liberals when the supporter says that any new gun law is "one more step to banning guns." The gun restricter says that the gun supporter is employing a "slippery slope" argument and that it is idiotic to claim...

In the face-off between Mahmoud (Achmadinijad), Hussein (Obama) and Bibi, the first two can chalk up a major victory even before the game begins. Mahmoud doesn't have a bomb yet, but Netanyahu is already running to drive Jews from their homes and destroy their villages. Hussein Obama, who released the trial balloon called Bushehr in exchange for Yitzhar can also congratulate himself on two big wins. Netanyahu paid lip service to a strong, independent Israel, but his actions show that he has accepted Obama's Bushehr for Yitzhar principle. He also accepted another of Obama's principles: that the right of Israel...

And it came to pass in the days when the judges judged, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Beit Lehem in Judah went to sojourn in the field of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Beit Lehem in Judeah. And they came into the field of Moab, and stayed there. And Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and she was left, and her two sons....

Notre Dame, The President’s Perspective According to Reuters News Agency, the following quote was given by the President to the University of Notre Dame in his Commencement Address. “SOUTH BEND, Indiana (Reuters) - President Barack Obama urged both sides in the abortion debate on Sunday to pursue a "fair-minded" discussion as he sought to quell a firestorm over his invitation to speak at Notre Dame, a premier U.S. Catholic university. The President has proposed his vision of a fair minded approach when he signed off on the confiscation of tax monies to fund abortions on an International Scale. The Bible...

Barry Soetoro/Barack Hussein Obama with Grandma in Kogelo, KenyaA photograph of Barry's school enrollment describing him as a "Muslim" with an "Indonesian" citizenship.

ABOARD “Straight Talk Air” (between New York and Miami)—Sen. John McCain would “absolutely” not compromise on Supreme Court nominations if elected and would continue to nominate strict constructionist judges if any of his Supreme Court nominations were defeated by a hostile Senate. McCain said that and much more to HUMAN EVENTS chief political correspondent John Gizzi in an exclusive interview Friday morning. The Republican presidential nominee also said, if elected, he would gladly join running mate Sarah Palin on a trip to Alaska to view the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge but has not yet changed his mind on oil drilling...

There has been plenty of whining from conservatives concerning whether John McCain would select a pro-choice vice president. I just hope whining is all it is. As my colleague Dan Calabrese pointed out on August 21, the political leanings of the VP concerning abortion are largely irrelevant. The only way to meaningfully decrease the number of abortions is to convince people that abortion is a bad idea, not to legislate. But this conservative whining must be starting to concern McCain and his political strategists at least a little. Maybe these people who keep complaining that McCain isn´t conservative enough are...

Composite exchange of late seen too often at FreeRepublic: Petulant Poster #1 Juan McCain is not a conservative. The Republican party jumped the shark by nominating this open borders, gang of fourteen, amnesty liberal. He’s a RINO, a dem in pubby clothing. The only thing that would persuade me to vote for McCain is if he picks ______ (fill in the blank, Mitt Romney, Michael Steele, Duncan Hunter, Jindal, Palin, Pawlenty, etc.) as his running mate. Purist Poster #2 I’m not voting this cycle. It’s time for the Republicans to suffer for going so far leftward. The only way the...

WASHINGTON - After promising to veto a huge Iraq war-funding bill because it contains unrelated domestic spending, the White House now wants to boost the costs even higher by letting troops transfer ramped up GI Bill education benefits to their spouses or children. The White House is signaling that President Bush could sign the hotly contested and long overdue war funding bill if the benefit transferability provision is added to the 10-year, $52 billion improvement to GI Bill college benefits proposed by Democrats and many Republicans. "It's like the Yogi Berra story: 'I don't like that restaurant. Besides, the portions...

France and Britain can plausibly claim to have the longest-running national rivalry in the history of the world. With brief intermissions, the competition between France and England has been going on for nearly seven centuries, since the hundred years war. The very identity of Britishness, on which Gordon Brown is so keen, was forged in the 18th- and early 19th-century conflict with France. Britain invented itself as the anti-France. This grand rivalry should continue for another seven centuries - on the football pitch and the rugby field. In politics, it has had its day, and must be replaced by a...

A man alerted Transportation Security Administration officials early Sunday morning that he had gotten through the main security checkpoint with a handgun, Fox 5 has exclusively learned. Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority Police were called to the checkpoint where the man, identified as Gregory Hinkle, turned over his firearm and was given a summons for a misdemeanor for violating Virigina Code 18.2-287.01 which prohibits firearms in an airport terminal with exceptions for law enforcement and checked luggage. -snip-

The Legacy of Judas: National Right to Life Contact: Donna Ballentine, 888-888-2785 MEDIA ADVISORY, Dec. 20 /Christian Newswire/ -- The following is submitted by Brian Rohrbough, President, American RTL: Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests and said, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?" And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him. In 1981, after president Ronald Reagan agreed he would sign federal personhood legislation for the unborn, National Right to Life and their longtime...

The Second Amendment ratifies an individual, inalienable right, abortion kills American citizens, without due process, and "queer" is "queer"! "Illegal" migrants are "illegal" law breakers. I will just be damned if I can figure out why this is so complicated!

And so in recent weeks, as Gingrich has once more made rumblings about running for president, experienced Newt watchers wondered what, exactly, the former speaker was selling this time. The answer: American Solutions for Winning the Future, a Gingrich-led advocacy group that launches this week, promising new solutions to old problems like immigration, education and health care. Gingrich has promised to spend the coming weeks seriously considering the viability of a presidential campaign.

The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution April 25, 1997 Moderate senators taking on stalled budget as bipartisan force Centrist Coalition plans alternative to Clinton proposal. Author: Ken Foskett WASHINGTON BUREAU Washington - The stalemate between the White House and Congress over a balanced budget deal has prompted some moderate Republicans and Democrats in the Senate to begin crafting a bipartisan budget plan. The group of senators, known as the Centrist Coalition, is headed by Sens. John Chafee (R-R.I) and John Breaux (D-La.). Sen. Max Cleland (D- Ga.), replacing former Sen. Sam Nunn, is the newest Democratic member of the...

Even though the year is far from over and is likely to have its fair share of hypocrisy, Mrs. Clinton’s comment on the need to compromise to achieve political and social progress has to outclass any other current or future entrant for the Hypocrite of the Year award. This woman, who refused to change a comma or a word of her thousand-page-plus healthcare reform bill and, as a result of her intractable stubbornness, sent the bill down to defeat along with the Democratic Congress and almost her husband’s presidency, is daring to show herself now as the apostle of compromise....

WASHINGTON - In seven tumultuous months in power, congressional Democrats have learned to compromise with President Bush as well as confront him. The first minimum wage increase in a decade and expanded power to eavesdrop are early fruit of the Congress that convened in January. So are the historic clash over the Iraq war and a veto on stem cell research. "We've done a lot of heavy lifting," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said last week as Congress lumbered toward its month-long summer vacation. Across the Capitol, House Democrats offered evidence that they had already accomplished more of...

VIENNA, Austria - Key U.S. allies are debating the idea of a nuclear compromise with Iran that would call for only a partial freeze of Tehran's uranium enrichment program — a stance that could put them at odds with Washington, officials said Friday. The officials — U.S. and European diplomats and government employees — told The Associated Press that the deliberations among senior British, French and German decision-makers were only preliminary and that no conclusions had been drawn. Germany was supportive, France opposed and Britain noncommittal, they said. "Nothing is on paper," said one European diplomat, describing the tentative plan...

A bill that places a two-year moratorium on private toll road agreements in Texas was signed by Gov. Rick Perry on Monday. The bill, Senate Bill 792, was pushed by opponents of the Trans Texas Corridor, which is a proposed set of privately-funded toll roads throughout Texas. The final version of the bill represents a compromise between opponents of the TTC and Perry, its main backer. Specifically, the bill prevents the Texas Department of Transportation from entering what are called comprehensive development agreements, or CDAs, which are contracts for private companies to build and profit from toll roads in Texas....

But compromise doesn't affect six projects slated for Harris County AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry on Monday signed legislation that slows down his ambitious plans for building toll roads but does not halt them completely. Perry and the Legislature got into a stare-down last month when lawmakers sent him a bill that put serious restrictions on building toll roads in Texas and constrained policy set by the Texas Transportation Commission, which is run by the governor's appointees. Perry said he would veto the bill and threatened to call a special legislative session if lawmakers did not send him compromise legislation....

Would this be an acceptable Immigration reform bill: 1. Fund all of the fence previously authorized. All the triggers for hiring and enforcement in the current bill still hold and must be certified by the Secretary of Homeland Security. 2. Allow any working illegal immigrants currently in the US apply for guest worker status. Guest worker status to be granted to illegal immigrants with an otherwise clean criminal record. The fine for past violations of the immigration laws will be reduced to $1,000. After all the fine no longer leads to a path to citizenship. This is now a financial...

More projects exempted from private toll road moratorium in unanimous Senate vote. The Texas Senate, after hours of closed-door negotiations stamped out hot spots of dissent, unanimously passed revamped toll road legislation Monday that would supplant a bill languishing on Gov. Rick Perry's desk. Perry, who has made it clear he would veto the first bill, House Bill 1892, immediately signaled that he would allow Senate Bill 792 to become law if the House passes it in its current form. Lawmakers involved in the negotiations say they hope to get SB 792 to Perry late this week in time to...

Toll road compromise reached By Ben Wear | Monday, May 14, 2007, 08:10 AM Lawmakers, representatives from the Texas Department of Transportation and others have reached agreement on major toll road legislation that will be laid out this morning in a meeting of the Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee. But there could be a backlash. Many legislators had said this session that what they didn’t want was to be presented with a large “agreed-upon” transportation bill late in the session with little or no time to absorb it. That’s exactly what they’re getting, however. The bill, in this instance,...

WASHINGTON - Efforts to reach an immigration compromise faltered Thursday as Democrats and Republicans staked out divergent positions and prepared to blame each other for scuttling the best chance for a broad overhaul this year. Talks continued on a possible deal that would tie residency for millions of illegal immigrants to tougher border security and a crackdown on employing undocumented workers. At the same time, however, Republicans and Democrats set the stage for a partisan battle next week that could squash any agreement. Democrats plan to force a debate starting Tuesday on last year's Senate-passed immigration measure. Most Democrats supported...

Interestingly the latest advice to Republicans coming from Liberals is in order to win elections you must compromise your values. That is the gist of the Daniel Finkelstein Times online piece. That is exactly what Liberals would want Conservatives to do which is also one of the crucial differences between the two political philosophies.

NEW YORK - Appearing on a live webcast, the Episcopal Church's presiding bishop began the painful task Wednesday of persuading members to roll back their support for gays — at least for now — so the denomination can keep its place in the world Anglican fellowship. The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, who personally supports ordaining partnered gays, told a studio audience, callers and those who submitted questions by e-mail that they should make concessions that Anglican leaders are seeking to buy time for reconciliation. "To live together in Christian community means each member takes seriously the concerns and needs...

We propose that Germany, France, and Britain form a holding company with Iran that leases Western centrifuges for a new facility in Iran. (Leasing keeps Iran from claiming that it might "own" the centrifuges and avoids legal problems that might result from such a claim.) Other important countries, such as Russia, could also join the company, though Russia might only join if it could contribute in kind rather than in hard cash. As in URENCO, the European enrichment consortium, Iran would sign a treaty not to enrich uranium anywhere else. By leasing Iran's existing centrifuges, the corporation's Western technicians could...

WASHINGTON (APUPI) The media and political pundits lauded the preliminary results of the months-long commission to determine the true ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle today. "This has been a troubling national issue, since the nation's founding. Several legislatures have attempted to proclaim the value of pi, in order to simplify mathematics for our students, but the effort has always been viewed as partisan and controversial," stated the introduction to the initial report, released today. It was a long-standing controversy, viewed by many as a policy quagmire, that has been finally almost been laid to rest...

I once had a meal with a man who had been a Republican operative. He was lamenting the factionalism within that party, and as an example told the story of some Christian evangelicals. They had come to him offering to support his candidate providing the candidate agreed with them on 15 points. "In politics, you don't get all 15 points," he said. "Maybe you get eight of them. You have to be satisfied with that. These people didn't understand that." To them, each of the 15 was connected to Truth, and was not negotiable. There was no agreement, and no...

The first cracks in the united front over Iraq between Tony Blair and President Bush appeared last night as the Prime Minister offered Iran and Syria the prospect of dialogue over the future of Iraq and the Middle East. Mr Blair said there could be a new “partnership� with Iran if it stopped supporting terrorism in Iraq and gave up its nuclear ambitions. Syria and Iran could choose partnership or isolation, he said. The Prime Minister tried to exploit moves in Washington to rethink strategy on Iraq by holding out the prospect of engagement with two countries once dubbed by...

<p>A former analyst for the Pentagon’s intelligence service provided China with highly classified information prior to the loss of a major electronic spying operation against Beijing, The Washington Times has learned. The loss of the National Security Agency’s eavesdropping operation hampered U.S. efforts to track China’s covert arms sales to nations such as Iran, Syria and Pakistan, Bush administration officials said.</p>

AT&T on Tuesday said hackers broke into one of its computer systems and accessed personal data on thousands of customers who used its online store. The information that was illegally accessed includes credit card numbers, AT&T said in a statement. The cyberattack affects about 19,000 customers who purchased equipment for high-speed DSL Internet connections through AT&T's Web site, the company said. "We deeply regret this incident," Priscilla Hill-Ardoin, chief privacy officer for AT&T, said in the statement. "We will work closely with law enforcement to bring these data thieves to account." The break-in occurred over the weekend and was discovered...

A prominent hardline Iraqi Sunni cleric said Friday he was willing to meet with top Shiite religious leaders to end sectarian violence and help move Iraq out of its internal crisis. "We are ready to meet anybody who is sincere, and desires good things for Iraq and for Iraqis, in particular the supreme religious leadership in Iraq," Harith al-Dhari, leader of the Association of Muslim Scholars, said on Al-Jazeera television. By supreme religious leadership, al-Dhari was apparently referring to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most prominent Shiite cleric. Al-Dhari, who spoke from Amman, Jordan, blamed the U.S. military presence for...

Leading Democratic lawmakers, returning to the Capitol on Monday after a monthlong summer recess, said they will not let election-year politics stand in the way of passing popular legislation that could potentially boost Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's prospects for re-election. The legislative session will end Aug. 31, meaning that Schwarzenegger will be required in September to sign or veto all bills passed between now and then — during the heart of his re-election campaign against Democratic challenger Phil Angelides. Schwarzenegger has agreed in concept to two politically popular bills sponsored by majority Democrats in the Legislature — one that would...

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, speaking at a Santa Clara forum Friday, called on members of Congress to end the election-year maneuvering and compromise on their widely different views of immigration reform. During a summer when members of the House and Senate are holding hearings across the country on competing immigration bills, Gonzales has been on the road touting President Bush's immigration reform proposal -- which combines a temporary guest worker program and legal status for the nation's estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants with stepped-up border and workplace enforcement, a plan that resembles the Senate bill. The House bill focuses...

UN may be close to deal on N.Korea resolution By Evelyn Leopold 50 minutes ago Japan and the United States insisted on a U.N. Security Council vote on Saturday on a resolution condemning North Korea's barrage of missile launches amid signs of a compromise with China. After a flurry of negotiations on Friday, Japan produced a new draft resolution that sought to bridge the differences with China. But Beijing's ambassador said he would still veto it unless more changes were made, which many diplomats expect when council members resume negotiations on Saturday. "My instructions are to get a vote by...

THE POLITICS OF IMMIGRATION REFORM changed on March 27. That's the day the Senate Judiciary Committee approved (in a vote of 12-6) an immigration reform bill that included increased border security and law enforcement, a guest-worker program, and a path to legalization for the roughly 12 million illegals who live in the United States.Almost immediately, polling on the immigration issue shifted toward the pro-immigrant side. Specifically, when voters were asked whether they favor "enforcement only" (like the bill passed by the House in late 2005), a guest-worker program only, or a bill similar to the Senate bill that embodied both...

BRITAIN, France and Germany are expected to offer Iran a light-water nuclear reactor if Tehran agrees to suspend its controversial uranium enrichment programme. In the latest attempt to resolve the deadlock over the nuclear ambitions of Iran, the three European nations will propose a revised deal at a meeting in London on Friday with diplomats from the US, China and Russia. Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, said that Iran would be offered the “most sophisticated” technology to help it to meet its energy needs. But the reactor would mean that Tehran would have to suspend all enrichment work,...

For Immediate ReleaseApril 8, 2006 President's Radio Address       Audio      In Focus: Immigration      THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week, Members of the United States Senate reached a promising bipartisan compromise on comprehensive immigration reform. Unfortunately, this compromise is being blocked by the Senate Democratic leader who has refused to allow Senators to move forward and vote on amendments to this bill. I call on the Senate Minority Leader to end his blocking tactics and allow the Senate to do its work and pass a fair, effective immigration reform bill.  Radio Address 200620052004200320022001  Radio Interviews 20052004 Immigration is an emotional...

WASHINGTON - In a last stab at compromise, Senate Republicans and Democrats reported progress Thursday toward agreement on legislation opening the way to legal status and eventual citizenship for many of the 11 million immigrants now in the U.S. illegally. "There's been tremendous progress overnight," said Sen. Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record) of Nevada, the Democratic leader, while Majority Leader Bill Frist also expressed optimism that a long-sought compromise might be at hand. There was no immediate reaction from President Bush, who has made immigration legislation a key priority. The developments occurred after Frist unveiled a new bill late...