Free Republic

Friend -- Remember all those socialist-hollering, Glenn Beck-worshiping, tea party wing nuts from this summer's town hall meetings? If Sarah Palin gets her way, one of them could soon be a member of Congress. Next week marks one year since President Obama was elected. The amount of money we have in the bank will be used as an instant referendum on his first year. With Sarah Palin out there raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to stack Congress with those tea party lunatics, the media is watching to see how Grassroots Democrats respond. Help us raise $500,000 in response to...

William Jefferson's attorneys ask for 2-week sentencing delayBy Bruce Alpert, Times-Picayune October 08, 2009, 2:50PM Attorneys for former Rep. William Jefferson today asked for a two-week delay in sentencing their client. If granted, it would push sentencing from Oct. 30 to Nov. 13. Prosecutors said they'd accept a one-week delay, but would object to anything longer. **SNIP** In asking Ellis for a delay in sentencing, Jefferson's lawyers, led by Robert Trout, said a defendant is entitled to receive the pre-sentence report from the federal probation officer at least 35 days before sentencing. Jefferson didn't receive his report until Oct 1,...

(My translation) Growth in Russia is not dependent on international financial markets. The Russian banking system has not been involved in speculation in derivatives from the U.S. mortgage market. Even if some Russian banks may have faced losses when their counterparts failed there is nothing that can compare to the losses suffered by the Swiss bank UBS, the big U.S. banks or some European banks. Finally, the country’s financial reserves are considerable. The situation of the Russian economy is healthier than in August 1998, but also healthier than that of many European countries. Household debt is low whereas it exceeds...

Representative Charles B. Rangel failed to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in income and assets on his financial disclosure forms for 2002 through 2006, including tens of thousands of dollars in rental income from a Harlem brownstone he sold in 2004, according to records filed this month with the clerk of the House of Representatives. Mr. Rangel, who is facing investigations by two House subcommittees into his personal finances and fund-raising, filed amended financial disclosure forms on Aug. 12 acknowledging that he had omitted an array of assets, business transactions and sources of income. They include a Merrill Lynch...

Responding to what he called the “unusual nature of the health care debate,” U.S. Rep. Barney Frank intends to host a town hall meeting on the national effort to overhaul the health care system. The meeting will be in addition to a Tuesday Dartmouth Town Committee meeting at which Frank plans to speak on a variety of Congressional issues, including regulation of financial institutions. In a statement released Friday, Frank said the interest in his attendance at the Dartmouth meeting – the town committee moved the event to a larger venue to accommodate the anticipated crowd – spurred him to...

The latest congressional campaign reports are in and Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd's re-election campaign manager, Jay Howser, says his boy's numbers represent "a substantial investment by Connecticut residents." It's just the latest claim from the Dodd camp that withers under the light of truth. In the second quarter, Sen. Dodd reported raking in $1.2 million, about $100,000 less than his Republican challengers. Of the total, almost 40 percent came from political-action committees controlled by vested interests with business before his Banking Committee; health insurance and pharmaceutical companies looking to influence the shape of KennedyDoddCare; and his Democratic congressional colleagues. Sen....

Yoon wants term limit for office of the mayorby Brandon SimesManaging EditorMonday Jul 13, 2009 At-Large City Councilor and mayoral challenger Sam Yoon says he’ll serve no more than two terms if elected mayor and supports implementing term limits for the office of the mayor. Mayor Thomas Menino, one of Yoon’s three mayoral rivals-the others are South Ender Kevin McCrea and fellow At-Large Councilor Michael Flaherty, will end his current term as the longest-running mayor the city has ever seen, regardless of the outcome of this fall’s election. "If eight years is long enough for the President of the United States,...

CLEVELAND -- Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora on Monday accused the U.S. Department of Justice of launching its local public corruption probe two years ago in a conspiracy with Republicans to undermine the Democratic turnout for Barack Obama. • Earlier version of story.Dimora said he and his lawyers will ask the Justice Department and Congress to investigate the motives behind the corruption probe, which became public last July when FBI agents raided the commissioner's home and office and the home and office of political ally Frank Russo, the county auditor. "This is a Republican-driven prosecution," Dimora said during a late-afternoon...

UNWORTHY AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF! Please go to the website below and sign our petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/obama39s-ineligibility-to-be-president-of-the-usUS Attorney for DC CHANNING D. PHILLIPS United States Attorney's Office 555 4th Street, NW Washington, DC 20530 Dear US Attorney Phillips: As a Citizen of the United States of America, I have the deepest concern for the safety of our country. The fact is that there is a need for this nation to hear and resolve the issue of Barack Obama’s eligibility for office. I base this statement on the Constitutional requirement (Section 1, Article 2 of the US Constitution: No Person except a...

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's personal finances appear to be on sound footing even as the nation's economy struggles, a financial report he released Friday shows. Obama and his wife Michelle have $1.4 million to $5.9 million in assets, not counting their Chicago home. Their holdings include up to $265,000 in checking accounts. The president's new financial disclosure report mirrors one he filed a few months ago. Much of the Obamas' wealth comes from the president's best-sellers. The books, "Dreams from My Father" and "The Audacity of Hope," brought in about $2.5 million in royalties last year, according to tax...

Freddie Mac(FRE Quote) is temporarily bringing back its former chief executive as it deals with the apparent suicide of its acting chief financial officer. More on FRECramer's Take on Headline StocksPhoto Gallery: Freddie Mac CFO Found DeadFreddie Mac CFO Found DeadUS Foreclosures Up 24 Pct In 1QFannie Mae CEO Allison to Head TARP: ReportCramer: Bargain Basement AssetsGeithner: We May Oust Bank CEOsFannie and Freddie Planned Bonuses: ReportCramer: Bargain Basement AssetsFannie, Freddie May Aid Mortgage Banks Market Activity David Moffett, the former government-appointed CEO who resigned in March, will return as a consultant to interim CEO John Koskinen. He will help...

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) - Wealthy Wall Street executives may be outcasts to some Americans, but not to Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd.</p> <p>Facing his toughest re-election fight, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee is reaching out to the financial sector's deep-pocketed donors for the campaign cash he needs to hang onto his Connecticut seat.</p>

Tens of thousands of faxes and letters are being sent to attorneys general in all 50 states asking them to investigate whether President Obama's state elections submissions included an affirmation that he is qualified and eligible to hold the office of president – and whether those statements constitute perjury. The campaign has been assembled by Gary Kreep of the United States Justice Foundation, which already is involved in the issue with a case in California on behalf of presidential candidate and former Ambassador Alan Keyes. That case challenges Obama's eligibility to be on the ballot in California and is on...

Here is video from last night's 60 Minutes Interview with President Barack Obama, where interviewer Steve Kroft asks Obama why he is laughing so much about the serious problems facing the nation. He ask Obama, "Are you punch-drunk," to which Obama says his laughter represents "gallows humor." Obama's laughter at all the bailouts is out of place, and not Presidential at all. It is easy to laugh when you are on easy street, but quite another thing when you are on the other side facing the consequences of the socialist agenda Obama is pushing on the nation. . . ....

WASHINGTON, March 19 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama secured a $500,000 advance for a children's book project five days before taking office, a financial disclosure report revealed...........................

Vivek Kundra, President Obama's choice for CIO, apaprently pled out on a theft case in 1996. There is a resolution of a case in the Maryland state records where Vivek Kundra pled "probation before judgment" on a theft case. I am not sure if they allow re-posting, so here is a snippet. The entire article is a fast and worthwhile read.excerpt What is "probation before judgment"? The Maryland Lawyer Blog: Lawyers routinely tell their clients who receive a PBJ that they can legally state that they have not been convicted of a crime.... while a PBJ is not generally considered...

Disgraced financial terrorist Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 felony charges and was sentenced to life in prison. He ripped off individuals, charitable organizations, trusts, pension funds and hedge funds. Madoff ran a broad Ponzi scheme that swindled investors out of at least $50 billion dollars.

Ireland does not easily give up its secrets. That may have been one attraction it held for Sen. Christopher Dodd in 1994 when he became an owner of a refuge on nearly 10 acres on the Irish west coast. The murky tale includes a felonious inside trader, a Kansas City businessman, a presidential pardon and what appears to be a financial bonanza to Dodd during the Irish property boom. The saga of Dodd's lucrative Irish odyssey reveals that his two 2003 sweetheart loans from subprime mortgage titan Countrywide Financial were not the first time he enjoyed a financial advantage from...

"The investigation revealed that the suspect had forced the woman into his vehicle in front of her San Jose residence -- then struck her repeatedly as he drove toward Southern California. When Quintero-Guzman stopped at the motel, the victim was able to use his cellphone to call for help."

Talk about a pet project. A tiny mouse with the longtime backing of a political giant may soon reap the benefits of the economic-stimulus package. Lawmakers and administration officials divulged Wednesday that the $789 billion economic stimulus bill being finalized behind closed doors in Congress includes $30 million for wetlands restoration that the Obama administration intends to spend in the San Francisco Bay Area to protect, among other things, the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi represents the city of San Francisco and has previously championed preserving the mouse's habitat in the Bay Area. The revelation immediately...

Twenty-five people at the heart of the meltdown ... The worst economic turmoil since the Great Depression is not a natural phenomenon but a man-made disaster in which we all played a part. In the second part of a week-long series looking behind the slump, Guardian City editor Julia Finch picks out the individuals who have led us into the current crisis

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, left, speaks to reporters after after leaving 'The View,' Monday, Jan. 26, 2009 in New York

Give Timothy Geithner credit. He has a story, and he’s sticking to it. Even if it’s not the whole story. When the treasury secretary-designate walked into his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee Wednesday morning, he knew he would face questions, from Republicans at least, about his non-payment of Social Security and Medicare taxes in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004. Democrats seemed to have no interest in the topic, but some Republican senators wanted to know why Geithner accepted reimbursement from his then-employer, the International Monetary Fund, for taxes that he had not, in fact, paid. They also wanted...

In his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday, attorney-general nominee Eric Holder responded to the two top criticisms leveled against him by (1) defending clemency for members of a terrorist group and (2) saying, “I will be a better attorney general for having had the Marc Rich experience.” Holder has been criticized for several controversial and suspected politicized decisions he made as deputy attorney general during the Clinton administration. Chief among these have been his role, which he says he regrets, in President Clinton’s pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich. Rich’s ex-wife, Denise Rich, had made large campaign donations to the Democratic...

A Florida money manage who had--emphasis on had--$350 million under management has gone missing. Arthur Nadel, principal of Sarasota, Fl.-based Scoop Management, left a note stating that he was distraught. Authorities have begun an investigation into the absence of what may be hundreds of millions of dollars. Nadel was a real estate developer who graduated from New York University Law School, according to Bloomberg. He subsequently underwent a career change, metamorphosing into some kind of algorithmic trader whose math apparently did not add up as expected. When the bulls are running, every man jack with a calculator and credit card...

Perhaps you've noticed an abundance of "Top Ten" lists in recent weeks. As usual, the mainstream media has churned out a variety of year-in-review pieces of late. Two events vied for top billing on all those lists -- the financial meltdown and the presidential election. At present, it isn't clear which of those debacles presents the greater threat to our nation. The factors leading up to the economic collapse in the last two quarters are clear (see Economics 101). What is not clear, however, is whether we can limit the damage to a mere recession. On the other hand, we...

Is your money manager a crook? If the rich, famous and sophisticated can get bilked (and the Madoff scandal makes it clear they can), how can you know whom to trust? Here are 5 red flags that should get your attention. By Catherine Holahan The list of Bernard Madoff's victims reads like a who's who of prominent business people, banks and financial firms. DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg reportedly invested millions. Banks such as HSBC (HBC, news, msgs) and Austria's Bank Medici could lose billions. An estimated dozens of "funds of funds," which exist to vet and choose the right hedge...

...he holds the rest of us, the average American, in contempt. He only cared about us in terms of gaining votes–he wanted to be president so badly, and only seeks the office because of the power he will wield. And what about his past? Barack Obama has not released his birth certificate, university records, or medical records. Why so much secrecy? I believe he is hiding something from us...

A new generation is coming to the White House. Barack Obama, born in 1961, is technically a baby boomer. But his early years were straight out of Generation X — abandoned by his father and, for a time, his mother; experimentation with drugs; a sense of drifting. His two predecessors, both born in 1946, generally considered the first year of the baby boom, personified the two halves — liberal and conservative — of their generation, and both had characteristics that those on the other side of the cultural divide absolutely loathed. Obama, in Boston in 2004 and in Grant Park...

A former INS official who attended meetings with Rahm Emanuel when Emanuel was a White House aide says the hard-charging Democrat relaxed rules to naturalize even criminal immigrants and secure their votes for President Clinton ahead of the 1996 presidential election. President-elect Barack Obama, who has chosen Emanuel to run White House operations as his chief of staff, has promised to sign legislation that loosens immigration and puts even illegal aliens on a fast track to citizenship. Emanuel coordinated with Hispanic community organizers in Chicago to rubberstamp immigrants for citizenship, the INS official said in an exclusive interview with WND....

The Virgin One is introducing his nominees: Energy Secretary, Stephen Chu; Lisa Jackson, head of EPA: Carol Browner, Mother Earth; Nancy Sutley, White House Council on Environmental Fascism.Obama is expected to take questions from selected reporters.The Wall Street Journal is live-blogging the press conference here.

Bill Richardson is now being investigated by a federal grand jury for pay to play allegations. CDR Financial Products donated $100,000 to register Hispanic and Indian voters in 2004 and thus received $1.5 million dollars in fess from the New Mexico Finance Authority in 2004. Can't post article because it is from Bloomberg.

Diana Walker/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Dan Rostenkowski, the son of a ward boss who became a legendary congressman, on why Gov. Blagojevich shouldn't tar a whole city.During my career as a public official, I always tried to steer away from the minority of my colleagues who viewed public service as a potential commercial enterprise. They’ve always been there and can be found in state capitols and in Washington. Springfield, Illinois, is no exception, though I’d also argue that it is hardly unique. When I was in the Illinois General Assembly during the 1950s, I rejected an offer that would...

When John McCain was campaigning this year he was asked if there was anyone’s advice he would not take into consideration while making his presidential bid. His response — any politician from Chicago. The arrest of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, D, comes at a time when a influential Chicago politician is heading for the White House. And raises a number of questions. There is no doubt Barack Obama will come under scrutiny as the scandal unfolds, as Mr. Blagojevich is charged with putting the president-elect’s vacant U.S. Senate up for bids. Mr. Obama is hoping to ensure the scandal doesn’t...

Current Article Hospitals in Hawaii to Obama: You Were Not Born Here! By admin on Dec 2, 2008 in Blogging, Offbeat, Politics, Social Media  Supposed Conspiracy Claim Turns REAL on Obama It is becoming painfully obvious that we may very well have a criminal President in 2009.  No this isn’t a joke. What I speak of is the curious developments in the supposedly racist, biased, dumb,  as well as insane case of where Obama was born.  Why the Barack Obama Birth Certificate Issue Is LegitimateA strange development indeed is how it is that every time Barack Obama or a...

COLEMAN CAMPAIGN NOT HAPPY WITH FRANKEN'S GAIN IN RAMSEY Mike Roman, Coleman's lead representative in Ramsey County, says he remains unsatisfied with the apparent emergence of 12 new ballots in a St. Paul precinct, but that the campaign's only recourse might be to take the issue to court — a step that would be made by campaign officials superior to him. The issue could be important because, as of Thursday afternoon, Franken had picked up at least 13 more votes than he did Election Day. The concern arose late yesterday when the total number of ballots sorted in Ward 3,...

As we wrote yesterday, Obama has apparently picked Eric Holder, one of his veep vetters and a former deputy attorney general under Bill Clinton, for attorney general. Holder is black, which would be a first for the Cabinet position, and rocks a mustache, which isn't a historical first, but certainly can't hurt his prospects. But what could harm him are the concerns coming from both the right and the left — most notably, Holder's role in facilitating the infamous Marc Rich pardon. Of course, anyone who's spent more than twenty minutes in the halls of Washington has done something they...

Was Sen. Barack Obama a citizen of Indonesia at any point in his life? That question has been circulating on the blogosphere with increased fury the past few days, since a photograph emerged of Obama's school registration papers as a child in Indonesia – the world's most populous Muslim nation – showing the presidential candidate listed as a "Muslim" with "Indonesian" citizenship. An investigation into Indonesian citizenship law and a review of Obama's biography and travels suggest the Illinois senator at one point may have been a citizen of Indonesia. That would not necessarily disqualify Obama to run for president,...

More than half of the whopping $426.9 million Barack Obama has raised has come from small donors whose names the Obama campaign won't disclose. And questions have arisen about millions more in foreign donations the Obama campaign has received that apparently have not been vetted as legitimate. Obama has raised nearly twice that of John McCain's campaign, according to new campaign finance report. But because of Obama�s high expenses during the hotly contested Democratic primary season and an early decision to forgo public campaign money and the spending limits it imposes, all that cash has not translated into a financial...

Washington Mutual paid former CEO Kerry Killinger $14.4 million in 2007 and over $54 million from 2002-07, Forbes reports. In return, the nearly 120-year-old firm was led into the biggest bank failure in U.S. history.

Andrew Cuomo and Fannie and Freddie How the youngest Housing and Urban Development secretary in history gave birth to the mortgage crisis By Wayne Barrett ...... http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-08-05/news/how-andrew-cuomo-gave-birth-to-the-crisis-at-fannie-mae-and-freddie-mac/ There are as many starting points for the mortgage meltdown as there are fears about how far it has yet to go, but one decisive point of departure is the final years of the Clinton administration, when a kid from Queens without any real banking or real-estate experience was the only man in Washington with the power to regulate the giants of home finance, the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) and the Federal...

<p>Former Fannie Mae chairman and chief executive Franklin D. Raines has agreed to a multimillion settlement with a federal regulator over his alleged responsibility for improper accounting at the mortgage finance giant.</p> <p>The regulator, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, said Raines had agreed to forgo stock, cash and other benefits worth $24.7 million in exchange for dismissing the charges against him. However, the regulator's estimate wasn't the only way of looking at the value of the settlement.</p>

The Best Congress Fannie Could Buy This is a long and complicated story about how Obama backers were behind the mortgage industry meltdown. It hast to start some where, so lets start with a well known Chicago name Penny Pritzker. It starts with a bank failure. Unfortunately, this wasnÂ’t the case for the 1,406 people who lost much of their life savings when Superior Bank of Chicago went belly up in 2001 with over $1 billion in insured and uninsured deposits. This collapse came amid harsh criticism of how SuperiorÂ’s owners promoted sub-prime home mortgages. As part of a settlement,...

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5649093&page=1 Barack Obama's vice-presidential pick complicates the Democratic hopeful's efforts to distance himself from a far-reaching Chicago patronage scandal. Vice-presidential candidate Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del. (left), has been advised since 1984 by Joseph Cari (right), the Chicago lawyer and onetime mega-fundraiser who has been tied to the Antoin "Tony" Rezko patronage scandal. (ABC News)Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., brings to Obama's presidential campaign assets like foreign policy experience and a knowledge of Washington. But he also brings another tie to the Antoin "Tony" Rezko scandal, a mess that has already caused sizeable headaches for the Obama campaign. Chicago lawyer and onetime...

A Culpeper pastor faces a possible 310-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to felony fraud charges. The Rev. Charles Shifflett, pastor of First Baptist Church in Culpeper and former pastor of Calvary Baptist Church there, pleaded guilty to a total of 20 felonies and one misdemeanor, prosecutors announced today. Nine of the charges involving obtaining money by false pretenses from Calvary Baptist Church from 2002-05, while Shifflett was the pastor. He also pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud involving a workers compensation award, and five counts of obtaining money under false pretenses from two separate insurance companies, and three...

Today, the Club for Growth Political Action Committee endorses Alaska Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell in his bid to unseat Republican Rep. Don Young in the state's August primary. The reason for the endorsement is simple. Mr. Parnell is a solid conservative who led the fight for lower taxes and spending in the state legislature, and joined Gov. Sarah Palin in pushing for reform in the state. The man he is hoping to replace isn't economically conservative in the least. Mr. Young is actually a poster child for what has gone wrong with the Republican Party in Washington.

HOUSTON — U.S. Rep. Ron Paul is considering using $4 million left over from his failed presidential campaign to start a for-profit publishing company that would reflect his Libertarian-leaning views.

This was supposed to be the week that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. returned to the pulpit to preach for the first time since his anti-American sermons generated nationwide outrage and drew condemnation from his longtime parishioner, Barack Obama. But, citing security concerns, Wright canceled his speaking engagements in Florida and Texas. A spokeswoman at his former church in Chicago said his schedule is pending. A two-week FOX News investigation, however, has uncovered where Wright will be spending a good deal of his time in retirement, and it is a far cry from the impoverished Chicago streets where the preacher...

Two women who were alleged targets of the private eye's investigations say they received calls warning them to remain silent. In another day of dramatic courtroom confrontations, an actress told a federal jury Wednesday that she received a terrifying telephone call threatening her son shortly after she spoke with the FBI about its wiretapping investigation of private eye Anthony Pellicano. Testifying as a government witness, Linda Doucett said an anonymous male caller in November 2003 warned her to remain silent after she had been interviewed by authorities about their probe of Pellicano for alleged wiretapping and other crimes on behalf...

It appears that Barack Obama, allegedly decent guy and agent of "change" in Washington, requested an earmark in 2006 for $1 million taxpayer dollars for the hospital where his wife works. Said hospital, by the way, gave Michelle Obama a huge raise (nearly $200,000, more than doubling her salary) in 2005 after Barack got elected to the United States Senate. Now, I know that there are lots of ways to talk about transactions like this involving public officials - quid pro quo, etc., but I prefer to call a crook a crook and just say that we're dealing with good,...