Free Republic

Either because of the stubbornness of Nancy Pelosi, or the dishonesty of President Obama, the Democratic leadership may have made a major enemy of one of their own this week, Congressman Bart Stupak (D-Mich). Stupak wants to make sure that the Obamacare Bill has language that bans federal funding of Abortion. Ms Pelosi will not allow his Amendment to reach the house floor for a vote. President Obama admitted to Stupak that he was being dishonest when he told the country during his speech that “under our plan no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions” The President wasn't...

Government watchdogs are blasting taxpayer-funded grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities that send college professors on free vacations and pay for programs on topics like the "cultural significance of the circus poster" -- just a few items on an eye-popping list of questionable NEH projects.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder today announced more than $37 million in Recovery Act and Fiscal Year 2009 grants have been awarded to support organizations in developing, implementing and expanding youth mentoring activities. "These funds allow us to invest further in the future of today's youth by providing mentoring opportunities to help children reach their full potential," said Attorney General Holder. "These grants will help steer young people away from criminal activities by providing them with healthy life alternatives, positive role models, and direct contact with caring adults." The Recovery Act, signed into law by President Obama, provides the Office...

It was one of the most popular topics among the questions you submitted to me for my interview with President Obama – the controversy involving ACORN. While the President said that ACORN "deserves to be investigated" in light of the "inappropriate" video that's gone viral, he did not endorse recent votes in Congress to cut off federal funding for the community group. Here’s our FULL exchange: STEPHANOPOULOS: How about the funding for ACORN? OBAMA: You know, if -- frankly, it's not really something I've followed closely. I didn't even know that ACORN was getting a whole lot of federal money....

Conservatives have cheered the Census Bureau's decision to sever ties with ACORN because it had lost confidence in the group, but the hidden-camera videos that prompted ACORN to fire four workers this week could raise more questions about the federal funding ACORN receives for housing outreach....

However, Free Press, at this May 14 summit, didn't say one word about the well-documented liberal bias that has contributed to the decline in readers and viewers for traditional media outlets and has enabled the rise of the Fox News Channel, conservative talk radio, and the Internet. Instead, Josh Silver of Free Press attacked the "bellowing ideologues" on the air and declared that "The entire dial is empty of local news in many communities." New Strategy This was a tip-off that, in order to take conservative radio hosts off the air, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will be flooded with...

More than 50 congressmen sent a letter blasting what they called "indecent" and "abhorrent" art projects funded by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts as part of the $787 billion economic stimulus bill. The NEA may be spending some of the money it received from the Recovery and Reinvestment Act to fund nude simulated-sex dances, Saturday night "pervert" revues and the airing of pornographic horror films at art houses in San Francisco, as first reported Thursday by FOXNews.com. "These are funds intended to create permanent jobs, not to feed prurient interests," wrote Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., in a...

Conventional wisdom holds that the social rate of return to R&D significantly exceeds the private rate of return and, therefore, R&D should be subsidized. In the U.S., the government has directly funded a large fraction of total R&D spending. This paper shows that there is a serious problem with such government efforts to increase inventive activity. The majority of R&D spending is actually just salary payments for R&D workers. Their labor supply, however, is quite inelastic so when the government funds R&D, a significant fraction of the increased spending goes directly into higher wages. Using CPS data on wages of...

New York, NY (AHN) - President Barack Obama's expected lifting of the ban on stem cell research Monday is good news for those with Type 1 juvenile diabetes and their parents. That's because researchers think that embryonic stem cells could be capable of replicating the pancreatic cells that produce insulin. When pancreatic cells are transplanted they effectively cure Type 1 diabetics. But with donor organs in short supply there are not enough donor pancreases to meet demand. About 1.5 million Americans have Type 1 diabetes, but there are only about 6,000 donor pancreases each year. Although there is a debate...

Your Help Needed to Save Dedicated Conservation Funding in Illinois! Over $25 million for conservation hangs in the balance Springfield, Illinois- Pheasants Forever (PF) and Quail Forever (QF) are urging all Illinois members to contact their state legislators and ask them to support legislation restoring funding to dedicated conservation accounts. The Illinois General Assembly must act this month to restore $9.25 million in restricted funds diverted to pay state bills, or the state risks losing $16 million in federal dollars for fish and wildlife management. Pheasants Forever and other conservation organizations are working with legislators to ensure legislation is introduced...

None of it came from Obama; he was too busy getting earmarks for Pfleger. Look, the parishioners pay their taxes, however damned by God they might think the Treasury Department is, and the church does appear to be putting the money towards charitable programs — although given Wright’s beliefs about AIDS, I’m mighty curious to see the lesson plan for the HIV “education” program. Unless someone can show it’s being spent on improper ends, like, hypothetically, a mansion for the ex-pastor, I’m not sure what the beef is. FOX News has learned that over the last 15 years, Trinity has...

HARRISBURG -- With a section of a Pittsburgh bridge dropping 8 inches and an Interstate 95 support pillar cracking in Philadelphia, Gov. Ed Rendell is turning up the heat under the Legislature to provide infrastructure repair funds more quickly. Mr. Rendell sent a letter to all 253 legislators yesterday urging quick passage of a $240 million "supplemental debt authorization." His program of borrowing would enable state officials to fast-track repairs on some of the state's 6,000 bridges classified as structurally deficient, along with fixing ailing highways, repairing "state-owned, high-hazard dams" and beginning flood mitigation projects. Also yesterday, Mr. Rendell called...

NACOGDOCHES — The rows of extra chairs brought into the The Fredonia's biggest meeting room Thursday night were not enough to accommodate more than 750 people who attended an open house and public hearing on the proposed TTC-69 highway. Texas Department of Transportation officials heard hours of public testimony that continued late into the night overwhelmingly opposed to the construction of new roadways through East Texas. Applause throughout the hours-long meeting never swelled as loudly as it did when the first speaker of the night, state Rep. Wayne Christian, told TxDOT representatives emphatically that "our answer is 'no' on the...

Not one of the 11 East Texans who approached the podium at Wednesday's hearing on Interstate 69 voiced support for the planned highway. "This is highway robbery, and we should not pursue this project," said David Simpson, a Longview resident and fifth-generation Texan. "This process has bypassed the Constitution. It has bypassed the U.S. Congress, and I'm opposed to it because of the unconstitutional way that it has been pushed through." The public hearing, held at Maude Cobb Convention and Activity Center, was a chance for residents to comment and ask questions about Interstate 69/Trans-Texas Corridor. The corridor would extend...

Flush with success in creating an atom bomb, the U.S. federal government decided it should start funding nonmilitary scientific research. A government report titled "Science, the Endless Frontier" provides the justification for doing this. It makes the case that "science is the responsibility of government because new scientific knowledge vitally affects our health, our jobs, and our national security" (Bush, 1945). Accordingly, the government established a Research Grants Office in January, 1946 to award grants for research in the biomedical and physical sciences. It received 800 grant applications that year. The Research Grants Office is now known as the Center...

Local toll authority likely to carry more of the burden for designing, building second wave of Austin-area toll roads The Texas Department of Transportation after February will cease awarding contracts for new or expanded roads, a belt-tightening that probably will indefinitely delay a number of Central Texas highway projects. Work on some local projects, such as widening FM 1460 between Round Rock and Georgetown, RM 2338 in Williamson County, and Texas 195, which runs from Interstate 35 in Williamson County to Killeen, will be shelved for now. In addition, the edict will force Central Texas' local toll authority to carry...

Kiss federally subsidized collegiate promiscuity goodbye. Prices for birth control are going to increase a lot for college students. That has CNN deeply concerned. Higher prices for birth control? Oh, the humanity.That’s because deficit reduction legislation has changed how much the federal government pays to underwrite contraceptives. Costs for the pill and patch have gone up enough, apparently, for college students to consider anything except abstinence. “[Stephanie] Davidson [a Columbia University student] worries that these students will have to choose between food, books, and birth control,” said CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen on the August 22 “American Morning.”The report was...

The cause of Wednesday's bridge collapse in Minneapolis isn't yet known, but that hasn't stopped the tragedy from reigniting the debate over the condition of U.S. "infrastructure," which has to be the ugliest word in the English language. It's even uglier when Congress and the building lobby use it as an excuse to spend more without rethinking their own contributions to the problem. Nobody denies that our roads and bridges are feeling the stress of age, more drivers and heavier truckloads. It's possible that the I-35W bridge collapse over the Mississippi was the result of such stress, specifically from the...

It's been a year since Jeffrey and Christine Konrath of Slinger died in a motorcycle crash in Dodge County. Except for the fact that they weren't drinking, the Konraths could be the face of motorcycle fatalities today: older riders - he was 45, she was 48 - on a larger bike, killed on a rural road. And neither was wearing a helmet. It's that last point that most frustrates Christine's daughter Angeline Schreiber. She has little tolerance these days for motorcyclists who forgo protective gear. "I would never tell people not to ride bikes," said Schreiber, who is raising her...

Senate Takes Five on Title V Thanks to our many readers who contacted their elected officials, Title V abstinence funding will live to see another day--95, to be exact. Last night, the Senate agreed to at least a three-month extension of the federal matching funds for state abstinence education programs. Despite the liberals' ambush on abstinence, leaders from both parties, including Sens. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Max Baucus (D-Mont.), worked together to ensure that the entitlement would not expire. As we applaud our friends on the Hill for acting quickly to salvage the funds, let's remember that the battle for...

WASHINGTON, June 22, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Democrats in the US House of Representatives lifted a prohibition yesterday on allowing government donations of abortifacient and other contraceptives to abortion-promoting foreign aid organizations. President Bush has twice said he will veto any legislation that weakens protection for life in the Mexico City Policy. The policy dates to the Reagan administration and prohibits any funding for any purpose to abortion providers in developing countries. The amendment passed by a vote of 223-201, with 207 Democrats and 16 Republicans voting to allow the contraceptive funding. Rep. Nita Lowey, the New York Democrat who wrote...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The House will vote soon on a pro-life amendment to a federal spending bill that helps ensure taxpayers don't have to fund groups that promote or perform abortions overseas. Pro-life lawmakers have been working at the committee level to try to stop abortion funding and the House will vote as early as June 20 on the amendment. Representatives Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican, and Bart Stupak, a Michigan Democrat, are behind the bipartisan amendment to the State-Foreign Operations appropriations bill. Their language is needed because pro-abortion Rep. Nita Lowey put language in the bill overturning...

AUSTIN -- The Texas Senate passed its second bill this session creating a two-year moratorium on privately funded toll roads Friday, a sharp rebuke of Gov. Rick Perry's plan to solve the state's transportation problems. Senators voted 27-4 to approve the bill, which would prevent the creation of toll roads made by public entities contracting with private companies. The Senate passed a similar bill earlier, but that version appears dead in the House. The version approved Friday easily passed the House this month by a vote of 137-2. The bill's Senate sponsor, Republican Tommy Williams of The Woodlands, said he...

But lack of funding looms as biggest stumbling block to construction of highway project Interstate 69, a highway that would stretch from Michigan to Texas connecting Canada with Mexico, has been included on a short list of interstate corridors under consideration by federal transportation officials for fast-track development, according to a press release from the Texas Department of Transportation. The Texas segment of I-69 is being developed as part of the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC-69) and extends from Northeast Texas to the Rio Grande River, the release said. Lufkin is in the study area of TTC-69, according to Randall Dillard, director...

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 27 (HealthDay News) -- The latest study on islet cell transplantation has both good and bad news for people with type 1 diabetes. The good news is that nearly half of those who receive an islet cell transplant are insulin-free at one year after transplant; the bad news is that by the end of the second year that number drops to about one in seven. Still, researchers expect that with improvements in the technical aspects of the procedure, and better anti-rejection drugs, those numbers will improve. "A phenomenal amount of glycemic control can be provided with islet transplantation,"...

Across the country, increasing production costs and inadequate federal funding have compounded to create a dietary crisis in public school lunch programs, and many people are clamoring for a change. Jennifer Wilkins is one of those people. A senior extension associate in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell, Wilkins has been outspoken in her criticism of the federal government and in her demand for a solution to the growing dietary crisis in America’s public schools. Wilkins explained that the federal government has placed U.S. public schools in an unenviable position; strapped for cash, schools are still expected to provide...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new poll conducted by Newsweek shows a decline in the support for taxpayer funding of embryonic stem cell research. The poll also finds support for a new method of obtaining embryonic stem cells that a biotech firm falsely claims can retrieve the cells without destroying human life. According to the poll, 48 percent of Americans favor funding embryonic stem cell research with taxpayer funds while 40 percent say they don't. That eight percent margin is down from an October 2005 Newsweek poll showing a 50-36 percent split -- or a 14 percent margin. That means...

Last Updated: Wednesday, 23 August 2006, 17:12 GMT 18:12 UK E-mail this to a friend Printable version 'Ethical' stem cell lines created The scientists removed single cells from the embryos Human embryonic stem cell lines have been generated without embryos being destroyed, according to researchers.A US team created stem cell lines by removing single cells from embryos, a process that left them intact, they report in the journal Nature. At present, growing this type of stem cell results in embryo destruction. The researchers say their findings may remove some of the ethical barriers to this field and provide a...

I really do try hard not to dislike George W. Bush as a person. But then he pulls a stunt like he did last week in vetoing a bill that would have allowed researchers in this country to get more help in exploring the many promises of stem cells. The veto was almost beside the point. It was the smarmy way he and the cynical entourage with which he has surrounded himself played to the TV cameras and the religious zealots they hope will storm the polls for small-minded Republicans like himself this fall. Parading an entourage of cute little...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House emphatically renewed President' Bush's threat to veto a bill heading toward Senate passage that would authorize federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, a practice Bush loathes. ``If (the bill) were presented to the president, he would veto the bill,'' read a fresh official statement of administration policy Monday, with the sentence underlined for emphasis. ``The bill would compel all American taxpayers to pay for research that relies on the intentional destruction of human embryos for the derivation of stem cells, overturning the president's policy that funds research without promoting such ongoing destruction,'' it...

Chuck Schumer spoke with The Hill for the newspaper's e-News tip sheet. The topic: how the potential passage of a bill funding stem cell research might affect the Democrats at the polls this fall. Democrats say next week's Senate vote on research into embryonic stem cells -- and a promised White House veto -- will cut into their advantage on the campaign trail, particularly in Midwestern states. "Our polling data shows this is a very prescient issue in Missouri," Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Thursday. "It's not just in Missouri," he continued, naming Pennsylvania, Ohio and...

If you're a scientist working for private industry, it helps to invent something useful. But if you're a scientist trying to get funding from the government, you're better off telling the world how horrible things are. And once people are scared, they pay attention. They may even demand the government give you more money to solve the problem. Usually the horrible disaster never happens. Chaos from Y2K. An epidemic of deaths from SARS or mad cow disease. Cancer from Three Mile Island. We quickly forget. We move on to the next warnings. This is the story of a looming disaster...

A group of anti-war activists wants a citywide vote this fall on whether military recruiters should be allowed on Seattle city property and in schools. Recruiters will have the same access regardless of the outcome. Schools risk losing federal funds if they don't let recruiters in, and the city allows recruiters in public places as part of their right to free speech. So the proposed College Not Combat Initiative, I-86, would be largely symbolic. Organizers say it's a chance for Seattle to go on record against the war in Iraq, a step toward outlawing recruiters and an opportunity for an...

WASHINGTON -- The institutional vanity and intellectual slovenliness of America's campus-based intelligentsia have made academia more peripheral to civic life than at any time since the 19th century. On Monday, its place at the periphery was underscored as the Supreme Court unanimously gave short shrift to some law professors who insisted that their First Amendment rights to free speech and association were violated by the law requiring that military recruiters be allowed to speak to the professors' students if the professors' schools receive federal money. Many schools that disapprove of the congressionally mandated ``don't ask, don't tell" policy that prevents...

Court Upholds Campus Military Recruiting The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that colleges that accept federal money must allow military recruiters on campus, despite university objections to the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays.Justices rejected a free-speech challenge from law schools and their professors who claimed they should not be forced to associate with military recruiters or promote their campus appearances.Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the court, said that the campus visits are an effective military recruiting tool."A military recruiter's mere presence on campus does not violate a law school's right to associate, regardless of how repugnant...

Conservative groups urged Congress on Tuesday to end all federal funds to AARP, saying it was wrong for the seniors group to be receiving tens of millions in taxpayer dollars at the same time it was campaigning against administration policies. "AARP does not have the right to expect taxpayers to foot the bill to help advance its political agenda," said John Carlisle of the National Legal and Policy Center, author of a paper on federal funding to the seniors organization. David Sloane, senior managing director of government relations at AARP, said the paper was a "sour grapes" response to the...

WASHINGTON -- Conservative groups urged Congress on Tuesday to end all federal funds to AARP, saying it was wrong for the seniors group to be receiving tens of millions in taxpayer dollars at the same time it was campaigning against administration policies. "AARP does not have the right to expect taxpayers to foot the bill to help advance its political agenda," said John Carlisle of the National Legal and Policy Center, author of a paper on federal funding to the seniors organization. David Sloane, senior managing director of government relations at AARP, said the paper was a "sour grapes" response...

Lawsuit results in victory ACE federal funding protected by ruling By: Observer News In a decision that will protect future federal funding for Notre Dame's Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE), the Supreme Court refused to review the March 2005 U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruling that AmeriCorps members can both receive training from and teach at religiously affiliated institutions without violating the constitution's establishment clause. The Jan. 9 announcement that the ruling would stand came as a relief to those affiliated with ACE and brought nearly two years of litigation to a close. "We were...

MOST of us think that science is based on observable fact, free of political influence. But as Tom Bethell shows in "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science," the virus of political correctness has infected science, too, invariably leading to the government trough. In order to pump up government funding, the scientific community invents "crises" which can only be resolved with massive infusions of taxpayer funds. Hypocritically, the wealthy adherents of political correctness happily rob the poor to pay the rich. California's Hollywood-studded...

Just reported at 8:00 AM EST 12/20/05, Head Start in Cleveland received $30,000,000 in annual funds from the Federal Government (State Funds not reported) which translates into about $6,700 per child served, far more many private school tuitions. State of Ohio launching investigation why funding is running short at Head Start and why their salaries are so high. The Plain Dealer newspaper and others are (shock) not covering the story yet. If you find more, post it here.

ORANGE, Calif. - Over the last two years, more than 30 people died awaiting liver transplants at UCI Medical Center here as the hospital turned down scores of organs that might have saved them, according to a federal report. Following that report, the federal government yesterday rescinded its approval for the liver transplant program. The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, in a letter to UCI chief executive Ralph Cygan, said that, effective immediately, it would stop paying for liver transplants for Medicare recipients on UCI's waiting list. While the agency's action does not close the program, it will...

A Senate debate over whether to ease federal restrictions on stem cell research will be put off until next year, an influential senator seeking to relax the rules said Friday. Senator Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania and chairman of a subcommittee that oversees spending on health issues, said the majority leader, Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, had agreed to make consideration of a measure governing stem cell research a priority when Congress reconvenes in 2006. That pledge led Specter to drop his threat to use a health spending bill to try to lift the ban on federal financing of stem...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Leading California Democrats on Thursday asked Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to break from his special election campaign long enough to meet with President Bush during his two-day stop in Southern California and ask for more federal money. Schwarzenegger is not planning to attend a Thursday night fundraiser for Bush in Los Angeles nor Friday's dedication ceremony for an Air Force One exhibit at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley. Democrats criticized the governor's decision, saying Schwarzenegger is putting politics ahead of the needs of the state. "This governor promised to be the 'Collectinator' - but California...

Justice Antonin Scalia of the United States Supreme Court made an unusual appearance at the Juilliard School yesterday and defended the government's right to deny funds for art it disapproves of, elaborating in person on what he has written on the bench. He told reporters that choosing what art to subsidize is no different than the stances the government takes all the time in other areas. "The First Amendment has not repealed the basic rule of life, that he who pays the piper calls the tune," Justice Scalia said. "When you place the government in charge of funding art, just...

SOME Houstonians who plan on moving to Louisiana and points east to get work in the Katrina rebuilding effort may discover their wages won't be as high as they might have expected. That's because President Bush signed an executive order last week rescinding the rule that contractors on projects receiving federal money pay the prevailing wage in areas damaged by the hurricane. "It's so important to have decent wages for these workers," said John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO. Sweeney visited the hurricane relief efforts in Houston and met with union leaders earlier this week. Without it, he said, contractors...

FEMA Says 10-4 Isn't Always Clear 10-4 translates to acknowledgement, 10-50 means there's been an accident on the roadways. Ten codes are the language heard on law enforcement radio. Federal Emergency Management Agency officials say since those codes aren't universal between all agencies, they should be eliminated. They say the codes have the potential to slow response time or send mixed messages. Eau Claire's police chief says in situations that have multiple agencies responding, officers will stay away from code. "I think in your day to day operations, agencies are still using portions of it, but when there's a large...

The American Civil Liberties Union and Jenner & Block LLP applauded the federal government's decision today to suspend the flow of taxpayer dollars funding the Silver Ring Thing, a nationwide ministry that uses abstinence-only-until-marriage sex education as a means to bring "unchurched" students to Jesus Christ. "We are pleased that the Department of Health and Human Services today recognized that the Silver Ring Thing was blatantly misusing public dollars," said Julie Sternberg, a senior staff Attorney at the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. "As we have said all along, it is improper for the federal government to underwrite efforts to convert...

A federal appeals court said armed forces medical benefits don't cover abortions -- even when it's clear the baby will die soon after being born. Only abortions to protect the mother's life are covered. In the case of a sailor's wife, two doctors diagnosed the fetus with a birth defect that blocks formation of the brain. Life expectancy after birth in such cases is a few hours to two months. The woman had an abortion five months into her pregnancy. The appeals panel ruled 3-0 that the government is not required to pay for abortions for "confirmed fetal abnormality." The...

Should law schools be allowed to block military recruiters from campus? That's one of the first questions John Roberts will decide as a Supreme Court justice, should the Senate confirm him. The case, called Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic Rights, concerns the constitutionality of the Solomon Act, which mandates that law schools will lose their federal funding if they ban military recruiters. In 2003, a coalition of schools sued. Last year, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in their favor and declared the Solomon Act unconstitutional. The Supreme Court is scheduled to take up the matter in hearings beginning...

As the Senate prepares to debate legislation that would loosen President Bush's restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, Sens. Arlen Specter and Tom Harkin are fighting off what they view as an effort by the Bush administration and conservative senators to siphon off support for their bill by offering an alternative that may be more acceptable to wavering senators who have ethical concerns about the research. Specter, R-Pa., and Harkin, D-Iowa, are the chief Senate sponsors of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, which cleared a major hurdle in May when it passed the Republican-dominated House with...