Free Republic

NORFOLK, Va. - On his first full day as the likely Republican presidential nominee, John McCain fended off discussion of specific potential running mates but made clear he sees no requirement to pick someone from a different region. "I don't want to in any way sidestep the candidacy of Governor Huckabee," McCain said told reporters here before flying off to Wichita, Kan., and Seattle. "He's in this race, and for me to dismiss him would be inappropriate and unrealistic." Nevertheless, the Arizona senator did offer his view that regionally balanced tickets may be a thing of the past. Since McCain's...

A disappointing October sales report Thursday sent a clear signal to retailers that they’ll have to pull out all the stops to get shoppers into their stores this holiday as declining home values, tighter credit terms and rising gas prices appear to have left consumers feeling spent. The nation’s biggest chain stores posted the second consecutive month of weak sales results, underscoring their concerns that sales growth this holiday season could be the slowest in five years. “Consumers are exerting a lot of caution,” said Mandy Putnam, vice president at TNS Retail Forward Inc., a Columbus, Ohio-based market research and...

Beginning tomorrow, the Chrysler Group will begin offering 0% financing for up to 72 months until Sept. 30. Customers can also choose various cash-rebate offers instead of the financing. Chrysler offered its Employee Pricing Plus program until today,which included 0% financing for just 36 months or cash rebates for certain models. Among other domestic auto makers, on top of the incentives programs it was already offering, GM on Tuesday began offering $500 to $1,500 cash back on many 2006 and 2007 models. GM was already offering a variety of incentives, including 0% financing for 36 months and $1,000 bonus cash...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative Democrats reached a deal Thursday that they say will help uninsured, lower-income Californians get discounts of up to 40 percent on name-brand drugs. The California Prescription Drug Initiative, announced earlier this week but formally approved Thursday, will give discounts of about 40 percent for name-brand drugs and 60 percent for generics to people who otherwise would have to pay full retail price. The enrollment fee will be $10 a year. The initiative will require prescription drug companies to offer discounts for medications or face possible sanctions. The Republican governor said the plan...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is promoting his new discount drug plan as a "voluntary" agreement between pharmaceutical companies and the State of California. But it's more like a raw deal. The California Prescription Drug Initiative calls upon drug manufacturers to offer five million low-income Californians huge discounts on prescription medications--up to 40% on brand-name drugs and a whopping 60% on generics. Presumably, drug companies should offer these discounts out of the goodness in their hearts. But if they don't comply? Well, then they'll be coerced by the Terminator. Companies failing to sell drugs at the government-imposed discount prices within five years...

CHICAGO (Nov. 12) - Online travel agency Expedia.com said a glitch last week allowed some travelers to book hotel stays in Japan at stunningly low prices and that only some of these reservations would be honored. Expedia.com, run by Expedia Inc., posted incorrect prices for two Hilton International hotels in Japan. Some customers reported prices as low as $2 a night. The agency blamed the mix-up on an "isolated processing incident" at Hilton. A hotel spokeswoman described it as a "technical glitch" on Hilton's side. Expedia said Friday that Hilton would honor some of these bookings and that other customers...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7, 2005 – Two of the nation's largest home-improvement retailers are recognizing Veterans Day by offering discounts for military personnel. The Home Depot and Lowe's companies both are offering a 10 percent discount for all active-duty military, reservists, retirees and their families Nov. 10 to 13. At Home Depot stores, the offer is good on purchases of up to $2,000, for a maximum discount of $200. The offer applies to purchases at Home Depot stores, Home Depot Floor Stores, Home Depot Landscape Supply stores and Expo Design Center locations. "This Veterans Day, our nation will honor the brave...

WASHINGTON, May 25, 2005 – A major home-improvement chain is offering Memorial Day discounts to all active-duty and reserve-component troops, retired military personnel, veterans, and their families. The 10-percent-off offer is good on purchases up to $2,000 for a maximum discount of $200 between May 26-30 at Home Depot stores, Home Depot Floor stores, Home Depot Landscape Supply stores and Expo Design Center locations. "This discount is our way of saying 'thanks' to the brave men and women of our armed forces," said Bob Nardelli, the chain's chairman, president and chief executive officer. "The Home Depot has an ongoing commitment...

WICHITA, KS (Talon News) -- Pro-life action group Operation Rescue said on Tuesday that a representative from the La Quinta Inns corporate offices conducted an internal investigation into allegations that one of their hotels in Wichita, Kansas was being used by an abortion doctor. As previously reported by Talon News, Operation Rescue had called on its supporters to boycott the national hotel chain La Quinta Inn in protest of one of their locations being used by a nearby abortion clinic to provide medical services to pregnant women who were in town to have an abortion. La Quinta Inn has denied...

An anarchist planning to disrupt the GOP convention in New York City next week has a rap sheet chock full of terrorist bombings, which catapulted him to the top of the FBI's Most Wanted List during the late 1970s. Richard Picariello, now 55, "has been talking to groups ... recruiting others into extreme measures," a high-ranking police source tells the New York Daily News. In 1977 and 1978, Picariello was convicted for bombing an airplane at Boston's Logan Airport, as well as a Dorchester, Mass. armory and a Newburyport courthouse. His rap sheet also features a conviction for interstate transportation...