Free Republic

You have got to be kidding me: During consideration of H.R. 3126, legislation to establish a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA), Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee voted to pass an amendment offered by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) that will make ACORN eligible to play a role in setting regulations for financial institutions. The Waters amendment adds to the CFPA Oversight Board 5 representatives from the fields of “consumer protection, fair lending and civil rights, representatives of depository institutions that primarily serve underserved communities, or representatives of communities that have been significantly impacted by higher-priced mortgages” to join Federal...

At the conservative How to Take Back America Conference over the weekend, Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., had some harsh words for President Obama. Franks told those assembled: “Obama's first act as president of any consequence, in the middle of a financial meltdown, was to send taxpayers' money overseas to pay for the killing of unborn children in other countries. Now I gotta tell you, a president that will do that, here's almost nothing that you should be surprised at after that. You shouldn’t, we shouldn't be shocked that he does all these other insane things. A president that has lost...

BORN IN THE USA? Gives Obama 2008 pass, but would require papers in 2012 ...As WND reported, Franks told a townhall meeting in Kingman, Ariz., over the weekend he was considering a lawsuit to establish Obama's eligibility. The congressman's spokeswoman, Bethany Haley, said Franks did consider a lawsuit during the runup to the 2008 election and immediately after the results were announced. But she confirmed to WND today that the congressman no longer is considering immediate action. Franks did, however, today sign onto a move in Congress that would demand proof from future candidates, beginning with the 2012 race,...

A Senate panel has subpoenaed financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG, seeking evidence of fraud in last year's mortgage-market meltdown, according to people familiar with the situation. The congressional investigation appears to focus on whether internal communications, such as email, show bankers had private doubts about whether mortgage-related securities they were putting together were as financially sound as their public pronouncements suggested. Collapsing values for many of those securities played a big role in precipitating last year's financial crisis. The subpoenas are the latest in a series of moves by Congress to trace the roots...

The Senate version of health care reform allows federal funds to go to insurance companies that pay for abortion. When asked if he thinks the House will approve this version of the bill or something similar in House legislation, a spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said that the final outcome rests with pro-life Democrats. “Everyone knows what Leader Boehner’s position is on protecting human life, and we don’t do the whipping for Majority Leader [Steny] Hoyer,” Michael Steel, Boehner’s press secretary, told CNSNews.com. “The question is: Will pro-life Democrats support this version of the bill?” said Steel....

Our favorite Congressman from MA is back in the news again. No, there's not a male escort service operating out of his townhouse this time. That's so 1989. This time, Barney is pushing for, you guessed it, relaxed mortgage standards. Since that worked out so well for our country the first time, Barney wants an encore: Rep. Barney Frank says that unless Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac relax their recent tightening of mortgage standards on new condominiums, the economic recovery could be threatened. That would be the same Barney Frank who famously boasted that the two federal agencies -- which...

Even though the US congress has been mucking up the banking industry since 1916, few Americans are familiar with GSE’s, (Government Sponsored Enterprises). As a result, the people have hired the same people who destroyed the US economy to begin with, to fix the US economy. Those people are now attempting to save the nation from complete economic collapse via the same failed economic policies that caused the crisis… History repeats for benefit of those who have not yet learned the lesson Although the US Constitution affords the federal government no such power whatsoever to engage taxpayer revenue in banking...

A few weeks ago, Rep. Barney Frank, Massachusetts Democrat, said he expected 2009 to be the “best year” for public policy since the New Deal. When it comes to government, Mr. Frank believes bigger is better. Mr. Frank lambasts “Wall Street greed” for spawning this economic havoc, but Americans should be furious at his obliviousness to government greed, his own role in public avarice, and its contribution to this disaster. While Mr. Frank is grossly negligent, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson may be simply negligent. On Dec. 30, the Treasury announced $6 billion in relief...

If you believe Newsweek magazine – something that usually requires a serious suspension of disbelief – the Reagan Era is dead. Politico also chimed in, proclaiming the death of the Reagan revolution. Newsweek doesn’t go on to tell you who killed the Reagan Era, so I will. It was the Republican Party that demolished the shining city on the hill my father built. It was the Republican Party that was 100 percent responsible for the end of the Reagan Revolution.

Peru's entire cabinet resigns over scandalLuis Jaime Cisneros, AFP Published: Friday, October 10, 2008 LIMA - Peruvian President Alan Garcia accepted Friday the resignation of his entire 13-member cabinet, in a bid to avert an opposition censure resolution in Congress over a oil-industry kickback scandal. "The president has accepted our resignations presented to him on Thursday, and will proceed to reshuffle the cabinet," outgoing prime minister Jorge del Castillo told reporters at government headquarters. The kickback scandal has been roiling since Sunday when nine audio tapes were leaked to news media covering backroom negotiations between government officials, a former congressman...

The Democrats are resorting to their usual race- baiting. http://www.thebulletin.us/site/index.cfm?newsid=20157191&BRD=2737&PAG=461&dept_id=576361&rfi=8

Barney Franks on CSPAN now. Time to call and call him out on his lies.

A decade ago, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the United States' two mortgage financing behemoths, were flying high. They were among the most profitable companies in the world, had political connections to the White House and Congress, earned enormous bonuses for their corporate chieftains, and did not have to play by the same rules as other corporations. For all that, they could thank their congressional charters, which established them as Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs).....Yet amid all the turmoil, lawsuits, and financial uncertainty befalling the companies, the current management teams at Fannie and Freddie have something to be thankful for in...

PASADENA - He came, he saw, he talked. Former U.S. Gen. Tommy Franks bantered with the audience and also addressed controversial issues during his talk at Wednesday night Distinguished Speaker Series. Speaking at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Franks called Donald Rumsfeld a "small man with very sharp elbows" and described Osama bin Laden as someone "who deserve\ to die." He recounted tales from his childhood and his "misspent youth," and memories of growing up in Midland, Texas, "among the cactus and among the bushes." Franks attended the same high school a year ahead of first lady Laura Bush. He enlisted...

General Tommy Franks, the former Commander-in-Chief of U.S. Central Command who led U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, tells NewsMax that he is squarely behind the controversial "surge" of troops. "The reason that I say this is a good idea is because that's what the leaders on the ground are saying," says Franks, speaking from Hobart, Okla., the future home of the General Tommy Franks Leadership Institute and Museum. As head of the U.S. Central Command, Franks oversaw American military operations in a 25-country region, including the Middle East. He took the position in July 2000 and served until his...

Congressional Rep. Barney Franks has accused President Bush of engaging in a campaign of ethnic cleansing in order to secure the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana for future Republican control. Said Representative Franks, “I believe, as do most other thinking Democrats that the administration's handling of the situation with regards to hurricane Katrina was little short of a conscious campaign of ethnic cleansing. What the Republicans did down there, spearheaded by President Bush, was to allow the hurricane to come in and destroy entire sections of the city and state while making no provisions for...

GENERAL TOMMY FRANKS IS ON FOX NEWS CHANNEL NOW - HANNITY & COLMES

Is This Victory? by Tommy Franks, Stephen Biddle, Peter Charles Choharis, John M. Owen IV, Daniel Pipes, Gary Rosen and Dov S. Zakheim 11.10.2006 The Meaning of Victory: A Conversation with General Franks How should victory be defined? What constitutes victory? I think that is a fundamental question, and it is good for each of us in this country to ask ourselves that from time to time. When we try to decide whether or not we’ve been victorious, we have to think, for just a second, what the term “victory” means. Victory means the accomplishment of objectives and goals that...

Financial regulators on both sides of the Atlantic may not be able to resolve policy disputes through co-operation and the creation of a global regulator should be considered, according to Barney Frank, the senior Democratic congressman.

MILWAUKEE - Those who count the increasing number of American soldiers killed in Iraq are missing the bigger picture, retired Gen. Tommy Franks said Saturday night. "What we're talking about is neither 2,400, 24,000 or 240,000 lives," Franks said at the National Rifle Association's annual banquet. "Terrorism is a thing that threatens our way of life. It doesn't have anything to do with politics." More than 2,400 soldiers have died since the beginning of the invasion of Iraq, the plan for which Franks developed and executed. He also oversaw combat in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. "I...

Former Gov. Christie Whitman believes the Republican Party is in deep trouble. The GOP, she says, is now where the Democrats were a dozen years ago in Washington when they lost control of the House for the first time in 40 years. President Bush's popularity is at a low ebb and several GOP leaders have been snared in ethics scandals. "We're at a critical point," she said. "We're starting to see polls that look just like the polls looked to Democrats in '94." From a converted hayloft of the barn on her family estate in Oldwick, Whitman works each day...

Tommy Franks Defends Dubai Ports Deal Former CENTCOM commanding general Tommy Franks said Wednesday that the Bush administration was right to approve a deal for a United Arab Emirates-based company to run six major U.S. ports. "We have more U.S. Navy ships using the port in Dubai, Jebel Ali, than any other port outside the United States," Franks told Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes." The former Iraq war commander explained U.S. reliance on the Dubai port facility by saying, "We know he difference between an enemy and a friend." "The Emirates is a friend," Franks aid. "That is the...

Clinton's Failures In his speech before the Freedom Alliance, Franks didn’t hold back criticism of the Clinton Administration, specifically for its failure to respond to terrorist attacks against Americans. Among the reasons he cited for the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon: The 1983 terrorist bombing in Beirut, Lebanon, which killed 220 Marines and 21 other U.S. service members; The first bombing of the World Trade Center in New York in 1993; The United States’ decision to leave Mogadishu, Somalia, in disgrace in 1993 following the deaths of 19 U.S. soldiers; The 1996 terrorist bombing of Khobar...

Charles Martel Born about 688; died at Quierzy on the Oise, 21 October, 741. He was the natural son of Pepin of Herstal and a woman named Alpaïde or Chalpaïde. Pepin, who died in 714, had outlived his two legitimate sons, Drogon and Grimoald, and to Theodoald, a son of the latter and then only six years old, fell the burdensome inheritance of the French monarchy. Charles, who was then twenty-six, was not excluded from the succession on account of his birth, Theodoald himself being the son of a concubine, but through the influence of Plectrude, Theodoald's grandmother, who wished...

N A SUSTAINED, century-long rampage that would have wowed Rommel, the Prophet Mohammed and his successors beginning in A.D. 629 conquered not only Arabia, Persia, Syria, Egypt, and North Africa, but also branded the crescent of Islam on lands formerly within the fold of a Christian Roman Empire then in ruins. In 709, Arab horsemen and their allies crossed the Strait of Gibraltar. Four short years later, Spain belonged to the Empire of the Prophet. In the summer of 732, the centennial of Mohammed's death, this veteran Islamic juggernaut, at least 80,000 strong with the skilled and popular general Abd...

The Battle of ToursOctober 10, 732 AD marks the conclusion of the Battle of Tours, arguably one of the most decisive battles in all of history. A Moslem army, in a crusading search for land and the end of Christianity, after the conquest of Syria, Egypt, and North Africa, began to invade Western Europe under the leadership of Abd-er Rahman, governor of Spain. Abd-er Rahman led an infantry of 60,000 to 400,000 soldiers across the Western Pyrenees and toward the Loire River, but they were met just outside the city of Tours by Charles Martel, known as the Hammer, and...

1,273 years ago today.

<p>I am heading down to the Rally site now, to help with setting up - which began at 5am today. I didn't know if someone would post a live thread later. My apologies if I have stepped on any toes.</p>

Senator Tommy Franks? Trails by 2 points! By: Trupolitik · Section: Diaries I have been urging General Franks to run for the US senate for months now. It appears I am not alone. According to the latest poll he is behind Democratic incumbent, Ben Nelson, by 2 points and he has not even announced his candidacy! His Admin continues to tell me that Gen. Franks is not seeking an elected office. I think we should convice him otherwise. What Red Stater would prefer Ben Nelson or Katherine Harris over America's General? Please let him know America needs him. [b]Email:[/b] http://www.tommyfranks.com/Contact.asp...

If anybody wondered why the sainted United Nations, France, Russia and Syria joined forces in trying to block the U.S. from ousting the brutal Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq the answer is now becoming clear; they feared exposure of the corruption into which they had dragged the now-infamous Oil for Food program. That program was meant to allow Saddam to sell a certain amount of oil outside of the bounds of the UN sanctions. The proceeds, handled by the UN, were to be used to buy food and medicine and other basic necessities for the Iraqi people, thus keeping the...

TODAY'S HIGHLIGHT: GWB awarded the nation's highest civilian honor -- the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- Ambassador L. Paul "Jerry" Bremer, former CIA Director George Tenet, and retired U.S. Army General Tommy Franks. QUOTE OF THE DAY: General Tommy Franks was raised in Midland, Texas -- nothing wrong with that. (Laughter.) I didn't know him then, but Laura and he went to the same high school. In those days, some people in Midland wondered about Tommy's future. It sounds familiar. (Laughter.) At a recent high school reunion, Tommy's old principal told the General, "You weren't the brightest bulb in the...

Bush has chosen retired Gen. Tommy Franks, who oversaw combat in Afghanistan and the initial invasion of Iraq, former CIA Director George Tenet and former Iraq administrator L. Paul Bremer to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The president will hand out the awards at a White House ceremony Dec. 14, press secretary Scott McClellan said.

Maybe this is someone who can do something about the Marine under investigation? General Tommy Franks Email: http://www.tommyfranks.com/About.asp

The Richmond Forum brought a true American Hero, General Tommy Franks, to Richmond, Va. on Saturday, November 13, 2004. Knowing that a group of socialist anarchists would be there to harass attendees, our local Political Action Team got into gear. FReepers, Protest Warriors and United Conservatives of VA joined ranks to rally for the General and our Troops. With American flags and signs of support, six of us stood in a line near the entrance and greeted people coming to the event. It was great to see so many veterans, some of them in wheelchairs, many wearing hats or jackets...

How goes the culture war? Posted: November 15, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2004 Creators Syndicate, Inc. Evangelical Christians and traditional Catholics who trooped to the polls in 11 states to reject the legalization of marriage between homosexuals are celebrating a great victory in America's culture war. And understandably so. With "moral values" the surprise issue in campaign 2004, the Red States and George Bush prevailed by 3.5 million votes. Onward Christian soldiers. Yet, within the West, in the ancient struggle for moral supremacy between secularism and Christianity, Christianity remains in retreat. Consider the moral condition of the cradle of...

A great American Hero is coming to Richmond, VA this weekend – GENERAL TOMMY FRANKS! He will be speaking at the Landmark Theatre on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2004. Soldiers in the Fort Lee Army Band will be performing. Thanks to OXENinFLA! Instead of a ticker tape parade, they will be met with a protest staged by Denizens of the Dark - the toxic tofu twits from Food Not Bombs who slander General Franks as a war criminal and worse. “The role he has played in u.s. military aggression, through illegal, unilateral, and pre-emptive war is a crime against humanity,“ they...

LOS ANGELES - Tommy Franks, the Army general who ran the liberation of Afghanistan from the Taliban, and the architect of the invasion of Iraq, wants people to vote their heart Tuesday. With election results in, then, "Let's go kill terrorists." Franks took the stage this week with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and both gave an audience of thousands an earful on their experiences alongside President George W. Bush, and their opinions about the war on terror. Into the weekend, both men were on the stump for Bush in battleground states such as Ohio. But in Southern California,...

With the United States Army deployed in a dozen hot spots around the world, on constant alert in Afghanistan, and taking casualties every day in Iraq, some current and former officers now say the army is on the verge of being "broken." They charge that the army is overstretched, demoralized, and may be unable to fight where and when the nation desires. This fall [October 26, 2004], FRONTLINE and the Washington Post join forces for an in-depth assessment of the state of the American army and the nation's military establishment. The program digs into the aggressive attempts to assert civilian...

Michael DeLong's memoir of his three years as deputy commander of Central Command (CentCom) is fascinating and frustrating. Fascinating, because CentCom ran the Afghanistan and Iraq campaigns, putting DeLong in the thick of events. Frustrating, because this memoir is too brief. Unlike Bob Woodward, who fires vast, ill-focused barrages, DeLong writes briskly and pointedly. DeLong firmly rejects that the Iraq war jeopardized the War on Terror. No resources were taken away from counterterrorism. Indeed, the United States began a major operation in Afghanistan on the same day it launched the liberation of Iraq. DeLong's argument is all the more compelling...

October 20, 2004 - General John Kerry During the debates, Kerry accused Bush of 'outsourcing' the hunt on Bin Laden to a group of crooked warlords who had been fighting for the other side a few days earlier. Kerry also accused Bush of taking his eye off the big target, Osama Bin Laden. Unfortunately Bush did not effectively fight back on either count, and in my opinion, that is why he lost the first debate. All of this brings up an interesting question, since when did John Kerry become a General? Kerry criticized Bush, but in reality, the target was...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan on Tuesday disputed Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's charge that the Bush administration let Osama bin Laden escape Afghanistan in 2001. "I was responsible for the operation at Tora Bora, and I can tell you that the senator's understanding of events doesn't square with reality," retired Army Gen. Tommy Franks wrote in a commentary published by The New York Times. The Kerry campaign took issue with the retired general's comments. "Franks is a patriot. But in his attempt to campaign for President (George W.) Bush, he's letting...

JOHN KERRY has repeatedly claimed that President Bush let Osama bin Laden slip through America’s fingers because the President “outsourced” the job of capturing him to Afghan warlords. In a New York Times op-ed yesterday, Gen. Tommy Franks, the general in charge of that operation, called Kerry’s charges “distortions of history.” (Viewing the article at the Times Website requires registration, which is free.) “We don’t know to this day whether Mr. bin Laden was at Tora Bora in December 2001,” Franks wrote. “Second, we did not ‘outsource’ military action. We did rely heavily on Afghans because they knew Tora Bora,...

As John Kerry tells it, Tora Bora is the place where President Bush let Osama bin Laden get away.... Well, that's not the way the battle's commanders remember it. The Afghanistan war was led by Gen. Tommy Franks, commander of U.S. Central Command, and his deputy, Lt. Gen. Michael "Rifle" DeLong.... To them, Mr. Kerry's version of the battle of Tora Bora is revisionist history. ...Gen. Franks, on the campaign... for George W. Bush,... said it's wrong to assume that bin Laden was hiding out in Tora Bora. Some intelligence reports put him there, he says, but others placed him...

RENO -- Retired Gen. Tommy Franks launched a four-state campaign swing for President Bush by criticizing Sen. John Kerry's anti-Vietnam War activities and voting record on the military. Franks, former commander of forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, faulted Kerry's votes on major weapons systems and intelligence issues, and against the 1991 Gulf War. "If his voting record ruled the day, Saddam Hussein would not only be running Iraq but Kuwait," Franks told about 200 people Sunday at a Reno rally. "The choice is very, very clear. We need decisive, strong, no-backing-down and no-equivocating leadership," he said. Franks praised the Democratic...

Information is from a Reno paper, from which we can't post articles, but I don't see how anyone can keep us from posting the information.

Speaking on the Sean Hannity, Ret. Gen. Tommy Franks said that Sen. Kerry (D-MA) lied when he say that President Bush took troops away from Afghanistan to fight in Iraq. He said that it was hard to "keep up" with Kerry's numerous positions on the war in the Iraq.

ARLINGTON, VA – Gen. Tommy Franks (Ret.) today issued the following statement on Senator Kerry's speech today on Iraq: "Senator Kerry's contradictions on Iraq are the wrong signal to send to our troops on the ground, to our coalition partners, to the Iraqi people and to the terrorists seeking our destruction. On the eve of Prime Minister Allawi's visit to the United States, Senator Kerry today said that America and the world are 'less secure' now that Saddam Hussein is out of power. "The American people disagree and last December, so did Senator Kerry. At the time he said that...

For more than 50 years, the road to the White House has almost always included a white-tie rest stop at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, a charity roast at the Waldorf-Astoria named for the nation's first Roman Catholic to be a major party's presidential nominee. Since the dinners were first given in 1945, the only presidents not to address them have been Harry S. Truman and Bill Clinton. But on Oct. 21 this year, when guests put on their tiaras and tails for one of the premier political roasts of the year, they will be treated not to...

WASHINGTON (AP) - A former Senate Intelligence Committee chairman asserted Sunday that the general who ran the war in Afghanistan said more than a year before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that his resources were being shifted in preparation for taking on Saddam Hussein. Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., contends that just months into combat in Afghanistan, Gen. Tommy Franks also told him that fighting terrorism in Somalia, Yemen and elsewhere should take priority over invading Iraq.Graham said Franks told him he thought the United States knew less about the situation in Iraq than did some European governments, and the Bush...

Hannity just hinted at a big announcement Tommy Franks would make on his show tomorrow......