Free Republic

Sen. John McCain tells Newsmax he can’t blame Americans for being disgusted by Congress and the president’s performance in the debt ceiling crisis, but insists that Republicans were determined not to “betray” voters’ 2010 election mandate to cut federal spending. The GOP’s 2008 presidential candidate vows he will be fighting “on the Senate floor” against deep cuts in military spending, states that he favors eliminating all agricultural subsidies, calls pork barrel spending “corruption,” and charges that President Obama was a “bystander” in the debt ceiling debate. The Arizona legislator also says he is “very concerned” about another four years under...

A Hidden History of Evil Why doesn’t anyone care about the unread Soviet archives? In the world’s collective consciousness, the word “Nazi” is synonymous with evil. It is widely understood that the Nazis’ ideology—nationalism, anti-Semitism, the autarkic ethnic state, the Führer principle—led directly to the furnaces of Auschwitz. It is not nearly as well understood that Communism led just as inexorably, everywhere on the globe where it was applied, to starvation, torture, and slave-labor camps. Nor is it widely acknowledged that Communism was responsible for the deaths of some 150 million human beings during the twentieth century. The world remains...

WikiLeaks: China's Politburo a cabal of business empires China's ruling Politburo is a cabal of business empires that puts vested interests over the needs of the poor and curtails media freedoms to avoiding having shady business deals exposed in the press, according to a leaked US government diplomatic cable. By Peter Foster, Beijing 9:00PM GMT 06 Dec 2010 The damning description of China's secretive leadership machinations also described how the descendants of China's Communist revolutionaries – known as "princelings" – derided officials from less august revolutionary backgrounds as mere "shopkeepers". The assessment of what motivates China's opaque top-level decision-makers was...

In the fury of the firing of Juan Williams much of the tenor of what is happening at NPR is being overlooked. His firing is completely outrageous but it is a symptom of a larger problem at the news organization. NPR is saying that Juan Williams crossed a line with his opinion. I have been covering The White House since 1993, and I have heard plenty of opinion. Most of it has not made it into print or on air, but journalists are human and they have opinions, hopes and fears. Most consumers of news, I think, would rather know

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz-nVW3Zitk&feature=player_embedded] Tonight on The ANDREA SHEA KING Show at 9p ET we'll be talking about it. It? Yep. Take a look... William Gheen of ALIPAC will join us at the top of the hour. Don't be late. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/askshow/2010/06/25/the-andrea-shea-king-showFox News Owner Rupert Murdoch Pushes for Amnesty for Illegal Aliens by William Gheen President of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC ALIPAC www.alipac.usJune 24, 2010 A big question has been answered for those of us wondering why very few of the leaders of organizations fighting against illegal immigration are on Fox News anymore. The last time I was on FOX was on Sunday...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Tensions soared at City Hall on Tuesday over a nonbinding resolution calling for the condemnation of the Israeli military's deadly raid on a flotilla headed for Gaza. At least nine people were killed by Israeli naval commandos during the May 31 raid on ships carrying aid for the isolated Gaza region, which is under an Israeli blockade.The legislation, sponsored by Supervisors John Avalos and Sophie Maxwell, has more than two dozen "whereas" clauses. It attempts to localize the attack that took place a half a world away by noting San Francisco's "recognition and understanding of our population's...

With Jay Leno and Matt Winkler from Bloomberg News. (Michelle wore red, for May Day)Sen. Chris Dodd and Michael Bloomberg.Chevy ChaseLarry KingRupert Murdoch and Tim GeithnerArianna Huffington and Joy Behar.Jessica Simpson and Gabourey Sidibe ("Precious")Dennis Quaid and Queen Latifah.Bill Maher and Seth MacFarlaneThe one who was supposed to move out of the country in November, 2004.No, it's not Madonna. That's Donatella Versace.Gail Simmons and Tom Colicchio of 'Top Chef'.King, MacFarlane, and Jeff Probst.Tracy MorganColin Powell and Joy Behar.Chelsea Handler (female equivalent of Bill Maher) and Katie Couric.Cynthia NixonJon Bon Jovi is pleased to introduce his wife to race-baiter Al Sharpton.Peter...

SNIP Mr. Obama is imposing a leftist revolution. Since coming to office, he has behaved without any constitutional restraints. The power of the federal government has exploded. He has de facto nationalized key sectors of American life - the big banks, financial institutions, the automakers, large tracts of energy-rich land from Montana to New Mexico. His cap-and-trade proposal, along with a newly empowered Environmental Protection Agency, seeks to impose massive new taxes and regulations upon industry. It is a form of green socialism: Much of the economy would fall under a command-and-control bureaucratic corporatist state. Mr. Obama even wants the...

The latest maneuvering by congressional Democrats to make their brand of health care reform a reality has a lot of Washington, D.C. insiders scratching their heads and unable to forecast what is around the bend when it comes to this legislation. But have the media completely dropped the ball and that is allowing those in power to circumvent constitutional process? According to Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., they have. She had some harsh words for the fourth estate on conservative talker Sean Hannity's March 16 radio show. (h/t Kevin Eder) "Well yeah and the other thing is treason media," Bachmann said....

Every single day of this man's presidency is focused on destroying individual liberty and capitalism. There is no absolutely no authority for the federal government to control insurance premiums. This is right out of the Politburo's handbook. President Obama will propose on Monday giving the federal government new power to block excessive rate increases by health insurance companies, as he rolls out comprehensive legislation to revamp the nation?s health care system, White House officials said. Keep in mind that this is effectively seizing control of the health insurance industry. After all, if you control the rates, you control the companies'...

Supervisor Chris Daly's seat in District 6 is open this November, and both moderates and progressives consider it a key swing district. That's why, a veteran local politico told me several months ago, it would be approached with a careful game plan, a thoughtful slate of candidates, and a narrow, well-focused field.So much for that.With a little more than nine months to go, we've got candidates coming out of the flower planters on Market Street. If anyone else enters, we may have one candidate for each of the roughly 8,000 votes it will take to win.For the progressives, the original...

Cancer-stricken Sen. Kennedy asks state leaders for speedy process to replace him in Congress BOSTON (AP) — A cancer-stricken Sen. Edward M. Kennedy has written a poignant letter to Massachusetts leaders asking that they change state law to allow a speedy replacement of him in Congress. The note to Gov. Deval Patrick and the state's Senate president and House speaker acknowledges the state changed its succession law in 2004 to require a special election to fill any vacancy. At the time, legislative Democrats were concerned Republican Gov. Mitt Romney would be able to fill any vacancy created as Sen. John...

Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-MA) manages to answer the question that Keith Ellison (D-MN) and the rest of her Obama-care supporting colleagues in both the House and Senate have avoided. The crowd, however, didn’t like the response very much, and lets Tsongas know it. At about the four-minute mark, one of Tsongas’ peons constitutents asks Tsongas whether she will commit to adopting ObamaCare for her own coverage and give up her so-called “Cadillac” or “gold-played” Congressional coverage, and that’s when Tsongas suddenly becomes concerned with protecting choice

In a very orderly discussion of the Health care issue on Saturday 8/8/2009 Congressman Doggett was asked about mandating all Congressmen, Senators, government workers and the President to be required to use the same health plan as the American Public. His committee has studied health care for 2 years but says that such provisions are not part of the overall plan. Both sides of the healthcare reform issue cheered when this was brought up to the Congressman.

Sources say White House cadre bypassing agencies, jeopardizing security JERUSALEM – A small group of officials working mostly from the White House are tightly controlling U.S. foreign policy, bypassing other government agencies and making decisions without employing the expertise of those agencies, according to diplomatic sources speaking to WND. The sources said some of the decisions may be jeopardizing U.S. security. A senior Middle East diplomatic source said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently apologized to a Mideast leader, explaining to him U.S. policy regarding his country is being dictated by the White House and not her agency. The diplomatic...

While some San Francisco renters breathe a sigh of relief, landlords are outraged at a series of new regulations coming from the tenant-friendly Board of Supervisors. On Tuesday, the board voted to pass a package of renters' rights laws authored by Supervisor Chris Daly, and another supervisor introduced a measure that would make it illegal for owners who want to move into their property to evict families with children. The new legislation, authored by Supervisor Eric Mar, is aimed at keeping families with children stable and in affordable housing. It will expand existing laws, which already protect seniors, disabled people...

Candidates for City Council Non-Democrats need not apply for two seats Sunday, January 4, 2009 3:36 AM By Robert Vitale THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH A phone-book-size stack of resumes and cover letters sits on the desks of Columbus City Council members who will pick two new colleagues on Jan. 12. Sixty-five people applied to fill the vacancies. Over the next week, the five council members who remain will examine qualifications and read through essays on the big issues facing Columbus. They'll meet with any or all of the candidates before their public debate and vote. However, their job won't be so...

San Francisco's picturesque skyline would be dark at night under a first-in-the-nation law proposed Tuesday that would mandate all skyscrapers turn off nonemergency lights after work hours. Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin said his measure would reduce the energy wasted in the city's downtown. "Anyone who has passed through our Financial District after dark knows that many large financial buildings in the downtown keep their lights on throughout the night even when there is not work or janitorial service going on," Peskin said. The proposed light ban is reminiscent of the so-called "watt cops," the police officers who patrolled...

San Francisco's lawmakers have proposed dramatic measures to meet a huge city budget shortfall for next year, including what could be immediate layoffs for high-paid city employees and an unpaid furlough for most city employees between Christmas Day and New Year's Day. The proposals come days after three City Hall budgeting offices estimated that the deficit for next year had grown to $338 million. By law, Mayor Gavin Newsom must submit a budget with no deficit to the Board of Supervisors by June 1. The board has until the end of July to pass a final budget. Board of Supervisors...