Free Republic

What's green and blue and grabby all over? President Obama's new pressure campaign for Congress to ratify the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST). The fight over LOST goes back three decades, when it was first rejected by President Ronald Reagan. He warned that "no national interest of the United States could justify handing sovereign control of two-thirds of the Earth's surface over to the Third World." According to top Reagan officials William Clark and Ed Meese, their boss believed the "central, and abiding, defect" was "its effort to promote global government at the expense of sovereign nation states --...

Climategate, the 2009 exposure of misconduct at the University of East Anglia, was a terrible blow to the reputation of climatology, and indeed to that of British and American science. Although that story hasn’t been in the news in recent months, new evidence of similar scientific wrongdoing continues to emerge, with a new scandal hitting the climate blogosphere just a few days ago.And central to the newest story is one of the Climategate scientists: Keith Briffa, an expert in reconstructing historical temperature records from tree rings. More particularly, the recent scandal involves a tree-ring record Briffa prepared for a...

<p>One of President Barack Obama’s top campaign spokesmen is a private equity manager whose firm has shut down several factories and laid off hundreds of people amid a stalled economy.</p> <p>Federico Pena’s role at Vestar Capital Partners has emerged as Obama’s aides and deputies continue their effort to portray former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney‘s investment career as ruthless, job-destroying, profit-maximizing “vulture capitalism.” Pena has been a partner at Vestar since 2000.</p>

Republicans in Congress better wake up and start freezing some of their own targets against the left if they hope to see a GOP victory in November. The level of corruption, from murdered federal agents to looting taxpayer monies got green companies like Solyndra to the war on religion should be enough to have our elected representatives up in arms. Yet, there are still legislators who remain squeamish in the face of our constitutional republic's impending demise. Sarah Palin got it right on Monday while on Fox News' "Hannity." "This phony, hypocritical, one-sided call for a cease-fire by the left...

WASHINGTON (CBSDC) – With the use of domestic drones increasing, concern has not just come up over privacy issues, but also over the potential use of lethal force by the unmanned aircraft. Drones have been used overseas to target and kill high-level terror leaders and are also being used along the U.S.-Mexico border in the battle against illegal immigration. But now, these drones are starting to be used domestically at an increasing rate. The Federal Aviation Administration has allowed several police departments to use drones across the U.S. They are controlled from a remote location and use infrared sensors and...

The 65 page indictment unsealed Wednesday outlines a massive conspiracy to defraud employees, IHOP corporate, investors, the Internal Revenue Service and federal, state and local law enforcement. Background Prior to 2003, Tarek Elkafrawi owned and operated two IHOP franchises; one in Decatur, Illinois and the other in Evansville, Indiana. During his time in Decatur, the indictment alleges, Elkafrowi began a social friendship with Autumn Lee Tangas, an employee of IHOP Corporate in Decatur. Between 2003 and 2006 Elkafrawi purchased, either entirely or in partnership with other investors, 6 other IHOP franchises. Those stores are located in Toledo (2), Holland, Findlay,...

A bill that would close an IRS tax credit loophole that allows the IRS to funnel over $4 billion to illegal immigrants is being held up by Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV). Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, has been vocal in his disdain for the blatant misuse of taxpayer monies: I’m disappointed that the Majority Leader objected to our effort today to prevent billions in tax credits from being wrongly sent to illegal immigrants claiming they have dependents, many of whom do not live in...

One of the showcase companies of the green energy movement propped up by the federal stimulus questioned in recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission whether it can survive with its mounting debt and problems with defective batteries. Yet, even with its struggles, its top executives were awarded sweetened severance packages that would give them an extra six-figures in payout if they lose their jobs. A123 Systems, which opened a Livonia lithium-ion battery plant that is to supply electric cars, has an accumulated deficit of $774 million, according to SEC filings, and stated in its quarterly report that its...

The news is that the Click it or Ticket stepped up enforcement is started on Monday. Even if you are wearing your seatbelt, that isn't any protection against a ticket. Police can now stop you for no other reason than they say you weren't wearing it. This is the ultimate revenue generator. On Twitter, the propaganda is in full swing @NHTSAgov #ClickItorTicket

Lapdog AP reporter Jordy Yager writes: Rep. Issa might not have the votes to push forward Holder contempt charge> Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) might not have the votes in his own committee to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress. A number of Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee are wary of moving forward with Issa’s proposed measure, putting the powerful chairman in an awkward position as he attempts to build support for the move. . . Two of the committee’s 23 Republicans have declined to support the measure at this point, while five other...

JACKSON, MS (WLBT) - The owners of a Ridgeland irrigation company pled guilty to harboring illegal aliens this morning. The U.S. attorney's office says Paul and Barbara Love, owners of Love Irrigation, were charged with improper use of social security numbers and hiding the fact they hired illegal workers from immigration agents. As part of a plea agreement the couple has said they will pay a fine of $515,000.00. They could also face up to ten years in prison. Sentencing has been set for August 2nd. Tuesday, Barbara Love, the majority owner of the company, is expected to plea guilty,...

Remember the Coffee Party or No Labels? You don't? Both those movements quickly disappeared from the scene shortly after being heavily hyped in the mainstream media so you can be forgiven their absence from your memories. And now the latest liberal fad, Occupy Wall Street, seems to be fading fast as well. This is the claim made by liberal Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart in this obituary: The massive protests over the weekend in Chicago during the NATO summit have folks wondering if that marked a resurgence of the Occupy Wall Street movement. But I have to tell you, if...

In the White House pecking order, Jarrett has more clout than the president’s chief of staff. During the savage internecine warfare between Jarrett and Obama’s first two chiefs of staff — Rahm Emanuel and Bill Daley — Obama sided most of the time with Jarrett, a classic limousine liberal who believes that Obama was elected president in order to engineer social change. Ultimately, Jarrett emasculated Emanuel and Daley and forced them from their jobs. She has also been responsible for much of the incompetence and amateurism that have been the hallmarks of Obama’s time in office. Indeed, Jarrett has been...

Ever since the Democrats passed ObamaCare "so we could find out what's in it," Americans have overwhelmingly said they didn't like the new law.  Now, the Obama Administration is spending $20 million of taxpayer money on a new public relations campaign to try to sell us, yet again, on this unprecedented intrusion into our lives by legislation that 72% of Americans believe violates the Constitution.The new public relations campaign "will inform the American people about the many preventative benefits" of ObamaCare according to the White House spin machine.   Porter-Novelli, one of the planet's glitziest consumer marketing firms, has been awarded the...

CHICAGO — A federal judge has sentenced a Chicago man to three years in prison for a nearly half-million dollar fraud scheme involving the Illinois Department of Employment Insurance. Federal officials say 34-year-old Robert Cisneros was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to mail fraud in January. Prosecutors say because of Cisneros the department paid the insurance money to about 57 ineligible claimants who weren't legally allowed to work in the U.S. Cisneros also was ordered to pay restitution to the department. Department Director Jay Rowell says "every resident of Illinois" is harmed by insurance fraud. He says his department worked...

The Violence Policy Center released a report today that analyzed and compared firearm and motor vehicle related deaths for the year 2009 on a state-by-state basis. They found that in ten states firearm related deaths outnumbered deaths caused by motor vehicles. These states are Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, and Washington VPC Legislative Director Kristen Rand states, “Americans are reaping the benefits of smart safety regulation of motor vehicles. The idea that gun deaths exceed motor vehicle deaths in 10 states is stunning when one considers that 90 percent of American households own a car while...

Apparently, my previous article on the famous "Situation Room" photo tapped a nationwide nerve. The response ranged from some eye-opening tips on other photos to a few perplexed criticisms as to the motivation for Photoshopping a Situation Room photo. The answer to that latter question can be summed up in one simple thought: To hide the truth. Obama was out golfing while the OBL mission was unfolding, and the administration needed the Situation Room photo op for public perception -- to give the illusion that he's presidential. Obama's entire "Composite Presidency" and administration are orchestrated in this fashion. Not...

By Las Vegas standards, the night was young when two men entered the Bellagio at 10:45 Saturday and made a beeline for the table games. The two weren’t there for traditional gambling, though. Armed with pepper spray and disguised by wigs and sunglasses, the men made a bold bid to grab and make off with more than $100,000 worth of casino chips, according to a Metro Police arrest report released Monday. Bellagio employees foiled the robbery and captured 24-year-old Michael Quinn Belton, of Nuevo, Calif., police said. His alleged accomplice ran from the casino and remained at large Monday. The...

Taxpayers in Arizona spend $125 million each school year funding more than 13,000 students who don’t exist at public schools. That’s because the state school system uses an antique budget approach that causes taxpayers to overpay, says a new report, “Ghost Busters: How to Save $125 Million a Year in Arizona’s Education Budget,” by Goldwater Institute education director Jonathan Butcher. The system pays for some students twice, Butcher says. Here’s how it happens. Arizona schools are funded based on the number of students who attend each school in the prior school year, Butcher’s report says. However, when a student transfers...

In a major development in his probe of Barack Obama’s eligibility for Arizona’s 2012 presidential ballot, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has dispatched his lead Cold Case Posse investigator and a deputy detective to Hawaii. The mission to Obama’s purported birthplace comes as the Hawaii Department of Health continues to resist efforts by Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett to verify that the Honolulu agency has a valid birth certificate on file for Obama.