Free Republic

In the 13 years since he suffered a string of political setbacks and quit the third most powerful job in Washington, Newt Gingrich has been busily laying the foundation for a comeback to an even grander perch. On any given day, the former Speaker of the House can be found on a chartered jet headed to Iowa to train future GOP candidates through his American Solutions group, or in Phoenix discussing ways to lower health-care costs with drug makers through his for-profit Center for Health Transformation. He might also be in Philadelphia, narrating a film produced by Gingrich Productions, or...

Rick Perry established a new gold standard for hawkish foreign policy at Saturday night’s GOP debate in New Hampshire. Not only is he mad President Obama withdrew US forces, he wants to put them back on the ground there immediately. “I would send troops back into Iraq,” Rick Perry told a New Hampshire audience at Saturday night’s GOP debate, warning that without yet another military operation in Iraq it would fall under the influence of neighboring Iran. “I think it’s a huge error for us,” he said. “We’re going to see Iran in my opinion, move back in at literally...

No wonder he had to circumvent Congress to enact this disaster. (The Hill) — President Obama on Thursday will unveil a summer-jobs initiative that the White House says is already on track to create 180,000 “work opportunities” in the private sector in 2012. That is the number of opportunities, which includes mentoring and unpaid internships, that companies have told the administration they are willing to create. Some 70,000 jobs are paid, the White House says. The initiative was hatched after Congress failed to approve a $1.5 billion summer-jobs fund that President Obama had been seeking as part of the American...

(CNSNews.com) – President Barack Obama is ready to take “small, medium and large” actions without the consent of Congress, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said. Carney on Tuesday explained further Obama’s “We Can’t Wait” strategy of addressing problems without Congress. This would be done through executive orders and other actions Carney said.

Texas Governor Rick Perry is playing up his status as a “Washington outsider” in a new TV ad released today, which will air on broadcast and cable TV in Iowa. The ad flashes a picture of the four current or former members of Congress running against Perry in the Republican presidential race: former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, Texas Representative Ron Paul, and Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann. “If Washington’s the problem, why trust a congressman to fix it?” the announcer says. The announcer says Perry’s opponents have spent a combined 63 years in Congress “leaving us...

Iowa's evangelicals appear to be headed toward splitting their vote at the Jan. 3 presidential caucuses, even as some of the candidates scrambling for their votes seek to siphon support from the others. When the Family Leader announced last week it wasn't weighing in as an organization on this year's Republican race, what appeared to be the last chance to try to swing the support of this important group of voters to a single candidate faded away. Of course, the results won't be known until Jan. 3, but polls say Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former Sen. Rick Santorum and Rep....

While Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s challenge to Rick Perry for a $10,000 bet seemed like a throwaway line in the last debate, The Hill sees it as emblematic of a cracking of Romney’s previously impenetrable veneer. ....Some GOP heavyweights are surprised that Gingrich has been able to rattle Romney. “I admit, it’s shocking. They’re thrown a little bit,” a Republican strategist told The Hill. “The entire strategy of the campaign has been steady, steady. Let everyone come up and down around you, and when the dust settles, the steady candidate wins. Now it’s settled, and it’s not the case.”...

.... As recently as two weeks ago, the Gingrich campaign was apparently unable to name 40 New Hampshire supporters of his presidential campaign. Candidates needed to file their slates of 20 delegates to the National Convention, along with 20 alternates, with the Secretary of State by November 18. The Gingrich campaign filed a partial slate of 14 delegates and 13 alternates, leaving 13 slots vacant. Among the 27 names Gingrich listed are three members of his staff. Rick Santorum (12 delegates and 12 alternates) and Michele Bachmann (18 delegates) also filed partial slates. Gary Johnson (10 delegates and one alternate)...

Watch the video concerning an executive order that was passed quietly this summer that everyone should be aware of.

On Saturday, June 2nd, in Committee of the Whole, as James Madison recorded in his Notes of the Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787, the Founders were continuing the previous day’s debate regarding a proposed plan for the Executive branch, its constitution, relation to the Legislative branch, method of election, funding, and such. Doctor Benjamin Franklin asked permission from the Committee to read a prepared speech, “being very sensitive to the effect of age on his memory.” Below, without too much editing except to break the paragraphs into smaller segments for easier internet reading, is his speech: It is...

On Friday night, Herman Cain was a fly and David Letterman was the spider cordially inviting Cain to "step into my parlor." Didn't Cain or any of his advisors see the potential for disaster in Cain appearing on Letterman's show? Didn't anybody say, "Herman, don't go in there! It's a trap!"? I desperately don't want to be seen as one of those just itching for clear proof that Herman Cain's candidacy is over. But it's hard to have watched Cain on Letterman and not come to the conclusion that neither Cain nor his advisors have sufficiently good judgment for him...

It’s a perennial complaint from Texas Gov. Rick Perry: The federal government places far too many restrictions on how states can run Medicaid, the entitlement program that provides health care to low-income Americans. “We know for a fact that, given that freedom, the states can do a better job of delivering health care,” Perry said in a Republican debate last month. He’s endorsed turning the entitlement program into a block grant and flirted with having Texas drop out of it altogether. But back in Texas, Perry is actually pursuing a highly technocratic and pragmatic attempt at Medicaid reform that doesn’t...

LAS VEGAS - Rick Perry is sitting comfortably on a plush sofa in a hotel far from the strip that put the sin in "Sin City." It's the day after another presidential debate, and if the flat-screen in front of him were on, he'd hear plenty of appraisals of whether a new fiery approach helped his pursuit of the highest office in the land or hurt him more. Instead, he's talking about his boyhood in Texas, his time in the Air Force and a wiener dog named Lucy. He is, here in suite 6118 of the Red Rock resort, relaxed...

So, Governor Rick Perry made a speech today where he proposed the following: * Ending the practice of giving lifetime appointments to federal judges (current judges would not be affected); * Cutting Congressional pay in half; * Cutting Congressional pay in half again if they don’t balance the budget by 2020; * Cutting Congressional office budgets in half; * Cutting the Congressional calendar by half; * Criminalizing insider trading by Congressmen (no, actually, it’s not currently illegal for them to do that); * Reducing spending to 18% of GDP; * Privatizing Fannie & Freddie; * Ending the funding of Planned...

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D., Md.), the second-ranking Democrat in the House, reacted angrily Tuesday to the suggestion by Texas Gov. Rick Perry that Congress become a part-time institution. “Is this a serious proposal he’s making for a country that has very high unemployment, who’s budget deficit is larger than it’s ever been in history, which has two wars that we’re confronting and trying to bring to a conclusion?” Mr. Hoyer said of the Republican presidential hopeful. “If this is what he thinks is pandering to the Tea Party, it is not in my opinion speaking to the issues that the...

BETTENDORF, Iowa - An early copy of Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry's government reform speech shared with the Des Moines Register shows the Texas governor is planning to propose widespread changes for the federal government, including term limits on federal judges and Supreme Court justices, a part-time Congress, and laws criminalizing insider trading. The governor first previewed the reforms in a speech Monday evening at an event by the Scott County Republican Party, where he said, "Washington doesn't need a new coat of paint, it needs a complete overhaul." Today, he will deliver the details of his plan in a...

BETTENDORF, Iowa — Gov. Rick Perry is proposing to bring a little Texas to Washington — with a “part-time citizen Congress” that doesn’t meet so often, and whose members earn only half of what they make now. The Republican presidential hopeful will also call for an end to lifetime appointments for federal judges, including members of the U.S. Supreme Court. And, as he proposed in his famous debate-night flub last week, Perry will vow to shut down three agencies of government. This time he will remember all three: the U.S. Departments of Education, Commerce and Energy. “Washington doesn’t need a...

Rick Perry gave a superb speech to NH Cornerstone, a New Hampshire conservative group. The full speech is here and well worth the time to watch (about 25 minutes). In fact, this partisan New Hampshire reporter considers the speech close to perfect for the audience. How did the left-leaning media react? As could perhaps be anticipated, with ridicule and mockery. For example, in a harsh piece by Brian Browdie of the NY Daily News titled "Rick Perry's unusually expressive 2012 speech in New Hampshire sparks rumors he was drunk," ... ..Why did the media react this way? Maybe because Perry...

On Friday, citing "longstanding and important Executive Branch confidentiality interests," White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler refused a House panel's demand for "all communications among White House staff and officials" relating to Solyndra. Solyndra is one of the administration's pet "green energy" firms. It received a $535 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy before its top executives took the Fifth before Congress. What's been unearthed so far is embarrassing enough. The Obama administration seems to have rushed the deal through despite multiple warning flags and a lack of due diligence. The now-bankrupt firm, whose largest shareholder is a major...

There is no better testament to the marketing prowess of Herman Cain than that he gets applause when he tells audiences he’s not a politician — in the course of seeking their votes for the highest political office in the land. Mitt Romney plays a version of the same card, arguing that “career politicians got us into this mess, and they simply don’t know how to get us out." If Cain and Romney think so poorly of politics as a vocation, they could easily save themselves from any further taint. They could drop their arduous schedules, their fundraising pleas, their...

New York Democratic Rep. Charlie Rangel told The Daily Caller that “gridlock” in Congress has made it “necessary” for President Barack Obama to unilaterally implement mortgage refinancing and student loan programs without congressional authorization. TheDC asked Rangel if he thinks there are other areas where Obama should bypass Congress. “I do, but I don’t want it to be interpreted that I welcome the executive branch using their powers instead of having the legislative branch do it. It’s necessary now because it’s a gridlock between the president and the United States. I hope that is just so very, very unusual,” Rangel...

anyone got a list of all Barry's Executive Orders ? when did that become the "new normal"? who holds the record for the most issued?

We’ve just learned that the Missouri Health Insurance Pool has just voted on behalf of the state to accept $21 million dollars from the federal government to establish an health exchange here in Missouri. They are designating John Huff as the director. Didn’t Missourians vote overwhelmingly against Obamacare in 2008 with theirProp C vote? Just like President Obama does all the time, Nixon is taking the executive order route – completely bypassing the legislature. Original story here. In 2010, Missouri voters overwhelmingly approved Prop C, which negated key parts of ObamaCare. Ordinarily, only a legislature can appropriate funds, even if...

The new policy, however, is broader than Pear’s account indicates. Lynn Sweet’s more detailed Chicago Sun-Times post includes quotes and primary materials that make it clear the policy applies to all illegals whose presence cannot be determined to raise a threat to public safety. The new policy is something like amnesty by executive decree. Those Republican congressmen who have objected to the new policy on this ground are on to something. Only last month, addressing The Race, Obama disclaimed the authority to reform immigration policy on his own: THE PRESIDENT: Now, I swore an oath to uphold the laws on...

The U.S. dollar may weaken and Treasury yields rise when Asian markets reopen on Monday, though any selling in response to ratings agency S&P's downgrade of the United States is likely to be tempered by the escalating crisis in the euro zone. The S&P cut in the U.S. long-term credit rating by a notch to AA-plus is an unprecedented blow and results from concerns about the nation's budget deficits and climbing debt burden. It called the outlook "negative," signaling another downgrade is possible in the next 12 to 18 months. "The initial reaction will be a high degree of uncertainty...

Gov. Rick Perry may or may not try to become the leader of what was once called the free world. In the meantime, he has cemented his reputation as one of the most powerful governors ever to walk the corridors of the Texas Capitol. As the longest serving governor in state history, Perry has named more people to boards and commissions than any predecessor — 5,495 at last count, Legislative Reference Library figures show — allowing him to put his conservative stamp on every corner of state government. The reach of his power, and his willingness to use it, have...

..... “The plan was to eat there, but unfortunately they had one of their chefs off sick so they weren’t able to cope with the number that we had brought, “ the operational commander of William’s unit, Squadron Leader Iain “Spike” Wright, said Thursday. “And so we found another location and we moved on.” A local businessman, Jonathan Campbell, 39, said the restaurant phoned the nearby Treaddur Bay hotel to see if they could take the party. “They thought it was a joke that it was Prince William and his buddies and they had to ring three or four times...

A discussion has brewed on the right concerning the War Powers of the Executive Branch. I have read both Woods' "smack down" (his words) and listened to Levin's reasoned debate on his radio show, as well as the relevant Federalist Papers, checking back to see who wrote them, and the constitution itself. I have also read Yoo's discussion and the argument for Bush's war powers in the area of the War on Terror. That said, I have no tolerance for the Ron Paul view, nor many of his followers, not because I'm a huge fan (student) of Mark Levin, but...

It's good to be king, particularly if you are a president who wants to impose more infringements on that which shall not be infringed, and Congress is disinclined to play along. As President of the United States, that would be (or should be) a problem, because the separation of powers built into the structure of our government splits power among the three branches of government (and no--not Sen. Schumer's "three branches of government"), but for a king who rules by decree, it's as easy as, "Stroke of the pen. Law of the Land. Kinda cool." According to the Huffington Post's...

On January 31, [Federal] Judge Vinson. . . held the mandatory insurance provisions of ObamaCare unconstitutional . . . . Finding that key part of the law inseparable from the rest, he held the whole thing void. He declined to grant an injunction to bar its continued enforcement:There is no reason to conclude that … [the] presumption [that the federal government will not ignore a federal court decision and proceed as though it had not been issued] should not apply here. Thus, the award of declaratory relief is adequate and separate injunctive relief is not necessary.Senator Durbin . . ....

Planned Parenthood Exec Blasts Videos He Hasn't Watched New York City, NY -- A top Planned Parenthood executive who has been the leading public spokesman responding to a slew of videos showing the abortion business helping sex traffickers admitted today he's not watched the videos he's condemned. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/02/08/planned-parenthood-exec-blasts-videos-he-hasnt-watched/

Inside The GOP's Plan To Stifle Obama's Executive Branch PowerBrian Beutler | December 27, 2010, 11:00AM368 In the nearly two months since the November midterms, the conventional wisdom has centered on the idea that President Obama's agenda will be largely protected from an influx of Republicans by the Senate's arcane rules and his own veto pen. With 47 members in the 112th Congress, the GOP will lack a majority, let alone a supermajority, to pass the legislation they'd need to pass to undo Obama's accomplishments and blunt his progress -- as if he'd sign those bills anyway. But Republicans are...

<p>A new Labor Department plan shows the president still has wide power to implement an anti-business agenda.</p> <p>Because President Obama will now have a tough time getting his liberal agenda through a more Republican Congress, many Democrats are urging him to ram it through using the executive branch's unilateral power.</p>

Governor Rick Scott of FL signed an override to Charlie Crist's veto of HB 1565 on November 17th. This bill requires administrative agencies to obtain Legislative approval to any rule that costs over $1 million over five years! The enviro nazis have gone nuts. It essentially means almost EVERYTHING out of the administrative gulag will have to be approved by the representatives of the people.

Former President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff John Podesta, now the head of the Center for American Progress, called on President Obama to push forward with his agenda using federal agencies and executive branch power Tuesday, even though Democrats were dealt a blow in the recent midterm elections. Podesta said the American people want the president to move forward with his agenda. “I think most of the conversation since the election has been about how President Obama adjusts to the new situation on Capitol Hill,” Podesta said. “While that’s an important conversation, it simply ignores the president’s ability to use...

President Obama Signs Executive Order Widening Government TransparencyNovember 4, 2010 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WASHINGTON – President Obama signed an Executive Order today that will help improve government transparency by standardizing and limiting the use of control markings, document designations designed to limit disclosure of unclassified information within the government to the public and Congress. The Executive Order also rescinds a 2008 Bush administration memorandum that created a framework for limiting dissemination of government documents and information by labeling them as “controlled unclassified information” (CUI). Today’s Executive Order mandates that government documents can only be labeled CUI if dissemination restrictions are...

Executive Order--Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts, and the Great Lakes By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Purpose. The ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes provide jobs, food, energy resources, ecological services, recreation, and tourism opportunities, and play critical roles in our Nation's transportation, economy, and trade, as well as the global mobility of our Armed Forces and the maintenance of international peace and security. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and resulting...

Executive experience was a focus of the 2008 campaign. In the nascent days of my supporting Gov. Palin, I had noted that of the four people on both tickets, she was the only one with any executive experience whatsoever. The man at the top of her ticket – John McCain – has no executive experience. Neither did candidate Biden. Candidate Obama only had for his non-Senatorial (state and federal) resume, community organizing, and an editor’s position on Harvard Law Review – though what he edited there remains a state secret. I have often written that while Obama was a fantastic...

Many of today’s debates between statists and libertarians are argued on the grounds of efficiency. The libertarians say that when you let the government do something, you invariably get the DMV or the post office. Statists argue that a centralized public service provides better results because it can gain efficiencies of scale and because the lack of a profit incentive eliminates greed. They cite examples like NASA and the Internet to claim that government can do things that would be impossible in the private sector. I am sympathetic to the libertarian argument on this topic, but in this essay I...

From the cheap seats, it sure does look like the President of the United States is using the powers of the Executive to coordinate with Andy Stern to organize a series of protests entitled “Showdown In America.” Earlier, we posted about the links between Andy Stern’s SEIU and a group called National People’s Action (NPA). NPA, together with SEIU and the AFL-CIO, is organizing a series of angry marches against Wall Street and capitalism. NPA is a very dangerous and radical group that isn’t shy about its radical philosophy. From their song book: Who’s on your hit list NPA? Who’s...

Lou Pritchett is a retired executive for Proctor and Gamble. He wrote an open letter to Presdient Obama and submitted it to the New York Times and was summarily ignored. Proving why the newspapers are dying the letter was posted online and is believed to have received over 500,000 hits, to say nothing of its appearance on countless other websites. The moral of the story is if you want news to get out there don't ask for it to go it in a newspaper. The letter is authentic and Pritchett more than vouches for it.As a convenience to you...

Baffled over his inability to get his boss’s agenda passed; despite unstoppable majorities in both houses of Congress, President Obama has determined that America can get along just fine without three branches of government. “With much of his legislative agenda stalled in Congress, President Obama and his team are preparing an array of actions using his executive power to advance energy, environmental, fiscal and other domestic policy priorities.” Now that the American citizenry has made itself utterly clear in its collective repudiation of the Soros-Obama agenda, the president is prepared to act on his own without meddlesomeness by Congress or...

Reporting from San Francisco - A prominent Silicon Valley executive with ties to the Obama administration has admitted to an extramarital affair after his former mistress plastered romantic pictures of the two of them on giant billboards in three major cities. "I had an 8½-year serious relationship with YaVaughnie Wilkins," said Charles E. Phillips, co-president of Oracle Corp. and a member of President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board. "The relationship with Ms. Wilkins has since ended, and we both wish each other well." Wilkins, a writer and actress, this week had a three-story-tall sign put up near Times Square in...

Executive Order 13511 Notwithstanding the provisions of any other Executive Order, the functions of the ... BARACK OBAMA THE WHITE HOUSE,September 29, 2009. Notes ... 6 KB (587 words) - 13:27, 9 October 2009 Executive Order 13512 Executive Order 13390 of November 1, 2005, as amended, is further ... BARACK OBAMA THE WHITE HOUSE,September 29, 2009. Executive orders of Barack Obama ... 1 KB (163 words) - 13:28, 9 October 2009 Executive Order 13504 Executive Order 13390 of November 1, 2005, as amended, is further amended by ... BARACK OBAMA THE WHITE HOUSE,February 20, 2009. ... 1 KB (170 words)...

Where is Cecilia Ibru? By Ruona Agbroko August 21, 2009 01:56PMT For someone whose intimidating frame, trademark pearls and penchant for A-list events on Nigeria’s social circuit is legendary, Cecilia Ibru, the recently sacked managing director and chief executive officer of Oceanic Bank Plc, is doing an excellent job of going underground. On Friday August 14, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria announced her dismissal, alongside that of the CEOs and executive directors of Afribank, Intercontinental Bank, Union Bank and Finbank. Declaring that the CEOs came under the axe for acting “in a manner detrimental to...

Governor Maintains Stance on Stimulus Funds, Favors Local Control on Building Codes May 21, 2009, Juneau, Alaska - Governor Sarah Palin announced today that, as previously stated, she will veto the $28.6 million in federal “stimulus” funds tied to adoption of building codes by municipalities. "Alaskans and our communities have a long history of independence and opposing many mandates from Washington, D.C.,” Governor Palin said. “This principle of maximum self-government for local communities is also set out in our constitution. There isn’t a lot of support for the federal government to coerce Alaska communities to adopt building codes, but lawmakers...

This is in response to questions and comments I have received pertaining to this announcement: Just like at the federal level, a state legislature can override a governor's veto. So, if Governor Palin had vetoed, yes it would have been overridden -- the legislature overwhelmingly wanted that money. Of course, since she is the one signing the bill, those who hate Governor Palin are accusing her of being a hypocrite -- this is why we need to be well-informed about this matter. It's complex, and quite frankly -- dry subject matter -- and easy to just "sloganeer". Had the legislature...

GM Daewoo 'Top-Heavy' with 210 Foreign Executives GM Daewoo had 210 foreign executives as of the end of February, data shows. A subsidiary of General Motors, GM Daewoo published the figures at the request of its labor union. That was 17 times more than the 12 foreign executives at Renault Samsung and almost the same as the entire 250 executives at the headquarters of Hyundai Motor, the world’s fifth largest automaker in terms of sales. There is a growing criticism that GM Daewoo has too many executives given that it is a production-centered subsidiary of GM. Hyundai has 250 executives...

"And where the government has acted, like in Fannie and Freddie or like in AIG, where we've had to do exceptional things to stabilize them, we have replaced the management and the board," Geithner said. Asked if chief executives of big banks such as Citibank and Bank of America should worry about their jobs if their companies don't improve their performance, Geithner said the government would not shy from such a restructuring. As part of the new administration's overhaul of the $700 billion bailout effort, banking regulators are requiring stress tests for the 19 largest banks to see whether they...

SHOULD executives get to keep lavish pay packages when the profits that generated their compensation go up in smoke? As the financial crisis deepens, what might have been a philosophical question is now the topic of the day. With losses mounting at the nation’s largest financial institutions, years of earnings have been erased, investors have lost billions, thousands of employees have been let go, and taxpayers have been tapped to rescue the financial system. But executives who helped set the problems in motion, or ignored them as they mounted, are still doing fine. Humbled, perhaps, but well paid for their...