Free Republic

Much has been made recently of the unconstitutionality of federal health care reform, especially a government-run system (the "public option") that could devolve into a "single-payer" system. The main objection is that the federal government has no authority to operate a health care system. Indeed, the 9th and 10th Amendments forbid it, according to Larrey Anderson of American Thinker. In The Wall Street Journal, Judge Andrew Napolitano writes that Congress has been getting around such constitutional bans by invoking its Commerce Clause, "the favorite hook on which Congress hangs its hat in order to justify the regulation of anything it...

It must be bizarre for a lawman to be told by the federal government not to do his job, which is to enforce the law. It's especially bizarre when he's the only law enforcement official in the country under such orders. Bizarre, yes – but true. Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz., finds himself in just that situation, but he's fighting back, saying he says he's won't comply. The core issue for Arpaio is illegal immigration. His county, which includes Phoenix, is a hotbed of illegal alien activity. He sees dealing with that problem as an important part of...

PHOENIX | The man who likes to call himself "America's toughest sheriff," Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz., is planning a Friday showdown with the feds. The sheriff has announced he will defy the U.S. Department of Homeland Security by doing a street sweep for illegal immigrants one day after the expiration of the agreement that has permitted him to conduct such operations for the past three years. The sheriff has said he expects the deal not to be extended, though federal officials have remained publicly noncommittal. Deputies, and Sheriff Arpaio, will stake out an intersection somewhere in the Phoenix...

US no longer insures your money-market fund, but that’s good news Withdrawing federal insurance is part of a broader exit strategy from the government's emergency supports for the economy, expected to gather steam this year. ### Savers take note: Your money-market fund is no longer insured by the US Treasury. These mutual funds, which earn interest for millions of Americans in brokerage or 401(k) accounts, rarely run into financial trouble. Almost always, they are able to maintain a reliable value of $1 per share. “Almost” is the key word, though. Last year, one of the original money-market funds, the Reserve...

WASHINGTON (AP) - A U.S. Census worker found hanging from a tree near a Kentucky cemetery had the word "fed" scrawled on his chest, a law enforcement official said Wednesday, and the FBI is investigating whether he was a victim of anti-government sentiment. The law enforcement official, who was not authorized to discuss the case and requested anonymity, did not say what type of instrument was used to write the word on the chest of Bill Sparkman, a 51-year-old part-time Census field worker and teacher. He was found Sept. 12 in a remote patch of the Daniel Boone National Forest...

FRESNO, Calif. – Top Obama administration officials are taking California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to task for blaming the state's water crisis on federal environmental restrictions. The governor sent a letter to Washington Wednesday demanding a response to "catastrophic impacts" he said were caused by environmental rules that have slashed water deliveries.

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 cracking down on the secondhand sales of dangerous and defective products. The initiative, which targets toys and other products for children, enforces a new provision that makes it a crime to resell anything that's been recalled by its manufacturer. "Those who resell recalled children's products are not only breaking the law, they are putting children's lives at risk," said Inez Tenenbaum, the recently confirmed chairwoman of...

With plush swine-flu toys stocked on its gift-shop shelves, citizens earning $50 to attend forums on the virus and an additional $50 for those willing to take a vaccine, it's a $16 million swine-flu shot bonanza hosted by the federal Center for Disease Control.

WASHINGTON — 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 cracking down on the secondhand sales of dangerous and defective products. The initiative, which targets toys and other products for children, enforces a new provision that makes it a crime to resell anything that's been recalled by its manufacturer.

The Obama administration plans to place federal employees in the largest immigration detention facilities in the country to monitor detainee treatment. WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration plans to place federal employees in the largest immigration detention facilities in the country to monitor detainee treatment. This oversight role is currently handled by private contractors. But under the new plan, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials would be placed at the largest jails to directly supervise how the detention centers are managed, according to people briefed on the government's plan. The government has been criticized for its treatment of immigration detainees, and Homeland...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The California governor's office says federal officials are threatening to seize six state parks if they are closed to help balance the state's budget. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed closing 220 state parks. But the National Park Service warned in a letter to Schwarzenegger that six of those parks are on former federal land that could revert to the U.S. government if they are not kept open as parks.

This is not really a surprise. The signals from Washington D.C. have been fairly clear. Nonetheless, it does force the brain trust in Sacramento to focus on home-grown solutions. This piece from the Washington Post has the details [emphasis added]: Calif. Aid Request Spurned By U.S. (Washington Post, June 16, 2009, David Cho, Brady Dennis and Karl Vick) "The Obama administration has turned back pleas for emergency aid from one of the biggest remaining threats to the economy — the state of California. Top state officials have gone hat in hand to the administration, armed with dire warnings of a...

Newspaper story on gold and tax fraud brings out the crazies. And the Feds wants their name, SS# and credit card data. Ah Las Vegas. Home of gambling, sin and hardcore libertarian, anti-government gold bugs. The Las Vegas Review Journalrecently reported on the trial of Robert Kahre, a guy accused of setting up a scheme to pay employees in gold coins so that they may tell the IRS they were paid by the coin's nominal, face value, rather than what that gold is actually worth when converted into dollars. Not surprisingly, the story attracted many angry commenters, who hate the...

I will get straight to the point and not bore people here with the particulars that most people should already be and probably are aware of. The Federal Reserve is privately owned and is not a part of the federal government. The fed-created "money" (printed out), that is borrowed by the government, is backed by collateral - American income taxes. Supposedly this is at about a 5-6% interest rate. The privately-owned banks can lend 90% to borrowers while keeping only 10% in the bank. Eventually, the "money" that was borrowed will be re-deposited, only to be lent out again, with...

Daniel James Murray Charged With Making Threats To Kill Commander-In-Chief Suspect: 'We Are On A Mission To Kill The President Of The United States' Reporting Mary Calvi Federal prosecutors have charged a New York man with making threats to kill President Barack Obama, but they still haven't found him. Authorities believe he's driving a car with New York plates. While Obama tours overseas, Secret Service agents back in the US are searching for a man they say has threatened the president's life. Daniel James Murray – who investigators say drives a blue 2001 Buick LeSabre, New York license plate RL1445...

NEW YORK (CBS) ― An F-16 fighter jet trails a larger military aircraft over Lower Manhattan Monday, April 27, 2009, conducting a photo shoot that panicked thousands of New Yorkers who believed the city was in jeopardy for another terrorist attack. A furious President Barack Obama ordered an internal review of Monday's low-flying photo op over the Statue of Liberty. CBS 2 HD has discovered the feds will have plenty to question. Federal officials knew that sending two fighter jets and a 747 from the presidential fleet to buzz ground zero and Lady Liberty might set off nightmarish fears of...

Threatened Federal Sanctions Against NYPD, Secret Service, FBI & Mayor's Office If Secret Ever Got Out Furious Obama Apologizes: "It Will Never Happen Again" A furious President Barack Obama ordered an internal review of Monday's low-flying photo op over the Statue of Liberty. CBS 2 HD has discovered the feds will have plenty to question. Federal officials knew that sending two fighter jets and Air Force One to buzz ground zero and Lady Liberty might set off nightmarish fears of a 9/11 replay, but they still ordered the photo-op kept secret from the public. In a memo obtained by CBS...

WASHINGTON — The nation’s top Social Security official says benefits for tens of thousands of people with severe disabilities are being delayed by furloughs and layoffs of state employees around the country. The official, Michael J. Astrue, the commissioner of Social Security, said Sunday that “governors are hurting their own states, their own citizens, and increasing the backlog of claims” by furloughing workers who make disability decisions.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The federal government said Monday it will bump up a rate used to figure Medicare Advantage reimbursement to insurers, but many analysts expect overall payment rates to fall next year. That raises some concern for how lower reimbursement will affect the plans, which allow the elderly and disabled to receive benefits through private health insurers. These plans receive a government subsidy and generally offer more benefits than traditional Medicare, but they've drawn criticism for their cost. The trade association America's Health Insurance Plans estimates that Medicare Advantage payments could fall nearly 5 percent next year as a...

The continuing war of words over the controversy surrounding the possibility of dam removal on the Klamath River escalated March 17, as the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors sent a letter of response to California Resources Agency natural resources secretary Mike Chrisman. The letter was in reply to Chrisman’s threat to end support for the county’s participation in the process of looking into the status of four hydroelectric dams and the effects of their possible removal on the river system and the local economy.

State legislators across the nation are sending resolutions to Congress and the President of the United States to remind them of something called the 10th amendment. In light of ever increasing federal incursion into state business many believe the time is now to begin enforcing the United States Constitution. Authoring Mississippi’s House Resolution no. 69 is, State Rep. Steven Palazzo, R-Biloxi, “The federal government is over reaching into areas that the State best knows how to handle so we thought we would join along with other states in providing Congress and the President a little civics lesson on the 10th...

A Chelsea court clerk has been accused of trading sexual favors with a prostitute who allegedly gave him oral sex in the city courthouse in exchange for his efforts to get her case dropped, according to a federal affadavit. James Burke, 41, was charged today in U.S. Federal Court in Boston with one count of attempted deprivation of rights under the color of law and one count of deprivation of rights under the color of law, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He made his initial appearance this morning in federal court. He was released on a $10,000 personal surety...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A former CIA agent rose to the agency's No. 3 rank despite a record of misconduct that stretched over 20 years, prosecutors said, until his career came to an end with his conviction in a bribery scheme. In court papers, prosecutors describe how Kyle "Dusty" Foggo was investigated in the late 1980s for punching a bicyclist in a traffic dispute and for numerous relationships with foreign women that could have compromised security. ... Instead, Foggo is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria after pleading guilty to a single count of fraud as...

By Alister Bull ORLANDO, Feb 23 (Reuters) - U.S. commercial real estate problems could derail the country's economic recovery later this year, a top Federal Reserve official said on Monday. "Many banks are pretty heavily exposed to commercial real estate. It is also a big part of the securitization market. So commercial real estate is one that concerns me," said Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart.

NEW YORK (AFP) – US federal prosecutors on Wednesday indicted an alleged New York mafia boss dubbed "Jackie the Nose" in the murder of a man he believed to be a police informant. John D'Amico, alleged capo of the Gambino organized crime family, was indicted along with associate Joseph Watts in the 1989 murder, the FBI and US attorney's office said. According to the indictment, the two defendants carried out orders from then Gambino boss John Gotti to kill a man who they "believed was serving as a federal government witness." "One of the purposes of the Gambino crime family...

President Obama has been in office less than a month, but that hasn't stopped many West Michigan firearms dealers from referring to him as "gun salesman of the the year."

URBANA, Md. (AP) - The Justice Department says it foiled a plot by a fired Fannie Mae contract worker in Maryland to destroy all the data on the mortgage giant's 4,000 computer servers nationwide. The U.S. Attorney's Office says 35-year-old Rajendrasinh Makwana, of Glen Allen, Va., is scheduled for arraignment Friday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore on one count of computer intrusion. U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein says Makwana was fired Oct. 24. Rosenstein says that on that day, Makwana programmed a computer with a malicious code that was set to spread throughout the Fannie Mae network and destroy all...

WASHINGTON – The upcoming inauguration of Barack Obama is an attractive target for international and domestic terrorists, but U.S. intelligence officials have no information about specific threats to the Jan. 20 event. An internal intelligence assessment, obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday, says the high visibility of the event, the presence of dignitaries and the significance of swearing in the country's first black president make the inauguration vulnerable to attacks.

A jury sentenced a Lakeview man to 10 years in prison for growing nearly 7,500 marijuana plants. Andrew Stever, 40, was sentenced on Monday after a three-day trial in the Federal District Court in Medford.Ten years is the mandatory minimum sentence for anyone convicted of growing 1,000 or more pot plants. In July 2007, officers from several local, state and federal agencies found 7,459 plants growing on Stever's Lakeview property, which bordered Forest Service land. Two men fled the scene, leaving behind personal property and three firearms, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Portland. Physical evidence and testimony linked...

He has ducked reporters and even been missing during Obama’s press conferences. My question is WHY ? Why is it that he isnt saying a word to proclaim his innocence during all of this. Is he covering for Obama ? Is the Governor himself covering for Obama ? Folks this investigation is ONE step away from the man himself. Obama…………….

Yesterday the American Patrol Report focused on Barack Obama's links to the Service Employee International Union (SEIU). Within hours we learned that the SEIU was intimately involved in the Gov. Blagojevich's selling of Obama's Senate seat. "Among the revelations contained in the complaint brought against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich yesterday was the description of an official with the Service Employees International Union acting as an apparent intermediary between the governor and Barack Obama's camp in discussions over Obama's http://www.americanpatrol.com/

Barack Obama denies having contact with the indicted Illinois governor who tried to sell his old Senate seat yet the president elect’s top advisor revealed last month that the men, longtime political pals, had in fact spoken about a replacement. When a massive federal indictment charging Rod Blagojevich with multiple corruption counts was made public yesterday, Camp Obama suddenly diagnosed the second-term Democrat governor with political plague. The nation’s soon-to-be commander-in-chief claimed to barely know his close political ally. After all, who wants to be connected to a notoriously crooked politician who just got arrested and charged with selling the...

Forty young Somali men from the Twin Cities are missing and federal investigators believe they may be back in Somalia training as terrorists. "We have active Al Qaeda cells recruiting these people," said Omar Jamal with the Somali Justice Advocacy Center. Federal law enforcement sources told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS they believe Shirwa Ahmed, from Minneapolis, was a suicide bomber who blew himself up during an attack in northern Somali last month. They also believe he was a recruiter in the Twin Cities for a terrorist network.

Courts in recent years have been raising the evidentiary bar law enforcement agents must meet in order to obtain historical cell phone records that reveal information about a target's location. But documents obtained by civil liberties groups under a Freedom of Information Act request suggest that "triggerfish" technology can be used to pinpoint cell phones without involving cell phone providers at all.

The U.S. Attorney's Office will monitor the general election in Chicago and surrounding suburbs next Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald announced Tuesday. As part of the monitoring effort, the office will operate a hotline for candidates or the public to call to report any complaints relating to voting. In addition, Assistant U.S. Attorneys will be available to respond to complaints as needed, according to a release Tuesday from Fitzgerald's office. The hotline number, staffed on Election Day only, is (312) 469-6157. "This office has a long tradition of monitoring the polls on Election Day." Fitzgerald said. "No one who...

The U.S. Attorney's Office will monitor the general election in Chicago and surrounding suburbs next Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald announced Tuesday. As part of the monitoring effort, the office will operate a hotline for candidates or the public to call to report any complaints relating to voting. In addition, Assistant U.S. Attorneys will be available to respond to complaints as needed, according to a release Tuesday from Fitzgerald's office. The hotline number, staffed on Election Day only, is (312) 469-6157. "This office has a long tradition of monitoring the polls on Election Day." Fitzgerald said. "No one who...

.O. Woman Gets New Gun To Replace One Taken During Katrina By The confiscated gun has yet to be returned, says Cong. Steve Scalise and the Gun Owners of America Wednesday, October 22, 2008 A New Orleans woman whose gun was confiscated by law enforcement officers in the days after Katrina, and who was injured during the incident at her home, got a brand new 38-caliber revolver Wednesday, courtesy of the Gun Owners of America. 61-year-old Patricia Konie says getting a new gun is a great idea because now she's more afraid of police than she was before. Konie says...

The Pineywoods Sub-Regional Planning Commission met Thursday to hear a presentation by the commission's president, Hank Gilbert, who said the plans to move the Trans-Texas Corridor to the current U.S. Hwy. 59 location may not come to fruition. The Texas Department of Transportation initially planned to build a new highway system, which would have been as large as 1,200-feet wide, that would run through rural areas of East Texas, including Nacogdoches County. However, TxDOT scrapped those plans in June and announced a new proposal to build the TTC along the existing route of U.S. Hwy 59. But Gilbert, of the...

"LAUREL, Miss. — The largest single-workplace immigration raid in U.S. history"

Can you guess the reason? How about high gas prices? Nancy "Nine Percent" Pelosi shuts down Congress and skips town without passing an energy bill. Now the Democrats are pushing for a four day work week for gas relief for themselves and federal employees, even though they refuse to do anything to provide relief for ordinary Americans. Amazing! Evaluation: Democrats Pushing for Four Day Work Week for Federal Employees

State highway officials said Wednesday that the first step in carrying out their decision to build a controversial toll road along the present U.S. 59, and not through farm and ranch land, is to get federal approval. Although no federal funding has been sought for the Interstate 69/Trans-Texas Corridor, the Texas Department of Transportation is bound by federal environmental law. The project has generated thick volumes about its likely impact on the natural environment and the communities in its path. The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) is expected to undergo public review late this year and then get sent to...

As Election 2008 draws ever closer, it is hard to overstate the disconnect between the American people and their government. Just 17% of voters say that the federal government represents the will of the American people. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 68% disagree and 15% are not sure (see video). These views are consistent across partisan and demographic lines. Men, women, young, old, Republican, Democrat, conservative, liberal, all offer a bleak assessment of what is supposed to be a “government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Sixty-seven percent (67%) of voters say that...

Wednesday, May 21, 2008 12:00 PM CDT Immigration raid inhuman KAMYAR ENSHAYAN CEDAR FALLS --- Since when has illegal-ness been such an important criteria for federal action, and people worrying about the "illegals?" I mean, the invasion of Iraq has been illegal by international law; U.S. government and some corporations have been involved in all sorts of covert and overt illegal operations all over the world, and for a long time. It is incredible that a nation of immigrants who came here for a better life are so harsh on people who are trying to do the same, and whose...

NEW YORK—About 25 illegal immigrants who have lived in legal limbo for years after losing relatives in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks will be able to apply for legal status without fearing deportation, officials said. The immigrants whose spouses or parents died in the attacks have gotten payments averaging $2.1 million from the federal Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund, but have had trouble investing the proceeds because they were in the country illegally, their lawyers say. Their status has made their attorneys hesitant even to provide information to immigration authorities and congressional representatives working on the issue, said one of...

RUSTY COSTANZA / THE TIMES-PICAYUNEState Sen. Derrick Shepherd, left, leaves the Hale Boggs Federal Courthouse in New Orleans accompanied by his attorney Clarence Roby on Thursday morning. A federal grand jury indicted state Sen. Derrick Shepherd today after months investigating allegations that the Marrero Democrat laundered $141,000 for an unlicensed bond broker. From his Poydras Street office, U.S. Attorney Jim Letten announced the 41-count indictment on charges of conspiracy to commit mail wire fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, participation in the business of insurance by a person previously convicted of a felony involving dishonesty, conspiracy to commit money laundering and...

The Los Angeles Times has a front-page story that suggests the federal government is really cracking down on people who illegally re-enter the country. However, the paper doesn’t tell you that the big “crackdown” is actually a joke. Here is the story’s lede: Federal authorities are cracking down on immigrants who were previously deported and then reentered the country illegally — a crime that now makes up more than one-third of all prosecutions in Los Angeles and surrounding counties, a Times review of U.S. attorney’s statistics shows. The surge in prosecutions reflects the federal government’s push in recent years to...

Officials with the Spanish toll road operator Cintra have announced that the company has secured $430 million in loans from the U.S. government to build and operate two segments of a toll road in central Texas. Cintra officials announced the company’s financial plan for the $1.36 billion Highway 130 segments on Monday, March 10. OOIDA Senior Government Affairs Representative Mike Joyce told Land Line that the Association does raise red flags when federal dollars are used to subsidize private investors. Officials with the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association are not, however, categorically opposed to a state using future toll revenue to...

WEST COLUMBIA — When private property gets in the way of a road project, its owners will be moving out of the way, one way or another, in almost every case. With a widening of Highway 36 on the horizon and state and federal officials ready to drive the Trans-Texas Corridor through the Lone Star State, many land-owning Texans are preparing to defend their property from their own government. Brazoria County residents troubled by the looming eminent domain fights came to the Gulf Coast Christian Center on Saturday morning to voice their views to Tom Lizardo, chief of staff for...

SAN DIEGO – Federal probation officials are recommending that Brent Wilkes, the Poway defense contractor who was convicted of bribing former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, should be sentenced to 60 years in prison, according to court records. Wilkes was scheduled to be sentenced next Monday, but that has been postponed until Feb. 19 at the request of his lawyer, Mark Geragos. In court papers, Geragos said he needed more time to analyze and challenge the report from the federal probation office, which he received Jan. 15 – later than required under court rules. Such a lengthy sentence recommendation, even in...

Police Chief Jack Harris’ Nov. 5 appearance at the Ahwatukee Crime Forum left me underwhelmed. His title, badge and uniform don’t fool me; he’s a bureaucrat, pure and simple. How do I know? Because he talks like a bureaucrat: “It’s not my job,” or “It’s somebody else’s fault,” or “We can’t do that.” Put that litany of tired excuses out of their misery. Excuse No. 1: “Asking about citizenship is racial profiling/violating constitutional rights.” Handling foreign nationals isn’t new to the Phoenix Police Department; they’ve done it since 1969 when the U.S. joined the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Article...