Free Republic

Hank Paulson’s bail-out of the financial industry will cost taxpayers $700bn. Some believe that the bail-out signals an abandonment of the Reagan Republican goal of limited government. That debate is under way. Those who think Republicans have ditched their limited-government aspirations point to the Bush administration’s reflexive “throw money at it” response to every crisis. In 2001 the first response to September 11 was not to attack al-Qaeda, but to pass a $20bn domestic spending programme. The response to Hurricane Katrina was $85bn in public spending. The collapse of AIG, the insurance giant, cost $85bn; Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae...

(Legal Newsline)-Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna filed a lawsuit Friday against the state Republican Party over alleged campaign finance violations. The Republican AG filed the lawsuit in King County Superior Court after the state Public Disclosure Commission found that the state GOP misused funds to bankroll three mailers in support Republican gubernatorial nominee Dino Rossi over Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire in the August primary.

***EXPRESS YOUR ANGER*** FREEP These 65 Republican Congressmen These Republicans need to hear from you and the best way to do it ... is by phone. "The House of Representatives is currently experiencing an extraordinarily high amount of email traffic. The Write Your Representative function is therefore intermittently available. While we realize communicating to your Members of Congress is critical, we suggest attempting to do so at a later time, when demand is not so high. System engineers are working to resolve this issue and we appreciate your patience." Most of their e-mails are backed up since the start...

Republican Senators that vote for socialism should be defeated just like the Democrats.

30 years ago as part of a Christian outreach team, I spoke to troubled youths in prison. What struck me about the mostly black inmates was their negative attitudes. It was their biggest problem. They were bitter and angry at white America. The majority of these black youths, many bright , talented and some even gifted believed that the white man had stacked everything against them. Crime was their only way to level the playing field. This is a lie. Who infected or who committed the terrible crime of wasting the minds of these black youths? Much of the blame...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A Justice Department investigation finds former U.S. Attorney Todd Graves of the Western District of Missouri was forced out because of opposition from Missouri Sen. Kit Bond's office. The report by the department's internal watchdog says Bond's legal counsel, Jack Bartling, asked the White House at least twice in 2005 to remove Graves. Bartling told investigators that he wanted to remove Graves because of conflicts between the staffs of Bond and Graves' brother, U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, a Republican who represents northwest Missouri. Bartling said Rep. Graves' operation "did not run business" the way that Bond's office...

The mainstream media would have you believe that President George Bush is responsible for the economic crisis. The Republicans point fingers at the Democratic Congress. Regardless of which party you are aligned with, you are certainly tiring of the finger pointing. So who is correct? In law school 101 they teach you to look through the static to find the facts and build your case around them. While members on both sides of the aisle are partly to blame, it would be disingenuine to claim that no one warned of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Numerous warnings by President Bush...

A cute joke. Second article on the page.

COMMERCIAL COLUMNIST J.C. WATTS -- CONGRESS TURNS A BLIND EYE TO THE FINANCIAL ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM -- SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2007 Excerpt "Congress is sticking its nose into speculation of some evangelists’ matters, while everyone in Congress has the facts lying before them regarding the financial shenanigans of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These two taxpayer-supported financial organizations have restated their earnings and skewed their financial statements to an extent that would make any Enron or WorldComm executive blush. Executives from both companies have resigned under a cloud with billions of dollars unaccounted for. Every member of Congress is...

It should come as no surprise that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Republican. In that era, almost all black Americans were Republicans. Why? From its founding in 1854 as the anti-slavery party until today, the Republican Party has championed freedom and civil rights for blacks. And as one pundit so succinctly stated, the Democrat Party is as it always has been, the party of the four S's: slavery, secession, segregation and now socialism. It was the Democrats who fought to keep blacks in slavery and passed the discriminatory Black Codes and Jim Crow laws. The Democrats started the...

What Happens if NO Repubs in Congress Vote to Support the Bailout Bill?

Former Reagan diplomat Alan Keyes commented Sept. 23 on the federal government's bailout of mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The former Assistant Secretary of State, currently running for president as an independent, said the bailout plan as proposed by the Bush administration would effectively transform our nation into "a socialist society." The following is the text of Keyes' statement: What I have to say about the bailout is that, with a concrete proposal on the table, it becomes much more obvious what is actually going on right now, and I think that we have to confront it. And...

The West Virginia Wesleyan College Poll for The State Journal shows Republican John McCain with a double-digit lead in West Virginia in the presidential campaign. Story by Ann Ali Email | Bio | Other Stories by Ann Ali While polls pop up with numbers attempting to predict a presidential winner, the West Virginia Wesleyan College poll for The State Journal tracks the profiles behind the numbers. The poll, conducted this week by Orion Strategies, questioned 600 "likely voters," with emphasis placed on duplicating the West Virginia electorate as closely as possible in regard to party affiliation, age, gender and district...

Olympia, Wash. (AP) -- Washington state Democrats sued a state official Tuesday to get a Republican listed on the ballot, arguing a candidate is obscuring his party identity by ballot language that says he "prefers GOP party." The candidate, Dino Rossi, is facing a rematch this November with Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire, who beat him by 133 votes four years ago after three counts and a court challenge. The lawsuit the party filed against Secretary of State Sam Reed argues that "allowing Mr. Rossi to obscure his true party preference and affiliation directly violates the law, would mislead a substantial...

1. You believe a woman's choice of whether to have a baby comes before intercourse rather than before birth. 2. You believe a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush - you believe government is poor stewards of your money and can do less to promote social welfare with your money than you can. 3. You believe in spanking versus timeout. Republicans tend to believe in the use of force in foreign policy matters and favor a large powerful military. 4. You want to see more nativity sets in stores at Christmas and less Santa Claus. Republicans...

Sen. Obama has friends, that have blown up buildings and the liberal new does not speak of it. If McCain or Palin had friends like that the world would go freak. :(

Congress gave final approval yesterday to legislation that will bring more Americans under the umbrella of “disabled” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). President Bush said he’d sign the bill (S. 3406). The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 reverses several court rulings from recent years that had limited the scope of ADA protections. It directs U.S. courts to apply a broader definition when deciding what truly qualifies as an ADA-covered disability. The biggest change: The bill makes clear that courts (and employers) should not take into consideration any “mitigating measures” that reduce the impact of an impairment—such as medication,...

“I trust that the proposed Constitution afford a genuine specimen of representative government and republican government; and that it will answer, in an eminent degree, all the beneficial purposes of society.” —Alexander Hamilton “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America... Done... the seventeenth day of September, in the year of our LORD one thousand seven...

Measuring the Democratic and Republican Party platforms on science and technology policy"Scientific progress is one essential key to our security as a nation, to our better health, to more jobs, to a higher standard of living, and to our cultural progress," declared Vannevar Bush in a letter introducing his report, Science: The Endless Frontier, to President Harry Truman in 1945. In that report, Bush, the director of the federal Office of Scientific Research and Development, argued that some areas of science "are likely to be cultivated inadequately if left without more support than will come from private sources." Ever since,...

THE STAR TREATMENT Actress Janeane Garofalo: Jail all Republicans Activist says GOP 'small-minded,' only Democrats 'decent' The latest "Real Time with Bill Maher" show erupted into a vicious 4-against-1 bashfest of conservative columnist John Fund and Republicans in general, culminating in one left-leaning guest on the panel calling for all Republicans to be "jailed." From the start of the HBO show, Hollywood activist Janeane Garofalo, a Barack Obama supporter, expressed agitation over the overnight national popularity of GOP vice presidential nod Gov. Sarah Palin, who has helped running mate John McCain pull within the statistical margin of error of Obama...

The Lebanon (Pa.) Daily News carries a letter to the editor from Christopher Tarsa, who makes the case for crossing party lines to support Barack Obama: "As a Republican and strong McCain supporter in 2000, I was disappointed and saddened in 2004 when McCain permanently traded in his maverick credentials and sold out his principles to support George W. Bush." -snip But the paper appends a tagline that rather undercuts Tarsa's claim to speak "as a Republican": "Tarsa is chairman of the Lebanon County Democratic Committee."

CAYCE — On a recent Thursday evening, the South Carolina Democrat sharing the top of state ballots with Sen. Barack Obama strode through a restaurant parking lot where the bumper stickers featured the presidential candidacies of Ron Paul, Bob Barr and Chuck Baldwin. The Post and Courier Bob Conley Inside the family eatery just outside Columbia, a mix of independents, Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians and Constitution Party members waited. A smattering of members of Southern heritage groups were in attendance. Copies of "Free the South: A Blueprint for Peaceful and Legal Secession," rested on a couple of tables. In a year...

With 50 Days Left, New York Is Far From True Blue Obama’s Lead Falls to 5 Points; Down From 18 Points in June Obama Seen As Stronger Than McCain on 4 of 6 Issues; Voters See McCain As Better Than Obama on 4 of 6 of Attributes

Welcome to the Zogby International 2008 presidential electoral college map. This map reflects our polling state-by-state, and an analysis of other polling data and developments that Pollster John Zogby and the Zogby political team deems important, and will give you one of the most accurate measurements of how the race for the White House is stacking up. States that have been updated: VA, MI, NH, CO, MO, NM, FL, NC, NV, OH, PA, SC, MT, ND, SD How to use this map: All you have to do is click on a state (for smaller states, please click on the abbreviations),...

Obama interview: How does it feel to break a glass ceiling? How does it feel to “win”? How does your family feel about your “winning” breaking a glass ceiling? Who will be your VP? Should you choose Hillary Clinton as VP? Will you accept public finance? What issues is your campaign about? Will you visit Iraq? Will you debate McCain at a town hall? What did you think of your competitor’s [Clinton] speech? Palin interview: Do you have enough qualifications for the job you’re seeking? Specifically have you visited foreign countries and met foreign leaders? Aren’t you conceited to be...

WATCH Those campaigns signs you see everywhere are causing a little controversy. State Rep. Rob Schaaf cut off part of his own campaign sign. This comes after the city told the St. Joseph Republican the size of his signs violated city ordinance. Signs in residential areas can be no larger than 12 square feet. The 28th District candidate thinks the ordinance violates his freedom of speech. He felt he made that point by chopping his signs down to size. "During the primary and in previous elections I've seen four by eights all over the place," said Schaaf. "I can't...

What has happened to the Republican party. When I was 18 I cast my first vote ever for Ronald Reagan. I did that proudly. I had a bumper sticker on car and I put a yard sign in my parents yard. Since then it has been down hill all the way. Now in 2008, the best argument that I have heard for voting for McCain is that he is not Obama. I have no enthusiasm for McCain. Not only do I not have a bumper sticker on my car or a yard sign in my yard, I am embarrassed to...

What makes people vote Republican? Why in particular do working class and rural Americans usually vote for pro-business Republicans when their economic interests would seem better served by Democratic policies? We psychologists have been examining the origins of ideology ever since Hitler sent us Germany's best psychologists, and we long ago reported that strict parenting and a variety of personal insecurities work together to turn people against liberalism, diversity, and progress. But now that we can map the brains, genes, and unconscious attitudes of conservatives, we have refined our diagnosis: conservatism is a partially heritable personality trait that predisposes some...

As with so many other things, Barack Obama has proved himself adept at playing the race card. What most people don't realize, though is that the race card has two sides back to back. And maybe you have to be part of a really small, relatively quiet and peaceful ethnic minority group--- like the Indian American community-- to ever get a look at the uglier side of the race card Mr. Obama and his democrats are playing. On the one hand, Mr. Obama spares no opportunity to portray himself as the black victim of right-wing republican racism-- a role he...

Democrats tried to attract Catholic voters in Denver. Republicans tried to attract them in St. Paul. As the excitement at the end of the Republican National Convention affected Catholic Republicans as much as it did other delegates, they may have succeeded. Polls and TV ratings suggest Sen. John McCain of Arizona and his vice-presidential candidate running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin ended the convention way ahead of where they started.In his acceptance speech, McCain electrified Catholics by speaking about a culture of life, funding for private schools and America’s newest Catholics, immigrants.“From the boy whose descendants arrived on the Mayflower...

WHAT MAKES PEOPLE VOTE REPUBLICAN? Jonathan Haidt (Excerpt 1:)"What makes people vote Republican? Why in particular do working class and rural Americans usually vote for pro-business Republicans when their economic interests would seem better served by Democratic policies? We psychologists have been examining the origins of ideology ever since Hitler sent us Germany's best psychologists, and we long ago reported that strict parenting and a variety of personal insecurities work together to turn people against liberalism, diversity, and progress. But now that we can map the brains, genes, and unconscious attitudes of conservatives, we have refined our diagnosis: conservatism is...

Regarding Sarah Palin Wildman Lake Lodge on the remote Alaska Peninsula . . . Thanks for your interest in my recent email When I wrote the email, I was merely responding to friends and clients in the lower 48, who were asking me about Governor Sarah Palin. I really didn’t mean for this email to go round the world, but it may already have. Kathy and I are simple folks and life time Alaskans who run a lodge on the remote Alaska Peninsula. I am a bush pilot and guide for the same operation that I started as the camp...

In the wake of the 2006 congressional elections, in which Republicans received a well-deserved drubbing at the polls, Republican members of Congress spent a weekend together at an east coast resort. Either as testament to their mind-numbing political insensitivity, or as a cruel joke on their constituents, they even had the temerity to call their weekend meeting a “retreat.” With the political “earthquake” of 1994, Republicans were given the opportunity for leadership that millions of activists had worked toward since the close of World War II... the opportunity to lead the nation according to time-honored conservative principles. They went to...

Please. Pretty please. With a cherry on top. Don’t tell me you were among the bazillions (OK, perhaps merely hundreds of millions) who fell asleep early in John McCain’s acceptance speech at last week’s Republican National Convention . . . and missed the dazzling denouement. After all, that quintessential presidential speechwriter, Peggy Noonan, called the senator’s oration “flat.” I’d say more like “flat-lined.” I’ve seen two-by-fours with more life than the opening. Especially coming just one night after America’s new Drama Queen (and I mean that in the nicest possible way) “electrified” the convention, as everyone in the media put...

If Wednesday night at the Republican National Convention had been a heavyweight boxing match, the referee would have had to step in and stop the fight in the early rounds. Sen. Barack Obama was first systematically taken apart by Rudy Giuliani, in a speech that ridiculed his thin résumé, far-left track record and lack of substance shown thus far in the campaign. One could almost hear the late Howard Cosell's famous call from the Frazier/Foreman bout: “Down Goes Obama! Down Goes Obama! Down Goes Obama!” Then, after the delegates swallowed all that red meat (or, as Charles Krauthammer humorously put...

Bye, Bye, Biden... John Walker After being the media love-child for much of 19-months, Barack Obama has seen what may be his biggest setback of the campaign so far. Media outlets this week are releasing new polling numbers showing Obama’s campaign down between four and 10 points to Republican running mates John McCain and Sarah Palin. Obama is widely known as the one that beat presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in a heated primary season that went down literally to the very last state. Since that time, Obama has worked to unify his party and ticket behind his message. Getting...

This morning, Republicans tell me that a worker at Invesco Field in Denver saved thousands of unused flags from the Democratic National Convention that were headed for the garbage. Guerrilla campaigning. They will use these flags at their own event today in Colorado Springs with John McCain and Sarah Palin. Before McCain speaks today, veterans will haul these garbage bags filled with flags out onto the stage — with dramatic effect, no doubt — and tell the story. “What you see in the picture I sent you is less than half of total flags,” a Republican official emailed. “We estimate...

This was the happiest convention I have attended. In seven conventions going back to 1984, I have never seen delegates as happy. I have seen them eager, energized, committed, determined but the underlying mood last night was sheer joy. There was joy that Senator McCain had had the courage to pick Governor Palin. There was joy that she and her family had come through the week of attacks smiling and eager to campaign. There was joy that Governor Palin's Wednesday night speech completely vindicated Senator McCain's choice. There was joy that 37 million Americans had seen her speech. That is...

While watching those speaking at the Republican Party's National Convention on Wednesday and Thursday night, I realized there was a steady theme from those addressing the GOP faithful. There were many opportunities to slap down the mainstream media and I'm happy to say those opportunities were taken advantage of. In fact, a nice swat should be taken at the mainstream press whenever possible. Indeed, media swatting should become a part of the Republican platform. Let me see...lower taxes, smaller government, pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, etc. and anti-media, but not necessarily in that order. It's about time Republicans start calling it like...

Watching the faces of Sarah Palin’s children as she thundered away at her critics while humbly introducing herself to the people of America I couldn’t help but feel that I knew what they were feeling; pride, security, patriotism, humility, inspiration. As governor Palin introduced her family to the world it became all too apparent that – just like my mother and father – she and her husband had taught their children to – come hell or high water – stand up for who they are and what they believe, that in understanding the difference between right and wrong, good and...

There is such a thing as a black Republican, but they have been all but invisible at the party's national convention which is hardly representative of America's diverse population. Among the party's 2,380 delegates gathered in St. Paul only 36 are African Americans and very few other visible minorities were to be found on the convention floor.

For 50 years Lula Bridges, a black resident of Macon County, Ala., was a Democrat. But in March, she switched political sides when she realized no social or economic progress had been made in her hometown, a heavily black Democratic stronghold that suffers from high rates of poverty. "At that moment, I said I'm coming out of the closet," she said. Bridges joined blacks from across the country at a Thursday reception linked to the GOP convention. There, guests shared their Republican pride and their mixed emotions about Barack Obama’s historic candidacy. "I'm proud to say that I like Barack...

Ok Freepers, I need some assistance on a Indiana forum, Obambi opened up 16 new offices there, I seem to be the lone wolf amidst a crowd of hunters. http://www.southbendforum.com HELP FREEPERS!

The clash includes issues of the environment, immigration, and gay rights As a senator, John McCain holds a reputation for diverging from many of his Republican colleagues on core party issues. Now, as the party’s presidential candidate, his record and policy views are putting him at odds with the overarching party platform adopted this week. On major issues like the environment, immigration, stem cell research and gay rights, the platform, which expresses the party’s philosophy, clashes with Mr. McCain’s longstanding positions or does not go as far as he has proposed in addressing subjects such as climate change. It is...

Apparently, only Democrat women are capable of juggling work and family life. I’m sure many successful conservative women who have cultivated a balanced work and home life are shocked to learn that they have failed. ‘Who are you voting for? McCain? What are you doing in this boardroom? Get back in the kitchen! You’ve got kids, for Heaven’s sake!’

The Central Santa Rosa Republican Club is meeting tonight at the Red Barn Bar-B-Que @ 5887 U.S. 90 in Milton, FL! Dinner starts at 1730 and the program starts at 1900!! The featured speaker will be the Honorable Greg Evers, State Representative of District 1. Topics will be taxes, growth, constitutional amendments and other legislative affairs and how they impact the community and you! Come and join us!!

Sarah Palin delivered a great speech tonight -- for her party, for John McCain, for herself, for what she set out to accomplish. This was America's first real glimpse at the Alaska governor, and what we saw was a boffo politician who speaks in a plaintive prairie voice that channels America's Heartland like a chilling breeze rippling a field of wheat, who knows how to tell a joke, how to bring down the house and bring a tear to a few eyes. She is proud of her family, as she should be, and there is much to admire in her...

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Sarah Palin introduced herself to the nation last night with a part-folksy, part-fiery convention speech, tongue-lashing Barack Obama and her critics and saying she's been slammed simply for being a Beltway outsider. Palin, who made history as the first woman to run as vice president on the GOP ticket, proved her chops as presidential nominee John McCain's tough attack dog. The former high-school basketball star nicknamed "Sarah Barracuda" shoved back hard at critics who've questioned her light résumé. She touted her background as a small-town Everygirl and "hockey mom" who drives herself home and got rid...

The scene was stunning. What appeared to be handwritten signs bearing the phrase “Palin Power” multiplied throughout the Xcel Energy Center as the moment of the acceptance speech finally arrived. First came the warm ups from Senator McCain’s former rivals, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuiliani. Then “Palin Power” became the appropriate slogan for the evening as Governor Sarah Palin lit up the house with her confidence, moved hearts with the warm appeal of her very real and photogenic family and roused the ground troops of the revived Republican Party with a well delivered, substantive and electrifying speech. This...