Free Republic

Rick Perry admitted at the RGA today that he was very troubled by Obama’s tone today addressing the National Governors Association: I don’t mind telling you I was a bit troubled today by the tone of the president. …For the president of the United States to look Democrat and Republican governors in the eye and to say ‘I do not trust you to make decisions in your state about issues of education, about transportation infrastructure…’ – that is really troubling. Perry went on to say that Obama was going to hollow out the National Guard and warned the state governors...

LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant told Yahoo Sports that the Brooklyn Nets' signing of openly gay center Jason Collins will have a "domino effect" that will impact much more than the gay and sports communities. Collins became the first openly gay athlete to play in one of America's four major sports when he debuted for the Nets against the Lakers on Sunday night. The Nets signed Collins, who announced he was gay on April 29, to a 10-day contract on Sunday. Bryant has been a strong supporter of Collins since his announcement. "His impact [Sunday night]...

All the buzz at the National Governors Association meeting over legalizing pot, some say, is just smoke. Nearly three months after Colorado began selling recreational marijuana, the nation’s governors are taking a cautious approach to loosening their drug laws despite growing support for legalization. Republican and Democratic state chief executives meeting in Washington this weekend expressed broad concern for children and public safety should recreational marijuana use spread. At the same time, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is warning other governors against rushing to follow his lead. …

Eventually, the College Board will hand over its student data to research organizations like SDP, with restrictions on sharing information; but Coleman was not clear on how this would happen. However, Coleman made it abundantly clear he will concentrate on data mining our schoolchildren's proclivities. So, how does intrusion into children's privacy through more accumulation of data support Coleman's stated goals of making students career and college ready? Now that many states have awakened to the deficiencies in Common Core and are even moving to defund them, Republican governors who bought Coleman's spiel three years ago need to redeem themselves...

President Obama told a meeting of the National Governors Association: "At some point, we've got to do some governing. And certainly, what we can't do is keep careening from manufactured crisis to manufactured crisis." Really? Yes, really. He added, referring to the sequestration: "These cuts do not have to happen. Congress can turn them off anytime with just a little bit of compromise." Obama has repeatedly demonstrated that he does not consider himself bound by a duty of good faith to square with the American people. He has shown that he is unafraid to utter the most egregious distortions and...

The Common Core Standards are an educational reform movement initiated by the National Governors Assocation and intended to standardize the educational curricula of the states around a "coomon core" of knowledge required to function in modern society. Put that way, the initiative sounds fine, but as if often the case with educaitonal reforms, Common Core proponents have relied on bafflement and obfuscation to shut down inquiry by the paying public into the very political process of putting the initiative into action -- a process monetarily supported by private education corporations. Common Core tests (those used in Oklahoma were developed by...

Osama Bin Laden Compound Model on Display at Pentagon Turning a lot of heads today in a Pentagon hallway is the once-classified scale model of Osama bin Laden’s compound used to plan last year’s Special Operations raid. It marks the first public display of what was once America’s most secret scale model. Hundreds of civilian and military employees at the Pentagon have spent time today gawking at a temporary display that includes the tabletop model of the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan that bin Laden used as his hideout for five years. The compound itself no longer exists as the Pakistani...

The National Governors Association (NGA) announced Wednesday that Gov. Chris Gregoire was picked to chair the group. Gregoire was named chairwoman of the bipartisan organization of governors by the NGA executive committee. She becomes the second woman to lead the association.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Many teachers and educators across the United States are at risk of losing their jobs in the next few months, the country's education secretary told a meeting of the National Governors Association on Sunday.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) is trying to rally state opposition to U.S. EPA's forthcoming regulation of greenhouse gases. A former utility lobbyist and former chairman of the Republican National Committee, Barbour is asking members of the National Governors Association's natural resource committee to urge Congress to block the rules. This week, Barbour circulated among the governors a draft letter (pdf) to Congress encouraging lawmakers to pass a resolution to stop EPA from enacting "costly greenhouse gas regulations" under the Clean Air Act. "This is something that Governor Barbour feels like is important," Barbour spokesman Dan Turner said. "He wanted...

While standing in front of an AH-64D Apache attack helicopter, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, right, discusses weapons systems with Col. Douglas Gabram, commander of the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad, during a visit to Camp Taji, July 18. Photo by Spc. Alun Thomas, 1st Cavalry Division. TAJI — Far away in the hot, arid climate of Iraq, it might be easy for Soldiers to become distant from the places they like to call home, as life goes on without them. However, for some members of the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade on Camp Taji, a...

Another bipartisan consensus has coalesced on ObamaCare, and it’s not cheery. The New York Times reports that both Republican and Democratic governors across the country have realized what Barack Obama’s health-care reform means to them — and they’re not going to sit quietly while Barack Obama passes the buck to the states: The nation’s governors, Democrats as well as Republicans, voiced deep concern Sunday about the shape of the health care plan emerging from Congress, fearing that Washington was about to hand them expensive new Medicaid obligations without money to pay for them. The role of the states in a...

Democratic Governors Accuse NGA Staff of Misleading Them on Costs of Health Care ReformBy Serafin Gomez FOXNews.com Monday, July 20, 2009 BILOXI, MISS. -- Democratic governors on Monday softened their opposition to health care legislation being championed by Democrats in Washington after accusing staff at the National Governors Association meeting of misleading them on the costs of the reforms. **SNIP** "Yesterday the NGA staff gave us some information that was not exactly correct so we're working through to find out what the real numbers are," Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer told FOX News on Monday. "Currently the House version does not...

BILOXI — President Barack Obama and two big name governors — one involved in a recent sex scandal and another who announced her resignation — may not attend the National Governors Association meetings here this week. But as several states are still without a 2010 budget, many will come seeking strategies for infrastructure, education, energy and information about the federal stimulus funds, emergency management and other issues, all of which will be highlighted at the conference. The convention begins Friday, but at the end of last week, NGA officials said they weren’t expecting Obama to attend. The commander-in-chief is always...

On his trip to get a burger with Brian Williams at Five Guys this afternoon, the President appears to have learned of the existence of a Defense Department intelligence arm, the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, from an agency employee also at the burger restaurant. "So explain to me exactly what this National Geospatial..." Obama said, after the worker mentioned his employer, according to a video of the event. "We work with, uh, satellite imagery," the worker, Walter replied. A POLITICO reader caught the exchange, which starts around 5:45 on this C-SPAN video. The transcript: Obama: What do you do Walter?...

Obama: What do you do Walter? Walter: I work at, uh, NGA, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Obama: Outstanding, how long you been doing [sic] that? Walter: About six years Obama: Yea? Walter: Yes. Obama: You like it? Walter: I do, keeps me... Obama: So explain to me exactly what this National Geospatial...uh... Walter: Uh, we work with, uh, satellite imagery.. Obama: Right Walter: [unintelligible] ...support systems, so... Obama: Sounds like good work. Walter: Enjoy the weekend. Obama: Appreciate it.

On his trip to get a burger with Brian Williams at Five Guys this afternoon, the President appears to have learned of the existence of a Defense Department intelligence arm, the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, from an agency employee also at the burger restaurant. "So explain to me exactly what this National Geospatial..." Obama said, after the worker mentioned his employer, according to a video of the event. "We work with, uh, satellite imagery," the worker, Walter replied. A POLITICO reader caught the exchange, which starts around 5:45 on this C-SPAN video. The transcript: Obama: What do you do Walter?...

GOP governors turn down $66M in aid for jobless. MONTGOMERY - Despite Alabama's rising jobless rate, Gov. Bob Riley on Monday rejected $66 million in the federal economic stimulus funds earmarked to help states fund unemployment benefits. Riley made the announcement after returning from a National Governors Association meeting in Washington, where he and other governors met with President Barack Obama Sunday night. An influential legislator accused Riley of playing politics, along with other Republican governors in the South. But Riley said the stimulus law requires states to change their laws to expand jobless benefits to those who don't normally...

US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, seen here on February 22, 2009, make their way to the East Room for after dinner entertainment with US governors at the White House in Washington, DC. Barack Obama late Sunday hosted his first White House state dinner in honor of US governors, offering them reassurance and support in tough economic times First lady Michelle Obama, center, talks with White House guests before the start of entertainment in the East Room following a dinner with the nation's governors in the State Dining Room, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2009, in Washington. U.S. first...

Montana Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer ribbed Alaska Republican Gov. Sarah Palin Friday for announcing at the last minute that she will not be attending a Sunday discussion of energy policy that the two governors were scheduled to lead at this weekend's meeting of the National Governors Association (NGA) in Washington. "I don't know where she's going to be. You'll be stuck with me," Schweitzer told ABC News. "There will be no glamour, certainly no snappy dressing. I brought my best two pairs of jeans. There's a little bit of a horse shit stain by the knee. But I've been washing...