Free Republic

The revelation that the U.S. Department of Justice has been paying exorbitant prices for food and drink ($16 apiece for muffins and $8 a cup for coffee) at official functions sparked a heated exchange between Congressional critics and Administration officials. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) labeled the outlays “extravagant and wasteful. We’re in a recession. The budget is in a big hole. Families have to scrimp and save. What kind of a message does this sort of ‘lord of the manor’ attitude toward federal spending send?” Representative Frank Wolf (R-Va), who chairs the House appropriations subcommittee that oversees the Justice Department,...

In the 35th-floor conference room of a Manhattan high-rise, two of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s most trusted advisers held a secret meeting a few weeks ago with a group of super-rich Republican donors. Over tuna and turkey sandwiches, the advisers explained that New York’s Democratic governor was determined to legalize same-sex marriage and would deliver every possible Senate vote from his own party. Would the donors win over the deciding Senate Republicans? It sounded improbable: top Republican moneymen helping a Democratic rival with one of his biggest legislative goals. But the donors in the room — the billionaire Paul Singer,...

While America as a whole slides toward unemployment and poverty, certain well-connected people are doing very nicely indeed. Consider Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and her husband Paul. Kevin Bogardus of The Hill reports:  House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) saw her net worth rise 62 percent last year, cementing her status as one of the wealthiest members of Congress.Pelosi was worth at least $35.2 million in the 2010 calendar year, according to a financial disclosure report released Wednesday. She reported a minimum of $43.4 million in assets and about $8.2 in liabilities.For 2009, Pelosi reported a minimum net worth...

The nation’s top labor leader on Friday said President Obama has allowed talk of attacking federal deficits to overrun his message on jobs and economic growth, while hitting Fox News for being anti-union. “I think he made a strategic blunder whenever he confused his stimulus/jobs agenda” by letting deficits dominate the conversation, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said of Mr. Obama in response to questions at the National Press Club. The unions have long been a critical component of the Democratic Party base, but Mr. Trumka’s remarks suggested the umbrella labor group could take a more independent stance in 2012. Mr....

President Obama lashed out at Republicans Monday for having "denigrated or vilified" public union employees. Without collective bargaining and the ability to go on strike, he said we wouldn't be able to attract "the best and the brightest to public service." Are public employees simply the best and the brightest? Or are we simply lavishing them with much better employment deals than their private counterparts? To measure how attractive a job is, economists study how employees vote with their feet -- that is, comparing the rate at which different categories of employees voluntarily quit their jobs. Over the last six...

“Spread the Recovery” Labor Sec: Keeping People on Unemployment for Almost Two Years is Gov Moral Obligation http://www.theblaze.com/stories/%e2%80%9cspread-the-recovery%e2%80%9d-labor-sec-keeping-people-on-unemployment-for-almost-two-years-is-gov-moral-obligation/

Although voters abolished Houston's red light camera system Tuesday, the 70 cameras have the green light to keep recording traffic violations for months as the city weighs a legal strategy for exiting its contract with the firm operating the cameras, city officials say. Anti-camera activists slammed the delay Wednesday, insisting on immediately terminating the five-year contract — whatever the cost - with ATS, the Arizona firm that manages Houston's system. The May 2009 contract has a termination clause that requires the city to provide the company with a 120-day notice of cancellation, a period when the cameras will still be...

ANDREA MITCHELL, NBC: "What is the secret here to turn out? In the old days, the old machine days, what we called 'walking around money,' handing out money to get people to vote. Is it still the case? What do you do, what is the magic in Philadelphia? REP. ROBERT BRADY (D-PA): "We still have the street money and we're very knowledgeable." Rep. Brady is also the chairman of the Philadelphia Democratic party.

Defense Earmarks Totaling $3.36 million in 2 years in Return for $139,000 in Campaign Contributions LAS VEGAS, Sept. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- 1001 Reasons to Vote Against Harry Reid has issued a detailed and comprehensive report on the cozy relationship between Sen. Harry Reid and Arcata Associates. Arcata is a Las Vegas-based defense contractor controlled by the Wong family whose executives have given close to $139,000 to Sen. Reid and to the Democratic Party. Sen. Reid rewarded Arcata with $3.36 million in earmarked projects in just the past two years. Justice Brandeis once said that sunlight was the best disinfectant, because...

federal government hired a New Orleans man for $18,000 to appraise whether news stories about its actions in the Gulf oil spill were positive or negative for the Obama administration, which was keenly sensitive to comparisons between its response and former President George W. Bush's much-maligned reaction to Hurricane Katrina. also spent $10,000 for just over three minutes of video showing a routine offshore rig inspection for news organizations but couldn't say whether any ran the footage. And it awarded a $216,625 no-bid contract for a survey of seabirds to an environmental group that has criticized what it calls the...

Exclusive: Meghan McCain Writes that Palin Brought 'Drama, Stress... Panic' to Campaign Sen. John McCain's Daughter: Sarah Palin's Rise Was 'Too Fast,' 'Too Easy' Aug. 31, 2010— For the first time since the end of her father's 2008 presidential bid, Sen. John McCain's daughter Meghan McCain spoke out about Sarah Palin, writing in a new book that Palin brought "drama, stress, complications, panic and loads of uncertainty" to the losing campaign. Though she writes that during the campaign she wondered if the loss "was Sarah Palin's fault," McCain told "Good Morning America" today in an exclusive interview that Palin was...

CHICAGO (AP) - Rod Blagojevich hid in the bathroom, ducked into the back room and left the office early to avoid discussing complex issues with his top aides, his former deputy said Thursday at the ousted governor's corruption trial. Former Deputy Governor Robert Greenlee portrayed Blagojevich as disengaged from daily affairs of state, saying Blagojevich spent on average about two to eight hours a week in his office when he was governor. He said that during working hours, the governor generally was at home or attending high-profile events. Greenlee said he would confer with Blagojevich by telephone when they discussed...

HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. — During the latest episode of the battle over a sex tape showing ex-presidential candidate John Edwards being less than presidential, Judge Carl Fox stopped with a quizzical look. Rielle Hunter, a campaign videographer with whom Edwards had an extramarital affair and a child, claims the tape is hers and wants it back from Andrew Young, the former Edwards aide who wrote a tell-all book about the politician's quest for the White House. At a hearing in Orange County Superior Court on Wednesday, lawyers for Young argued that Hunter had no claim to it. They contended the video...

A Houston woman who works for the Texas Department of Public Safety used her ready access to state driver's licenses for cash, authorities said. Gracie Gutierrez, 27, remained in custody after she was charged on Tuesday with bribery. Gutierrez is accused of accepting bribes to issue driver's licenses to people who are undocumented and have not taken the written or driving exam, said Donna Hawkins with the Harris County District Attorney's office. Also charged with bribery is Saul Ramirez, 20. Officials said he does not work for DPS. Ramirez was arrested while trying to sell a Texas driver's license to...

House, Senate leaders finalize details of sweeping financial overhaul By Brady Dennis Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, June 25, 2010; 12:26 PM Key House and Senate lawmakers approved far-reaching new financial rules early Friday after weeks of division, delay and frantic last-minute dealmaking. The dawn compromise set up a potential vote in both houses of Congress next week that could send the landmark legislation to President Obama by July 4. The final and most arduous compromise began to fall into place just after midnight. Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) agreed to scale back a controversial provision that would have forced the...

At the heart of the current controversy involving free tickets at Los Angeles City Hall, one question stands out: If Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa attended big-time entertainment events because he was conducting city business, why did he not keep better records of those public duties? For weeks, Villaraigosa has argued that he appeared in an official capacity at dozens of concerts, sporting events and awards shows since 2005, from sitting in box seats at Dodger Stadium to attending a 2007 performance by R&B singer Mary J. Blige at L.A. Live. Those duties, he said, exempted him from the law that would...

Companies are preying on desperate musicians by selling them Twitter followers, Facebook fans and even download sales. But only a fool would think this is real success One of the most staggering statistics I took from this year's The Great Escape was that analytics company MusicMetric is currently tracking 450,000 artists. As it's not following every artist out there, we can safely say there are more than half a million competing for your attention. So how are they supposed to get heard? Unsurprisingly, new companies have emerged that are intent on profiting from the increasing desperation of artists and start-up...

The White House faced fresh questions over back-room dealmaking after a Democrat acknowledged he had been encouraged by one of President Barack Obama's top advisers to apply for an international development job instead of challenging the candidate whom the president favored in a Senate race. The revelation again called into question repeated promises by Obama to run an open government that was above private political horse-trading. In appealing to voters this election year, Republicans charge that Obama's promise to change the ways of Washington has given way to the craven politics he campaigned against. Former Colorado House of Representatives Speaker...

All the Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee have joined Rep. Darrell Issa, ranking GOP member of the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform, in writing a letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller over the Joe Sestak affair. The lawmakers urge Mueller to investigate “collusion” and possible obstruction of justice involving the White House, former President Bill Clinton, and Sestak’s brother, who was consulted during the drafting of the new White House report. “Not surprisingly, the White House’s own report clears White House officials and former President Bill Clinton of wrongdoing,” the lawmakers write. “But assurances by the Obama...

Senior adviser to the president David Axelrod said Monday evening that there is “no evidence” that White House officials tried to keep a Democratic congressman from entering the Pennsylvania Senate race by offering him a high-ranking government job. “When the allegations were made, they were looked into. And there was no evidence of such a thing,” Axelrod said on CNN’s “John King USA.” Axelrod acknowledged that if White House officials dangled a job in front of Rep. Joe Sestak’s face to keep him away from challenging incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter, that would “constitute a serious breach of the law.” Axelrod...

U.S. Law states that it is a felony to offer a candidate for public office anything of substance, such as a job, in exchange for that candidate dropping out of a race. Pennsylvania Democrat Joe Sestak, who defeated Arlen Specter for the Democratic Senatorial nomination, claims the White House did exactly that. In explaining the law on Fox Business Network's 'Happy Hour' program, Judge Andrew Napolitano stated, Well the ramifications are potentially enormous. I mean to offer someone something of value in order to affect their official behavior as a member of Congress is a felony. We call it a...

Impeach Obama under U.S. Code Title 31 5362, “Unlawful Internet Gambling” shows that the Obama campaign ran what could qualify as lotteries, and therefore illegal Internet gambling, to raise money. Barack Obama signed his name to one such solicitation and also stated openly that the promotion cheated some of the entrants (by announcing a winner prior to the entry deadline). This activity may also have been illegal under U.S. Code, Title 18 1084, "Transmission of wagering information; penalties," also known as the Federal Wire Wager Act. Whoever being engaged in the business of betting or wagering knowingly uses a wire...

CHICAGO (AP) - A federal judge in Chicago has refused to issue a subpoena for President Barack Obama to testify at former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's political corruption trial.

Court's hi-tech misstep reveals blacked-out portions of ex-Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich's subpoena of Obama — suggesting the newly elected commander-in-chief may have played role in finding his Senate replacement. See the un-redactated copy of this explosive document. There is also a video link if you follow this link; http://www.foxnews.com/

The White House counsel’s office failed to meet an already extended deadline for answering questions from House Republicans about Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.), who had said the White House offered him a high-level administration job in exchange for his not running against Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) in the Pennsylvania Democratic Senate primary. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs also declined to say on Monday whether the administration would support a special prosecutor investigating the matter. Gibbs instead referred back to a Mar. 16 statement in which he said “whatever” White House conversations occurred with Sestak, they were “not problematic.” Legal experts...

So, somebody asked if I could come up with some more protest images. Mind you, I'm not a particularly creative sort, I just borrow a lot and mash it all together with GIMP to see what comes out. Well, in that vein, I borrowed a great image somebody else came up with, of a raised fist and the slogan "We the People." That was just too hard to resist - my apologies up front if you're the creator of that little gem. At any rate, here are 8 variants on that image, set up as lapel buttons - as far...

C-Span2 covering live Senate votes on healthcare bill all day.

Guess who is getting a pay raise? Who least deserves a pay raise? Obama is proposing that those who deserve it the least, federal employees should get a 1.4% pay increase while millions of Americans are out of work and struggling to pay taxes. Taxes that Obama is trying to increase. To further salt the wound for taxpayers, the Census Bureau reports that in 2009 Federal Employees earned on average 21% more than workers in the private sector, (ibid). The

...The U.S. Attorney's Office in Dallas announced Wednesday that Hodge pleaded guilty in Dallas to fraud and false statements on an income tax return. She faces up to three years in prison, a $100,000 fine and restitution to the IRS. A sentencing date has not been set. Hodge has agreed never again to hold public office. The Dallas Democrat has been a state representative since 1996 and was running for re-election. According to court documents, Hodge received more than $32,000 in rental subsidies, utilities and carpeting from an apartment developer who built complexes in her district. She never declared the...

ATR and CFA have sent the following letter to Jonathan Gruber, the MIT professor who has been under contract with the Department of Health and Human Services while touting the Democrats' healthcare plans in the media without disclosing his relations with the administration: Dear Mr. Gruber, In light of the recent revelations that you have been under a $297,600 contract with the Department of Health and Human Services while publicly advocating for the Democrats’ healthcare proposals in recent months, we ask that you return the money you received under the contract.... =======> Check out the full piece at ATR.org... Give...

"I was close to Chavez, but now he wants me dead." The million dollars from Chavez to Al Qaeda is just the tip of the iceberg in a long series of connections between worldwide terrorist organizations and the Venezuelan strongman, according to one of those who knows most about Chavez and the inside of his presidential palace: His former personal pilot. Major Juan Diaz Castillo is the man who flew the equivalent of Air Force One. In this interview with Venezuela's weekly news-magazine Zeta, he reveals formerly unpublished details of the operations that Chavez had him organize. By Maria Angelica...

Selling candy didn't raise much money last year, so a Goldsboro middle school is selling grades. A $20 donation to Rosewood Middle School will get a student 20 test points - 10 extra points on two tests of the student's choosing. That could raise a B to an A, or a failing grade to a D. Susie Shepherd, the principal, said a parent advisory council came up with the idea, and she endorsed it. She said the council was looking for a new way to raise money.

President Obama has opposed any expanded oil drilling off American shores largely on environmental grounds, turning a deaf ear to conservative cries of "Drill, Baby, Drill." But now Obama may start hearing cries of "foul" after the U.S. Export-Import Bank promised Petrobras, Brazil's state-owned oil company, $2 billion in loan guarantees to help finance lucrative drilling off the shores of Rio De Janeiro. Some see a contradiction in an executive branch agency, independent but with board members appointed by the president, facilitating abroad the very kind of energy exploration Obama opposes domestically.

<p>Where’s all that ‘Stimulus’ money going? We were told it was to create jobs, but we know with certainty that few to no permanent jobs were created. We also know that ‘Stimulus’ did nothing for ‘the economy’ – but did much to repress it.</p>

HELENA — As Sen. Max Baucus has taken the lead on health-reform legislation in the U.S. Senate, he's also become a leader in something else: Campaign money received from health- and insurance-industry interests. In the past six years, nearly one-fourth of every dime raised by Baucus, D-Mont., and his political-action committee has come from groups and individuals associated with drug companies, insurers, hospitals, medical-supply firms, health-service companies and other health professionals. These donations total about $3.4 million, or $1,500 a day, every day, from January 2003 through 2008. Baucus, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee that is drafting a major...

Politics: The career of Roland Burris, a political cipher from Illinois who became a U.S. senator and the lamest of ducks, is over. He can now retire into the obscurity he so richly deserves.Having obtained the seat under a cloud of typical Illinois corruption, Burris announced Friday he won't run for a full term in 2010. He was appointed by the former and recently impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich who, among his other accomplishments, tried to auction off the seat formerly held by Barack Obama. Blagojevich was forced out of office and may soon join other Illinois governors who went on...

The prosecution in the corruption trial of former Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill and others gave jurors a tantalizing glimpse of what authorities called a web of intrigue in which black leaders solicited bribes from white developers because, they said, it was time for those developers to pay. “The game has done changed,” defendant Darren Reagan is heard saying on an audio tape played during opening statements by the prosecution. Defense opening statements were taking place this afternoon. In a surprising development, Hill's attorney, Ray Jackson, said his client would take the stand during the trial. Prosecutors say Reagan...

(Select Local Story #4 - video only) All the media is carrying Roland Burris' prepared remarks, denying any "pay to play" allegations. But what this story shows is a frustrated and angry Burris yelling at WLS-TV reporter Jason Knowles when ambushed early in the day outside his home. That segment begins about 1 minute into the video.

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday declined to file corruption charges against a former California lawmaker, clearing the way for his campaign for Oakland mayor next year. ... The announcement ends an investigation into former state Senate leader Don Perata that stretches back to 2004 and extended to his family and circle of political associates. ... Federal prosecutors released a statement saying only that they were declining to file criminal charges but did not say why. They said they could not "disclose our deliberative process."

SACRAMENTO -- Former state Senate leader Don Perata, who has been the target of a five year-long FBI corruption investigation, will not be charged with any crimes, sources told The Chronicle today. In declining to indict the 64-year-old Oakland Democrat, federal prosecutors in Sacramento put an end to a wide-ranging FBI probe into whether Perata had taken hundreds of thousands of dollars of kickbacks in return for actions he took as a legislator and as president pro tem of the Senate. Perata announced in March that he would run for mayor of Oakland in 2010. The government's decision not to...

Senator Suggested Contribution Before He Was Appointed, Later Decided Against It CHICAGO (CBS) ― Sen. Roland Burris was recorded on an FBI wiretap suggesting that he could write a check to former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's campaign before the ousted governor appointed Burris to the Senate. The details of the conversation emerged after a federal judge said Tuesday he would allow the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee to hear a federal wiretap of the former governor's brother, Rob, having a fund-raising conversation with Burris. Rob Blagojevich was running the campaign fund at the time.

Even as Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) faces calls for an ethics investigation into the connection between his earmarks and donations to his campaign, there is little evidence back home in southwestern Pennsylvania to signal that the controversy is affecting his standing. Despite a seemingly endless series of unfavorable stories concerning his earmarking practices and questions surrounding his involvement with the PMA Group, a Washington lobbying firm reportedly under federal investigation for funneling campaign contributions to lawmakers through bogus donors in exchange for earmarks, few think Murtha is in jeopardy of losing the seat he has held for 35 years. “Despite...

"He was saying, basically, that we have to pay to play," said Shawn Straughter, a member of the Minority & Independent Contractors Alliance who owns a marketing and public-relations business. "Play the game. That's how he labeled it, 'the game.' " Eight people who attended the meeting on April 3 said that Safford told contractors they need to contribute to Columbus officials' political campaigns if they expect to win contracts from City Hall.

The managing editor of Budget & Tax News says no money for education should have been included in the recently signed economic "stimulus" bill. In a recent press conference, Education Secretary Arne Duncan warned that if the economic stimulus bill did not pass, up to 600,000 education workers could lose their jobs as states face enormous budget shortfalls. But Steve Stanek of The Heartland Institute argues that the bill should not have included the allotted $87 billion for education. Stanek argues that the stimulus basically amounts to a payoff for teachers and teachers unions who supported Obama. "The teachers unions...

Just about everything the banking, financial and automotive industries touched in 2008 turned to dust, but they did get a quite handsome return — 267,208 percent — on one investment: politicians, including Sen. Christopher Dodd and Rep. Christopher Murphy. The Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks political greasings at opensecrets.org, says the $114.2 million those industries devoted to lobbying in 2008 and to campaign donations in the recently ended election cycle netted them $305.2 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds, with more on the way. The center said the companies that donated the most got the most, and...

WASHINGTON -- The White House's nominee for Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Leon Panetta, has earned more than $700,000 in speaking and consulting fees since the beginning of 2008, with some of the payments coming from troubled financial firms and from a firm that invests in contractors for federal national security agencies, according to financial disclosures released Wednesday. Mr. Panetta received $56,000 from Merrill Lynch & Co. for two speeches and $28,000 for a speech for Wachovia Corp., according to disclosures released ahead of Thursday's scheduled Senate hearing on Mr. Panetta's nomination.

WILKES-BARRE — Luzerne County Court Administrator William T. Sharkey Sr., the highest-paid non-judicial employee in the county court system, has agreed to plead guilty to pocketing more than $70,000 seized in illegal gambling cases over 10 years, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. WILKES-BARRE — Luzerne County Court Administrator William T. Sharkey Sr., the highest-paid non-judicial employee in the county court system, has agreed to plead guilty to pocketing more than $70,000 seized in illegal gambling cases over 10 years, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. Sharkey is the third high-ranking court official snared in a wide-ranging, ongoing federal probe of the county court...

The worst economic turmoil since the Great Depression is not a natural phenomenon but a man-made disaster in which we all played a part.In the second part of a week-long series looking behind the slump,Guardian City editor Julia Finch picks out the individuals who have led us into the current crisis Alan Greenspan, chairman of US Federal Reserve 1987- 2006Only a couple of years ago the long-serving chairman of the Fed, a committed free marketeer who had steered the US economy through crises ranging from the 1987 stockmarket collapse through to the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, was lauded with...

Eric Holder’s intercession on behalf of fugitive Marc Rich is so inexplicable that he has always viewed ignorance as his best defense. It’s as though Holder believes that a deputy attorney general looks better for having remained studiously unaware of critical facts in a criminal case before throwing his weight around. But that’s Holder’s story, and he’s sticking to it: even if it turns out not to be true. Holder is President Obama’s choice to become attorney general. That means the Rich case is a big problem for him today—just as it was in 2001, when an outraged Congress demanded...

Elite Obama Donors Receive Early Gifts and Privileges from Obama While Under Senate Investigation and After Accepting Millions in Taxpayer Paid Bailout So many of the Elite Obama Donors arrived at Dulles International Airport in their personal private jets that an active runway at Dulles International Airport had to be shut down and then converted into a make-do parking lot. * * * * * Surprisingly no PETA, Global Warming, nor Code Pink protesters are seen as the Elite Obama Donors arrive in chauffeur driven stretch limousines dressed in their finest furs. * * * * * Their gilded...