Free Republic

It’s at times like this I’m ashamed to admit I live inside the Beltway. Well, that’s probably not specific enough, since I’m usually ashamed to admit I live inside the Beltway. Still, the second you try to explain the stupidity of this “fiscal cliff” fiasco to a normal person, it makes William F. Buckley’s famous declaration that he’d rather be governed by the first few hundred people listed in the Boston phone book than by the faculty of Harvard seem all the more reasonable. While there are some responsible politicians and policymakers in Washington, if you look at the whole...

Negotiations can’t be going too well if the Senate Minority leader is openly scoffing at President Obama’s “bipartisan” plan to solve the looming “fiscal cliff” crisis. Yikes: Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, says he “burst into laughter” Thursday when Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner outlined the administration proposal for averting the fiscal cliff. He wasn’t trying to embarrass Geithner, McConnell says, only responding candidly to his one-sided plan, explicit on tax increases, vague on spending cuts. Geithner’s visit to his office left McConnell discouraged about reaching a “balanced” deal on tax hikes and spending reductions designed to prevent a shock...

One tourist's photograph, among the countless snapped every day in the Big Apple, has gone viral. The moment captured is one of generosity, and since it was posted on Tuesday, it has circled the globe and brought a lot of attention to one young New York City cop. Had it not been for a tourist from Arizona who snapped the photo with her cell phone, Officer Lawrence DePrimo's act of kindness, giving boots to a homeless man, may have gone unnoticed. Tourist Jennifer Foster emailed the photo to the NYPD and they posted it to their Facebook page. Tens of...

..... “Not only would it be the only useful response,” he added, “but first and foremost, it would be the morally and historically right thing to do. Judea and Samaria are the heart of the Jewish people.” ..... “Over the years the state of Israel has been the only one keeping the accords, while the Arab terrorist entity, imported from Tunisia, has regularly ignored it. But the appeal to the UN means the declaration of the accords’ death… Therefore the state of Israel has nothing to stop it from annexing all the communities it has established in Judea and Samaria,...

India's growth rate slowed in the July to September quarter, putting pressure on the government to implement more reforms and ease monetary policy. The economy grew by 5.3% from a year earlier. That was down from a rate of 5.5% in the previous three months.

Syria's Internet and telecommunications networks were shut down and international flights were cancelled Thursday as President Bashar al-Assad’s regime launched a major offensive to retake control of the main road leading to Damascus airport. Syria’s Internet was effectively cut off on Thursday, web monitoring organisations confirmed, before the regime of President Bashar al-Assad launched an offensive to retake control of the road to Damascus airport. “From around 10 a.m. today all Syrian IP addresses went blank,” Nicolas Guillaume, of French Internet-monitoring company Cedexis told FRANCE 24. “We’ve seen traffic slowdowns in recent weeks, but this is the first time there...

The announcement that US fast food chain Burger King is set to make a return to France after a 15-year hiatus has caused huge excitement, even if only two franchises are planned for 2013. Burger King is making a return to France after a 15-year hiatus, in news that has set mouths watering in a country better known for its haute cuisine, fine wine and cheeses. The US fast food chain’s imminent return after it quit the country in 1997, citing the brand’s poor commercial performance, has been the subject of intense and repeated rumours for years. And the confirmation...

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: It's not just a bad deal, this is really an insulting deal. What Geithner offered, what you showed on the screen, Robert E. Lee was offered easier terms at Appomattox, and he lost the Civil War. The Democrats won by 3% of the vote and they did not hold the House, Republicans won the house. So this is not exactly unconditional surrender, but that is what the administration is asking of the Republicans. This idea -- there are not only no cuts in this, there's an increase in spending with a new stimulus. I mean, this is almost...

President Barack Obama is taking his case for avoiding a potentially unsettling "fiscal cliff" to the Philadelphia suburbs, employing campaign-style tactics in hopes of mobilizing public support. The trip comes amid signs of impatience in the negotiations between Republican leaders and the White House. Obama was scheduled to go to Hatfield, Pa.,to pressure Republicans to allow tax increases on the wealthy while extending current Bush-era tax rates for households earning $250,000 or less. White House officials believe Friday's trip will build momentum for the president's case, even as Republicans describe it as an irritant and an obstacle to fruitful talks.

(Reuters) - The Obama administration's opening bid on Thursday in negotiations to avert a year-end fiscal crunch included a demand for new stimulus spending and authority to unilaterally raise the U.S. borrowing ceiling, a Republican congressional aide said. The proposal, made by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to congressional Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, was seen as offering little the Republicans could agree to and was greeted with laughter, the aide said. "We can't move any closer to them because they're not even on our planet," the aide said. "It was not a serious proposal."-snip-In the maiden bargaining session, Geithner, the...

Erick Erickson informs his conservative readers that Sen.-elect Ted Cruz, the agreed-upon star of the new GOP class, has picked Chip Roy as his chief of staff. Why they should be happy: Chip currently works for Governor Rick Perry. If you’ve ever read Governor Perry’s book Fed Up!, well, you know Chip Roy as the guy who helped put pen to paper for the Governor and helped shape Governor Perry’s thinking on federalism issues. That represents no change from what we expected -- Cruz was always going to join the Mike Lee/Rand Paul Appeal to Reason caucus. It's just good...

The dismissal of Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov by President Vladimir Putin earlier this month as a result of an investigation of corruption in the defense ministry–controlled holding company “Oboronservis” (see EDM, October 25, November 1, 8) has been followed this week by further state-sponsored disclosures of high-level fraud. Former agriculture minister in Putin’s government from 2008 to 2012, Elena Skrynnik (51), has been accused by the state TV channel Rossya-1 of misappropriating 39 billion rubles ($1.26 billion) of state budget funds. In a special TV program aired on November 27, Rossya-1 accused Skrynnik—who before becoming agriculture minister was from 2001...

As the clock ticks and we watch the various players move their pieces into place, it's becoming increasingly obvious that Republicans are in a no-win situation. They’re ether going to have to cave and agree to a tax increase without meaningful spending cuts or take the blame for going over the fiscal cliff. Here are five reasons why going over the cliff is by far the best option. 1. It's a Trap! Though House Speaker John Boehner foolishly helped to manufacture this trap by making tax increases the primary issue in the fiscal cliff negotiations, there's still time to extricate...

At the November 29, 2012, Preliminary Injunction hearing in Sibley vs. Alexander, Dinan and Lightfoot – a class action lawsuit in D.C. Superior Court against the three District of Columbia Electors of the so-called Electoral College – Barack Hussein Obama, II, refused to produce his original Short-Form “Certificate of Live Birth” and his original Long-Form “Certificate of Live Birth”. These documents are the sole evidence that Mr. Obama has proffered to the American People to establish his Article II, §1, eligibility for the Office of President. I had subpoenaed those documents for the hearing.  As a result, I today filed...

Richmond's soda tax may have faltered badly on election day, but the idea is now bubbling up in other Bay Area cities and counties. Officials in San Francisco, Berkeley, Alameda County, Vallejo, El Cerrito and other jurisdictions have discussed, or plan to discuss, placing soda taxes on ballots. "We lost the election, but the movement will eventually win," said Dr. Jeff Ritterman, the Richmond city councilman who sponsored Measure N. "Momentum is on our side."

While modern society prides itself on being unbiased, it's no exception to the rule that every age has its fashionable prejudices -- and unfashionable people. Among the latter today are white men, and the closer they are to "dead white male" status, to use a favored leftist descriptive, the greater the disdain in which they're held. Thus do we see sneering at "old white men." Earlier this year, Senator Harry Reid -- one well acquainted through experience with old-white-male machinations -- complained of "angry old white men" who bankroll conservative causes. More recently, the old-white-media paper the Guardian published a...

Former presidential candidate thinks Republicans are giving Pres. Obama, Democrats leverage, that the fiscal cliff is like a 'fantasy'

November 28, 2012 (SPRINGFIELD, Ill.) -- A proposed assault-weapons ban that Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn announced in August with great fanfare has fizzled without discussion in the Senate. The Senate voted 49-4 Wednesday to override Quinn's amendatory veto that rewrote legislation to prohibit the sale or possession of semi-automatic rifles, high-capacity magazines and .50-caliber guns. Quinn's action came after a mass shooting at a suburban Denver movie theater...

Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling’s decision Wednesday to drop his bid for the GOP gubernatorial nomination paves the way for a battle royale between Republican state Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II and former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe — a campaign that could be radically altered if Mr. Bolling follows through on hints he might pursue an independent run. Such a move would turn on its head a race that’s already ensured a national audience thanks to Virginia’s tradition of holding gubernatorial elections in odd years and would also test the loyalties of many within the party hungry...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Pamela Waldron makes $7.75 an hour as a cashier at the KFC in New York's Penn Station, where she has worked for eight years. That's just 50 cents above the New York state minimum wage. The 26-year old nursing student, and mother of two, says she has asked for a raise but her pleas have gone unheeded for weeks. Finally, on Thursday, around lunchtime she joined a protest of about 40 fast food workers who walked out of their shifts, carrying placards and shouting slogans to bring attention to their cause of fighting for higher wages...