Free Republic

During an interview with WAGA, President Obama attempted to make excuses for his failed promise to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term in office.

TAMPA, Florida - Mitt Romney regained the lead in the Republican presidential nomination race with a big win in Florida, but drew criticism on Wednesday in what should have been his victory lap with remarks suggesting he was indifferent to America's poor. Romney rolled to an impressive triumph in Florida, capturing 46 percent of the vote to Newt Gingrich's 32 percent after pounding his nearest rival with negative advertisements. The victory restored him to front-runner status in the state-by-state battle for the Republican nomination to run against Democratic President Barack Obama in the November 6 general election. But the wealthy...

Daniel Foster: "Re: Romney’s Close" I’m sorry but, on purely tactical grounds, what a bonehead move by the Romney campaign. Negative attacks, especially in a primary, have to be run on a careful cost-benefit analysis, and what exactly is the upside here? That at least Tom Brokaw isn’t Dan Rather? Romney is comfortably up in the Florida polls in large part because his campaign (with the unwitting collusion of NBC News!) managed to turn Gingrich’s flank on the wealth issue and cut him off from reinforcement via a Newt-versus-the-establishment-media moment. He now affords Gingrich such a moment with juuuuust enough...

Editorial by John Ziegler Does Sarah Palin Want Obama Reelected? 1/28/2012 We certainly live in bizarre times and everyone knows that politics makes for strange bedfellows. But the fact that as of late I (the guy who spent over two years being probably her strongest defender) have been one of the very few on the right pointing out the absurdity and hypocrisy of recent Sarah Palin’s public statements, shows exactly how close we indeed may be to the apocalypse. Palin’s latest Facebook salvo is targeting the Republican “establishment cannibals” for using “Alinsky” tactics against Newt Gingrich in the run up...

Senator Reid today reacted to President Obama's State of the Union Address:“President Obama offered common-sense solutions that will create jobs and put our country on a path to economic fairness. The policies proposed by the President will narrow the inequality gap in our country while making America a leader in clean energy technology, and continue the revival of our manufacturing sector. With millions of middle-class families in Nevada and across America making sacrifices every day, Democrats are united behind the principle that millionaires and billionaires should pay their fair share as well.“To turn these job-creating proposals into reality, we need...

My wife has a crazy sister in Minnesota. Her sister calls her from time to time and goes off on pro Obama rants. The sister is about a step from insane, but it upsets my wife. My wife knows Obama is a muslim, socialist loser, but can't recall specifics. I'd like a page or two of verifible facts about Obama that my wife can refer to, next time crazy sister calls. I figure someone here already has such a thing. Thanks.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) appeared on “Fox News Sunday” yesterday and argued that President Obama’s policies “have actually made our economy worse.” Then he said it again. And again. All told, the House Republican repeated the claim five times in one interview (and in each instance, host Chris Wallace offered no pushback whatsoever). For those who care about reality, Boehner’s claim isn’t true. Since the president took office, every aspect of the American economy — job creation, economic growth, manufacturing, the stock market, etc. — has improved considerably. Repeating a lie five times doesn’t make it true. But what...

TAMPA — Mitt Romney on Friday wouldn't commit to Florida's first 2012 presidential primary debate, further upending a campaign that has swung from perfunctory to unsettled in a span of 48 hours. Romney spokesman Ryan Williams said the campaign had "no announcements" on the Monday night debate, which is being hosted by the Tampa Bay Times, NBC News, National Journal and the Florida Council of 100. Romney probably will decide whether to participate and under what terms after today's primary in South Carolina. Polls there show he now trails Newt Gingrich. Gingrich pounced on the indecisiveness while campaigning in Orangeburg,...

Amid news that Newt Gingrich’s ex-wife Marianne’s interview with ABC will air tonight, a political veteran who has had past ties to Gingrich, reminds me that the former Mrs. Gingrich has long opposed his running for president. “I think it matters that she’s been saying this shit for years — and has been doing things to tweak him for years,” said this source. This is actually true. As the New York Post reminds us today: In 1995, when Vanity Fair magazine asked Marianne what would happen if Newt ran for president, she boasted she could derail the bid with a...

Mitt Romney is a loser...an election loser. In his 1994 senatorial campaign, he lost by a huge margin (by more than 17 points) in a year when Republicans took over Congress. Despite everyone else’s success, Romney managed to lose. Of all his campaigns he has won only once when he won a single term as governor of Massachusetts, but he quickly tarnished that close victory. After becoming governor in 2002 with Kerry Healey as his running mate, Romney proceeded to mismanage his position so that his approval dropped rapidly into the 40's and then the 30's. He left that mess...

<p>Perplexing but true: Mitt Romney is on the glide path to the most easily secured nomination a Republican presidential candidate has ever had — while being one of the weakest major candidates either party has ever seen.</p> <p>Paul will certainly stay in it with Romney all the way. Somebody has to. And that is not good news for the Republican Party, which will have to reckon with possibly ill-behaved Paul delegates at the convention in Tampa in August — delegates who might heckle Romney from the floor and otherwise disrupt his coronation.</p>

VIDEO"Uploaded by americanbridge21st on Jan 9, 2012 Though Mitt Romney has spent 5 years of his run for President mired at 25%, there is one group that is signaling their singularsupport: the Washington Establishment. And Karl Rove, the king of conventional GOP wisdom is working double-time to make sure rank-and-file Republicans know it's time to fall in line. Through his constant television appearances and weekly op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Rove has consistently favored Mitt Romney and done what he does best: work to tear down any credible rival to Romney."

What can you buy for $130? A nice pair of headphones. A romantic dinner for two. Five hours of a typical worker's pre-tax salary. Or, if you're running for president, maybe you can buy a vote.If you combine the Republican presidential candidates' total direct spending on media with SuperPAC outlays and other television ad buys from outside groups, you come out to about $15.6 million spent on TV ads in an Iowa caucus with about 120,000 total voters. That means the average price of a buying a vote via media came out about $130 dollars, according to data collected by...

GovernorPerry 15 mins, 1 sec ago Twitter And the next leg of the marathon is the Palmetto State...Here we come South Carolina!!! yfrog.com/odz8ujrj

After a disappointing fifth-place finish in Tuesday's Iowa caucuses, Texas Governor Rick Perry said he is going home to Texas to assess "whether there is a path forward for myself in this race." "With the voters' decision tonight in Iowa, I've decided to return to Texas, assess the results of tonight's caucus, determine whether there is a path forward for myself in this race," Perry told supporters at the end of the night. The candidate, once considered a frontrunner in the race for the GOP nomination, earned just 10 percent on Tuesday's contest with more

In a campaign speech late Tuesday night, Governor Rick Perry stated that he is "returning to Texas" to reassess whether he is going to continue running for President. The speech contained several emotional moments, in particular two moments. The first was when he read a letter from an adoring supporter who called him a "great man." The letter described a conversation that Mr. Perry had had with a soldier and how his supporter looked on in awe as he watched Governor Perry call the veteran his "Christian brother." The second was when Perry announced that he would be returning to...

Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas, appears doomed to a fifth-place finish in Iowa. Unless he drops out, that would make South Carolina his last stand against Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney. The problem is that he might not receive an invitation to an upcoming South Carolina debate (given the debate criteria). Candidates can qualify to participate in the CNN/Southern Republican Leadership Conference debate January 19th (two days before the South Carolina primary) in one of four ways. First and second, they can place in the top four in either Iowa or New Hampshire. Third and fourth, they can qualify by averaging seven...

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – Walk into this West Des Moines hotel, and you’ll easily encounter volunteers in Rick Perry fleeces or staffers wearing official Rick Perry badges. The Perry campaign has set up shop here just days before the Iowa caucuses while nearly two thousand volunteers fan out across the state to promote the Texas governor with an expansive ground game as the campaign hopes he’ll earn a top three spot in the caucuses Tuesday. A source close to the Perry campaign confirmed to ABC News they have signed up 1500 precinct leaders across Iowa. At each of the...

Republican elder statesman and former Senate leader Bob Dole on Sunday endorsed Mitt Romney to be the Republican presidential nominee, a day after the former Massachusetts governor received the backing of Iowa's main newspaper. In an open letter to Iowa voters, Dole - himself a former presidential candidate - said a great deal was at stake on January 3, when Iowa votes in the first nominating contest for the 2012 presidential election. "A number of my friends are currently candidates seeking the GOP nomination. But the time has now come for us to decide who among them can defeat Barack...

"In spite of all the Naysayers who were predicting failure, our economy is growing again; no more manufactured crisis' no more games, we are headed in the right direction." "I love these folks who say well this is Obama's economy; that's fine, "give it to me...!" President Barack Hussein Obama

At a town hall meeting at the Institute of Politics at New Hampshire’s Saint Anselm’s College Tuesday, Rick Perry asked that all of the college students in the crowd who will be 21 by Nov. 12 support his bid for the presidency. Say what? The voting age in the United States is, of course, 18. And the 2012 election will be held on Nov. 6, 2012. (The New Hampshire Republican primary, which brought Perry to the state, will take place on Jan. 10). “Those who are going to be over 21 on November 12th, I ask for your support,” Perry...

A somewhat bitter U.S. Rep. Barney Frank said today he will not seek re-election in 2012 in a move he said was triggered by redistricting that left him with too many new constituents to serve as a “lame-duck” legislator. “There are too many constraints,” Frank said about his life as a politician and the energy it would take to meet new voters so late in his tenure. “People are skeptical about incumbents,” he added. “There was also this — I don’t like raising money.”

It’s been a long, hard road for Rick Perry the last few months, what with his unforgettable “oops” moment, that strange speech in New Hampshire, the birtherism interlude, the Mormon “cult” distraction and — well, you get the idea. But with the constant struggles on the campaign trail, Perry has been able to count on a solid phalanx of support from Texas Republicans. Wait? He hasn’t? Uh, oh. By the latest count, Perry has won endorsements from only eight of his home state’s 23 Republican House members and neither of the state’s two senators.

Some celebrities may have soured a bit on President Barack Obama, but not Chris Rock. The comedian and actor told fellow comedian Marc Maron on the “WTF with Marc Maron” podcast that he’s “fine with the president,” if only because he understands that the president has to keep his most aggressive policies on the back burner until he earns a second term. “There’s a f——— art to the first term because you’re always running for a second term the whole time. It’s like Clinton’s first term. You can’t really do your gangsta sh— until your second term. … Even Bush...

October 25, 2011 (Unmaskingchoice.ca) - Earlier this week, noted conservative commentator David Frum, a former speechwriter of President George W. Bush, published a column on CNN’s website musing on the question “What if abortion became a non-issue?” While Frum has, in former days, been an impressive advocate for socially conservative values, ever since the 2008 election he has advocated for a desertion of social conservatism in order to “win” more elections based on fiscal issues. Besides the inherently flawed logic behind this position—it is impossible to advocate for smaller government while simultaneously deserting the protection of the family unit that...

David Frum makes the argument that the spending cuts promised in the 1990 "read my lips" tax hike budget deal indeed did come to fruition (contra to my argument yesterday). He argues that, since spending as a percent of the economy declined in the 1990s, the spending cuts must have materialized.This is eminently-wrong for several reasons: CBO data shows that the promise--$274 billion in baseline spending cuts--not only didn't happen, but that baseline spending actually increased by $22 billion. This is simply what the data show. Spending as a percent of the economy did decline in the 1990s, but not...

I was a strong opponent of same-sex marriage. Fourteen years ago, Andrew Sullivan and I forcefully debated the issue at length online (at a time when online debate was a brand new thing). Yet I find myself strangely untroubled by New York state's vote to authorize same-sex marriage -- a vote that probably signals that most of "blue" states will follow within the next 10 years. I don't think I'm alone in my reaction either. Most conservatives have reacted with calm -- if not outright approval -- to New York's dramatic decision. Why? The short answer is that the case...

There's nothing quite like a politician scorned. When voters in Ohio's 1st Congressional District threw Democrat Steve Driehaus out of office after only one term, he did not bow out gracefully. No, he decided to get even. So he did what anyone does in today's culture: he sued somebody. Charging that its activities contributed to his defeat and thus to his "loss of livelihood," Driehaus is suing the Susan B. Anthony List, a group that supports pro-life candidates for Congress and which has been one of the leading and most effective organizations involved in the fight to cut off federal...

On Thursday’s edition of John King USA on CNN, Senator John McCain graciously congratulated President Obama for the fall of Muammar Gaddafi. “The fact is this is another success for the Obama administration,” McCain acknowledged. “I’d like to congratulate the Administration, they helped out enormously. I think they deserve great credit.” McCain said. The Arizona Senator did include the caveat that greater credit should be given to America’s British and French allies. “I wish we had used the full weight of American air power and wouldn’t have had so many casualties,” McCain added, “There was close coordination…between NATO air and...

I think we can pretty well agree that Obama and his supporters are very much like a typical gang of street thugs. Every well known gang has a name and a logo that they paint and tattoo everywhere. This is our chance to help the Obama administration out by submitting our suggestions for their 2012 gang name and logo.

Jackass. (The Hill) —  President Obama started off his three-day bus tour kicking Senate Republicans for blocking his jobs bill, saying he is breaking up his plan because “maybe they just couldn’t understand the whole thing at once.” Speaking in Asheville, N.C., a favorite locale of Obama’s, the president began his tour by criticizing Senate Republicans for blocking his $447 billion bill last week, and challenging Congress to pass the bill in “bite-sized pieces.” The president said that in blocking his bill, Senate Republicans — he did not mention the two Democratic ‘no’ votes — “said ‘no’ to you.” “Sixty-three...

The reports are not good, disturbing even. I have heard basically the same story four times in the last 10 days, and the people doing the talking are in New York and Washington and are spread across the political spectrum. The gist is this: President Obama has become a lone wolf, a stranger to his own government. He talks mostly, and sometimes only, to friend and adviser Valerie Jarrett and to David Axelrod, his political strategist. Everybody else, including members of his Cabinet, have little face time with him except for brief meetings that serve as photo ops. Secretary of...

The new Washington Post/ABC News poll confirms what the Florida straw poll showed last month: Rick Perry is bleeding support from activist conservatives. In the national survey, Perry’s share of the GOP primary vote has fallen to 16 percent – a tie with Herman Cain and 9 points behind Mitt Romney, who draws support from a quarter of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents. Continue Reading Ron Paul is in fourth place, with 11 percent, followed by Michele Bachmann and Newt Gingrich tied at 7 percent. Rick Santorum takes 2 percent and Jon Huntsman takes half that. The apparent explanation for Perry’s...

Actress, comedienne and now author Roseanne Barr shares her solution for dealing with the rich and how the banks could repay the money the U.S. government bailed them out with in 2008. "Part of my platform is, of course, the guilty must be punished and that we no longer let our children see their guilty leaders getting away with murder. Because it teaches children, you know, that they don't have to have any morals as long as they have guns and are bullies and I don't think that's a good message," Barr told Russia Today (RT). "I do say that...

Democrats Dispirited About Voting in 2012 Republicans' enthusiasm for voting matches 2004 and exceeds 2008 PRINCETON, NJ -- In thinking about the 2012 presidential election, 45% of Democrats and independents who lean Democratic say they are more enthusiastic about voting than usual, while nearly as many, 44%, are less enthusiastic.This is in sharp contrast to 2008 and, to a lesser extent, 2004, when the great majority of Democrats expressed heightened enthusiasm about voting.Democrats' muted response to voting in 2012 also contrasts with Republicans' eagerness. Nearly 6 in 10 Republicans, 58%, describe themselves as more enthusiastic about voting. That is nearly...

Obama cracks jokes about devastating Texas wildfires You know, beneath the cool exterior of the basketball-playing hipster president, behind the facade of the partisan class warrior, there lurks a core truth — Barack Obama is a jackass: While at a highdollar fundraiser San Jose, California, President Obama ridiculed Rick Perry. “You’ve got a governor whose state is on fire denying climate change.” Obama said to laughter and applause, and added, “No, no, it’s true!”

Thursday that he is dropping out of the 2012 presidential race. McCotter, who struggled to gain traction against better-financed rivals and failed to achieve the necessary support to be invited to Republican debates, announced that he would now support former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in the Republican primary.

Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) is dropping out of the presidential race and endorsing former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. If you didn’t even know McCotter was running for president, you’re probably not alone. He was never in a debate and barely registered in polls. He placed tenth in Iowa’s Ames straw poll, with 35 votes. McCotter, a five-term lawmaker known mostly for his quirky one-liners and sideline in rock music, says the press did him in. “If they keep you out of the debates, you are out of the conversation and you can’t run,” McCotter told the Detroit News. “It was...

Kimanie Markeys Carter, 24, faces aggravated robbery, kidnapping and first-degree criminal sexual conduct charges. He will appear in Ramsey County District Court on Monday afternoon.

Throughout the second set she repeatedly argued with the chair umpire in a petulant display that rekindled memories of her exit from the 2009 U.S. Open. “If you ever see me walking down the hall, look the other way because you’re out of control,” Williams said.

Dear Washington,Just wanted to drop a note from our stay-cation to say we hope you’re enjoying your time off, and do let us know how the fishing, golfing and clam bakes have gone for you.Circumstances being what they are, we have decided to stick close to home this year. We hope you don’t mind if we tag along, vacationing vicariously with you through media. After all, reading that you’ve driven four under par is like a victory for all us little people and I personally pine to see the latest fashions in casual wear and fine jewelry modeled by your...

Um, WTF. Boone is dead now, so is Rex. TEN deathclaws AND an Legion Assassination team. I'm level 30 but that didn't help my companions, and I barely made it out alive.WHY?????

Link only, per FR posting rules

video at link Obama on credit downgrade from Standard & Poor's: "It happened because Washington does not have the capacity to come together and get things done. It was a self-inflicted wound. That is why people are frustrated. Maybe you can hear it in my voice. That is why I am frustrated. Because you deserve better."

A new financial crisis has gripped the US, Asia and Europe, but Barack Obama can only respond with catchphrases. The United States will remain a "triple-A country," the US president insisted Monday, as stock markets crashed. The most powerful man in the world seems strangely paralyzed. America's president, as the political scientist Richard Neustadt once noted, may be the most powerful man in the world, but he has only one real power: the power of persuasion. That's why US presidents are so keen to get in front of the TV cameras and address the nation from what Americans refer to...

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Monday he inherited much of the country's problems with high debt and deficits when he entered the White House, sounding a theme likely to dominate his 2012 re-election campaign. Speaking at a Democratic fundraiser, Obama also defended his economic record and noted that problems in Europe were affecting the United States.

How bad would it be to have a Mormon President in the White House? "The Marxism that exists in the White House right now is waaay more disturbing to me" noted Phil, a recent caller to one of my daily talk shows. "If we could replace that with Mormonism, I think that’d be a huge improvement..." I completely agree with Phil. But if a recent Gallup poll is any indication, lots of Americans think differently than us – and this should be a wake-up call for former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, and the entire Republican Party. I’m not assuming that...

Okay, this video is based on actual conversations with this insane woman named politicalarticles. She has a channel and her own website. She says the debt crisis is a conspiracy by Christian terrorists and not because of over spending on welfare. She also called Alan Keyes an Uncle Tom and says anyone against socialism is a right wing terrorist like Andres Brevik. WARNING! CONTAINS LIBERAL TALKING POINTS! VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED!!!

“Americans love a winner. Americans will not tolerate a loser... The very idea of losing is hateful to an American.” — Gen. George Patton America is a center-right nation but we will, under the right conditions, vote for a liberal — even an extreme liberal. We might vote for a lush, a Lothario, perhaps even a lunatic. But there is one thing Americans will not abide: A loser. That’s the one “L” word President Barack Obama cannot overcome. And he’s dangerously close to a full-on “L7” face plant. Forget all the talk about the Tea Party’s big win on the...

Mika heard two days ago on Capitol Hill Democrats all saying the same thing. And that is, this president has been invisible, he is not a leader. They said this all behind closed doors. Democratic leaders, Democratic rank-and-file.