Free Republic

On October 1, 2009, the Obama administration in conjunction with the Egyptian government, introduced an anti-free speech measure to the United Nation’s Human Rights Council (HRC). It was adopted the next day without a vote. Earlier this year, when the United States sought a seat on the HRC, it was a controversial decision. Many who found the HRC neither credible nor useful, opposed the move. Yet, others were more optimistic that America could change the HRC from within. Perhaps the U.S. could spur debate stemming from its opposition to China, Sudan, Libya, Cuba, and Saudi Arabia on critical human rights...

The GOP resolution yesterday seeking to suspend Rep. Charlie Rangel's role as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee achieved its goal: not his suspension, but a public display of the Democrats' tolerance for sleaze. With Dems in charge -- and unwilling to acknowledge Rangel's repeated lapses over the years -- no one really expected the measure to pass. So it was no surprise that members voted 246-153, mostly along party lines, to refer the resolution to the Ethics Committee -- a move meant to bury the issue further. Again, the GOP bill was more about Democrats than Rangel....

House Republicans, clearly frustrated by the sloth-like pace at which the Ethics Committee is looking into the tangled financial affairs of Rep. Charles Rangel, have finally decided to take the bull by the horns. Good move. Unless Rangel steps down this week as chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee -- the House's tax-writing body -- the GOP will introduce a resolution demanding his removal. It's not likely to succeed, of course -- in fact, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer probably won't even let it come to the floor.

Boehner Statement on Carter Resolution to Remove Rep. Rangel as Ways & Means ChairmanContact: Michael Steel, Antonia Ferrier, Kevin Smith, 202-225-4000; Office of the House Republican Leader WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 /Standard Newswire/ -- House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) issued the following statement after Rep. John Carter (R-TX) announced his intention to offer a privileged resolution next week to force a vote on removing Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) as Chairman of the Ways & Means Committee, pending completion of the Ethics Committee investigation that is now in its second year: "Working families across America are struggling in today's economy, and...

Less than month after U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said that the UN Security Council was working on a resolution “with teeth that will bite in North Korea,” the Kim regime tested a battery of proscribed short- and medium-range missiles. So much for the teeth.How did the Security Council respond this time? It “condemned” the action, naturally. But, of course, the real concern of the “international community” isn’t the nuclear braggadocio of a rogue regime; it’s the mortal fear that another country might attempt to inhibit the mad brinkmanship of Kim Jong Il:

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) is making plans to offer a resolution as early as Wednesday afternoon that will provide Democrats political cover on an FBI investigation into the now-defunct PMA Group and its ties to senior Democratic lawmakers. The resolution would force the ethics committee to disclose whether it is investigating the nexus between campaign contributions and earmarks PMA Group clients have received, according to knowledgeable Democratic sources. Such a move would implicate Reps. Peter Visclosky (D-Ind.), whose office the FBI subpoenaed for documents last week, as well as Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) because both are top recipients of...

RNC RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING THE DEMOCRATS’ MARCH TOWARD SOCIALISMWHEREAS, the American Heritage Dictionary defines socialism as a system of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy; and WHEREAS, the Democratic Party has outlined their plans to nationalize the banking, financial and healthcare industries; and WHEREAS, the Democratic Party has proposed massive government bailouts for the mortgage and auto industries; and WHEREAS, the Democratic Party has passed trillions of dollars in new government spending, all with strings attached in order to control nearly every aspect...

The Obama administration will ask Congress to give the Treasury secretary unprecedented powers to initiate the seizure of non-bank financial companies, such as large insurers, investment firms and hedge funds, whose collapse would damage the broader economy, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said this morning.

Black lawmakers pitched a hissy fit and stormed out of the Georgia House on Friday claiming that white Republicans’ decision to delay a resolution honoring President Barack Obama had racist overtones. (Gasp) They say it’s an intentional snub to the nation’s first black president. “It drips with racism,” Democrat Representative Al Williams said. “I call it just like it is.” Republicans simply objected to the over-the-top wording that declared Obama to be a man of “unimpeachable reputation for integrity.” .....

When US banks are in trouble, the FDIC is empowered to seize the banks, and dispose of the assets. Now Obama is fast tracking legislation to create a new regulatory agency - a "resolution authority" to do the same for other "financial institutions" using AIG, and it's bonus contracts, as the example for it's need. AP's Economic Writer, Martin Crutsinger's lead paragraph chills one to the bone... President Barack Obama seeks new powers that would allow his administration to seize troubled companies like the insurer AIG — and take ownership of their toxic assets — if their collapse would threaten...

[Watch shocking video in article!!]If an U.N. Anti-Blasphemy Resolution is passed, it will outlaw criticism of Islam in any form. Even talking about the religion’s influence on terrorism could be a crime. “A group of 57 Organization of Islamic Countries,” a February 25 Lou Dobbs report says, “the largest block at the United Nations, has been pushing it, out of concern, it says, for anti-Islamic behavior, saying, “This resolution is a major step towards sensitizing the international community on the serious impact of defamation of religions….” “While appearing in name to promote tolerance, the implementation of this concept actually fosters...

TO AFFIRM SOUTH CAROLINA'S SOVEREIGNTY UNDER THE TENTH AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION OVER ALL POWERS NOT ENUMERATED AND GRANTED TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BY THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION.

Can we learn anything from our current economic situation? With Uncle Sam throwing his protective tarp over the investment bankers who got us into this mess, you know those pirates won't learn anything other than, "let's do it again!"We commoners must be content with nothing but good advice. WikiHow provides us with seven steps for applying lessons from the Great Depression:1. Stop using credit2. Nurture positive relationships with family and friends 3. Do it yourself4. See Frugality as a virtue5. Treat food with respect6. Reuse, reuse, reuse7. Be thankful Those of us who grew up in a working class family...

See what happens when you behave like a lefty?Believe it or not, there are some GOPers who hate it when that happens - and they're determined to do all that is necessary to make their disdain official.When the Republican National Committee has their monthly get-together in January, President George W. Bush could be on the hook - along with some less than principled Congressional elephants - for embracing socialism.Harsh words, indeed.Ralph Z. Hallow at the Washington Times writes: Republican Party officials say they will try next month to pass a resolution accusing President Bush and congressional Republican leaders of embracing...

Why would Obama and Clinton include this line in a resolution for John McCain? "Whereas previous presidential candidates were born outside of the United States of America and were understood to be eligible to be President;" and

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street surged higher Thursday, with the Dow Jones industrials up more than 400 points after a report that the federal government is considering creation of a repository for banks' bad debt. CNBC said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is considering creation of an entity like the Resolution Trust Corp. that was formed after the failure of savings and loan banks in the 1980s.

HOLLAND - The mayor of this small community 15 miles south of Temple said Tuesday the commission of which she is president is ready to take by the horns the Texas Department of Transportation and its controversial proposal, the Trans-Texas Corridor. Armed with an 80-page manual, “How to Fight the TTC,” and backed by two non-profits who say they protect private property rights, Holland mayor Mae Smith said rural Bell County is ready for a fight. “Bell County sits here like a stepchild and they’re cramming this corridor down our throats,” Ms. Smith said, regarding the commission’s relationship with TxDOT....

County commissioners reaffirmed their stance against the Trans-Texas Corridor, and they took another step toward keeping county government transparent when they met Tuesday. First up on the court's agenda, commissioners heard a presentation by Connie Fogle on behalf of the newly formed Pineywoods Sub-Regional Planning Commission. According to Fogle, the Texas Local Government Code, Chapter 391, requires state agencies to coordinate with local commissions to "ensure effective and orderly implementation of state programs at the regional level." "Critical in the code is the word 'coordinate,'" she said. "This does not mean the commission has to cooperate. The intent is to...

It has been roughly three months since residents of Huntsville and Walker County attended town hall meetings to voice their opinion on the Trans-Texas Corridor/I-69 project to the Texas Department of Transportation. There was no question then that there was strong opposition to the proposed 1,600-mile national highway, and it seems as though residents’ efforts to stop it has not lost any of its momentum. Several residents attended the Walker County Commissioners Court on Monday morning, expressing concerns about the project and encouraged the court to take another step of action. The five-member court agrees with the majority of the...

The first has long since lapsed. It permitted the president to "defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq." This threat came to an end with the destruction of Saddam Hussein's government. Instead, U.S. military intervention is authorized under the second prong of the 2002 resolution. This authorizes the president to "enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq." This has allowed the Bush administration to satisfy American law by obtaining a series of resolutions authorizing the United States to serve as the head of the multinational force in Iraq. But...

In the midst of inflation, funding difficulties and halted expansion projects, a budget error on the part of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) may have exacerbated their challenges. "TxDOT does some mysterious accounting," said Rep. Chuck Hopson (D-Jacksonville). "They had close to $1 billion counted in their budget twice." "That was a serious error on our part and we have made changes to try to prevent that type of error from occurring again," said TxDOT Spokesman Chris Lippincott, adding that the amount added twice in their financial statement was unrelated to the $1.2 billion in federal rescissions, which are...

REFUGIO, Texas - With an abandoned Wild West-vintage town of storefronts slumbering just a block from old US 77, tiny Refugio is a place where myth and reality coexist in a ghostly silence. more stories like this Obama faces heat over aide's NAFTA remarks to Canadians Texas, Ohio could decide Dem nomination Canada says didn't misrepresent Obama over NAFTA McCain tags Dems on trade treaty NAFTA seen differently in Ohio, Texas And now this South Texas outpost is swept up in one of the more intriguing tests of myth vs. reality in today's political life: the battle over the so-called...

Resolution encourages U.S. 59 development El Campo City Council joined in the protest cries against the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor Monday night advocating an improved and expanded U.S. 59 instead. Possible economic impacts from the proposed TTC corridor caused concern with draft versions of the roadway limiting access, cutting through family farms and bypassing many cities completely.

The proposed Trans Texas Corridor did not find any fans, or any support, in Fort Bend County this week. At public meetings hosted by the Texas Department of Transportation in both Katy and Rosenberg, speaker after speaker, many in emotional tones, voiced their opposition to the proposed transportation corridor. No one spoke up in support of the proposal at either meeting. The Tuesday night session took place at Katy High School’s Performing Arts Center with over 200 residents in attendance. The evening before at the Rosenberg Civic and Convention Center, a similar crowd showed up to voice their opinions. In...

The Nacogdoches County commissioners court voted Tuesday to support numerous community members who have recently turned out in droves opposing the proposed I-69/Trans-Texas Corridor by adopting a resolution against the project. The resolution is expected to be sent to the Texas Department of Transportation and to the governor's office. Precinct 4 Commissioner Tom Strickland said that it's apparent most people in Nacogdoches County approved of the original project — a standard Interstate roadway. But now most are opposed to the large TTC structure. 145th District Court Judge Campbell Cox II submitted a map that showed several oil and gas wells...

ROBSTOWN, Tex. — Leon Little’s farm here near Corpus Christi would not be seized for Texas’s proposed $184-billion-plus superhighway project for 5 or 10 years, if ever. But Mr. Little was alarmed enough to show up Wednesday night with hundreds of his South Texas coastal neighbors to do what the Texas Department of Transportation has been urging: “Go ahead, don’t hold back.� Don’t worry. Texans have gotten the message, swamping hearings and town meetings across the state to grill and often excoriate agency officials about a colossal traffic makeover known as the Trans-Texas Corridor, a public-private partnership unrivaled in the...

My wife and I recently decided to look through the myriad pictures, mementoes and papers we have gathered over our 46 years together. We found pictures of my father (who I barely remember since he passed when I was 15). Of course there are pictures of our 40+ vacations, many not labeled so they are nearly impossible to truly identify. There are too many memories to mention but one stood out. It is a pamphlet, given to me by my dad's brother in the early 60's. Now he was a Christian Scientist (as was my dad) and since it looked...

Grimes County commissioners and County Judge Betty Shiflett made sure they attended a TTC/I-69 meeting at the Walker County Fairgrounds last week, as residents previously demanded they take a stronger stance against the proposed route through Grimes County. Shiflett received a roaring applause from audience members with her speech that ended with the question, “What part of “no� do you not understand?� Shiflett added that Grimes County was not given an option for having a town meeting, just the environmental meeting. “Representative Lois Kolkhorst stole the show as she announced loud and clear that she was against TTC I-69,� said...

A so-called “NAFTA Superhighway� earned support from the city’s mayor and discussion among residents Monday during a public hearing on the Texas Department of Transportation’s I-69 project. TxDOT held a public hearing at the Brownsville Events Center Monday to explain the progress of the Trans-Texas Corridor, a future segment of Highway I-69, which will link the U.S.-Mexico border to the U.S.-Canada border. After a short presentation, the floor was open for comments. Among the local politicians, college students and retirees at the hearing there was a wide range of opinion on the project. According to Mario Jorge, district engineer for...

S. Korea may seek 'U.N. resolution' for return of POWs in N. Korea SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korea may seek help from the international community in pressing North Korea to return South Korean prisoners of war, the Defense Ministry said Saturday. North Korea has so far balked at South Korean requests to return POWs, saying it has never held any South Korean citizens against their will. "The government plans to refer the issue of POWs to the international community so it could influence North Korea to return the prisoners," the ministry said in a recently released book on...

My New Year's resolutions so far are: 1- To get a job. It's becoming series. 2- To go fishing and hunting this year. 3- If I don't get a job, concentrate on fishing and hunting, and building polygons with Magnetix. 4- Not to post vanities.

Lately, liberals (read: statists) have been giving me a hard time about my opposition to a gun control initiative that would limit gun purchases to one per month per owner. Since I a) don’t like the government telling me how many guns I can own, and b) just hate having liberals (read: statists) mad at me, I’ve come up with a solution. It takes the form of a New Year’s resolution sure to make everyone happy (myself especially). I hereby resolve to help the cause of gun control in America by purchasing only one gun per month in 2008. Naturally,...

Congressional Democrats, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have decided that it is time to condemn the horrific genocide of over a million Armenians by the Ottoman Turks in 1915. Genocide should be condemned, even if almost 100 years late, they say, cynically pretending this is a moral imperative. On its face, it seems a reasonable thing, an ethical stand, and one most Americans would support. That’s what they’re banking on. The modern Turkish state was founded in 1923, well after the Armenian massacres, and is very sensitive to being blamed for what it considers a crime that predates it....

Recently, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, chaired by US Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), passed a resolution that recognized the killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 as genocide. While the circumstances surrounding the slaughter are disputed, the killings did occur. The larger questions this action presents could very well be as disturbing as the killings themselves. What was there to gain by issuing this non-binding resolution at this moment in time? And, did the issuance of the non-binding resolution usurp the Executive Branch’s authority to establish foreign policy? Article II of the United States Constitution...

GEP'S LOBBYING WAS A TURKEY October 13, 2007 -- FORMER Majority Leader Dick Gephardt, a registered lobbyist for Turkey, failed several months ago to get his successor as top House Democrat, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to withdraw her support from a long-pending resolution condemning alleged Turkish genocide of Armenians in 1915. The Bush administration had urged Congress not to offend Turkey, a U.S. ally, but the measure passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee Wednesday. Pelosi has pledged House action this year on the genocide resolution that in the past was blocked by Dennis Hastert, her Republican predecessor as speaker. In addition...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 11, 2007 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today expressed concern over the state of U.S.-Turkey relations, a day after Congress passed a symbolic measure that considers Turkey guilty of waging a genocide campaign against Armenians in World War I. Despite appeals from President Bush and other top U.S. officials to reject the measure, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee yesterday voted 27 to 21 in favor of a nonbinding resolution that characterized the mass killings of some 1.5 million Armenians, which began in 1915, as genocide. “This is a very sensitive subject for a close...

WASHINGTON: Turkey was making a final direct appeal to U.S. lawmakers to reject a resolution that would declare the World War I-era killings of hundreds of thousands of Armenians an act of genocide. The House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Committee planned a vote Wednesday on the measure that is opposed by the Bush administration. On Tuesday, Turkish President Abdullah Gul warned of "serious troubles in the two countries' relations" if the measure is approved. Those threats were coming as Turkey's government was seeking parliamentary approval for a cross-border military operation to chase separatist Kurdish rebels who operate from bases in...

After San Francisco Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval introduced a resolution condemning the "defamatory language used by radio personality Michael Savage against immigrants,� Savage lashed back at the newly elected supervisor. "Illiberalism is not only a mental disorder it is fascist at its core,� the mega-popular talk show host told NewsMax.com. "This schmuck says my comments are 'symbolic of hatred and racism.' And they want the City to sue me for 'symbolism.' "There is no basis in American Law for such a suit but the larger point is the astonishing hate speech he is engaging in. To stop opinion by threatening legal...

NAFTA SUPERHIGHWAY | An urban myth or reality? Super suspicious foes The government denies any such plans, but campaign against it continues. By MATT STEARNS McClatchy Newspapers WASHINGTON | If the government really has a secret plan for a 12-lane road-and-rail NAFTA Superhighway that will split the heartland from Mexico to Canada, it is playing with a great poker face. “There is absolutely no U.S. government plan for a NAFTA Superhighway of any sort,” said David Bohigian, an assistant secretary of commerce. Sen. Kit Bond, a Missouri Republican and a powerful member of committees that would authorize and pay for...

(DOWNTOWN TULSA, Okla.) May 25 - Many people in the Hispanic community are not happy with a city council resolution that targets illegal immigrants. The resolution passed last night, and would require city police officers to check the immigration status of anyone arrested for a felony or misdemeanor. If they're found to be illegal, the resolution says police must notify immigration and customs enforcement within 24 hours. When someone is arrested they’re required to provide one of three things, a driver’s license, immigration papers or a green card. If this resolution becomes an ordinance and you don’t have either of...

More than just a "Few" Allies with us in Iraq.The Iraq Study Group Report SUPPORTS the Surge!The Difference between the Kosovo Vote and the Iraq VoteOur Military is more Well-Equipped than it was before the War.Why the Democrats are Wrong and have been Wrong on Retreat.The Iraq War is a Moral War.Our Military is Not Stretched too Thinly

I should have been ready for some ugly weekend reading; after all, even the LA Times titled an editorial “Do we really need a Gen. Pelosi? [March 12, 2007]” Yet I don’t regret having checked out the piece of dangerous, immoral trash titled “U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Health, and Iraq Accountability Act, 2007” because it confirms that the self-anointed general and her fellow Democrats are just as expediently false about the Iraq War and the military today as they were when they campaigned during last year’s election. (That accusation, by the way, is not an opinion but a fact; for...

U.S., North Korea resolve bank dispute By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press Writer Mon Mar 19, 10:57 AM ET The United States and North Korea have resolved a dispute over $25 million in frozen North Korean funds, clearing the way for progress in dismantling the North's nuclear programs, U.S. officials said Monday. The U.S. nuclear envoy, Christopher Hill, said six-party talks, which resumed Monday, could now "move on to the next problem, of which there are many." Meanwhile, North Korea questioned Japan's qualifications to participate in the talks, ratcheting up recent tensions between the two sides. U.S. Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary...

The debate over the US military’s engagement on the Iraqi battlefield is raging on Capitol Hill with congressional Democrats attempting to defund the campaign through back-channel means. Simultaneously, reports are coming from a multitude of sources – both inside and outside of Iraq – that testify to the overwhelming success, to date, of President Bush’s “surge” initiative. Why are our elected officials wasting taxpayer dollars, allocated in the form of their salaries, to debate turning a victory into a defeat? Anti-war activists, the mainstream media and liberal Democrats like Harry Reid, David Obey and Ted “Hope Floats” Kennedy are no...

It is a well-known fact that overworked Irony, who’s got his fingerprints all over human behavior, will tell anyone who asks that ironically he has had not a thing to do with the ironies surrounding Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the Democratic Presidential nomination. Moreover, to his firm denial, he’ll add (without a bit of prodding) an honest admission that says, “That stuff lies far beyond my powers.” So, with the idea in mind that some other force (perhaps Justice) is behind the ironic tsunami sweeping over Mrs. Clinton, let’s examine the torments affecting a person eminently deserving of unexpected comeuppances....

It’s official. The war in Iraq is now a “Civil War,” according to our vaunted Fourth Estate. In the Sunni Triangle especially, things have not been going well. Every day, dozens of Iraqis (yesterday it was over 100) are killed in bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and drive-by shootings. Every day U.S. casualties mount. If you believe the media, this is not and never was a “central front in the ‘Global War on Terror.’” It only provoked Islamic terrorists to take up arms in a country that was stable, if not exactly democratic. Saddam died ignominiously and probably should have been spared....

NEW YORK — A majority of Americans thinks the U.S. House of Representatives was wasting its time passing a nonbinding resolution on Iraq. Nearly half say if they were in Congress, they would vote to continue funding the war, while the other half says they would vote against funding it as a way to force a withdrawal from Iraq. These are just some of the findings from a new FOX News Poll. Opinion Dynamics Corp . conducted the national telephone poll of 900 registered voters for FOX News from February 27 to February 28. The poll has a 3-point error...

America has just witnessed another amazing episode of hypocrisy from the left, specifically, the recent controversy over former Vice-President Al Gore’s extravagant usage of a private jet. But while breathtaking, given his status as supposed high priest of environmental awareness, Gore’s behavior is also entirely typical. As such, it is illustrative of the real arrogance and indifference driving American liberals. Issues of the day are never determined as a result of the concerns and needs of the citizens, but rather by their ability to be utilized to further accrue prestige (and thus, power) to the political left. Within this framework,...

With the news concentrating on only the evil in Iraq and none of the great amounts of good that is going on there as we build schools, hospitals and infrastructure, no wonder that the polls reflect a loss of appetite for winning this war against terrorism. No wonder there are so many who only think of bringing home all the troops. And no wonder that our populace stops at this point without realizing the consequences of this action. So many simply think that if we leave Iraq, the Middle East terrorists will be kind to us and leave us alone....

The question of whether the Democrats will be able to edit and amend the 2002 Iraq war resolution is one of those constitutional conundrums that comes along once every quarter millennium or so. The majority leader in the Senate, Harry Reid, has already expressed enthusiasm for the idea, as has Senator Clinton. On Sunday, the Senate's commander in chief, Carl Levin, slithered onto "Meet the Press" to announce that he's working with Senator Biden on a new mission statement for GIs in Iraq. Our troops, Mr. Levin said, will be "in a supporting role rather than a combat role in...