Free Republic

Well, either Obama and Geithner are lying to us now, or they and all defenders of the Social Security status quo have been lying to us for decades. It must be one or the other. Here’s why: Social Security has a trust fund, and that trust fund is supposed to have $2.6 trillion in it, according to the Social Security trustees. If there are real assets in the trust fund, then Social Security can mail the checks, regardless of what Congress does about the debt limit. President Obama’s budget director, Jack Lew, explained all this last February in USA Today:...

MARK SHIELDS: Consistency has not been a problem with Republicans. They have endorsed the Ryan plan, which of course does not provide for a balanced budget, and now they are pushing for a balanced budget. 103 House Republicans have already gone on record as saying they will not vote to raise the debt ceiling unless there is a cap of eighteen percent of government spending, federal spending, which is seven percent below what we're spending right now. In addition to that, they insist on a constitutional amendment and to cut spending by half, the deficit by half next year, all...

As he normally does on "Inside Washington," PBS's Mark Shields Friday was waxing moronic about Republican plans to balance the budget. Not pleased by the fictional account on display, syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer challenged his fellow panelist saying, "Democrats have not even produced a budget for 2012. What’s their budget?" (video follows with transcript and commentary): Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2011/07/03/krauthammer-challenges-shields-where-democrat-budget-whats-their-plan#ixzz1R98RVLOf

Over the past few months, the antics of liberal advocacy group Media Matters have been chronicled and in some cases have received accolades from the media. One such report was a March 22 story by The Washington Post on the organization’s boot camp for wonks. But does Media Matters’ political involvement violate the terms for its tax-exempt status?Baier posed the question to the panel on Tuesday’s “Special Report” on the Fox News Channel. Media Matters has been engaged in a war on Baier’s network. And according to Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer, it’s clear that the organization isn’t a “charitable...

Charles Krauthammer: "I think Obama and the Democratic Leadership have made a bet. The only way to get out of the November election next year alive is to run against Republicans as the 'granny-killers' who want to destroy entitlements. Medicare and Social Security. The only way to reduce the debt is to do something on entitlements. The Democrats will refuse and I think this is all headed for a train-wreck on August 2nd." Chris Wallace, host: "Really?" Krauthammer: "Yes, really. I wouldn't say it otherwise."

Obama is trying to use his executive powers to enforce the Dream Act even though Congress couldn’t pass the legislation. Chris Wallace lays out the details: I.C.E has announced changes to its deportation program. Agents are now specifically urged to consider whether an illegal is studying in high school or college or is serving or did serve in the military. Krauthammer says that this is outright lawlessness on the part of the Obama administration because they are doing the same thing with the Dream Act that they did with Cap and Trade, using the EPA to enforce it anyway. He...

The Republicans swept November’s midterm election by making it highly ideological, a referendum on two years of hyper-liberalism — of arrogant, overreaching, intrusive government drowning in debt and running deficits of $1.5 trillion annually. It’s not complicated. To govern from the left in a center-right country where four out of five citizens are non-liberal is a prescription for electoral defeat. Which suggested an obvious Republican strategy for 2012: Recapitulate 2010. Keep it ideological. Choose a presidential nominee who can best make the case. But in the last few weeks, the landscape has changed. For two reasons: NY-26 and the May...

Charles Krauthammer has kind words for both Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann. He thinks it is obvious that she is not going to run, he calls it a "smart" move. Krauthammer believes she definitely has a future in GOP politics. Krauthammer thinks Bachmann is a serious candidate, being a sitting member of Congress and her knowledge of policy.

Charles Krauthammer's opinion matters. As any political junkie knows, Dr. Krauthammer is all at once witty, sublime, sarcastic, and serious. People listen to Krauthammer and care about what he thinks. Political junkies yearn for reliable scouts like him who speak plainly, tell the truth, and offer unique insights based on the truth. The most valuable characteristic an established "wise man" can have is the ability to see and tell the truth. Speaking the truth about current events is where Krauthammer seems to hit all the right notes. Only on very rare occasions does this maestro hit a decidedly sour note....

This is a RUSH transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," May 31, 2011. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. BILL O'REILLY, HOST: In the "Impact" segment tonight: Fox News political analyst Charles Krauthammer, a very outspoken guy, as Donald Trump recently found out. So how does he see this weekend's Sarah Palin bus tour? Charles joins us now from Washington. So Hume and me, your humble correspondent, we feel that she's not going to run. First of all, do you concur? CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, FOX NEWS ANALYST: I agree completely. I think it would make...

I’m reminded of the movie The Bridge over the River Kwai. In the movie a British Colonel being held prisoner in Thailand by the Japanese leads his fellow POWs in the construction of a bridge for the enemy. Even though he knows that this is helping the Japanese war effort, his fondness for his accomplishment almost causes him to sabotage a commando raid to destroy the bridge. RINOs and CINOs (conservatives in name only) like Krauthammer will let you kick the bridge, paint the bridge, and even spray graffiti on the bridge, but don’t ever come calling with the intention...

With a lot of media attention, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin visited the nation’s capital over the weekend to kick off a bus tour, in which she will visit various national landmarks. But some see the trip as a campaign stunt for a possible 2012 presidential campaign. On Monday’s “Special Report,” syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer offered his thoughts on the bus tour, but admitted he wasn’t clear on what was motivating it. “I don’t know – it’s more eccentric than usual, this event,” Krauthammer said. “She says she is going around to highlight ‘the foundation of the country.’ I don’t...

Via the Right Scoop, I’m not nearly as sure as Kraut is that this is true. If Palin surprises everyone by staying out, Iowa will be wide open for a “true conservative” to emerge. And if Cain finishes well there, he’ll be well positioned to surprise people in his backyard of South Carolina. Doesn’t mean he’ll be the nominee, but it’s very easy to imagine him being a factor in the nomination given his grassroots support. If Palin does jump in, I don’t know how the base goes about trying to decide between them. Palin has held public office and...

On Thursday, President Barack Obama gave a speech at the State Department in Washington, D.C. which was supposed to offer an indication of what American policy would be in the Middle East as the region was going through great transition. However, coming out of the speech many are questioning the president’s suggestion that Israel should withdrawal to pre-1967 boundaries. On Thursday’s “Special Report” on the Fox News Channel, syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer gave a very disparaging review of the president’s proposed policy. His major point of contention: Obama is willing to give away a bargaining chip without getting much in...

Two months and a day before 9/11, terrorism expert Larry C. Johnson published “The Declining Terrorist Threat,” a New York Times op-ed decrying the fact that “Americans are bedeviled by fantasies about terrorism,” when, in reality, “the decade beginning in 2000 will continue the downward trend” in lethal terrorism. Not quite. A decade later, Osama bin Laden is dead and the old chorus of pre-9/11 complacency has returned. The war on terror is over — yet again, it seems. Bin Laden was but “a distraction,” writes Peter Beinart, and the war on terror “a mistake from the start.” 9/11 was...

THANK-YOU Charles Krauthammer for telling it JUST LIKE IT IS. To Mr. Krauthammer’s credit, he goes down a list of all showing of Americans whose deaths was either video during the gruesome process of being murdered or after their horrific deaths, often with either still pictures or videos. This includes the videos of the people who had jumped to their deaths from the burning World Trade Center Towers 1 and 2 on September 11th, 2001 to shock and horror of many Americans. Yet President Barak Obama CANNOT produce one REAL PICTURE of a dead Osama Bin Laden. To the CREDIT...

President Barack Obama was met with nearly universal praise immediately after the mission that killed Osama bin Laden, but as the dust settles, some on the right are now coming out swinging. Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, whose initial reaction was clouded with ambiguity, slammed Obama yesterday, saying the president and the Democrats owe the country an "apology" for taking credit for Bush administration policies that led to bin Laden's killing. "Virtually every tool, every apparatus, every technique, every policy used to effect a successful mission to kill Osama bin Laden was [campaigned against] by this current administration … and...

Krauthammer: It's Funny to Hear Liberals Talk About How Awful it is to Delegitimize a President After What They Did to Bush Charles Krauthammer on Friday perfectly elucidated the media's hypocrisy concerning their avid defense of Barack Obama against attacks from Donald Trump and the birthers. "I think it's somewhat amusing to hear people on the left talking about how awful it is to delegitimize a president when they spent half a decade saying that George Bush stole the election"

"O'Reilly Factor" producer Jesse Watters caught up with Donald Trump in New Hampshire on Wednesday and asked him what he thought of Charles Krauthammer's personal attacks, the latest one comparing "The Donald" to a "crackpot" "drunk." Mr. Trump shot back at Krauthammer, calling him a "sad fool" who was trying to ride his coattails for publicity. http://nation.foxnews.com/donald-trump/2011/04/28/trump-and-krauthammer-take-personal-attacks-new-level

Charles Krauthammer is the columnist I respect the most for his values, insights, and political sense. So let’s use his column “Handicapping the 2012 Presidential Odds” as a starting point for my own assessment of the current field. Charles begins by dissing Donald Trump and dismissing Michele Bachmann. Sorry Charles but wrong and wronger. Trump will run as a Republican with a damn good chance of winning the nomination. He appeals more to moderates and Independents than to stalwart Republicans but he captures the hearts and minds of the outside-of-the-beltway crowd with his blunt outspokenness and a raft of experience...