Free Republic

TALLAHASSEE, Fla – Federal authorities are demanding that Florida halt its push to remove ineligible voters from the voter rolls. In a move that comes just months before the state could play a pivotal role in the 2012 presidential election, the U.S. Department of Justice contends that the state is violating federal law in its effort to identify and remove ineligible voters. The state's effort has already come under fire from local election supervisors who belong to both political parties, as well as Democratic members of Congress and voting rights groups. Chris Cate, a spokesman for the Florida Department of...

California state law guards the confidentiality of records and proceedings when peace officers face disciplinary investigations. Last month when suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi was before the Ethics Commission, his attorney Shepard Kopp was asked whether Mirkarimi would be seeking such a closed hearing and this was his response, “We do not intend to argue that these proceedings need to be private. Indeed, we think they should be public. Because I think, at the end of the day, there’s a lot of innuendo and talk about the sheriff dissuading people. The mayor’s written charges say he ‘may have’ tried to get...

Maine's GOP governor calls state workers 'corrupt'By CLARKE CANFIELD | Associated Press – Fri, Apr 27, 2012 PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine's blunt-speaking governor is again creating a ruckus with his offhanded remarks — this time by calling state government middle managers "about as corrupt as can be." At a town hall-style meeting in Newport on Thursday night, Republican Gov. Paul LePage was asked why there are so many fees associated with getting a cosmetologist license. In response, the governor said state government is too big and too costly and that the state workforce is part of the problem. LePage...

SNIP ...Could anybody seriously object to such a candidate? The answer...: Yes, they can. Among the main objectors are Baptists and Evangelical Christians...as well as members of the Tea Party...Together, they form a majority within the Republican Party, and they are all suspicious of Romney because he's...Mormon. Traditionalists hold that Mormons like him are not Christians because they claim that God was a human being and that human beings can be gods... Romney is too cautious to confidently address the issue of his faith. Nevertheless, his friends are telling him that the only way to make peace with the religious...

Waited on line at post office to mail ira deposit today. Line was about 40 people long because of taxes. A NYPD cop just skips the line and walks to the counter. As he was walking back I said, "corrupt cop". He said "he's busy". Like none of the private sector people aren't busy. Then as people started questioning him, saying "aren't we busy too" he said I know, "you pay my salary" and laughed.

The dormant 2008 presidential apparatus of John McCain this year transferred nearly $9 million in old donations to an educational charity run by three major political supporters that bears the Arizona senator’s name, filings showed Tuesday. The big-money move stands in contrast to President George W. Bush, who found himself in a nearly identical financial position but gave the millions instead to the Republican National Committee. Party committees are a typical destination for excess political cash, and the money would have dramatically bolstered the RNC’s position as the chief financial resource of the party’s presumptive nominee, Mitt Romney.

An obscure federal agency may have set a new benchmark for lavish conferences on the taxpayers' dime. Lawmakers are voicing outrage following a government report that found the General Services Administration held a blowout $820,000 conference near Las Vegas which grossly exceeded what the planners were allowed to spend. The employees dropped thousands of dollars on luxury items and convention giveaways -- including more than $6,000 on commemorative coins, $8,000 on a "yearbook," and $3,200 for an in-house mind reader. "It's unbelievable that red flags didn't immediately go up well before this junket," Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said. In the...

The head of the General Services Administration resigned Monday after a scathing report which called government spending on a training seminar in Las Vegas "excessive, wasteful, and in some cases impermissible." In some election-year damage control, the White House quickly put out a statement that President Obama was “outraged” when he found out about the spending. GSA Administrator Martha Johnson admitted in a letter of resignation that her agency had made a "significant mis-step" and that "taxpayer dollars were squandered." (more)

Alan Rosenfeld, a New York City typing teacher was suspended in 2001 for ogling female students and making inappropriate comments to them. The Board of Education thought that he presented enough of a threat, that he was barred from the classroom. However, they botched his disciplinary hearing and due to strict union rules, were unable to terminate the alleged deviant. As a result, Rosenfeld spent 10 years in the rubber room, a place where teachers who are awaiting hearings or cannot be discharged are kept, out of the public view and fully paid. During his suspension, he earned over $100,000...

Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, the colorful and controversial spokesman for the city after the devastating Hurricane Katrina in 2005, is under investigation by federal authorities, a source with direct knowledge of the probe said. The source told Reuters on Friday that several people linked to Nagin or the New Orleans city administration during his two terms as mayor ending in 2010 were cooperating with the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI ... Nagin, who is black, was criticized for racial divisiveness after Katrina for urging residents to rebuild a "chocolate New Orleans,"

http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-07/obama-encouraging-donors-to-contribute-to-super-pac-backing-him.html

The U.S. government-run mortgage finance firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could play a bigger role in turning around the battered U.S. housing market, the Federal Reserve told Congress, a call that looks set to run into stiff political opposition. The Fed, in a paper sent to lawmakers on Wednesday, outlined an array of steps that could be taken to help the housing sector, including allowing Fannie and Freddie to provide cheaper mortgages to a broader pool of homeowners. The two companies, the biggest sources of U.S. mortgage funding, were seized by the government in 2008 when they were on...

When it comes to corruption, cronyism and general muppetry in Washington D.C., the only real question is 'where does one start?' Yet one has to start somewhere to conclude with a list of the ten most corrupt and despicable marionettes in D.C. Which is precisely what JudicialWatch has done in its annual compilation of the "Top 10 Most Corrupt Politicians in Washington D.C." for 2011. And confirming what everyone knows, that both the left and right are merely irrelevant names for the same general social affliction, or should we call it by its true name - wealth pillage -...

when you're talking about Glenn Beck now he actually, the other day, called you a progressive on FOX Business channel. What do you say to that sort of claim?" Gingrich: "I don't know. It depends on what standard you're using, you know? The fact is I balanced the budget for four consecutive years. And we did so by cutting taxes and increasing employment so people went back to work, they left welfare, they left food stamps, they left unemployment, they left Medicaid. Who else has that record of achievement? I worked with Reagan in '79, '80. I worked with Reagan...

NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE www.nationalreview.com Michelle Malkin December 9, 2011 12:00 A.M. Holder, Blago, Richardson: Triangle of Sleaze A rough week for the Obama administration’s corruptocracy. It was a rough week for the corruptocracy. White House officials better ho-ho-hold on tight because the sleigh ride isn’t going to get any smoother. On Wednesday, disgraced former governor Rod Blagojevich (D., Ill.) received a 14-year prison sentence for scheming to sell Pres. Barack Obama’s Senate seat, along with several other pay-to-play schemes. Blago played the distressed daddy for the federal judge, invoking his young daughters and wife (who held her notoriously foul tongue...

Newt Gingrich has at least one name on his list of potential running mates: GOP rival Mitt Romney. "I think Mitt Romney is a very admirable person, and I'm not going to pick a fight with Mitt Romney," Gingrich said in an interview Wednesday with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. When asked if he would ever ask Romney to be his vice presidential nominee, Gingrich didn't mince words. "I think the consensus is that he'd certainly be on the list, whether he'd want to or not," Gingrich said. "He's a very competent person. This is a very serious man. I would certainly...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said today that using foreign aid to combat human rights abuses against homosexuals in foreign countries is “not in America’s interests” and attacked President Obama’s decision to require U.S. agencies operating abroad to promote equal rights for gays as part of the administration’s “war on traditional American values.” “Just when you thought Barack Obama couldn’t get any more out of touch with America’s values, AP reports his administration wants to make foreign aid decisions based on gay rights. This administration’s war on traditional American values must stop,” Perry said in the statement. “Promoting special rights for...

<p>WASHINGTON – A congressional panel has subpoenaed former Sen. Jon Corzine to testify next week about his role leading MF Global, a brokerage firm that collapsed this fall after a disastrous bet on European debt.</p> <p>The House Agriculture Committee voted Friday to issue the subpoena. Committee Chairman Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., said his testimony is "essential to fulfill our objectives." Lucas said the subpoena was necessary because Corzine hadn't answered an informal request to testify at the Dec. 8 hearing.</p>

When Barney Frank (D-Fannie Mae) announces that he’s not going to run for reelection, you can bet that the Democrats have between zero chances and zilch of winning back the lower chamber. Or at least you hope they do, because the stakes are greater than merely partisan politics. While Politico reports that Democrats aren’t yet writing off winning back the US House of Representatives, Townhall Finance will tell you that it’s a near certainty that the GOP will pick up seats in 2012;  thankfully and gratefully. And that’s a good thing for both Republicans and Democrats, because next in line...

Mayor Frank Jackson declined Monday to commit prosecuting firefighters for taking pay they didn't earn, despite an internal audit documenting the scandal. The audit, COC Fire OT 11 18 2011 Issued.pdf released by the city Friday, found that at least four firefighters collected pay for hundreds of hours they did not work and others manipulated schedules to allow them to live as far as California. "Looks like they've got enough already," Councilman Zack Reed said Monday. "They've got to be moving aggressively to recover this taxpayer money." Jackson spokeswoman Andrea Taylor said only that Public Safety Director Martin Flask is...

A tense, argumentative Patrice Tierney testified under oath today that she still believes her fugitive brother Robert Eremian is a legitimate, albeit highly paid, software consultant in Antigua — and not the kingpin behind a multimillion dollar gambling empire that prosecutors claim. He’s very good with software,” the 60-yer-old wife of U.S. Rep. John F. Tierney told the jury in the federal racketeering and money laundering trial of her other brother, former Florida restauranteur Daniel Eremian, 61. Congressman Tierney, a Salem Democrat, did not accompany his wife of 14 years to U.S. District Court in Boston. Patrice Tierney, a wedding...

As many as a dozen members of Congress and their aides took part in insider trading based on foreknowledge of market moving information on Capitol Hill, disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff told CNBC in an interview. Abramoff, who was once one of the wealthiest and most powerful lobbyists in Washington before a corruption scandal sent him to federal prison for more than three years, said that many of those members of Congress bragged to him about their stock trading prowess while dining at the exclusive restaurant he owned on Pennsylvania Avenue.

FBI raids RI lawmaker's office Sources: Rep. under investigation for fraud Updated: Thursday, 10 Nov 2011, 6:02 AM EST Published : Wednesday, 09 Nov 2011, 3:30 PM EST * By Nancy Krause PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Federal investigators spent Wednesday bringing out boxes from the Providence office of Rep. John J. McCauley during an afternoon raid. According to Jim Martin from the US Attorney's Office in Providence, agents were executing a search warrant at McCauley & L'Europa Public Insurance Adjusters. Law enforcement sources told Eyewitness News McCauley, deputy speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives, was under investigation for alleged...

White House agrees to hand over Solyndra documents to GOPBy Andrew Restuccia - 11/10/11 03:37 PM ET The White House agreed Thursday to provide House lawmakers with internal communications related to the $535 million Solyndra loan guarantee, Republicans said. The agreement comes a week after Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s investigative panel subpoenaed the White House for all internal communications on Solyndra, the solar panel maker that filed for bankruptcy in September. The deadline for producing the requested documents was Thursday. The White House had balked at the subpoena, arguing it is too broad. White House counsel...

w much is too much? Politico broke the Cain sexual harassment story last Sunday night, launching organization wide coverage filling up a full week of heavy coverage on their scoop. Since the scandal broke, the political reporting juggernaut has published at least 90 online stories on further developments and public reaction to the story. I've posted the entire list below since the story broke. 90. Accuser attorney: Settlement dated 9/99, Kilgore signed - Nov. 4, 2011 - Story 89. Block wants firings at POLITICO - Nov. 4, 2011 - Story 88. Cain may face more questions - Nov. 4, 2011...

Lanny Breuer, the Justice Department’s assistant attorney general who runs the criminal division, tells The Wall Street Journal that he wishes he had acted to prevent the “gun-walking” tactics that are under scrutiny in the Fast and Furious operation: The earlier operation that caused concern was known as Wide Receiver, which Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents in Arizona ran in 2006-2007. ...

Peshawar, Police has detained the Frontier constabulary (FC) employees, whose demanding money from the traders at Peshawar. Faqir Abad police detain them from Vegetable Market near Shahi Bagh. According to police they detail two people who have official vehicle of frontier Constabulary and they were employees of the Frontier Constabulary, daily came to vegetable Market Shahi Bagh and demand of vegetable for officer. Today the FC employees visited the Vegetable Market and they demand from the shopkeepers for free vegetable, but shopkeepers refuse to fulfill the demand for FC employees. After the refusal FC employees start fight with the shopkeepers...

ASUNCION (Reuters) - Spain and Portugal said on Saturday the euro zone's debt crisis is a global problem, calling on the United States and other G20 powers to help contain the fallout. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero urged the G20 countries least affected by the crisis to provide "urgent stimulus plans" to shield the global economy. Europe's debt crisis looks set to dominate the summit of Group of 20 leading economies in France from November 3-4.

Peshawar, 7 October 2011, Receiving several complaints regarding rude behavior of police officials from All Pakistan Oil Tankers Owners Association (APOTOA), Chief Capital Police Officer (CCPO) warned the official concerned for a strict action if anyone of them found in corruption. A delegation of APOTOA led by President Nasir Ali Khan met the CCPO Imtiaz Altaf and kept problems being faced by the oil tankers drivers while running on the routes by Peshawar and district Nowshera police before the police officer here at Police Lane the other day. Taking notice of the difficulties of the APOTOA, the CCPO warned all...

WASHINGTON (KGO) -- Two top executives at bankrupt Solyndra have invoked their Fifth Amendment rights and refused to answer questions at a House hearing Friday. The Solyndra executives have sent letters to the House Energy and Commerce committee, saying they will invoke their Fifth Amendment right to remain silent.

Many of you have seen the new bumper stickers from various conservative groups that goes something like this: OBAMA = One Big A$$ Mistake, America! That definition has now been added to UrbanDictionary.com, and with your help, it can be "thumbed-up" to the top-ranking position. Left-wingers succeeded in labeling Bush as a "failure." But we can turn the tables and get America to realize that Obama really is one big mistake! Click here to give this new definition the "thumbs-up." Thanks!

The Gibson Guitar saga has taken a sinister turn. It seems that the Department of Justice wasn’t satisfied with merely raiding the law abiding factories of Gibson Guitar with armed agents, shutting down their operation costing them millions, and leaving the American company in the dark as to how to proceed without going out of business. Now, according to CEO Henry Juszkiewicz, agents of the United States government are bluntly informing them that they’d be better off shipping their manufacturing labor overseas. In an interview with KMJ AM’s “The Chris Daniel Show,” Juszkiewicz revealed some startling information. CHRIS DANIEL: Mr....

Sources say ATF Acting Director Kenneth Melson is being moved out of the top job at the Bureau. It's not yet publicly known where he would go, but sources inside the Justice Department believe one option is a transfer to a position at Department of Justice headquarters. The Justice Department had no immediate comment, and did not confirm the move. Melson's move would be another in a number of high-level personnel shifts, as the Inspector General continues investigating the so-called gunwalker scandal at the Justice Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. ATF promotes "Fast and Furious" supervisors...

Since his announcement for the presidency, there have been a slew of articles, left, right, and center, decrying Rick Perry’s cronyism — his supposed habit of rewarding his biggest donors with patronage positions or valuable state contracts. So is the criticism fair? Perry is a legendary fundraiser, and his preferred method is sticking with the big game. He has raised $37 million over the last decade from just 150 people, per the Los Angeles Times. Expand the list to the top 200 or so donors and you get $51 million, per The Nation. That’s already more than the total amount...

The Virginia State Bar agreed Monday to publically reprimand York-Poquoson Commonwealth’s Attorney Eileen Addison, who faced charges of professional misconduct. Assistant Bar Counsel Kathryn Montgomery negotiated an agreed disposition for a public reprimand with Addison’s attorney, Rodney Leffler. An agreed disposition is comparable to a plea agreement. The disposition and the history of the case in question were explained during a conference call hearing with members of the Bar’s disciplinary board, Addison, Leffler, Montgomery and three clerks with the Bar. Addison faced misconduct charges from her prosecution of Carlos Chapman, Marquis Edwards and Kwaume Edwards in the 2006 shooting death...

The Virginia State Bar says an agreed disposition will be presented Monday during a hearing for York-Poquoson Commonwealth's Attorney Eileen Addison on charges she mishandled the prosecution of three men in the 2006 shooting death of a JamesCity man. Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Clerk Lanier said Addison, her attorney and Virginia State Bar Counsel Montgomery have negotiated an agreed disposition--which is similar to a plea agreement--that will be considered by a five-member panel during the conference call hearing. But Addison said Wednesday there is no deal. "I asked my attorney two weeks ago why the hearing was still scheduled because...

Newspapers covered the past Virginia State Bar investigation of York County-Poquoson's chief prosecutor Eileen Addison. They also have reported on the upcoming Virginia State Bar hearing against Addison. What they haven’t covered is that two-thirds of her assistant prosecutors resigned in a four-month timeframe when the underlying allegations of these two hearings were brought forth. I am one of those assistant commonwealth attorneys. When the four of us resigned, we took more than 50 years of dedicated and talented prosecutorial experience away from York-Poquoson to other prosecutors offices. Two of us were hired immediately by Williamsburg-James City, one by Newport...

Voters are more convinced than ever that most congressmen are crooks. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 46% of Likely U.S. Voters now view most members of Congress as corrupt. That’s up seven points from June and the highest finding yet recorded... Similarly, a whopping 85% of voters think most members of Congress are more interested in helping their own careers than in helping other people. That’s a record high for surveys stretching back to early November 2006. Only seven percent (7%) believe most of the legislators are more interested in helping others...

Republican lawmakers are alleging that Operation Fast and Furious may have had a twin in Tampa: Operation Castaway. The new revelations have come to light as Florida Republican Rep. Gus Bilirakis fired off a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and acting ATF Director Ken Melson asking them for answers about the newly discovered program. “In recent days, it has come to light that the ATF and DOJ have participated in the act of ‘gun walking’ beyond the acts conducted within the scope of ‘Operation Fast and Furious,’” Bilirakis wrote to Holder and Melson. “Recent reports have suggested that Project...

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai's powerful half brother, a lightning rod for criticism of all that is wrong with the Afghan government, was assassinated by a bodyguard Tuesday at his home in the southern province of Kandahar, officials said. Ahmed Wali Karzai, who was head of the Kandahar provincial council, had become a political liability for the Karzai government after a series of allegations, including that he was on the CIA payroll and involved in drug trafficking. He denied the charges, and the president repeatedly defended him, denouncing accusations that his brother was involved in criminal activities...

Live video stream of Rep. Issa's hearing following the blistering report released regarding 'Operation Fast and Furious'. 3 ATF agents and the family of slain Agent Brian Terry to testify, as well as an ATF official whose testimony will reportedly be contradicted (what a shock)LIVE HERE

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama says his wife and daughters aren't "invested" in him being president and would have been fine had he decided against running for re-election. But he says they believe in what he's doing for the country. Asked about his family's reaction to his wanting another term, Obama said: "Michelle and the kids are wonderful in that if I said, `You know, guys, I want to do something different,' They'd be fine. They're not invested in daddy being president or my husband being president." He says first lady Michelle Obama would be the first one to encourage...

Two moderate Republicans who have been friends of public education are retiring from the Virginia Senate. The retirement of William Wampler from Washington County is a shocking loss to the Commonwealth. William has always been a budget conferee, and was next in line to chair the powerful Senate Finance Committee should the Republicans take the Senate. He was the only Republican Senator on the committee to vote to protect our current retirement system in the last session. Wampler’s retirement puts Senator Stosch, the Senate’s chief champion of vouchers, next in line to chair the Senate Finance Committee should the Republicans...

The Internet was abuzz Saturday after it was reported that Rep. Anthony Weiner had apparently sent a lewd photo to a Seattle-area college student. The New York Democrat quickly asserted that his online accounts had been "hacked" after Andrew Breitbart's BigGovernment.com reported that Weiner's Twitter account was used to send the photo, which shows the pelvic area of a man in gray undershorts with his tumescent penis bulging. Late Friday night, a public message from Weiner's Twitter account (@RepWeiner) included a link to the penis photo, posted on the YFrog.com photo-sharing network. That message was directed to a Twitter account...

Last year, prior to the defeat of California’s Proposition 19, it appeared as though unions had a budding new industry in which they could grow their memberships. First, the United Food & Commercial Workers jumped onto the cannabis bandwagon. Then, the Teamsters waded into the weed growing business when Jimmy Hoffa’s union unionized 40 pot growers in Oakland, California. Pretty soon, all of the unions (it seemed) had gone gonzo for the ganja, endorsing the initiative to legalize pot—Prop 19. Randi Weingarten, the head of the American Federation of Teachers, essentially endorsed Proposition 19, as did the National Black Police...

Remember how excited Rep. Nancy Pelosi was after Democrats snuck the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act through the back door? Pelosi made a rambling speech that sounded like something you’d hear at a PTA fundraiser. There’s a priceless moment when amid a sprinkle of giggles, she quotes a favorite maxim of the late iconic liberal spender Tip O’Neill—“All politics is local.” Pelosi’s speech is now history, but she surely affirmed O’Neill’s saying because nearly 20 percent of new ObamaCare waivers are chic businesses located in Pelosi’s home district. The Daily Caller did the math: “Of the 204 new Obamacare...

Republican Federal Communications Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker on Friday defended her decision to leave the agency for a lobbying job with cable provider Comcast and pushed back against critics who questioned her impartiality. Baker, who voted to allow Comcast to merge with NBC Universal last January, attracted considerable criticism this week when she said she was going to work for the newly merged company. Baker denied that she was compromised by any discussion with Comcast. “Not once in my entire tenure as a Commissioner had anyone at Comcast or NBC/Universal approached me about potential employment,” she said in a statement....

[snip]Combined with the bailout of sibling company Freddie Mac, the government expects their rescue to cost taxpayers about $259 billion. That money will cover the mortgage giants' losses on soured loans made in the midst of the housing bubble. Home prices declined on average 1.8 percent across the country during the January-March quarter, Fannie Mae said. That led to more foreclosures and to homeowners abandoning houses that were worth less than they owed on their mortgages.[snip]

Less than an hour before the 5 PM deadline.

The world's banks face a $3.6 trillion "wall of maturing debt" in the next two years and must compete with debt-laden governments to secure financing, the IMF warned on Wednesday. Many European banks need bigger capital cushions to restore market confidence and assure they can borrow, and some weak players will need to be closed, the International Monetary Fund said in its Global Financial Stability Report.