Free Republic

Democratic lawmakers in Albany are never satisfied: Their party already has a firm lock on the key levers of power, yet last week they moved to solidify that power even more — via an amendment to the state Constitution. And because they control both houses of the Legislature, the measure sailed through easily, with barely any public input. The amendment deals with the redistricting process — how new maps, based on the Census, must be drawn and approved. And the changes essentially favor Dems and tie Republican hands, so Democrats will be free to draw lines to their advantage. Under...

It's funny - I never found the average Californian to be a jerk at all. They are either politically indifferent or just have no clue how their voting choices affect their economy and quality of life. The vote fraud machine is so polished and perfected in California that many, many local elections "won" by conservatives or even moderates end up going to the Leftists with nobody actually realizing what has happened. Democrats are trying to take this machine national, and had some success doing so in battleground states last time. The machine can sometimes be circumvented, however, when confronted with...

According to the work of Charles C. Johnson and Joel S. Gilbert, what we thought was just a racist campaign to get people out to vote in the Cochran vs McDaniel Mississippi Senate race was the tip of the iceberg. It now appears to be a vote buying scandal right out of the office of Thad Cochran himself: Reverend Stevie Fielder, associate pastor at historic First Union Missionary Baptist Church and former official at Meridian’s redevelopment agency, says he delivered “hundreds or even thousands,” of blacks to the polls after being offered money and being assured by a Cochran campaign...

South Carolina's Democrats are poised to decide whether to overturn the results of the primary election that saw Alvin Greene, an unemployed military veteran, win the nomination for U.S. Senate. The state party's executive committee is meeting Thursday in Columbia to hear a protest by former state lawmaker Vic Rawl, whom Greene defeated in the June 8 primary. Rawl has said malfunctions in voting machines or software may have caused him to lose race. He said voters have told him they meant to vote for him but saw Greene's name on their screens instead. The executive committee could uphold the...

Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled today that Joe Vod Varka failed to get the 2,000 valid signatures required to be on the May 18 ballot for the Democrat Party senate primary election. Vod Varka, a small business owner from Allegheny County, shocked the political establishment by appearing to get the signatures last March. He describes himself as a conservative Democrat. He is against ObamaCare and has been an NRA member for 36 years.

RNC hits 'bondage club' story By: Andy Barr March 29, 2010 12:10 PM EDT The Republican National Committee is pushing back hard Monday on a story in The Daily Caller, telling POLITICO that Chairman Michael Steele was “never” at a bondage-themed nightclub in West Hollywood, Calif., as the publication suggests. Buried in a Daily Caller story claiming that Steele suggested buying a private jet with RNC funds is the statement that “Steele travels in style,” citing, among other things, $1,946.25 “spent at Voyeur West Hollywood, a bondage-themed nightclub featuring topless women dancers imitating lesbian sex.” POLITICO confirmed the RNC expense...

Mafia style community organizing like this is unbelievable!...The American citizen deserves better than this farce! Pelosi is a criminal! No way in hell can she put into a play a massive change like this without a vote! I'M SICK OF THIS!

Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) has been under investigation for allegations that he groped multiple male staffers working in his office, according to three sources familiar with the probe. The allegations surrounding the former lawmaker date back at least a year, and involve "a pattern of behavior and physical harassment," according to one source. The new claims of alleged groping contradict statements by Massa, who resigned his office on Monday after it became public that he was the subject of a House ethics committee investigation for possible harassment. Massa had said that the allegations were limited to his use of...

Rep. Joe Sestak (D., Pa.) said yesterday that the White House offered him a federal job in an effort to dissuade him from challenging Sen. Arlen Specter in the state's Democratic primary.

California's branch of ACORN is splitting off from its national organization to form a new entity called Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE). As of Tuesday, it says it is "running as an independent state-wide organization with no legal, financial or structural ties to ACORN." Why the split? As we told you a while back, because of all its implication in various scandals, ACORN has lost major credibility with local funders and foundations -- even here in the ACORN-luvin' liberal Bay Area. They had to cut staff and services to the working class and poor folks they serve. Even...

Just seven weeks into his presidency, Barack “Corleone” Obama has gone to the mattresses. His administration has lunged ruthlessly for the jugulars of its critics. His cabinet has more tax cheats than McKellys in a Dublin phone book. Crackdown on lobbyists? Fahgettaboudit. Earmark reform? We don’t need no stinking earmark reform. “Today,” the new don pontificates, “I settle all family business” — e.g., nationalizing the energy industry, socializing the health care system, and federalizing American education. Obama has parasitically used a correctable housing bubble burst and banking crises to power-grab and commit the country to more spending than at any...

See the title. Just appeared on TV.

A certain amount of celebrity glow has long been a part of both political parties’ gatherings. But thanks in part to the youthful charisma of Senator Barack Obama, the presumptive nominee, the Democratic convention, which begins on Monday in Denver, is shaping up as an unlikely hot spot for the music world, with multiplatinum rappers, indie-rock scenesters, D.J.’s and Jennifer Lopez arriving by the van- and private planeload to perform, rally or schmooze with the political elite. “It’s the Sundance Film Festival for politicos,” said Laura Dawn, the cultural director of MoveOn.org, who also happens to sing with Moby... Kanye...

...the Examiner editorial board came up with a terrific editorial ... on a subject that EVERY conservative ought to be mentioning every day between now and November. Summary: Obama left a big mess behind in his state Senate district, where the only people who benefited -- indeed, made out like bandits -- were the rich developers who paid his campaign bills...

CHICAGO - If you're a cell phone-using, goose liver-eating, cigarette-smoking, fast food-loving person, Chicago might not be your kind of town. In this city that once winked at Prohibition, members of the City Council are trying to crack down on things they deem unhealthy, immoral or just plain annoying. A proposal that would restrict fast-food chains from cooking with artery-clogging trans fat oils got a public airing last week, and in the past year alone aldermen have banned smoking in nearly all public places and the use of cell phones while driving. In April, Chicago became the first U.S. city...

Party money bought backing in the past St. Clair County Democratic leadership has distributed election packets to countywide precinct committeemen, which include an affidavit stating that money from the party will not be used to buy votes. The unusual action follows the vote buying convictions in June of five East St. Louis politicians. They had helped distribute more than $70,000 received by city Democratic precinct committeemen two days before the 2004 election from the county Democratic organization. While St. Clair County Democratic Central Committee Chairman Robert Sprague could not be reached for comment, a fax received Monday from his Belleville...

Staffer in spying case says political threats hurt prospects at firm WASHINGTON--A former top Republican Senate staff member who resigned under pressure last year for spying on his Democratic staff colleagues is now accusing them of threatening partners at a law firm that was considering hiring him--including the firm's chairman, a prominent Boston attorney--in order to scuttle his job offer. In an affidavit he submitted to federal prosecutors this week, Manuel Miranda, a former aide to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, said that Democratic staffers on the Senate Judiciary Committee telephoned partners at the firm of McDermott Will & Emory...