Free Republic

Last month, U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill, introduced legislation in the House to reward the hordes of illegal aliens who made it past our Border Patrol agents with legalization, jobs, public benefits and eventually the right to vote as citizens. With the open borders lobby's usual shameless contempt for the intellect of the American people, Gutierrez is calling his bill "Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity." The 2010 battle for repeating the "one-time" amnesty of 1986 has begun. Don't expect the legislation to receive nearly as much attention from the media as Tiger Woods' love life. The hope...

Writing for Forbes, Bruce Bartlett puts forth an interesting hypothesis that healthcare legislation could have been made better (hopefully he meant to write “less destructive”) if the GOP had been willing to compromise with Democrats: Democrats desperately wanted a bipartisan bill and would have given a lot to get a few Republicans on board. This undoubtedly would have led to enactment of a better health bill than the one we are likely to get. But Republicans never put forward an alternative health proposal. Instead, they took the position that our current health system is perfect just as it is. Bruce...

State Sen. Robert Hurt has proposed the 5th District GOP host five debates before the June primary for the seven candidates hoping to challenge Democratic incumbent Rep. Tom Perriello in November. In a news release sent Thursday, Hurt called on all 21 Republican unit chairs in the district to work together to sponsor, schedule and plan the debates across the district in the coming months. “I believe that by having the local Republican committees develop the plan for these five debates, Republican voters across the 5th District will be well served by increased debate attendance, greater participation by smaller units...

A spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service said the agency is investigating an effigy of President Barack Obama found hanging from a building in the Georgia hometown of former President Jimmy Carter. Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan told The Associated Press that the large black doll was found Saturday morning along Main Street in the small town of Plains. According to footage from WALB-TV, the doll was hanging by a noose in front of a red, white and blue sign that says "Plains, Georgia. Home of Jimmy Carter, our 39th President." A witness told the television station that the doll...

President Obama and the progressive wing of the party who dominate congress, has made identifying ones self as a Democrat is not as popular as it used to be. Witness the letter I pulled out of the Newspaper today: Dear Ann Landers, I lost my job at McDonalds last month for sleeping with the bosses daughter (I swear she looked 18). My parents are life-long progressive Democrats who live in the suburbs of San Francisco. My Father and Mother have recently been arrested for growing and selling marijuana, distribution of Cocaine, as well as Heroin. They are currently dependent on...

WHO THE VOTERS ARE The results of the 2010 US Census (questionnaires will be mailed in March) will not only determine the shape of the House of Representatives in 2012 — it will tell us what the cultural, ethnic, social, economic and demographic make-up of the United States of America will look like for years to come. Peter Francese is a demographic analyst who has been forecasting decennial census trends for the past 40 years. Here are the biggest shifts he predicts will be shown by 2010 Census: * There will be 70 million grandparents in America by 2010, compared...

Average voters might be shocked to learn that bribery is legal when congress does it. Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) rebuffed the uproar over the financial inducements granted to fellow Senator Ben Nelson (D-Neb) in order to secure his vote for the healthcare bill. “Giving a person money or other benefits to buy his vote would be illegal if a private individual did it,” Harkins said. “The thing that most people forget, though, is that process of legislation is the making of laws. That means that whatever congress puts in the laws is, by definition, legal. The remarkable aspect of this...

That's why federal spending above its revenues should be illegal, punishable by crucifixion (or perhaps something even more painful).

January 2nd, 2010 Maggie M. Thornton President Obama’s nominee to head the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) lied to Congress. His confirmation to the office has been moved-up to tomorrow (just kidding – but probably). Not only did he lie, but some in Congress knew he lied before advancing his nomination in November 2009. See video below.

On Christmas day, a cousin of mine, in his 20s, an affable, liberal-minded guy who works in the movie industry and voted for Zero, stunningly admitted: “I get more conservative every time I look at what the government takes from my paycheck.”My young cousin, and many more like him, are about to become even more self-aware this year … as they watch their paychecks evaporate like a drop of water spilled in the Sahara. That’s because the rats crawling around the District of Criminals didn’t renew the Bush tax cuts, effectively making Monday the first business day of The Year...

In their zeal to impose a health care “reform” package built around demonization of insurance companies and the massive transfer of new enrollees onto various government programs, many of our lefty friends have been conspicuously silent whenever asked about how the expansion of these entitlements will be paid for. It is, however, not possible to extend their calculated “silent treatment” to the actual text of the bills. The current crop of proposals draw funding from two primary sources: (1) a tax imposed on “Cadillac” health care insurance plans, and, (2) cuts in payments to doctors under Medicare. When one looks...

As a Christian, it is your obligation to use the pulpit in America to defend Constitutional and political values. America was founded on Judeo Christian values, deferring to God, for the rights bestowed upon us. Those who have access to the pulpit must lead by example. Do not be shy about addressing the Islamic threat, the Marxist threat, the funding of abortion with parishioner money and any number of other issues that are wreaking havoc upon the lives of the folks who look to you for guidance.

-The Race42012 staff was asked to take look ahead and share their predictions for the coming new year. Our readers are encouraged to post their own predictions in the comments. Adam Brickley Sarah Palin continues her recovery and cements herself as de-facto leader of the GOP after vigorously campaigning through 2010, after which she begins work on a second and more issue-oriented book. Mike Huckabee decides that he rather likes being a media figure and veers away from presidential politics – he pursues either a nightly show on Fox News or a daily radio program. Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty...

The latest Rasmussen poll of likely voters gives President Obama an approval index of -18 percent. That figure is derived from subtracting the 24 percent of voters that strongly approve of the job that Obama is doing from the 42 percent that strongly disapprove. In the same poll, 46% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. 53 percent now disapprove. The Gallup poll, of American adults 18 years and older, has Obama's current approval rating at 51 percent. According to Gallup, Obama has averaged a 50 percent job approval rating in December. Ronald Reagan's average...

When members of the U.S. Senate finally head home this week, they will be leaving the future of 50 individual and business tax breaks in limbo. All expire at the end of 2009. Among the disappearing breaks are the research tax credit and an annual alternative minimum tax "patch," which keeps 23 million additional middle-income Americans from being forced into calculating and paying the dreaded AMT. (For 2009, with the patch in place, 4 million upper-middle- and high-income families will pay AMT.)

For years our military has been in search of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) in Iraq and Afghanistan, and our intelligence agencies have also been scouring the world to unearth these threats. The heart and core of their plan is based on the most inhumane and unethical means of cutting costs: the rationing and denying of care. Even worse, the death panels that will ration and deny care, according to the Obama-Pelosi-Reid plan, will be unelected and unaccountable Federal bureaucrats. On Sunday, November 22, Fox News Sunday interviewed Senator Arlen Specter, who was a Democrat before he was Republican before...

We no longer seem to be living in a constitutional republic. How could we be when the votes of our public officials are easily bought off with bribes, threats, and subversion of our Constitution?

A number of House Democrats have announced they are retiring, and party officials say more could follow in a tough midterm election year of high unemployment, a slow economic recovery and a very angry electorate. A growing number of Democrats have read the handwriting on the wall that tells of bleak prospects for their party in 2010 when Republicans are expected to pick up seats in the House and possibly in the Senate, too. Historically, the party out of power makes gains in an administration's midterm point, and that seems to be what is in store for the Democrats this...

In a recent puff piece, The New York Times reports that our President is tired. This is not the first such report. Back in May, when he treated England’s Gordon Brown so shabbily, the excuse given — according to The Daily Telegraph – was that wrestling with the economic crisis had left Barack Obama too exhausted to be able to focus on foreign affairs. We should perhaps discount what was said in May. For, as I have attempted to document in detail here, here, here, here, here, and here, President Obama is a gentleman, and, as such, he is never...

We no longer seem to be living in a constitutional republic. How could we be when the votes of our public officials are easily bought off with bribes, threats, and subversion of our Constitution? The Christmas fiasco of the Senate vote-buying ordeal to pass the health care bill is a perfect illustration of how Congress is out of control and no longer represents the will of the people. According to a CNN/ORC survey, the overwhelming majority of Americans are opposed to the Senate version of Obamacare, a bill that will nationalize one-sixth of the U.S. economy and grant unprecedented power...

Congressman John Murtha reminds me of the character Big Julie in the Guys and Dolls, who boasts: “I got a poifect record: thoity-three arrests, no convictions.” Months ago, the FBI raided the offices of the PMA group. What they found suggested that Murtha and his buddies at the PMA Group operated their own little Earmark Factory. You have to give Congressman John Murtha points for creativity. Almost every day, Murtha finds a brand new way to disgrace the US Congress he sits in, or the Marine uniform he once wore. He convicted some of our military heroes in the "court...

More rhetoric than reform. A couple of weeks ago, amidst the prolonged drama surrounding Senate passage of the Democrats' health care bill, House Democrats unveiled another major policy initiative for 2010--a renewed effort to pass comprehensive immigration reform. The new bill didn't attract a lot of national media attention at the time. Health care sucked the air out of the news cycle. But a closer look at this developing story reveals an interesting twist. The House's new immigration gambit looks more like a political tactic aimed at dividing Republicans--when the GOP is growing in political strength heading into the 2010...

I have heard many folks openly observe that all members of Congress must live in a different world than we live in. I have pondered this oft heard statement and I must concur. I have a direct sense and understanding of these, now particularly odious folks, with a story of life as we knew it around the Beltway of Washington. Back in the late 1980's we were assigned to the D.C. area due to military posting. It was a cultural shock to the entire family. In part, the disparity was due to having lived in Germany for four wonderful years...

HONOLULU (AP) -- President Barack Obama has rejected his first piece of legislation from Congress, a stopgap spending bill that never had to take effect. The White House on Wednesday said Obama exercised his right to send back to the Capitol a temporary appropriations bill that lawmakers passed in case a winter storm about two weeks ago would have prevented them from approving a final measure to fund the Pentagon next year. The Dec. 19 blizzard didn't keep them away from the Capitol and they approved the $626 billion defense spending bill before the previous budget expired. The White House...

Or come pretty darned close to doing so, at least, argues James Pethokoukis for Reuters. The problem facing Democrats is not just the normal midterm correction, although that’s part of it. It’s not just ObamaCare, although that’s a large part of it, too. There are a number of problems that Democrats simply have not done anything to address, and they’re rapidly running out of time to do so: The trend is not the Democrats’ friend. At least not in 2010. The party of the sitting president almost always suffers losses in midterm congressional elections. To that time-tested dynamic now add...

During the 1980’s, Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar built a global cocaine cartel of unrivaled power and influence based on a simple philosophy, Plato O Plomo. Translated literally that means “silver or lead,” but every Colombian knew what it really meant – “money or bullets.” Either you took Escobar’s bribe, or you dealt with Escobar’s wrath. Today, these thuggish tactics are alive and well in – of all places – Washington, D.C.,

I haven’t written here in a year. I’ve been busy with life, I’m getting ready for retirement and want to cruise in a boat for a few years. So, I’ve spent time with my family, my wife and we’ve been working on our plans. But recently I’ve been more and more upset at the lack of caring on the part of many, if not all of the the members of Congress. Both the House and the Senate. The partisan politics of these two political bodies have come recently under fire by both sides and when this past summer “Tea Parties”...

Ladies and Gentlemen, The time has come for you to realize that the United States of America is made up of individuals who believe in Liberty, Freedom and Justice. It’s time those of you we asked to do a job, did that job. Your job is not to tell ME how to behave, how to act, how to give my own money for others. If I want to give my money for a charitable cause I will do so on my own, without prompting. It’s NOT your job to tell me how much gasoline to use, or electricity. If I...

Film studios are a frequent stop for the typical Los Angeles tourist – and the really lucky ones sometimes get a brief glimpse of favorite star making a movie. Technically, things aren’t vastly different for the folks who book their trips through Porn Week – though these vacationers catch a whole lot more than a quick glimpse of the actors. Instead, they’re on the set of a porn film – watching, helping behind the scenes or (if they’re brave enough) perhaps joining the cast themselves. It’s Fantasyland, to be sure – but Mickey and Donald are nowhere in sight. A...

ONLY CONGRESS KNOWS FOR SURE...CONGRESS SCOFFS, SHRUGS, AND SPINS, WHEN ASKED ABOUT OBAMACARE'S CONSTITUTIONALITY How depressing it is to hear the contorted logic, from our leaders in Congress, when asked to site the portion of the Constitution that gives the federal government authority to force a citizen to purchase a health insurance policy...

If you work in Washington long enough, there are some things you get used to. One of them is the tradition of burying news by releasing it on a Friday afternoon. Or even better: on Christmas Eve. That's when the House Ethics Committee quietly announced the launch of an ethics probe into California Congressman Fortney 'Pete' Stark: The Chair and Ranking Republican Member of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (the Committee) have jointly decided to extend a matter regarding Representative Pete Stark, which was transmitted to the Committee by the Office of Congressional Ethics, for a 45-day period......

Tea-party leaders are delivering a bold ultimatum to all congressional candidates in 2010: Pledge to repeal the health-care reform bill in its entirety if it passes – or you will be booted from office. FreedomWorks Press Secretary Adam Brandon told WND the message couldn't be any clearer. Asked whether he believes the tea party movement will seek to oust politicians who refuse to repeal the legislation, he emphatically declared, "Absolutely." Max Pappas, vice president of FreedomWorks, echoed Brandon's statements in an interview with Gary Sargent, Washington blogger for the Plum Line, this week. "This has an unusual ability to be...

The Obama administration’s handling of the Christmas Day terror plot has been “schizophrenic” says King. “It’s reflective of their handling of other incidents. They still haven’t given us any information on Fort Hood. Even with the gate crashers, they’ve refused to give us on information on communications between the White House social secretary and the Secret Service. They’re giving us nothing and Democrats in Congress are very reluctant to have any meaningful investigations.” Politics, not national security, is driving these decisions, says King. “They’re holding back because they don’t want to share embarrassing material.”

Typical of the morons in Congress, the delegate from American Samoa believes that HE is the one sending funds to help his people when indeed it is the American TAXPAYERS. The man, who is Samoan, is also taking a shot at one of his targets in American Samoa simply because he wants to introduce the Samoan people to other opportunities besides packing tuna. It is time to send ALL of Congress home regardless of party affiliation!

I ought to make two comments before beginning this set of ideas: First of all, I entitled this How to Fix the United States, despite the fact that I hate the phrase _____ is broken, whether that is a reference to the economy, healthcare, Congress, or whatever. I despise that phrase because it is overly simplistic and it appears to give carte blanc to the repairing of whatever is broken to the person making this simplistic observation. Just because there are problems with this or that aspect of America, does not mean that we need to tear down all that...

Canadian David Frum is like the cross-eyed marksman, he can see the target but just can't ever hit it. The self-styled conservative has been the Old Media's leading conservative in attacking, well, other conservatives. Naturally his Dec. 25 piece on theweek.com is no exception. Not only does he attack other conservatives, as is his wont, he so badly misreads the Constitution and certain other facts in the healthcare debate, it makes one wonder if he's muffing it all on purpose? He does, however, get one salient fact right: the U.S. has already so ignored the U.S. Constitution that this socialist...

Sen. Joe Lieberman's (I., Conn.) Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is the third Congressional body to announce that it will hold hearings on the Flight 253 attack: The hearing will focus on the security measures the alleged bomber, 23-year-old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, evaded in bringing explosives onboard the plane. "We were very lucky this time, but we may not be so lucky next time, which is why our defenses must be strengthened," said committee Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) in a statement. "I view Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab as a terrorist who evaded our homeland security defenses and who...

Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) barely managed to celebrate the holidays before being reminded he’s facing his toughest challenge since first elected in 2002. Bishop’s Republican opponent, businessman Randy Altschuler, is already up with his first campaign ad – with over 10 months until the election. The ad, which begins airing today, ties Bishop to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the dysfunctional political culture in Albany. “Tim Bishop is all about the old way: big government, more taxes, more spending,” Altschuler says in the ad. “My top priority is to create a pro-growth environment, lower taxes and more jobs."

See the video of an obviously drunk, slurring and sputtering Max Baucus on the Senate floor. Then decide for yourself - ignore the MSM spin-doctors attempt to cover this up. Do pay attention to which MSM outlets either ignore this huge story or attempt to spin it for the Democrats - instead of reporting the news, most of the MSM has resorted to cheerleading and spin-doctoring the news to suit the DNC. This video deserves its own thread as the MSM attacks on it have already begun. The lapdog MSM is going into damage control mode to cover up this...

Congressional Reform Act of 2010 The following steps for congressional reform were forwarded to me by a concerned American and friend, John Royall. I couldn’t agree more and my guess is most Americans will also agree! It is time the elite, messiahs come down a few notches from their high horses and start serving again. We have screamed about the self imposed elitism among most members of congress and the Senate but now there is no more coffee to spill and my voice is hoarse from screaming. It is time for action now. How is this for reform? 1. Term...

Last night’s cloture vote on the Obama-Reid Big Government Healthcare Bill brought an end to any discussion of fiscal conservative or “moderate” Democrats. Two so-called moderate Democrats Ben Nelson and Arlen Specter betrayed taxpayers by violating their Taxpayer Protection Pledges and voting along with 58 other Democrats in support of the healthcare bill. (For a comprehensive list of all the tax hikes in this bill, click here.) They were the only remaining Democrat Pledge Signers not to have violated their Pledges on at least one occasion. House Democrats including Brad Ellsworth, Ben Chandler, Rob Andrews, and Gene Taylor have all...

The health-care-reform bill has passed in the Senate, but it has fallen short of the real reform President Obama promised on the campaign trail. The bill is now headed to a conference committee where it will be amended further. Meanwhile, a majority of Americans (55 percent, according to recent polls by Rasmussen Reports) disapprove of the Democrats' reform efforts. From its inception, the movement toward health-care reform has suffered from a dearth of leadership. The powerful Obama campaign machine that once gauged the pulse of the young, Internet-savvy generation has broken down, leaving in its wake the hordes of young...

As my brother Kevin headed off to Christmas Eve Mass in the Maryland suburbs, I asked him how he thought the first year of Barack Obama had gone. He didn’t have to pray long over that one. “Fine,” he replied, “if you like unmitigated disasters like the Hindenburg and the Redskins season.” If it’s Christmas, it must be time for my conservative brother to take over my column and turn it a blazing shade of red. So without further ado, here is Kevin unplugged, offering a perspective from “the real America,” as one of his favorite Republican philosophers, Sarah Palin,...

Federal health care legislation could add hundreds of millions of dollars in costs to Georgia’s state budge... Pages A1 (Front Page) & A15 in the Sunday December 27th edition in, and online at, The ajc.

LOS ANGELES – A sign inside the Humming Motors auto repair shop says, "We do the worrying so you don't have to." These days, owner David Baur spends a lot of time worrying in his full-service garage near downtown Los Angeles. As cars become vastly more complicated than models made just a few years ago, Baur is often turning down jobs and referring customers to auto dealer shops. Like many other independent mechanics, he does not have the thousands of dollars to purchase the online manuals and specialized tools needed to fix the computer-controlled machines...

Prior to the 2008 Presidential election, I had my McCain/Palin plastic slip and piano wire sign stolen by some local socialist thugs. I replaced it with a 3x4' two sided wood sign set in concrete, using the official McCain/Palin design. After the election I scraped McCain off the top, and replaced him with a pink and sparkling "2012". This sign has remained in place on our back country road until a few weeks ago. Once again, a team of local socialist thugs stole my sign, smashing and pulling the sign out by the roots, despite the ground being frozen solid....

“It is no use saying, 'We are doing our best.' You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.” -- Winston Churchill In the wee hours of the morning on Christmas Eve the United States Senate skulked into their chambers under the darkness of night and passed Obamacare, a legislative nightmare that might be the most intrusive bill in American history. It not only gives the Congress complete control of one sixth of the American economy, it forces Americans to purchase health insurance under penalty of law and is a major step toward removing individual choice from healthcare. It...

Baucus is drunker than a skunk, but I'm just as upset as him railing on the Republicans not being "Bi-Partisan" on healthcare. Other than that, funny (and sad sad sad) stuff.

Thanks to contributors David Donar at Political Graffiti, Curtis D. Tucker at Curtoons.com and "Michael" at the now-defunct My Personal Litmus blog, I was able to share a great number of fantastic editorial cartoons. Below, I share the first five of my Top 10 favorites of 2009 in no particular order. Click on any image below to read the posts in which the image appeared.

Santa came early on Christmas Eve 2009 for the embattled Democrats of the Senate who passed the Obama Healthcare bill as expected. Being forced to buy healthcare by the U.S. government will hardly be seen as a gift from Santa by the citizens of this country and even now, some republicans are planning to test the constitutionality of the bill. Special sweetheart deals for Florida and Connecticut are overshadowed by what may be the most expensive and openly public bribe in U.S. history for the state of Nebraska. The Corn Husker’s are mostly insulted by Sen. Nelsons last minute deal...