Free Republic

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Ask Joshua Thevenin — who since last month has been a newspaper salesman, fireworks vendor and tele-marketer — what he thinks about assertions the economy is roaring toward recovery and you'll get a sigh and a shake of his head. "I don't see it. If it is, I don't know where," he said. Lately, everyone from economists to President Barack Obama himself are bullish on the economy. Labor Department statistics this month showed that a healthy month of hiring in December capped the best year for U.S. job growth since 1999, with nearly 3 million...

As we observe the sad forty-second anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that overturned all state laws banning abortions and effectively served as a judicial death warrant for tens of millions of innocents, I think it is appropriate to pay tribute to the two dissenting Justices, Byron White, a Democrat, and William Rehnquist, a Republican. Here are the texts of their dissents: MR. JUSTICE WHITE, with whom MR. JUSTICE REHNQUIST joins, dissenting. At the heart of the controversy in these cases are those recurring pregnancies that pose no danger whatsoever to the life or health of the...

Subheadline: Chinese hackers pillaged U.S. defense, contractor networks for critical data China obtained more than 50 terabytes of data from U.S. defense and government networks, notably the Joint Strike Fighter’s stealth radar and engine secrets, through cyber espionage, according to newly disclosed National Security Agency documents. A NSA briefing slide labeled “Top Secret” and headlined “Chinese Exfiltrate Sensitive Military Data,” states that the Chinese have stolen a massive amount of data from U.S. government and private contractors. The document was made public by the German magazine Der Spiegel in a two articles detailing how NSA in the mid-2000s was capable...

Hillary Rodham Clinton holds double-digit leads over potential Republican challengers Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney as the likely Democratic presidential candidate moves closer to entering the 2016 race, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds. Although Clinton, Bush and Romney are all longtime politicians and members of political dynasties, registered voters are less likely to count that familiarity against Clinton. That is a good sign for Clinton, a failed 2008 presidential candidate and the focus of Republican criticism that her time has come and gone. Clinton’s potential to make history as the first female U.S. president makes little difference to...

DENVER (AP) — Democrats who pushed to get driver’s licenses for Colorado immigrants regardless of their legal status are outraged over a Republican vote to block access to funds for the program. The issue is a reminder to Democrats of the power they lost in November when Republicans took control of the Senate for the first time in 10 years, and sets up what could be a contentious budget-writing process. The measure allowing driver’s licenses for immigrants in the country illegally passed in 2013 and it was signed by Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper when his party controlled both legislative chambers....

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Demonstrations are planned outside the West Virginia House of Delegates on Thursday in opposition to a House bill that prohibits abortions after 20 weeks. West Virginia Freedom for Reproduction Education and Equality (WV Free) and the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia are conducting the rally that begins at noon, according to an advisory from the organizers. The groups said they are protesting House Bill 2153. Organizers of the event said the 20-week abortion ban is a ” more extreme version of a similar bill passed last year by both chambers that was vetoed by Governor...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK) Police wanted to arrest former NBC “Meet the Press” host David Gregory for showing an illegal high-capacity gun magazine in a TV showdown with NRA chief Wayne LaPierre, according to newly uncovered documents. A Washington Metropolitan Police Department detective said in the documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by Judicial Watch and Legalinsurrection.com said there was ample evidence to charge the host, since fired and replaced by Chuck Todd. In an affidavit, the investigator wrote that “there is probable cause that the offense of possessing a ‘high-capacity’ magazine was committed in the District of Columbia. Therefore your...

President Barack Obama issued a statement today celebrating the 41-year-old Roe v. Wade decision that allowed for virtually unlimited abortions. In a written statement that celebrated killing little boys and girls in abortions as giving “our daughters rights and freedoms” The United States marks 42 years of legalized abortion in all fifty states at any time for any reason throughout pregnancy on January 22nd, the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision. Since that time, there have been approximately 57,762,169 abortions that have destroyed the lives of unborn children. Hundreds of thousands of pro-life people today participated in...

Democratic partisans are probably concerned at what might happen if the Republicans get over and get past their anti-gay history (though they'll never actually admit it). (SNIP) Actually, the message from NOM is that—given the Republican control of the House of Representative (and there's no chance of that changing in this election)—voting DeMaio and Tisei into office rather than pro-gay heterosexual Democrats is worse because the Republicans actually will have power. Here's what NOM is saying when it encourages voters to select traditional progressive Moulton over business-friendly moderate Republican Tisei: The Republican party states clearly in its platform that marriage...

As pro-life members of Congress gathered at the Susan B. Anthony reception last night on the eve of the March For Life, they were faced with the implosion of their legislation attempting to ban abortions after 20 weeks of a pregnancy. That put many of them in an awkward situation as prominent pro-life leaders came to town for a number of events in Washington D.C. The legislation was scheduled to pass the House of Representatives in time for members to trumpet the pro-life victory as the product of a Republican congress with an expanded majority at the March for Life....

President Barack Obama will not meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the latter's controversial March 3 visit to Washington, the White House announced Thursday, saying a meeting could be perceived as an attempt by the administration to influence Israel's March 17 elections. "The president will not be meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu because of the proximity to the Israeli election, which is just two weeks after his planned address to the U.S. Congress," National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said in a emailed statement. “As a matter of long-standing practice and principle, we do not see heads of...

(CNN) —Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud has died, according to an announcement on Saudi state TV. He was 90. The next king will be Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz, state television reported. The announcement of his death comes several weeks after the state-run Saudi Press Agency said Abdullah was suffering from pneumonia and had been admitted to the hospital....

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who bent state government to his will for more than 20 years as one of New York's most powerful and canny politicians, was arrested Thursday on charges of taking nearly $4 million in payoffs and kickbacks. The 70-year-old Democrat was taken into custody by the FBI on federal conspiracy and bribery charges that carry up to 100 years in prison and could cost him his political seat. He was released on $200,000 bail.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102292477

Seven months after federal officials fired CGI Federal for its botched work on Obamacare website Healthcare.gov, the IRS awarded the same company a $4.5 million IT contract for its new Obamacare tax program. CGI is a $10.5 billion Montreal-based company that has forever been etched into the public’s mind as the company behind the bungled Obamacare main website. After facing a year of embarrassing failures, federal officials finally pulled the plug on the company and terminated CGI’s contract in January 2014. Yet on Aug. 11, seven months later, IRS officials signed a new contract with CGI to provide “critical functions”...

A top EU official wants internet and telecommunication companies to hand over encryption keys to police and spy agencies as part of a wider crackdown on terrorism. The EU’s counter-terrorism coordinator, Gilles de Kerchove, in a document leaked by London-based civil liberties group Statewatch, says the European Commission should come up with rules that require the firms to help national governments snoop on possible suspects. “Since the Snowden revelations, internet and telecommunications companies have started to use often decentralized encryption, which increasingly makes lawful interception by the relevant national authorities technically difficult or even impossible,” notes de Kerchove in the...

The European Central Bank will plough €1.1 trillion into the eurozone economy in a last-ditch attempt to breathe life into the European economy. At its monthly governing council on Thursday (January 22), the bank’s governing council agreed to start buying up to €60 billion of government bonds from March in an unprecedented quantitative easing program. The program is open-ended, and will run until September 2016 at the earliest. Speaking at a press conference following the governing council meeting, ECB president Mario Draghi said that the bond-buying program would remain in place “until we see a sustained adjustment in the path...

"In January 2013, Lake Michigan hit its lowest water mark ever. Just two years later, the big lake has seen what some are calling an unparalleled turnaround. “We’re up almost two feet from there. Last fall, we had an unprecedented event where lake levels continued to rise through the fall. It has not rebounded this quickly I think in any recorded history that we have,” said Chris Schropp of the U.S Army Corps of Engineers."

Today marks the 42nd anniversary of the Supreme Court legalizing abortion on demand throughout pregnancy. The pro-life movement commemorates this day with marches, worship services and lobbying for bills to protect unborn children. Pro-lifers were promised by the Republican leaders they just helped elect and re-elect that the House of Representatives would pass a bill today banning most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, a point after which infants can feel pain and survive if born prematurely. The legislation has been passed by the House in the previous Congress and is extremely popular in national polling. “One of the clearest...

When Sen. Jeff Sessions stepped aside to make way for Wyoming's Mike Enzi to lead the Budget Committee, many wondered if there were bigger plans ahead for Alabama's junior senator. It appears there is Sen. Sessions is set to take over the Senate panel that oversees immigration, reports indicate. The move was first reported in Politico and while the senator's office can't confirm the move ahead of the official announcement, the change is a perfect fit for Sessions who has emerged as the leading opponent of the White House's immigration plans. Sessions is set to take over chairmanship of the...