Free Republic

If you've been elected to something somewhere in California, you're probably writing a wish list for President-elect Barack Obama. With the inauguration about nine weeks away, Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster is seeking $111 million to replace 28 miles of storm drains. State Sen. Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) is talking up $321 million for sewage-treatment plants and clean-water facilities. Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl wants a light-rail line to Los Angeles International Airport. And money for homeless veterans. And did he mention universal healthcare? "The sooner he focuses on healthcare, the better," said Rosendahl, who represents coastal neighborhoods such as...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former American International Group Inc (AIG.N) Chief Executive Maurice "Hank" Greenberg said on Tuesday the U.S. government support for the giant insurer will have to continue until the hobbled company is back on its feet.

For the nation's labor union leaders, it's time to cash in. Having mobilized an army of workers to help elect Barack Obama, top union officials have not been shy about their plans to push a legislative wish list blocked under President Bush, and they say they will not wait. On the other hand, business leaders have not been shy about warning the president-elect against such early moves. "American workers turned out for the election. American voters voted for Barack Obama. And American workers won this election," Anna Burger, chairman of Change to Win, an activist coalition of unions including the...

Pack away that "Drill, Baby, Drill" T-shirt with the old disco clothes. While President-elect Barack Obama said in his victory speech Tuesday that some of the changes he promised will take time, New Jersey Democrats expect a lot to happen quickly. Within days of inauguration, the new administration might reverse policies on offshore drilling, chemical plant security, stem-cell research and children’s health care — issues that have bedeviled New Jersey Democrats during the Bush years. Even before the inauguration, change appears to be happening. WHAT NJ WANTSWish list for our sharePresident Bush indicated Wednesday he is open to discussing another...

Last week, as federal regulators seized Washington Mutual in the largest U.S. banking failure, Congress was grappling with whether to spend $700 billion of public money to fix the financial industry's troubles. Lawmakers' initial reaction to the Treasury Department's staggering request: shock. That sum amounts to about a quarter of the U.S. government's annual spending. It's more than the Pentagon's annual budget, more than the nation pays out each year in Social Security benefits and more than the federal government's cost for Medicare and Medicaid. Members of Congress then asked the questions that continue to be on many Americans' minds:...

BOCA RATON — A crowd of more than 500 people waiting for hours this morning for housing voucher applications were dispersed by police in riot gear at the Boca Raton Housing Authority when the applications ran out sooner than expected. The action prompted complaints that officers used excessive tactics and housing authority officials were incompetent in their planning. Two people were arrested and six to eight people hospitalized for exhaustion during the ordeal. Hundreds of people, mostly mothers who had spent more than eight hours in line, were forced to leave the property at 2333 W. Glades Road by 30...

With Tuesday's record-setting turnout, California Hispanics for the first time performed as well as any other racial group in a statewide election. The outpouring was especially strong on the Democratic side, with Hispanics accounting for 30 percent of Tuesday's presidential primary vote. Hispanic Democrats nearly doubled their percentage from the 2000 and 2004 primaries. And they matched their percentage among California adults, suggesting the state's fast-growing Hispanic population is finally being reflected at the polls. Analysts cited a variety of possible reasons for the uptick in Hispanic voting, from the voter registration drives that developed from the 2006 immigration protests...

A monstrous week! From Cloverfield to monster primary campaigns, not to mention the monstrous problem with the economy. The scariest thing isn’t that the economy’s sick … it’s that the government’s playing doctor! Uncle Jay explains the government’s “stimulus” plan to make our economy as secure as our borders. http://www.unclejayexplains.com/

<p>WASHINGTON — House Democratic and Republican leaders are looking for imminent agreement with the White House on an emergency package to jolt the economy out of its slump after negotiators on all sides made significant concessions at a late-night bargaining session.</p>

The number of Washington residents living in poverty is up sharply since 2001, with increases in every county except Garfield, according to new figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. The agency reported this week that 12 percent of the people in the state were living in poverty in 2005, the latest year for which figures are available. In 2001, just 9.9 percent of the state's population was in poverty.~snip~ The largest county, King, had the largest number of poor people at 167,720 in 2005. That amounted to 9.6 percent of the population, up from 7.5 percent in 2001.

In his latest attack on the free market and what appears to be a calculated political move to appeal to Michigan voters, John McCain wants to create a new welfare program for manufacturing workers. According to the Detroit Free Press, Senator McCain announced yesterday a plan to use federal dollars to make up the salary difference for workers who lose manufacturing jobs and are forced to accept lower-paying jobs until they find new careers. This is exactly the kind of plan you expect to hear from the Democratic candidates, not an alleged economic conservative, The government should not be in...

paritial excerpt: "Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program , to be administered by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, to provide, upon appropriation by the Legislature, competitive grants , loans, loan guarantees, and revolving loans to public agencies, California-based businesses and projects, public-private partnerships, vehicle and technology consortia, workforce training partnerships, fleet owners, consumers, recreational boaters, and academic institutions to develop and deploy innovative technologies that will transform California's fuel and vehicle types to help attain the state's climate change policies"

Try this experiment. Put a bird feeder in your yard and fill it with bird seed. It doesn't take long before the birds learn that a free meal is in the offing. They come by the hundreds. Now, empty the feeder. What happens? No more birds. Take away the free medical care. Take away the free schooling. Take away the free welfare. Take away the jobs. What happens? No more illegals. WOW!! What a simple solution! No need for a border fence at the cost of hundreds of millions of tax dollars. Do you think this could work? Duuhhhhh...!

Americans are worried about the economy and believe that a recession is looming, but their faith in real estate remains fierce, according to a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll. ... [SNIP] ... The poll respondents narrowly favored government aid for low-income buyers facing foreclosure, 50% to 41%. Black respondents were strongly in favor, 85% to 12%. The rising tide of foreclosure is expected to hit African Americans especially hard, and civil rights leaders have urged government intervention. David Poulnot, an insurance agent in Charleston, S.C., is not an advocate of aid. Many people may be just one misfortune from disaster, he...

One in five young people rely on handouts By Amy Iggulden Last Updated: 12:47am BST 10/04/2007 A "lost generation" of unemployed young people is costing the economy billions of pounds a year in benefits, youth crime and educational under-achievement, a major report discloses today. The first large-scale study of its kind also shows that the population of "Neets" - people not in education, employment or training - is more than double that of Germany and France and is still growing. Roughly one in five young people faces a lifetime on government handouts, under-achieving in education and runs the risk of...

Kent Conrad's Web site proclaims that the North Dakota Democrat "has been a leading voice for fiscal responsibility" in Washington... ...$4.9 billion, which is the amount of emergency drought relief the parsimonious Mr. Conrad is attempting to shovel into a Senate military construction bill in this week's lame duck session. If this is the sort of "fiscal discipline" we can expect from the new Democratic majority, K Street ought to be popping the champagne corks. Farm-state Senators have been pushing for this handout for months, and the only good news is that they've modestly scaled back their demands. Nebraska Democrat...

Despite soaring revenues from gambling, Indians are receiving an increasing amount of federal funding. Indian Finances: Going Up While Oklahoma Indian tribes earn more money than ever from gaming and other businesses, they continue to collect federal grant funds for housing, medical care, education and other needs at an increasing rate, federal records show. The pattern is the same across the country. During a three-year period examined by the Tulsa World, gaming revenues among all tribes increased about 30 percent while federal grants and loans to tribes and tribal entities jumped 44 percent. The World analyzed a database that tracks...

"Adriana Hernandez, 20, said that her ceiling leaked and the air conditioning didn't work but that the apartment she shared with her 9-month-old baby and her parents isn't the only one in the city with problems. "There are worse," Ms. Hernandez said as she carried clothes to a truck. "They have much bigger problems." She didn't apply for the rental assistance, she said, because too many documents were required. Forms handed out to residents stated that they needed Social Security numbers or birth certificates, recent pay stubs and a copy of their lease, among other documents. But some people did...

A talk with federal officials tentatively set for late August The League of United Latin American Citizens and others have requested to meet with U.S. Department of Education officials about the denial of $3.4 million in federal grants for educational assistance programs that would affect 12 area schools. Feliberto Valdez, director of the Corpus Christi LULAC National Education Service Center, said he will continue to seek alternative local sources of funds but plans to shut down the center's operations Aug. 31. "We're trying to get members of the community to send letters to the Department of Education," he said. "We're...

Access to universities improves as federal reform stalls Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO - When he started high school, Matias Bernal's English was so limited he stumbled over the words for numbers and colors. Four years later, he was on the wait list at Princeton. But Bernal is an illegal immigrant from Mexico City. Without access to financial aid, grants and most scholarships, he had to push aside the Ivy League brochures and prepare to attend California State University-Fresno, where he can live with family and pay tuition with money from jobs he's not supposed to have. ''I was crushed,'' he...

Wearing work boots and carrying flashlights on a spring day last year, a band of architects and developers picked their way through the dim interior of the American Brewery. They looked like archaeologists combing through an ancient ruin, which, in some ways, is exactly what the brewery is. Built in the 1800s, the American Brewery has stood empty these past 33 years, a ghostly reminder of a distant past when the city's manufacturing muscle was on display in working-class neighborhoods such as this one in East Baltimore. Rain drips from a hole in the roof and puddles on the floor....

They may be here illegally, but tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants are expected to abide by Uncle Sam's rules by filing tax returns — with the hope of someday becoming U.S. citizens. Though there is no way of knowing how many people are filing taxes in response to the national debate on immigration, Southern California tax preparers are seeing a steady stream of clients eager to be on record as taxpayers. "There has definitely been an increase," said Noemi Munoz, a senior tax advisor at H&R Block in Los Angeles. "After whatever they've heard on TV, I guess that's...

The New York Times had some terrible news recently from the West Bank and Gaza. It reported on a World Bank study which showed that if Israel continues to withhold revenues from the Palestinian Authority, and donors reduce international aid, the Palestinian economy would shrink 27 percent this year. Unemployment would rise to 40%, and 67% of the population would be living beneath the poverty level. By 2007, unemployment would hit 44%, with 72% living beneath the poverty level. These numbers are hard to fathom until one realizes how the average American's standard of living would be affected if suddenly...

WASHINGTON -- The Senate has agreed to put an additional $1 billion this year into a program to help poor people with energy costs, but only after overcoming resistance from warm state senators who said those suffering from summer heat weren't getting their fair share.The additional spending would increase to $3.1 billion the amount the federal government will have this year for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, a decades-old program that subsidizes heating and cooling costs for poor families.The legislation, which still must be considered by the House, passed by a voice vote Tuesday, but only after a...

Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren are senior fellows. Peter VanDoren is also editor of Cato's Regulation magazine. To the casual observer, one of the most striking things about President Bush’s State of the Union address on Tuesday was his wholesale adaptation of the Democratic party’s rhetoric regarding energy. Vowing to “move beyond a petroleum-based economy,” after all, is heady stuff and the sine qua non of the environmental Left. Careful viewers, however, will note that the energy initiatives forwarded in the speech amounted to little more than modest increases in the amount of money already going to programs in...

On Wednesday December 14 an event occurred which does not leave much space for doubts that the “gas blackmail” exercised by Russia has got nothing to do with the gas itself. The “Gasprom” stand with regard to the price of gas had undergone a miraculous change. The price that the Russian monopolist is demanding for its product has gone up from $160 per 1000 cubic meters to $230. This means that a fair price is absolutely out of the question if to consider the Russian motivation in this matter. Simply because prices for such a commodity never undergo rapid changes,...

As Congress struggles to complete work on the 2006 budget, the White House tells the Pentagon to cut between $13 billion and $15 billion from the 2007 defense budget and billions more in coming years. The military is in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, has what Robert Kaplan calls "imperial grunts" in scores of countries fighting terrorism and protecting American interests and must prepare against increasingly dangerous and assertive rogue states, unstable alliances and rising or resurgent powers. The Bush administration proposing defense cuts raises serious questions about both its fiscal policy and military strategy. The administration wants to reduce...

Bills to Cut Social Programs Move Forward in Senate and House By DAVID ROGERS Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL October 26, 2005; Page A6 WASHINGTON -- Deficit-reduction bills advanced in Congress as Senate Republicans completed a $39 billion five-year package and House Republicans began work on a more-ambitious effort demanding bigger cuts in social-service and health programs. Lawmakers neared agreement last night on legislation that would mandate disclosure by the Food and Drug Administration of any waivers of conflicts-of-interest rules for people selected to serve on its advisory committees. The FDA would be required to publish on its...

IT SHOULD come as no surprise that some Hurricane Katrina evacuees were found to be blowing their federal cash handouts on booze and strippers, as the Boston Herald reported on Tuesday. Behaviors that beget poverty are not instantly overcome with the receipt of taxpayer money. First, people were shocked to discover that huge sections of New Orleans were deeply poor. Now people are shocked to find that some of those same poor people are wasting their government aid. How do they think these people became poor in the first place? If there is a cycle of poverty in America, it...

'Insane' black leaders prove Einstein right Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. More than $7 trillion has been spent on poverty programs since Lyndon Johnson declared his "war on poverty" 40 years ago, with effectively zero impact on overall black poverty. Yet 40 years of failure doesn't seem to be enough to suggest to liberals, black and white, that their approach to poverty might be wrong. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and former Democratic Sen. John Edwards, among others, riding the post-Katrina poverty-in-America theme, are making predictable speeches calling for...

A City Council panel recommended Monday that Los Angeles provide $266 million in subsidies and loans to the developers of a 55-story hotel next to the Convention Center, but opponents threatened a referendum drive to put the matter before the city's voters. The financial deal was endorsed on a 4-0 vote by members of the council's Ad Hoc Committee on the Convention Center Hotel, with Councilman Tom Labonge and others saying that the project would make the center more competitive and breathe new life into downtown. (snip) The project also was endorsed by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and...

Trying to fend off increasingly tough competition from other states and foreign countries, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to announce a plan soon to grant tax breaks for film companies to help them meet production expenses and stay in California. J. Scott Davis

Will Somebody Say Thank You? Turn on TV, read the local newspaper or listen to your local radio station, and all you are going to hear, see and read are accounts of people knee-deep in playing the blame game. What you don't hear is anybody saying "thank you." From the safety of France, Pierce Brosnan took the time to tell the world: "This man called President Bush has a lot to answer for. I don't know if this man is really taking care of America. This government has been shameful." Instead of lifting a finger to help Katrina's victims, this...

Runaway Film Bill Hits Snag - State lawmakers balk at the cost of proposal to keep production from fleeing California by giving financial incentives to Hollywood. SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's script to stem runaway film production in California with as much as $100 million in annual tax breaks is getting panned at the Capitol. The bill by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles), which the governor made a top priority, was on the legislative fast track until Schwarzenegger's fellow Republicans balked, arguing that it amounted to a giveaway for Hollywood. Now, the bill can't even get a hearing. With...

¸ Local FEMA manager said he is sad processing for aid takes so long. By ROBBYN BROOKS Daily News Staff Writer Mississippi evacuee Luan Morgan tried to keep the tone of her voice pleasant for the sake of her 5-year-old daughter Sunday, but her anger was easy to see. “I need help now,” Morgan said. “We don’t have any way to get home. There’s no gas. There’s no nothing.” Morgan evacuated from her Lumberton, Miss., home the Saturday before Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. She brought her daughter, Nichole, three days worth of clothing and not much else. “I...

LOS ANGELES - California receives millions of dollars in tax revenue when movies are filmed in the state, but about 60 percent of all productions last year were shot elsewhere, according to a study to be released Monday. The state, for example, loses more than $10 million when a $70 million movie is made outside the state, and $3 million for a 12-episode drama, the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. said. Sponsored by labor and industry groups, the 20-page showed that 236 features, or about 40 percent of all productions, were shot partially or exclusively in the state last...

Statement Of Senator Barbara Boxer On The Nomination Of Judge John G. Roberts July 19, 2005Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today issued the following statement regarding the President’s nomination of Judge John G. Roberts to replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the United States Supreme Court: "Without prejudging the nominee, I do believe Judge Roberts’ record raises questions about his commitment to the right to privacy, protection of the environment, and other important issues. "With so many rights of the American people hanging in the balance, this Supreme Court nomination deserves a thorough and in-depth evaluation. "Justice...

Regarding Africa, did anyone see the PBS News Hour tonite? A black African author said repeatedly that the real problem is government corruption, while a white Ivy League professor insisted that the real problem is that President Bush won't give more financial handouts.

President George W. Bush calls his initiative "Strengthening America's Communities," but recipients of a program it would replace are afraid it will weaken their efforts to help area low-income residents. The Community Development Block Grant program, administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, will distribute $4.7 billion across the nation this year. Los Angeles County is receiving $34.6 million for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1. The Antelope Valley will receive more than $320,000 from the county's allotment, including $22,000 for a Pearblossom recreation program, $26,000 for the Antelope Valley Hospital Healthy Homes program and...

Swartz Creek — (04/27/05)--A Swartz Creek student who has been kicked out of school for having weapons and is accused of writing a racially inappropriate flier is telling his side of the story. The Swartz Creek senior created a flyer that invited students to attend a meeting at a local park to "Take back the Creek." Police searched the teen's car and found two knives. Monday, the school permanently suspended the 17 year old, who at this point will not be allowed to graduate. Taryn Asher had more. He asked us to disguise his identity. The teen told us he...

I get a lot of hate mail from liberals who believe that conservatives are evil and uncaring. They think that they have the patent on being sympathetic to the needy. I believe that just the opposite is true. Hippie Liberalism is all about feeling good. Doing drugs also makes you feel good but when you examine the after effects it is best not to do them. Spending on entitlements makes liberals feel good about themselves. The problem is that when you look at the after effects the results usually hurt those their trying to help. Libs aren't stupid. (at least...

< VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Just over the United States northwest border, addicts will soon be able to get their fix from the Canadian government in the form of free heroin (search) administered by nurses and doctors on the taxpayer's dime. "They're using heroin. They'll continue to use heroin. What we're trying to do is prevent them from getting something irreversible like HIV, hep [hepatitis] C and overdose death,” said Dr. Martin Schechter, the director of the heroin program. Vancouver is the first city to take part in the North American Opiate Medication Initiative, which plans to enroll 470 participants...

Court upholds libel award to Norfolk city administrator THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LINCOLN (AP) - The Nebraska Court of Appeals on Tuesday upheld a $78,000 award to Norfolk's city administrator for libelous fliers a local man passed around town. A Madison County jury last year awarded Norfolk City Administrator Mike Nolan $13,000 for each of the six claims for damages he filed against Norfolk resident Tim Campbell. Nolan said the fliers were libelous and presented him in a false light. Campbell has had a long-running feud with Nolan and other city officials that began with a sidewalk the city ordered built...

On welfare? Do you smoke? Read on Conrad Defiebre, Star Tribune December 18, 2004 SMOKERS1218 State Rep. Marty Seifert, a conservative with a knack for inflammatory proposals, wants to mandate testing to determine whether welfare clients smoke cigarettes. He'd reduce their benefits if they do. "If you're going to take the taxpayer's money, we're going to expect good behavior," the Marshall Republican said Friday. "I'm not interested in subsidizing bad habits. It makes no sense to give out health and welfare subsidies if the payments go to smoking and the detriment of people's health and welfare." Seifert said the welfare...

Tommy Thompson announced his resignation the other day as secretary of health and human services and, in the process, gave us a quick tutorial on why we can't control exploding federal spending for retirement benefits -- the nation's No. 1 budget problem. We have a generation of politicians, of both parties and of whom Thompson is symbolic, who want to say "yes" to voters: Yes, you can have what you want, and you can have it now. The solution to this problem requires leaders to say "no" to voters: No, you cannot have all the retirement benefits you've been promised...

Hurricane Frances made landfall more than 100 miles north of Miami-Dade County this year. But that didn't stop thousands of residents there from getting nearly $28 million in federal disaster aid. Top winds reached only 47 mph in Miami-Dade during the Labor Day weekend, so damages were limited to some fallen power lines and uprooted trees, according to Federal Emergency Management Agency and other disaster relief officials. Yet residents used their relief checks to buy more than 5,000 televisions allegedly destroyed by Frances, as well as 1,440 air conditioners, 1,360 twin beds, 1,311 washers and dryers, and 831 dining sets....

DOMESTIC POLICIES of President George W. Bush MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS (2001-2003) No Child Left Behind School Reform Law which makes schools test every child to be sure all are learning and provides a record level of funding to help any child who is not learning. For example, Gainesville Elementary School in northeast Georgia is mostly Hispanic and 90 percent poor -- and this year 90 percent of its students passed state tests in reading and math. Income Tax Cuts which have raised tax deductions for children and lowered tax rates for everyone and made taxes fairer for married people, and helped...

The Detroit City Council, in defiance of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, likely will move forward with plans to create an "African Town" in the tradition of Chinatowns and Little Italys nationwide, even though the issue has turned into a racially divisive economic-development proposal. In July, the council resolved to build up a section of the city devoted to African and black American literature, cuisine and art, which Mr. Kilpatrick endorsed. He vetoed the resolution, however, when it became clear that the council's plan would allow only black businessmen and investors to use the $38 million earmarked for the project.

Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards repeated his pledge to provide free tuition for first-year college students as he accepted an endorsement from the president of College Democrats of America on Wednesday. “Young people are going to play a critical role in this campaign and this election,” Edwards said during a conference call, speaking from Philadelphia with College Deomocrats President Ashley Bell and reporters. Bell said his organization doesn’t formally endorse candidates during the nomination process, but he offered his personal support to the senator from North Carolina. “I want an affordable education, I want a job after I graduate, and...

SAVANNAH -- The organizer of the International Festival for Peace and Civil Liberties is seeking $2,000 from the city to recoup losses after few demonstrators turned out for last week's G-8 Summit.