Free Republic

Madison—Today Governor Walker announced he will not pursue the implementation of a health insurance exchange and has turned down Early Innovator Grant funding from the federal government. The Governor also will repeal the executive order that created the Office of Free Market Health Care. “I have directed the Department of Health Services to notify the federal government that we will discontinue any development on a health exchange and that Wisconsin will turn down funding from the Early Innovator Grant program,” said Governor Walker. “Stopping the encroachment of ObamaCare in our state, which has the potential to have a devastating impact...

Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder voted to send $2.5 million in state funds to a non-profit company he headed, giving the appearance of a conflict of interest, according to auditors. Missouri Auditor Tom Schweich’s office said today in a report that Kinder served as chairman of the board of Tour of Missouri, Inc., which promoted state-wide cycling races in 2008 and 2009. At the same time, auditors noted, Kinder served as chairman of the state’s Tourism Commission and voted for budgets that sent $2.5 million in state money to the corporation for the events. “The commission minutes do not indicate...

Sacramento-Gov. Jerry Brown has a new tax proposal to sell the Legislature: raise levies on some large out-of-state corporations in exchange for new sales-tax exemptions for companies who make products and hire people in California.Under a plan to be unveiled in Sacramento on Thursday, Brown will ask lawmakers to revert state sales tax formulas to the way they were computed before 2009. That would force many large companies that sell their goods in California, but do not employ many Californians, to pay more in sales taxes.The request was part of Brown's original budget plan that was rejected by lawmakers.

Last week, the Florida Education Association joined with other groups to file a lawsuit challenging the Florida Legislature's mandate regarding the pay of 655,000 teachers, law-enforcement officers, firefighters and other workers who serve the citizens of our state. We didn't take this action lightly, but we believed we had no other choice. When the Legislature mandated that active members of the Florida Retirement System must give up 3 percent of their salary as "contributions" to their retirement benefits, it impaired a contractual agreement with employees in violation of the Florida Constitution. The Florida Retirement System is set up as a...

You may have already read in today's paper that Gov. Jerry Brown is pretty worked up over criticism of his recent contract deal with the prison guards union - so worked up, in fact, that he called us personally to sound off about the issue. As the story noted, Brown has faced some pushback from Republicans, but the piece didn't include the fact that some of the harshest criticism has come from the fourth estate, most notably the Sacramento Bee. An editorial in that paper criticized specific provisions of the contract -

Sacramento - Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law billions of dollars in budget cuts Thursday that will mean fewer government services, particularly for the old, the poor and the sick. The governor signed the new laws to tackle $11.2 billion of the state's estimated $26-billion deficit (Snip) Assistance for the elderly and disabled, in their homes and at senior centers, will also be reduced. State-subsidized child care for 11- and 12-year-olds will be eliminated. Brown sought to use the "painful" cuts he signed to make his case that Republicans should support the plan to ask voters to pay more taxes

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is praising Republicans in the state Senate who have voted to strip nearly all collective bargaining rights from public workers. Republicans cast the quick vote Wednesday after discovering a way to bypass the chamber's missing Democrats. All 14 Senate Democrats fled to Illinois nearly three weeks ago, preventing the chamber from having enough members present to consider Gov. Scott Walker's so-called "budget repair bill" - a proposal introduced to plug a $137 million budget shortfall.

The US economic recovery was weaker than previously estimated at the end of last year, which could add to concern about its ability to withstand the impact of higher oil prices driven by turmoil in the Middle East. US gross domestic product increased at an annualised rate of 2.8 per cent in the fourth quarter, compared with an earlier government projection of 3.2 per cent growth. Economists had been expecting a small upward revision. The disappointment was partly due to a downward estimate of consumer spending, which rose by 4.1 per cent instead of 4.4 per cent for the quarter....

Despite brutal weather, today could be the biggest yet for protesters in Madison, as most union workers across the state have a furlough day today for the holiday, and they are reportedly going to be bused in from all around Wisconsin. Bitter rainy weather drove the people and protests inside Sunday, where for a sixth straight day demonstrators packed the Capitol rotunda, talking up unions - and talking trash about new Governor Scott Walker, reports CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers. He says taxpayers can no longer afford protracted contract battles with the state's powerful state worker unions

Barack Obama's State of the Union address sure sounded good, didn't it? There were lots of solemn promises, lots of stuff about America's "bright future" and a line about how we are now facing this generation's "Sputnik moment" that will surely make headlines all over the globe. But we all knew that Barack Obama could give a good speech. That has never been the issue. What the American people really need are some very real answers to some very real problems. So were there any real answers in Barack Obama's State of the Union address? Well, Barack Obama promised that...

Like fellow Republican governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina, New Mexico's new governor, Susana Martinez, is her state's first female chief executive. She is also the nation's first Latina governor, as Haley is the first woman governor in the United States of Indian descent.But Martinez is not new to public service, having been a prosecutor for nearly a quarter-century. Her full biography is here. Her husband, Chuck Franco, has also had a long career in law enforcement. See the couple's photo below greeting a little girl.

In 1995, Christie Whitman, a New Jersey governor who was a rising Republican Party star, delivered the GOP’s response to President Bill Clinton’s State of the Union address in front of a cheering crowd in the Assembly chamber. Once again, New Jersey has a rising Republican star in the Statehouse, and a Democratic president about to give a State of the Union address. But history won’t repeat itself this year — even though Republicans were interested in making that happen. William Palatucci, Gov. Chris Christie’s close personal and political confidante, told The Auditor that Republican leadership had inquired with the...

The law firm of Democratic gubernatorial nominee Vincent Sheheen earned hundreds of thousands of dollars working for and against state agencies in court over the past decade, according to public documents provided by the Comptroller General’s Office. The firm — Savage, Royall and Sheheen — has won cases against the state for discrimination, for a child’s fall and for a higher price for the owner of property the Transportation Department sought to expand a highway. Sheheen has also reported his firm has earned more than $756,000 in workers’ compensation fees since 2004 — cases decided by commissioners appointed by Sheheen’s...

Nathan Deal is a former GA Congressman. He won a close-fought GOP primary just weeks ago, but now is disclosing (reluctantly!) three financial problems at the same time he is trying to start his governor campaign. The combination of bad timing, bad finances, and bad data on the candidate's financial disclosure sheets may cost the Republicans the Georgia governor race. (He faces Roy Barnes - an NEA and union and minority favorite - who lost the governor race two elections before. Name recognition, if nothing else, is positive for Barnes, negative for "Deal" with this information.) His daughter's business failed,...

We've taken data from other federal reporting systems and compared it with the data found in USASpending.gov across three categories: Consistency, Completeness and Timeliness. How close are the reported dollar amounts to the yearly estimates? How many of the required fields are filled out in each record? And how long did it take the agency to report the money once it was allocated to a project? Check out our scorecard Years 2007, 2008, 2009 Website: How reliable is USAspending.gov?

It seems that the Obama administration is more interested in protecting Mexicans than Americans. Case in point; Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has eleven suspects accused of murdering law enforcement officers in his maximum security county jail in downtown Phoenix. As reported in the August 18 Washington Post, “Justice Department officials in Washington have issued a rare threat to sue (Arpaio) if he does not cooperate with their investigation of whether he discriminates against Hispanics.” “The standoff comes just weeks after the Justice Department sued Arizona and Gov. Jan Brewer because of the state’s new immigration law,” the Post noted....

Former Illinois Rep. Dan Rostenkowski has died, NBC News confirmed Wednesday. Rostenkowski died peacefully at his home in Wisconsin this morning, a close friend told WMAQ. He was 82. Rostenkowski served in Congress from 1959 to 1995 and wielded the gavel as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee for 11 years. A corruption scandal ended his 42-year career in public service. He pleaded guilty to charges of mail fraud in 1996 and spent 15 months in federal prison. In 2000, he was pardoned by President Bill Clinton in the final days of Clinton's presidency.

Clips of the debate earlier tonight

Wait, did Christie convert to Islam?… FYI: This pic is not Photoshopped.

Reuters is reporting new charges added by the prosecution against the Hutaree: The new 15-count indictment adds several weapons-related charges not contained in the previous indictment against the militia group. What kind of weapons? The new indictment adds 10 weapons charges including possession of machineguns and unregistered rifles and use of firearms during a violent crime. According to the new indictment federal agents seized from defendants' homes in March machineguns, unregistered short-barreled rifles and over 148,000 rounds of ammunition, as well as "a variety of explosives and related items capable of being readily assembled to build several types of destructive...

In launching a Web site aimed at educating the United States on Arizona's controversial illegal immigration law, Governor Jan Brewer (R-Ariz.) took umbrage with the president's joke at the recent White House Correspondents' Dinner. The event is an opportunity for its speakers to make light of politics, and President Barack Obama did so with Arizona's immigration law: "We all know what happens in Arizona when you don't have ID -- adios, amigos." It was this joke which became the target of Gov. Brewer's address regarding new steps the state government is taking to promote the law on a national level.

The three Republican candidates for governor clashed in a final televised debate Friday night, sharpening their differences as they jockeyed for advantage going into the March 2 primary campaign.VOTE FOR MEDINA IN MARCH 2ND 2010 PRIMARY FOR TEXAS GOVERNOR SHE IS FOR ELIMIINATION OF PROPERTY TAX AND GUN REGISTRATION

As I pointed out in December 2008, Nouriel Roubini wrote the month before that the government might buy U.S. stocks: The Fed (or Treasury) could even go as far as directly intervening in the stock market via direct purchases of equities as a way to boost falling equity prices. Some of such policy actions seem extreme but they were in the playbook that Governor Bernanke described in his 2002 speech on how to avoid deflation. Given that Roubini was previously a senior adviser to Tim Geithner, he probably knows what he's talking about. Now, Charles Biderman, CEO of TrimTabs, argues...

CHICAGO (AP) — Ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich says in a new book that White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel wanted his help in arranging to leave the Obama administration after two years to reclaim his seat in Congress. Blagojevich writes in "The Governor" that Emanuel spoke with him about whether it was possible to appoint a "placeholder" to the congressional seat Emanuel was giving up so that he could win back the seat in 2010 and continue his efforts to become speaker some day.

Bob McDonnell-Governor Huck PAC and Governor Huckabee are proud to endorse Bob McDonnell for Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Bob started his political career in Virginia in 1991 by serving in the House of Delegates. It was his first election victory and he has not lost since. Bob has served as Virginia’s Attorney General since 2006. Since taking office as Attorney General McDonnell has seen 83 of his 94 legislative proposals become law, most with overwhelming bipartisan support. To learn more about Bob McDonnell, please visit his web site http://www.bobmcdonnell.com Ken Cuccinelli - Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is the...

McGreevey tells wife: You'll get zilch from me BY ADAM NICHOLS DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Saturday, September 15th 2007, 4:00 AM Jim McGreevey yesterday accused his soon-to-be-ex wife of "greedily" grabbing at the perks of being New Jersey's First Lady - and refusing to give them back. In legal papers packed with snide and catty comments, the openly gay McGreevey told estranged wife Dina Matos McGreevey she can expect to get nothing from him. Matos McGreevey had asked him to pony up $4,000 a month in alimony to help her live a lavish lifestyle like his. "Her jealousy and contempt...

Governor Sebelius announced today that she appointed James Charles "Chuck" Droege(*see news items) to fill the seat of Judge Steve Leben, who Sebelius appointed to the Court of Appeals in April. Droege has donated $13,700 to the Kansas Democratic State Committee, and a number of Democratic candidates, including Govenor Sebelius and Attorney General Paul Morrison. The number and amounts of these donations show that Droege may be a Democratic Party partisan.We can only hope that as a District Judge, Droege protects society from sexual predators and child molesters more than he did as a defense attorney:"Jury says man is a...

GOP FL Gov Charlie Crist Gov. Charlie Crist invokes Robert F. Kennedy and channels Al Gore on global warming. He embraces paper trails for voting machines. Florida's most powerful Republican pays homage to the teachers union and speaks so passionately about civil rights that one legislator dubbed him "Florida's first black governor." What's a Democrat to do? "Gov. Crist is a political nightmare for the Democrats," said state Senate Democratic Leader Steve Geller. "How do we run against somebody who whenever we come up with a good idea, he goes, 'Hey that's a good idea, let's do that.' " State...

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews ran afoul of censors by using "the f-word” during a Wednesday appearance on the ‘Imus in the Morning’ show. Matthews, the fast-talking and brash host of the popular MSNBC show "Hardball,” was praising former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani’s 2008 candidacy when he went on a rant about "city guys” like Giuliani versus the "southerners,” such as President George W. Bush, who run for national office. Matthews: "We love good mayors because we love our cities and Giuliani is a city guy . . . I’m so sick of Southern guys with ranches running this country....

AUSTIN - Can the four major candidates for Texas governor debate each other for an hour on live television without being seen or heard? Probably not, but Belo Corp., sponsor of the only such gubernatorial showdown this fall, will test that possibility Friday night, both with its restrictive distribution rules and the time slot. Originating in Dallas, the debate will be carried live on the company's WFAA flagship; Belo affiliates in Houston (KHOU-Channel 11), San Antonio and Austin; Belo's Texas Cable News (TXCN) and will be streamed live on their Web sites. TV stations in smaller towns outside Belo markets...

Former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey's gay sex life blossomed as an eighth-grader and continued with trysts in seedy Times Square sex shops and at an abandoned synagogue in Washington, D.C., he reveals in his new memoir. The disgraced pol also admits that as governor, he presided over a corrupt political machine at a time when he had only $7,000 to his name, according to a copy of the book obtained by The Post. The tell-all is filled with sex - including his first hookup as a teen with a "cute, blond, skinny" schoolmate he'd fantasized about.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - New Jersey's casinos ushered the last of the gamblers away from slot machines and tables Wednesday, and janitors locked the doors behind them as a state government shutdown claimed its latest victims. In the first mass closure in the 28-year history of Atlantic City's legalized gambling trade, all 12 casinos were dark. Gov. Jon S. Corzine addressed the Legislature at the Statehouse Wednesday morning, defending his position as a stalemate over the state budget entered its fifth day with no deal in sight. Corzine wants to raise the state sale tax from 6 percent to 7...

N.J. Gov. tells lawmakers to end shutdownBy TOM HESTER Jr., Associated Press Writer 1 minute ago New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine speaks to the media at the New Jersey Statehouse Monday, July 3, 2006, in Trenton, N.J. about the state's ongoing budget impasse. Corzine said state lawmakers must report to the Statehouse on the July Fourth holiday and stay there until they adopt a budget.(AP Photo/Mel Evans) TRENTON, N.J. - Gov. Jon S. Corzine hauled lawmakers in to work on the July Fourth holiday, imploring them to end a budget standoff that has shut down many government services, while...

Data on illegal immigrants kept secret 2 agencies cite privacy in denying info to prosecutors Two federal agencies are refusing to turn over a mountain of evidence that investigators could use to indict the nation's burgeoning work force of illegal immigrants and the firms that employ them. The Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration routinely collect strong evidence of potential workplace crimes, including names and addresses of millions of people who are using bogus Social Security numbers, their wage records, and the identities of the bosses who knowingly hire them. But they keep those facts secret. The two...

PHOENIX - Siding with public sentiment over prosecutors, Gov. Janet Napolitano signed legislation Monday to make it easier for those who kill others to claim self-defense. The action on SB 1145 came despite a plea from the association that represents prosecutors from around the state who urged her to reject the measure because of provisions that would put new requirements on them to convict those who say they had no choice but to shoot another person. But gubernatorial press aide Jeanine L'Ecuyer said Napolitano received more than 1,200 e-mail messages in the last 24 hours urging her to sign the...

HOUSTON -- Counties that were saddled with chaos and traffic-choked highways before Hurricane Rita are defying an order from Gov. Rick Perry to empower one person to make evacuation decisions during a disaster. Instead, a group of elected Gulf Coast leaders adopted a different plan Tuesday that puts the authority in the hands of a 15-person committee _ even though the ultimate power to evacuate still rests with individual counties.

Gov. Orders Better Storm-Evacuation Plan Wednesday March 22, 2006 12:01 AM By LIZ AUSTIN Associated Press Writer AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Gov. Rick Perry ordered state officials Tuesday to develop an improved hurricane-evacuation plan, including devising a way to open major highways to one-way outbound traffic if a storm approaches Texas. The reforms were meant to prevent another chaotic evacuation like the one that preceded Hurricane Rita last September, when about 60 people died while fleeing the storm and many motorists became stuck in heavy traffic. ``Our goal is to learn from the lessons that Hurricane Rita taught us and...

Dems shadow Steele at public eventsGOP complains about Democratic researcher at non-campaign appearances; Lierman says so what? Friday, March 17, 2006 by Thomas Dennison Staff Writer Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele’s run for U.S. Senate has been attracting attention from friends and foes alike. Gazette file photoANNAPOLIS — For the past several weeks, the Maryland Democratic Party has dispatched a researcher to record, photograph and shadow Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate, at his public events around the state. The researcher, Jennifer Sconyers, has attended several events, ranging from a career day at Crossland High School...

State wants more control of levee boards Jeremy Alford Daily Comet Capitol Correspondent October 28. 2005 12:00AM New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin testifies as Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco (on screen) listens via video teleconference in front of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure joint hearing on rebuilding New Orleans while on Capitol Hill in Washington, October 18, 2005. REUTERS/Larry Downing BATON ROUGE — Administrative officials are expected to push a set of proposals during the special session that convenes next Sunday to grant the state greater oversight of local levee boards. Gov. Kathleen Blanco announced her intentions this week as...

La. Gov. Blamed for Slow Removal of Bodies By LARA JAKES JORDAN Associated Press Writer Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu, left, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, background center, and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco leave a meeting where they addressed the immediate, post-hurricane priorities for the New Orleans hospitality industry, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2005, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Cheryl Gerber) WASHINGTON — Bodies of people killed by Hurricane Katrina went uncollected for more than a week in the New Orleans area as the federal government waited for Louisiana's governor to decide what to do with them, according to memos released Thursday...

Sen. John McCain joins Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to endorse California ballot measures. Photo Credit: By Jim Ruymen -- Reuters

Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld drew first blood Thursday against 2006 governor's race front-runner Eliot Spitzer, claiming the Democrat's public persona is based on the power of intimidation... Spitzer "has a marvelous public persona right now, based 100 percent on terror power, the power of ruination," said Weld, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor in New York.

Kathleen Babineaux Blanco On January 12, 2004, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco became the first woman to serve as governor of Louisiana. In her long, distinguished career, Governor Blanco has served the people with a vision of creating a new Louisiana, filled with hope and opportunity for all citizens. As Governor, her top priorities include: providing affordable, accessible healthcare, improving the state’s education system, and creating a strong and vibrant economy. In her inaugural address, Governor Blanco outlined her priorities as governor: “We face important challenges in this new century: expanding our economy and creating quality jobs; building an effective health care...

“I’m very proud of Keysha and all our students and teachers who are working hard at school,” Governor Bush said. “Keysha is an excellent student, an avid reader, and a great person. With the help of countless parents, teachers and administrators we are making it possible for all students to not only dream the biggest possible dreams but also achieve them, like Keysha did.” Governor Jeb Bush today met a fourth grader from rural north-central Florida who scored in the top five percent of all Florida fourth graders on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. According to her parents, Keysha Horn...

WASHINGTON — Free speech advocates are frustrated with a host of American companies they say have been collaborating with oppressive regimes in countries like China, Iran and Saudi Arabia, to help them filter and monitor the Internet activity of their citizens. Big technology names like Microsoft, Yahoo! and Cisco have been criticized roundly in recent years for providing foreign governments with the tools they need to crack down on Internet use, but critics say they have not been able to do much more than complain. "These companies' lack of ethics is extremely worrisome," said Lucie Morillon, the Washington representative of...

<p>It's become clear that Virginia's gubernatorial election between former Attorney General Jerry Kilgore and Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine will not be the only state race between a conservative Republican and a liberal Democrat this year.</p> <p>Virginia Republicans should be delighted by the news that Leslie Byrne, a liberal politician who previously served in the House of Delegates, the state Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, won the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor this month with approximately 35 percent of the vote.</p>

A Tale of Two Governors & Executive Powers: Gov. Blagojevich and Gov. Bush By Ruben Obregon On Friday Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojefich issued an excutive order which requires drug stores to dispense prescribed emergency contraceptives. "No hassles, no lecture, just fill the prescription," Blagojevich said. The emergency order, which remains in place, is an example of the discretionary authority which a Governor has. How come this minion of the culture of death had the courage and will to exercise his executive power and Gov. Bush didn’t? Why did Gov. Bush claim his hands were tied, when he had the power...

Ousted Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore said Friday he is considering running for governor in 2006. "I'll be praying about it and considering it," told reporters. Moore was ousted in November 2003 for defying a federal judge's order to remove his 5,280-pound Ten Commandments monument from public display in the state judicial building. He appealed his ouster to the U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites), but lost. If Moore were to run as a Republican, he could face a GOP primary battle with Gov. Bob Riley, who has not yet said whether he will seek a second...

SOURCES: NY GOV PATAKI WORKS BEHIND SCENES TO BE CONSIDERED HOMELAND SECURITY SEC ... DEVELOPING...

In a season typified by lawsuits against manger scenes, crosses and even the words "Merry Christmas," a California case is taking the "separation of church and state" one step further – dealing with whether it's unconstitutional to read the Declaration of Independence in public school. Attorneys for the Alliance Defense Fund filed suit Monday against the Cupertino Union School District for prohibiting a teacher from providing supplemental handouts to students about American history because the historical documents contain some references to God and religion. "Throwing aside all common sense, the district has chosen to censor men such as George Washington...