Free Republic

In 2008 when my wife, Gena, and I were on the campaign trail backing former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee for president, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum was fighting to get former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney elected. Just three years ago in his interview with radio host and conservative commentator Laura Ingraham, Santorum also emphatically told millions of listening Americans: “If you’re a conservative, if you’re a Republican, there is only one place to go, and that’s Mitt Romney. Yet Santorum now admits that Romney “bragged he’s even more liberal than Ted Kennedy on social issues.” And the question that keeps...

An antitax advocacy group zinged Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum’s tax plan, giving him a grade of “D+” grade and the dubious honor of proposing what “may be the worst idea of any of the Republican candidates.” ”The good news is Santorum has gotten more specific about his tax plan since last month when we gave him a D+,” economist William McBride wrote on Thursday. “The bad news is… he’s gotten more specific.” Mr. McBride said the biggest problem with Mr. Santorum’s proposal is the sharply different corporate tax rates he would establish. Mr. Santorum would halve the corporate tax...

“Once the colleges fell, and those who were being educated in our institutions,” he said during the speech, “the next was the church. Now you’d say, ‘Well, wait, the Catholic Church?’ No.”“We all know that this country was founded on a Judeo-Christian ethic, but the Judeo-Christian ethic was a Protestant Judeo-Christian ethic. Sure, the Catholics had some influence, but this was a Protestant country and the Protestant ethic. Mainstream, mainline Protestantism.“And of course we look at the shape of mainline Protestantism in this country and it is a shambles. It is gone from the world of Christianity as I see...

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved licenses to build two new nuclear reactors Thursday

A defining moment in Mitt Romney's post-pro-life-conversion political career came in his third year as governor of Massachusetts, when he decided Catholic hospitals would be required under his interpretation of a new state law to give rape victims a drug that can induce abortions. Romney announced this decision -- saying it was the "right thing for hospitals" to do -- just two days after he had taken the opposite position. The story begins in 1975, when Massachusetts enacted a law that said, "No privately controlled hospital .. shall be required to permit any patient to have an abortion ... or...

Pam Bondi makes a big show of opposing FEDERAL intrusion into our lives, but she is fine with STATE intrusion into our lives. Note how she blusters of the federal government while embracing state authority. The problem is the trampling of the rights or the INDIVIDUAL. The Romney bandwagon is all smoke and mirrors. Romney is no conservative.

UPDATED: Gov. Bev Perdue is expected to announce today that she will not seek a second term as governor, two sources close to the Democrat's campaign tell The News & Observer. Perdue is expected to make an announcement this afternoon, a N.C. Democratic Party spokesman said. Her campaign aides began telling top Democrats in the past 24 hours. Perdue campaign spokesman Marc Farinella could not be reached for comment.

She was going to get creamed in the general election, anyway.

VIDEO - Reagan's National Security Advisor Endorses Newt Gingrich At a veterans townhall meeting in Wolfeboro, NH, Bud McFarlane, National Security Advisor to President Ronald Reagan, explains why Newt has the right experience and knowledge to be the Commander in Chief. "He also brings to the presidency a knowledge of how to move the U.S. Congress, how to have the courage to go against conventional wisdom, how to balance a budget, and at home and abroad show the kind of leadership that President Reagan did only 25 years ago. Nobody else in this race has those qualities of knowledge and...

CNN reported back in 1999 that Newt’s college course that the Democrats tried to make hay out of in saying it was a major ethics violation was vindicated and proved legitimate by the IRS:

Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson just endorsed Newt Gingrich for the Republican nomination.

Friday January 6, 2012 will mark the 600th anniversary of the birth of Saint Joan of Arc who was one of the greatest patriots and freedom fighters to ever live.

UPDATE (1:52am): NEWT IS OUT. RPV TO UPDATE SHORTLY.

Rep. Dale Kildee, Michigan Democrat, will be responding to accusations on Monday that he sexually abused his second cousin decades ago. I spoke to Kildee on his way to the airport on Sunday and he denied the charges. The Washington Times affiliated radio program America's Morning News also discussed the charges with the 17 term Congressman who is retiring this year and who previously headed up the now defunct House Page program.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said ahead of a meeting Friday with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak that he would warn his Israeli counterpart about the global economic consequences of a military strike on Iran's nuclear program, adding that he still favors sanctions and diplomacy over a strike.

In an interview with Capital, a New York-based online magazine, a key Mitt Romney adviser who helped craft the presidential contender’s controversial Massachusetts healthcare reform law called out his former boss for attempting to put distance between his own law and Obamacare — saying there was “zero difference” between the two. “They’re the same ******* bill,” Jonathan Gruber told Capital. “He just can’t have his cake and eat it too. Basically, you know, it’s the same bill. He can try to draw distinctions and stuff, but he’s just lying. “The only big difference is he didn’t have to pay for...

The House of Representatives passed a measure Wednesday that would make a permit to carry a concealed firearm from one state valid in any state that allows citizens to carry concealed weapons. The vote was 272 to 154. The National Rifle Association-backed measure had the backing of the vast majority of Republicans along with a coalition of pro-gun rights Democrats. A matching bill has not been brought forward in the Democrat-led Senate. But gun rights advocates have previously nearly-successfully attempted to attach a similar measure to unrelated legislation.

Shots were reported fired Friday night between the White House and the Washington Monument, setting off a flurry of law enforcement activity, a U.S. Park Police spokesman said. The incident was reported shortly after 9 p.m., according to Sgt. David Schlosser, spokesman for the Park Police. Responding officers found an abandoned vehicle in the vicinity of the reported incident and were searching it “trying to figure out what happened.”(continued)

DEMS ON SUPER COMMITTEE BOLT... Sen. Rand Paul tells radiohost Sean Hannity this afternoon, Dems on the budget super committee walk away from heated negotations... AT IMPASSE... Developing...

I read in one thread that a FRpeeper was under the impression that tonight's debate would only be online and was disappointed, so I wanted to let everyone know that it will be on TV as well. Check your cable/satellite TV listings for CNBC at 8pm.

It's election day in NJ, MS, LA, the Northern Marianas Islands and.... VIRGINIA!!!!! In the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Senate is currently controlled by the democrats by two seats. It'll be an interesting night.

Andy Rooney, whose prickly wit was long a mainstay of CBS News and whose homespun commentary on “60 Minutes,” delivered every week from 1978 until 2011, made him a household name, died Friday in New York City. He was 92 and lived in Manhattan, though he kept a family vacation home in Rensselaerville, N.Y., and the first home he ever purchased, in Rowayton, Conn. CBS News said in a statement that Mr. Rooney died after complications following minor surgery. In late September, CBS announced that Mr. Rooney would be making his last regular weekly appearance on “60 Minutes” on Oct....

WASHINGTON—A third former employee says she considered filing a workplace complaint over what she considered aggressive and unwanted behaviour by Republican candidate Herman Cain when she worked for the presidential candidate in the 1990s. She says the behaviour included a private invitation to his corporate apartment. She worked for the National Restaurant Association when he was its head. She told the Associated Press that Cain made sexually suggestive remarks or gestures about the same time that two co-workers had settled separate harassment complaints against him. The employee described situations in which she said Cain told her he had confided to...

October 28, 2011 1:00 P.M. Cain Goes Big His top advisers plot a path to the nomination. Mark Block and Linda Hansen, Herman Cain’s senior advisers, tell National Review Online that Cain will soon hold a series of “major town-hall meetings” in early primary states.

Herman Cain's support appears to be broad and deep, even in Rick Perry's home turf of Texas. A new University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll show a statistical tie at the top between Cain and Perry, with Texan Ron Paul running 3rd: Cain got 27 percent to Perry's 26 percent among Texas registered voters who identify themselves as Republicans. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul was next with 12 percent, followed by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at 9 percent and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich at 8 percent. The other Republican primary candidates - Michele Bachmann, Jon Huntsman, Gary Johnson and...

by Sheri UrbanReal FeministPolitico sicks no less than FOUR reporters onto vague nearly 20 year old allegations to smear new GOP Frontrunner Herman Cain.So desperate are the powers that be to bring down this uber-successful black businessman, that they are doing a Clarence Thomas on him, complete with sketchy allegations such as: a woman “accused him of innuendo or personal questions of a sexually suggestive nature” and conversations that were regarded as “improper in a professional relationship.” Can you possibly be any more vague? A few weeks ago a group of “feminists” commemorated the 20th anniversary of dopey fraudster...

Now, Social Security is sucking money out of the Treasury. This year, it will add a projected $46 billion to the nation’s budget problems, according to projections by system trustees. Replacing cash lost to a one-year payroll tax holiday will require an additional $105 billion. If the payroll tax break is expanded next year, as President Obama has proposed, Social Security will need an extra $267 billion to pay promised benefits.

If you have ever wondered about the government’s ability to control the civilian airwaves, you will have your answer on November 9th. On that day, federal authorities are going to shut off all television and radio communications simultaneously at 2:00PM EST to complete the first ever test of the national Emergency Alert System (EAS).

BREAKING NEWS: Gaddafi 'captured' as rebel forces take control of Sirte Leader wounded in both legs prior to capture By DAILY MAIL REPORTER Last updated at 12:27 PM on 20th October 2011 Comments (0) Add to My Stories Share Muammar Gaddafi has been captured by revolutionary forces in Libya, it has been reported today. Gaddafi and his family have been on the run since Nato and rebel forces started closing the net on Tripoli in mid-August. The reports of Gaddafi's capture came on the same day that revolutionary forces said that they had taken control of Sirte - the leader's...

23.5 Romney +0.3 23.2 Cain 12.8 Perry 8.3 Gingrich 8.0 Paul 4.7 Bachmann 1.8 Huntsman 1.6 Santorum http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/us/republican_presidential_nomination-1452.html#polls

Jonathan Gruber, MIT professor: "The truth is that the Affordable Care Act is essentially based on what we accomplished in Massachusetts. It's the same basic structure applied nationally. John McDonough, one of the other advisers,who work in both Massachusetts and advised the White House said 'it's the Massachusetts with three more zeros.' And that's basically a good description of what the federal bill did."

A new Rasmussen poll is pouring salt on Texas Gov. Rick Perry's wounds. The struggling one-time front-runner is now trailing President Barack Obama in a head-to-head matchup 49 percent to 35 percent. Obama was leading Perry six or fewer points in two recent Rasmussen polls — and Perry narrowly polled ahead of Obama in early September. Perry would fare worse than businessman Herman Cain, who in a poll last week trailed Obama 42 percent to 39 percent. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney polls even with Obama — the best of the Republican presidential candidates.

Title Only Can't get the link to work......

In meeting with Turkish FM, Syrian president discusses possibility of NATO strike, says 'I won't need more than six hours to transfer hundreds of rockets to Golan to fire at Tel Aviv'

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What if the president of the United States hadn’t proposed an $800 billion stimulus plan back in 2009—but one twice as large? That is the question haunting the intellectual left, led by the economist and columnist Paul Krugman, especially since the economy is mired in what might charitably be considered the doldrums. It slowed to a near-total halt in the first quarter of 2011 with a growth rate of 0.4 percent before climbing to a comatose 1.3 percent rate in the second. For Krugman’s opposite numbers, the question is the reverse: Might the U.S. economy actually be stronger today if...

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...lies..........blah blah blah....applause....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I attended a conference today hosted by the WJC and the JCPA, where this book was launched. I was thrilled that this book, setting out Israel's legal rights was published. This is the first volley in a long overdue emphasis on Israel's rights. It will be translated into a half a dozen languages and is currently available in book and digital form in English. For ten years now, I have been arguing for Israel to claim her legal rights and not just her security rights. At the bottom of this post you will see all the chapters which are each...

Excerpt: Many believe the Governor will announce her presidential bid on the show today — since she appears to indeed be scheduled as a guest at 930am PST…which is 1130am CST and 1230pm EST. Read more: http://hillbuzz.org/2011/09/16/sarah-palin-on-the-bob-mark-show-in-alaska-at-930am-pst-91611/

SEOUL - A US military reconnaissance plane came under electronic attack from North Korea and had to make an emergency landing during a major military exercise in March, a political aide said Friday. The aide said the plane suffered disturbance to its GPS system due to jamming signals from the North's southwestern cities of Haeju and Kaesong as it was taking part in the annual US-South Korea drill, Key Resolve.

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 6, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - While surveying the landscape for inroads to push the homosexual agenda into Poland, American embassy officials under the Obama administration complained that the Catholic Church teaching is a major source of “homophobia” in the heavily Catholic country, according to private cables recently published by Wikileaks. The cables from the American embassy in Warsaw, marked “sensitive but unclassified,” were part of a dump of over 250,000 official government documents last week by Wikileaks. One cable from the American embassy in Warsaw dated August 2009 pointed to the Catholic Church as central in promoting “homophobia”...

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio—President Barack Obama this week will try to launch a political comeback amid the lowest approval ratings of his presidency and a growing sense of economic foreboding here and across the country among voters who are increasingly questioning their president's skills and priorities. A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll of 1,000 adults, taken Aug. 27-31, found that 44% of Americans approve of the job Mr. Obama is doing as president, with more than half, or 51%, disapproving for the first time since his inauguration. Some 73% say the country is headed in the wrong direction, a level of...

just announced, this ought to be good for grandstanding and wagging of the finger at nasty republicans and blame Bush.

Today Perry speaks of Washington as an alien land, inhabited by irresponsible politicians. In his most recent book, Fed Up!, Perry criticizes President George W. Bush for giving free rein to “spendthrift congressional Republicans.” “Ultimately, the record is fairly unforgiving for Republicans — particularly in Congress — who have been in power in Washington over the last decade or so,” Perry wrote in 2010. “They haven’t just spent our money wildly — they have blatantly ignored our core founding principles.” This is the same message that Perry has brought to the campaign trail since the announcement of his bid for...

Bachman bests Paul. Pawlenty third. Romney fourth. Works for me!

... He will be honored during a White House ceremony September 15. Meyer will be the third living Medal of Honor recipient from service in the current war theaters. No longer on active duty, Meyer returned to Columbia, Kentucky. "The award honors the men who gave their lives that day, and the men who were in that fight," Meyer said, according to a Marine newsletter. "I didn't do anything more than any other Marine would. I was put in an extraordinary circumstance, and I just did my job." Meyer, who serves in the Inactive Ready Reserve of the U.S. Marine...

As a presidential candidate, Republican Mitt Romney says he opposes revenue-boosting tax increases. But back when he was Massachusetts' governor, he bragged about them. The Romney administration in 2004 and 2005 quietly highlighted the state's recent tax and fee hikes as part of an effort to persuade the financial rating agencies Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings to improve the state's bond ratings.The administration's bullet-point presentations to the agencies, made public through freedom of information requests, sought to make the case that Massachusetts had "acted decisively" to address the state's fiscal problems with a combination of streamlining, belt-tightening budget cuts,...

Key Republican on New Deficit Panel, Rep. Dave Camp, Won't Rule Out Tax Increases CNBC.com breaking headline

Twenty-five U.S. special forces killed early Saturday in Afghanistan were on a mission to rescue another team of military personnel pinned down by insurgents, a U.S. military official told CNN. The helicopter that went down in eastern Afghanistan carried 30 U.S. military members, including 22 Navy SEALs and three other special forces. They were part of a "quick reaction force" sent in to pick up others engaged in a fierce firefight, the official said. In the single deadliest incident since the start of the decade-long Afghan war, the Army Chinook carrying a team of U.S. special forces and U.S. and...