Free Republic

Diving into politically perilous waters, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed on Friday said the city must explore ways to rein in swelling salary and benefit costs to eliminate its persistent deficits. Reed's call for a study of the issue comes days after a Mercury News report found the city's employee compensation costs have risen 45 percent since 2000, more than twice the national average. "The simple reality is that we have a structural budget deficit, where ongoing expenses exceed revenues," Reed said in his first major statement on the budget since he was elected mayor in November. "The deficit has...

The focus of blame for the deplorable conditions of a portion of Walter Reed Army Medical Center has now fallen on the Army's decision to privatize its maintenance workforce. After the canning the Secretary of the Army and the commander in charge of Walter Reed, critics blame a contract with a KBR subsidiary -- and a sister of Halliburton -- for the poor state of the facility: The scandal over treatment of outpatients at Walter Reed Army Medical Center has focused attention on the Army's decision to privatize the facilities support workforce at the hospital, a move commanders say left...

OLYMPIA, Wash. Secretary of Sam Reed announced today that more than 176-thousand names were removed from the state's voting rolls last year under a new statewide voter database. The purge of illegal registrations is the result of the new system that has consolidated all 39 separate county systems into one database in January 2006. Reed said the database has helped officials find duplicate registrations and dead voters. Most of the names removed were duplicate voter registrations. Reed said these often happen when a voter moves across county lines, forgets to notify the local election office and then reregisters somewhere else....

BOSTON: A U.S. judge on Wednesday threw out a lawsuit filed by an Iraq war veteran who claimed filmmaker Michael Moore used a clip from a television interview without his permission to falsely portray him as anti-war in the documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11." Sgt. Peter Damon, a National Guardsman from Middleborough, had filed a $85 million (€64 million) lawsuit claiming "loss of reputation, emotional distress, embarrassment, and personal humiliation" due to his appearance in Moore's scathing 2004 documentary criticizing the Bush administration and the war in Iraq. Damon, 34, who lost his arms when a tire on a Black Hawk helicopter...

Lawrence W. Reed is one of those people with so much passion for an unusual line of work that he invented a new occupation, and it has helped shape the conservative movement from here to the Himalayas. Mr. Reed runs a conservative think tank school. Twice a year, ideological allies from across the globe travel to his program at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Midland, Mich., to study the tricks of the idea-peddling trade. Policy institutes have been central to a national organizing strategy that has long won the right a reputation for savvy, and state-level versions are...

Senate Democrats were expected to meet Wednesday to discuss several issues, including whether they will try to force a vote of no confidence on Rumsfeld. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., has vowed to push legislation next week calling for Rumsfeld to resign. "Nothing can change the fact that Secretary Rumsfeld insulted the patriotism of the American people, and he needs to be held accountable for it," Boxer said Friday.

Weekend Talk Show Preview - Analysis for August 19th and 20thA quick note about the show web sites.  MTP's web site has excellent resources and links to provide background on the guests and they're tending to get it posted earlier on Fridays than they used to.  I want to commend Fox for the new Coming Up on FOX News Sunday feature on their web site.  It gives a good overview and intro to the show.  Maybe they've been reading our stuff?  ABC is doing a good job of posting on their site, including a semi informative intro beyond just the...

KENT ISLAND, Md. (Army News Service, Aug. 14, 2006) – About a dozen wounded warriors paddled outrigger canoes with military precision Aug. 13 on the Chesapeake Bay at Kent Island, Md., as a supplement to the ongoing medical care they receive at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The outing was sponsored by the Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project and the Kent Island Outrigger Canoe Club. “Outrigger canoeing sets itself apart as a therapeutic sport because it lends itself particularly to those who are physically challenged and it’s easily adaptable,” said Julia Ray, Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project manager. Volunteers from...

Weekend Talk Show Preview - Analysis for August 12th and 13th, 2006On the shows this weekend I'm most interested by Vali Nasr, on CNN, and Ken Mehlman, on Meet The Press.  I think we'll learn more about the events in the Middle East from Nasr and more about the coming campaign from Mehlman than all of the other guests, combined.  Nasr is an expert, from Iran, on the issues of conflict between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.  I actually view this as our best hope of winning the coming world war.  Just as Communists and Nazis joined forces to start World...

ATLANTA - Former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed, unable to overcome his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, conceded defeat Tuesday in Georgia's Republican race for lieutenant governor. It was a stunning turnaround for Reed, who was making his first bid for elective office after working for years as a behind-the-scenes campaign strategist and leading the Christian Coalition and the state Republican Party

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CONFIRMED STATEWIDE & FEDERAL ELECTED OFFICIALS & CANDIDATES: GOVERNOR SONNY PERDUE Ralph Reed - Candidate, Lt. Governor Karen Handel - Candidate, Sec. of State Eric Martin - Candidate, Sec. of State Bill Stephens - Candidate, Sec. of State Perry McGuire - Candidate, Attorney General Kathy Cox - Candidate, State School Superintendent John Oxendine - Candidate, Insurance Commissioner Brent Brown - Candidate, Labor Commissioner Gary Black - Candidate, Agriculture Commissioner Bob Greer - Candidate, Agriculture Commissioner Brian Kemp - Candidate, Agriculture Commissioner Deanna Strickland - Candidate, Agriculture Commissioner Chuck Eaton - Candidate, Public Service Commissioner Catherine Davis - Candidate, Congress District...

WASHINGTON, May 2, 2006 – When the premier medical centers from the Army and Navy merge into one joint facility in Bethesda, Md., in 2011, the rich heritage and world-class treatment reputation of Walter Reed Army Medical Center will continue under the same name at a different location, the hospital's commander said here April 30. The Base Realignment and Closure Commission announced the Defense Department initiative to close Walter Reed on May 13, 2005. The famed military medical facility, which is a monument to a long tradition of patient care, medical research and educational development, will continue its legacy...

SNOWMASS VILLAGE, Colo., April 5, 2006 – More than 350 severely wounded troops and disabled veterans are conquering emotional as well as physical mountains at the 20th National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic here. Participants in the 20th National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic prepare their gear at the base of Snowmass Mountain. Photo by Donna Miles  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The participants, who range in age from 19 to 83 and served in every conflict since World War II, are joining together and showing the world they're not going to let an amputation or a spinal...

SNOWMASS VILLAGE, Colo., April 5, 2006 – When he was undergoing treatment 16 years ago following a near-fatal accident in Germany, Paul Miosek asked Red Cross volunteer Jim Mayer for just two things: a poster of Madonna and a milkshake. Disabled Army veteran Paul Miosek (left) reunites with Jim Mayer, a Department of Veterans Affairs employee and long-time volunteer at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, at the 20th Annual Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic, in Snowmass Village, Colo. Miosek credits Mayer with opening his eyes to new possibilities while living with a disability. Photo by Donna Miles  (Click photo for...

The Casey Cagle for Lt. Governor campaign announced today that it raised over $100,000 on Friday, March 31st despite having only a single day to raise funds. The $100,000 Cagle raised came solely in response to phone calls and emails during the day on Friday. Friday was the last day of the upcoming reporting period, and the only day in that period where Cagle was allowed to raise money following the conclusion of the legislative session. By contrast, Cagle's opponent - Ralph Reed -- is a lobbyist who is not elected to any office and has therefore been allowed to...

The man behind the controversial French documentary thinks that Abu Laban and Ahmed Akkari are extremists disguised as moderates. He is rather reluctant to say the words because he has the greatest respect for the Danes - but Mohammed Sifaoui feels that it is necessary to tell us that we are “naive”. “All you good and well-meaning people at Politiken, in the rest of Denmark and Europe, you hurt your and moderate Moslems’ cause when you let extremists call the tune,” he says. “They’re not bombers - they’re worse” And for Sifaoui there’s no doubt the Danish Imams such as...

Former White House Adviser Arrested Maryland Man Faces Theft Charges POSTED: 7:10 pm EST March 10, 2006 COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- A former White House adviser and Bush administration nominee to the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has been arrested and charged with theft for receiving phony refunds at department stores. Montgomery County police arrested Claude Alexander Allen, 45, of Gaithersburg, on Thursday for allegedly returning more than $5,000 worth of merchandise he did not buy, according to county law enforcement officials and a federal law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the charges are state,...

ST. SIMONS ISLAND — Because the Saturday meeting between Ralph Reed and Casey Cagle was being broadcast on local radio, the leader of the local GOP begged the audience to play nice. "Please don't ask candidates if they beat their mothers," urged Kevin Gough, chairman of the Glynn County Republican Party. He needn't have worried about the audience. Most of the mud was slung from center stage. The two men seeking to become Georgia' first Republican lieutenant governor needled each other on the issues of trust and experience. They fleshed out their positions on immigration and eminent domain. Reed drew...

ATLANTA — For once, Ralph Reed’s timing is off. So often in his 44 years, he has been in the right place at the right time. In 1989, when Pat Robertson was looking for a sharp, telegenic young operative to build a powerful national political organization for Christian conservatives, Reed was there – and the Christian Coalition of America was born. In 1997, with the coalition in the cross hairs of multiple federal investigations and beginning a long decline toward insolvency, Reed was out the door. In 2002, as chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, he got credit for a...