Free Republic

WASHINGTON - D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty's use of government resources to facilitate his recreational activities isn't limited to a police escort while he trains with his bike team. The mayor has used a federal Homeland Security vehicle to transport himself and his bike to at least 14 races in the past two years. The District's Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency has two large SUVs, which are detailed to the city from the U.S. Government Services Administration. According to records obtained by WTOP through the Freedom of Information Act, the mayor's Executive Protection Unit has signed out one or both...

November 02, 2009 9:18 PM Tom McLaughlin and Tina Harbuck More than 100 fishermen, family and friends showed up Monday morning at the corner of U.S. 98 and Perry Avenue carrying signs in protest of the recent fish closures by the National Marine Fisheries Service. “It’s terrible what they’re trying to do to this fishery,” said Capt. Kenny Aziz, who bay fishes from his pontoon boat, The Toonpang. The idea of bringing the Destin charter boat fishermen’s beef with the federal government to the corner of Perry Avenue and U.S. Highway 98 started out as kind of a joke. That...

Federal Judge Disregards Eleven Years of Material Facts In Bob Dylan Inringement Suit http://jamesdamiano.yolasite.com/ The James Damiano Story

DESTIN — News that a federal agency had slammed the door on this year’s amberjack season without notice didn’t sit well Tuesday with charter fishermen. They believe Big Brother is out to take their livelihood from them. “They’re killing us,” said boat captain Thomas Swanson. “They’re flat killing us.” Read the press release from the NOAA Fisheries Service » A morning announcement that no greater amberjack could be caught after midnight Friday swept across the docks at Destin Harbor. It didn’t take long for an angry group of fishermen to gather to vent. It also didn’t take long for the...

There's a lot of talk out there about ACORN being stripped of their federal funding, and restricted from receiving federal funds in the future. Sadly, this couldn't be further from the truth. Here's what really happened: On October 1, 2009, the President signed a Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep government programs running at their current spending levels for one month. This was necessary because Congress has not yet passed the annual appropriations bills which fund all government programs into the new fiscal year, which began October 1st...

Associated Press article. ...Elaine Brown 35 years in federal prison for amassing an arsenal of weapons at her fortress-like home after she and her husband were convicted of tax evasion...

Barack Obama gave five interviews last Sunday, and only one interviewer bothered to ask him about the ACORN scandal. ACORN is the leftist activist organization that lost its federal funds last week in a Congressional vote that was not even close. Obama's answer to his lone ACORN question was amazing. He brazened it out: "Frankly," said the President, "it's not something I've followed closely. This is not the biggest issue facing the country. It's not something I'm paying a lot of attention to." Not something he's paying a lot of attention to. This is the same Barack Obama who said,...

WASHINGTON – The federal deficit surged higher into record territory in August, hitting $1.38 trillion with one month left in the budget year. The soaring deficits have raised worries about the willingness of foreigners to keep purchasing Treasury debt. The Chinese, now the largest foreign owners of U.S. Treasury securities, have expressed concerns about runaway deficits. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and other administration officials have sought to address those concerns by insisting that once the recession is over and the financial system is stabilized, the administration will move forcefully to get the deficits under control. However, Republican critics contend the...

Former Comptroller General of the United States David Walker has been sounding the warnings of impending Federal bankruptcy for years. The largest problem is Federal health care entitlements — a factor to be seriously considered as Congress debates yet another proposed health care entitlement bill. [Videos]

China alarmed by US money printing The US Federal Reserve's policy of printing money to buy Treasury debt threatens to set off a serious decline of the dollar and compel China to redesign its foreign reserve policy, according to a top member of the Communist hierarchy By Comment on this article Working for the Yankee dollar: Beijing is said to be dismayed by the Fed's recourse to 'credit easing' Photo: Reuters Cheng Siwei, former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee and now head of China's green energy drive, said Beijing was dismayed by the Fed's recourse to "credit easing". "We hope...

The federal government needs to hire more than 270,000 workers for "mission-critical" jobs over the next three years, a surge prompted in part by the large number of baby-boomer federal workers reaching retirement age, according to the results of a government-wide survey being released Thursday. The numbers also reflect the Obama administration's intent to take on several enormous challenges, including the repair of the financial sector, fighting two wars, and addressing climate change. "It has to win the war for talent in order to win the multiple wars it's fighting for the American people," said Max Stier, president and chief...

President Obama has decided to reduce pay increases for civilian federal workers from 2.4 percent to 2 percent, citing the economic downturn and the ballooning federal budget as reasons for the cut... President Obama’s Defense Department wants to change, not eliminate, George Bush’s so-called “National Security Personnel System” for DOD civilian workers. The NSPS strips them of all collective bargaining rights, allows bosses to set pay amounts and rates, offers no protection for whistleblowers and eliminates most effective grievance procedures. The administration wants to fix these problems and freeze the NSPS at the current level of 205,000 workers it covers......

We’re just loving the service Glenn Beck is providing to America on his Fox News television program, using his crack team of investigators to uncover intriguing and potentially explosive information about key players in our federal government, particularly in the executive branch, whose presence may threaten American sovereignty and security. This past week, Mr. Beck focused on Mr. Obama’s unelected, unvetted, unaccountable czars who have been given the use of gargantuan budgets funded by the use of our personal, hard-earned money (without our permission, of course). Since some of the czars have served prison terms or are self-proclaimed Communists (and...

When our founders created the federal government, I’m pretty sure they didn’t anticipate having its power reach into their carriage houses. Thanks to a particularly asinine piece of legislation called the Consumer Protection Safety Improvement Act, though, we now have federal inspectors threatening to start investigating yard sales and church bazaars. They say they’re just going to focus on thrift stores and Craigslist … for now: If you’re planning a garage sale or organizing a church bazaar, you’d best beware: You could be breaking a new federal law. As part of a campaign called Resale Roundup, the federal government is...

IT'S NOT OFTEN that Sweden gets to lead the world. Saab mimicked BMW. Nokia improved on Motorola. Abba took The Carpenters and added a hi-hat. In monetary matters, however, Sweden remains an occasional trail-blazer. The world's first central bank, beating even the Bank of England by 26 years, the Riksbank then copied the Old Lady by when it abandoned the Gold Standard in September 1931. But the Swedes chose to mimic Great Britain before anyone else, quitting the metal within two weeks of London's monetary bomb-blast. Just like today (as we'll see in a moment), such monetary madness was hardly...

Federal funding hinges on definition of poor households Members of the U.S. Congress are seeking to update the federal “poverty threshold” and measure figures that determine at what income level a household is considered poor. Backers say the change will more accurately define poverty in America and show that the current measure underestimates the problem. Opponents say the change is an attempt to raise support for wasteful spending on social services. The “poverty threshold” — the line by which people’s incomes are measured to determine their economic status — is what the federal government uses to determine who receives how...

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton pledged continued U.S. support for the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and called on Eritrea to halt interference in Somalia. Clinton appeared at a joint press conference at the U.S. Embassy August 6 following talks with Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. She said the talks with the TFG leader were "a thorough and productive discussion about the challenges facing his country and the efforts of the international community to support the Transitional Federal Government as it stands up for the people of Somalia and against the threat of violent extremism." Clinton pledged continued...

“Obama’s inauguration speech triggered “one of the greatest munie-bond rallies in history.” Municipal bonds (munies) are rising in value as the threat of additional taxation looms.”

This is a very, very interesting video. Most people don't know the history behind the federal reserve, or even what the reserve is. This video gives a lot of detail on both. Must see. The video can be found here.It can also be found on youtube.

The graphic story of the finacial bailout of the last 8 months. Financial Meltdown Bailout

Labor Sec. Solis want to do away with the annual LM-2 report. The LM-2 report allows Union members to see how union dues are being spent. Also at risk for getting the axe is LM-30 report that would allow paychecks into union coffers instead of employee accounts. While Secretary Solis is demolishing workers protection, President Obama is entertaining Union Leader's wants for a second stimulus. (click on links in article)

PHOENIX - Arizona is having to borrow money because the U.S. Department of Education is imposing new requirements for the state to get stimulus funds, Treasurer Dean Martin is charging. "What Arizona has received is endless bureaucratic red tape and constantly changing rules to delay access to funds,'' he said Wednesday. The result, said Martin, is Arizona doesn't have use of $433 million it should have had by now.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's congressional allies want to create a powerful insurance commissioner to oversee medical plans nationwide. State regulators say it would duplicate what they do without better protecting consumers. Conservatives bemoan the big government mentality. The issue could flare as lawmakers push to meet an ambitious schedule for votes on health care legislation before their August vacation. Like the notion of a government insurance plan to compete with private companies, designating a single official appointed by the president to oversee the market goes to the heart of the federal role.

Drastic situations demand drastic measures. Democratic Socialists running Washington DC have the American people on their heels as they launch a continuous barrage of attacks on all fundamental American principles, values and rights. Their strategy of attacking on every front all at once makes it impossible for the average American to keep up, much less defend against the daily attacks on an issue by issue basis. Democratic Socialists are working at a fever pace to dismantle the United States of America before the people can mount a viable defense, and they are taking no prisoners. They are well organized and...

Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina made the first attempt to bring to the floor of the Senate a Ron Paul bill to audit the Federal Reserve. As one would expect, the Dems block the measure. With raising political pressure for yet another stimulus package, I, personally, can't see how the Dems are going to be successful, if they don't allow the Federal Reserve to be audited first. The Republican Congressional delegation's new motto should be: Audit first, then we talk about another stimulus.           ex animo          davidfarrar

One of the more remarkable things about the expansion of the subprime financial crisis into a general economic contraction is the Federal Reserve System's narcissistic focus on itself. In his speeches, Ben Bernanke spends more time talking about the Federal Reserve's balance sheet and how stupendously fabulous it continues to be despite the vast quantities of loans it is making to shore up various aspects of the financial system than he does about the unemployment rate or the expected effects of economic contraction on the public. It's rather like a seeing a speeding school bus full of children smash into...

General Electric is getting yet more taxpayer money, possibly laundered federal money, to subsidize its business. A GE press release announced that the state of Michigan will provide GE with $60 million to build a $100 million “technology & software center” — what used to be known as an “office building.”

An interesting chart that I created off the most recent Federal M1 currency graph...see link for graph...Now after reviewing the graph, take a moment to carefully evaluate the time periods in this chart. Observe the periods when currency has grown and where it has decreased. Then think about the policies and events that occurred during each of these periods. What Happened Around 1987? The following is a partial listing of what's happened in the US and the World since the chart began to become materially different around 1987. The author lays out the major events which occurred since Alan Greenspan...

New study by former union organizer sheds light on the real union agenda. Kate Bronfenbrenner published "No Holds Barred: The Intensification of Employer Opposition to Organizing". One of the points she makes is that only 9% of non-union workers want to join a union but 47% of union members think that most workers want one.

President Obama will announce tomorrow that he is extending federal benefits to include unmarried domestic partners of federal workers, including same-sex partners, White House officials said tonight. Obama will sign an executive order implementing the change in the Oval Office, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid upstaging the president's announcement. The move would give partners of federal employees access to health care and financial benefits such as relocation fees for moves. The State Department announced a similar extension of benefits last month, with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton calling it "the right thing to do."...

AWF Executive Director Brian Johnson discusses the problems with the recently passed Federal Employee Paid Parental Leave Act with Larry Mantle on Public Radio. Federal employees already receive a very comfortable benefits structure. Federal government employees receive higher benefits in the form of pensions and health insurance contributions than private-sector employees.

“Vice President Joe Biden, tasked by the president with overseeing the "stimulus" efforts Wednesday issued a "progress report" to the president. As was to be expected, he calls the effort a success - and he included a set of PRESS CLIPPINGS TO PROVE IT”

NORFOLK Police have recovered more than 2,000 government checks totaling $103,000 and arrested three men after a hotel mix-up led to what police on Wednesday called a quickly formed conspiracy and theft. Police said a contractor with the U.S. Department of Transportation checked into the Doubletree Hotel Norfolk Airport at 880 N. Military Hwy. on Monday and went out. Meanwhile, the hotel mistakenly checked a second guest into the same room. Acquaintances of the second guest went through the contractor’s luggage, police said, and found and took a laptop and the checks. The checks, in various amounts, were to be...

President Obama received a standing ovation during his address to an annual gathering of the National Academies of Science after pledging to fund "science and research" at a rate of "three percent of GDP." Because the President was critical of the prior administration, saying "there was no room for ideologically-driven science," the polling questions relate to general knowledge of what participants know about past spending and what the nation's GDP actually is.

WASHINGTON – Think you can do better than your federal boss? President Barack Obama wants to know how. Obama on Saturday announced a plan for federal workers to propose ways to improve their agencies' and departments' budgets. The president said employees' ideas would be key as his Cabinet officials cut millions from the federal budget and trim the deficit.

Link to FeverIAm's video about possible difficulties revealed by the recent government stress tests. - Obama grinning from ear to ear.

2nd Declaration of Independence We the people of the United Sates of America do hereby declare our independence from the Socialist Federal Bureaucracy, which is considered by the people to have exceeded its Constitutional authority and function as the administrator of the government FOR THE PEOPLE, and do hereby demand, according to the rights provided us by the Declaration of Independence, the following: ARTICLE: I. The immediate abolishment of the Federal Bureaucracy, excessive Federal Government and the establishment of the minimal Constitutionally defined central Federal Government II. The immediate restriction of Congress to its specific Constitutionally defined authority and the...

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." ~ Second Amendment - The Bill of Rights Well, one cannot be surprised to see this Bill come to the House of Representatives. When Democrats took control of congress in 2006 and began setting up their plans, waiting for a Democrat in the White House who would sign their legislation, those who were watching knew gun control would not be far behind any socialist spending spree they got away with. Now here it...

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama moved to claim the mantle of fiscal responsibility in a roiling economy, vowing on Monday to slash federal spending on contractors by 10 percent and saving $40 billion. Urging members of his own party to be just as fiscally tough as the most conservative Republicans, Obama said the $700 billion economic bailout plan proposed by the Bush administration and congressional leaders is forcing a renewed look at federal spending. As president, Obama said he would create a White House team headed by a chief performance officer to monitor the efficiency of government spending.

The Tenth Amendment is a guarantee of the covenant between the states whose representatives framed and ratified the Constitution and the new central government created by the Constitution. The Constitution is the covenant which contains that solemn agreement. The agreement between the several states and the new central government created by the Constitution was really much more than a “deal” as it has sometimes been called. For those civil governments were governments which saw themselves as under God’s authority, as subject to His providential blessings or chastisements for their faithful obedience or unfaithful disobedience to His eternal standards of rightness...

Paid Parental Leave Urge Senators to Support This First StepAsk your senators to support upcoming legislation to guarantee federal workers four weeks of paid parental leave for a new child, as a first step toward universal paid leave.Action Needed:Providing paid leave to parents is only fair to working families who need to both care for a new family member as well as maintain an income. Most industrialized nations have provided paid parental leave for decades.Paid parental leave for 2.7 million federal workers can be the model that we can work to achieve for the rest of the country. This important...

Oklahoma is still leading the rest of the states in affirming state sovereignty over those powers not granted to the federal government by the Constitution as secured by the Tenth Amendment. On February 18 the Oklahoma House passed HJR1003, a bill affirming Oklahoma's Tenth Amendment sovereignty powers, by a vote of 83 to 13. Today the Oklahoma Senate passed its version of the bill, SJR10, by a vote of 25 to 17. At least 15 other states have already introduced resolutions similar to Oklahoma's

President Barack Obama's first budget includes $15 billion a year for renewable energy programs and an ambitious plan to raise $646 billion from a carbon reduction proposal. "Because our future depends on our ability to break free from oil that's controlled by foreign dictators, we need to make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy," Mr. Obama said Thursday morning. "That's why we'll be working with Congress on legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy." The plan uses money from a cap-and-trade program — which would allow companies to...

Barack Hussein Obama will propose a massive business tax on greenhouse gases in his FY 2010 federal budget to be presented this week.The massive tax increase and power grab was buried at the end on article on Obama's forthcoming budget proposal in The New York Times:On energy policy, Mr. Obama’s budget will show new revenues by 2012 from his proposal to require companies to buy permits from the government for greenhouse gas emissions above a certain cap. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the permits would raise up to $300 billion a year by 2020. Since companies would pass their...

The "Nationwide Chicago TeaParty" sponsored by the #DONTGO movement, Smart Girl Politics (#SGP), Americans for Tax Reform, Heartland Institute, Top Conservatives on Twitter (#TCOT), and the American Spectator will be February 27 at Noon EST.

Holding signs reading "Stimulate Business, Not Government," "Families Against Porkulus" and "Say No To Generational Theft," protesters opposed to the $787 billion stimulus package have been mobilizing across the country. It started last Monday in Seattle, then moved Tuesday to Denver, where President Obama signed the stimulus bill into law. That was followed by another one in Mesa, Ariz., where Obama unveiled a mortgage rescue plan. Another protest was planned for Saturday outside the office of Rep. Dennis Moore in Overland Park, Kan. The Democrat voted for the stimulus. His office didn't return calls seeking comment. A New Populism? As...

A Dobson High School Advanced Placement government class with strong opinions about Barack Obama watched the president's speech Wednesday on a small, grainy TV in the corner of their classroom. Principal, student talk hoops with Obama Obama lays out plan amid hundreds at Dobson Some of the students attentively watched the speech, giving questioning looks and comments, shaking their heads and laughing at some of Obama's words. Other students listened, occasionally glancing up to watch, while texting on their cell phones, reading a book or finishing school work. The gymnasium's events were shown simultaneously in rooms throughout the Mesa school,...

A former FBI special agent told law enforcement and Homeland Security personnel that a network of Islamic organizations are working to incrementally implement Islamic law in the United States. During a presentation at the Bedford County Emergency Management Agency, former FBI agent John Guandolo briefed members about groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, which he claims is working with other Islamic groups to slowly implement Shariah, also known as Islamic law, which encompasses all areas of life. Guandolo worked in the FBI since 1996, including nine years as a member of its SWAT team. After 9/11, he worked in the...

_House Passes Senate SCHIP Bill;President Signs Bill_ On Wednesday, Feb. 4, the U.S. House passed by a margin of 290 to 135 the U.S. Senate version of the bill to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program, (S.C.H.I.P.)... President has signed the legislation into law. Below are the final tax rates on cigarettes and tobacco products that will go into effect on April 1, 2009 :SCHIP Cigarette and Tobacco Tax RatesProduct Current Rates Through March 31, 2009 and Cigarette and Tobacco Tax Rate April, 1 2009 * Pack Cigarettes:39¢ per pack$1.0066 per pack * Large Cigars:20.719% of manufacturer's price;...