Free Republic

Hundreds of Islamic centers in the United States have become a hot-bed of extremist activity; they promote violence, terrorism and hatred against America. “Our initial investigation has concluded there are between 400 to 500 radical Islamic centers in the U.S.,” said David Gaubatz, the director of counterintelligence and counterterrorism for the Society of Americans for National Existence. “In those places, they preach an extreme version of Islam that says America and the West is the enemy. They espouse violence, hatred and the need for terrorism.” Gaubatz is a former senior U.S. intelligence official, who now works for the Mapping Shari’a...

A few weeks ago, at the end of a 40-minute Oval Office huddle on climate change between President Barack Obama and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham — one of many tête-è-têtes on various subjects between the two this year — Obama leaned forward. "Look Lindsey, I'm ready to play," he said. "I'm for nuclear power. I'm for responsible offshore drilling. I'm for clean coal. I just need a reasonable emissions standard." "Count me in," Graham replied. "Let's see if we can do it." Wait, you may ask, a conservative Republican is seriously negotiating with the President? And on global warming, of...

MYRTLE BEACH The Rev. Andrew Trapp, the poker-playing-priest from St. Michael Catholic in Garden City Beach, didn't win the $1 million prize during the finals of "PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge." Word first leaked to the New York Post that Mike Kosowki, a 21-year NYPD veteran, won the $1 million prize by defeating Trapp and poker star Daniel Negreanu, Trapp confirmed Monday afternoon. "He ended up beating me and the other two finalists for the shot to play for the million," Trapp said. "I'm disappointed. It's been really tough the past few weeks with everybody asking how I did. I'm happy...

Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) pointed out some rather astounding language in the Senate healthcare bill during floor remarks Monday night. First, he noted that there are a number of changes to Senate rules in the bill -- and it's supposed to take a 2/3 vote to change the rules. And then he pointed out that the Reid bill declares on page 1020 that the Independent Medicare Advisory Board cannot be repealed by future Congresses...

Sen. Jim DeMint (R., S.C.) has thumbed through Harry Reid's manager's amendment and discovered some "particularly troubling" rule-change provisions, especially with regards to the proposed Independent Medicare Advisory Board, which he finds could be unrepealable:

With a Senate health care bill on track to be passed before Christmas without a single Republican vote, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham says his biggest concern about what he calls a "sleazy process" is the long-term damage it will do on Capitol Hill. "You are legitimizing partisan outcomes rather than looking at the best interest of the nation and that is to hold hands and do big things together," Graham said in an interview Monday from Washington. "It's the first time a major piece of legislation has passed along partisan lines," he said, "a departure from what has been a...

In this season given to tidings of comfort and joy, word has come that we New Yorkers are the sad sacks of the United States. This is something of a surprise. Sure, we complain a lot. Grumbling could qualify as the official state sport. But are we really the unhappiest of them all? It seems so, judging from a study by two economics professors, newly published in Science magazine. The academics — Andrew J. Oswald, of the University of Warwick in Britain, and Stephen Wu, of Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. — examined piles of data, tossed them into a...

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) is locked in a battle with National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (Texas) over the future makeup of the Senate Republican conference. DeMint (S.C.), the chairman of the Senate Republican Steering Committee, is going toe-to-toe with Cornyn in Senate Republican primaries. DeMint has thrown his weight behind Chuck DeVore, a conservative Republican who is running against a more centrist candidate backed by Cornyn. “Every Republican campaigns on being a conservative, but if you look at what we do once we’re in office, most people join the club rather than the country after they get here,...

A group called Americans for Prosperity in Nebraska gathered a crowd for a rally in Omaha to press Sen. Nelson on the reform bill. Anger over senator Ben Nelson's support of health care reform. Nearly 2,000 people rally in Omaha, hoping he's listening. The group's message is two fold -- reconsider your vote Senator Nelson and remember your decision when elections roll around. With their signs in hand, Nebraskans filled Omaha's Music Hall, rallying against the senate health care bill and Sen. Nelson's support for it. "I think that's why we're all here. To get him to listen to us,"...

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday that he wants South Carolina's top prosecutor to investigate a deal that helped secure the 60th vote needed to pass a Democratic health care bill through the Senate. Blasting Senate Democrats for what he called "backroom deals that amount to bribes," Graham found much to complain about in their health care bill. He was particularly irked that the senator who provided that final vote to head off a Republican filibuster, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, cut a deal in which the federal government pays his state's share of the cost for new Medicaid recipients.

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a leading congressional advocate for immigrants' rights, has introduced a bill that would allow millions of illegal immigrants to become U.S. citizens and would end a controversial program that enlists local police to enforce immigration laws. The bill is widely viewed as too liberal to pass. Obama administration officials have said they are looking instead to a more moderate, bipartisan immigration-reform bill to be introduced in the Senate early next year by Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).Still, the Chicago Democrat made it clear that he and his allies expect a seat at the...

The issue of concealed weapons has stirred up debate in Georgetown County. S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster said the county’s ban on concealed weapons on school grounds does not comply with state law. School district officials they will re-think the policy, which prohibits the possession of concealed weapons on school grounds even if the owner has a permit. The attorney general’s office said state law requires the permit holder to lock a weapon in a trunk, a center console or glove box of a vehicle. The district’s plan to work its policy has some families concerned. “If you have your...

An opinion from South Carolina’s attorney general is forcing the Georgetown County School District to rethink an illegal policy that bans concealed weapons on school property. Henry McMaster told the district that the policy, which prohibits visitors, parents, teachers and students from carrying weapons on school property including parking lots — even with a concealed carry permit — was a violation of state law. That law was approved by the General Assembly earlier this year and allows anyone with a concealed carry permit to keep weapons locked in their vehicles on school property. Rep. Thad Viers (R-Horry) requested the opinion...

South Carolina’s economy shed more jobs in November as the holiday season got under way, with the unemployment rate jumping to 12.3%, in a month when the national jobless rate dropped 0.2 percentage point to 10.0%. The state Employment Security Commission said November’s 0.3-percentage-point increase in jobless figures set a record for the state. Estimates by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics numbered the state’s labor force at 2,173,054 in November, an increase of 2,079. The number of unemployed increased 5,896 to 266,330. The Employment Security Commission is now taking claims from people who might be eligible for additional benefits....

Fort Mill, SC (WBTV) – In this season of giving, retail giant Lowe's Home Improvement donated $25,000 to help bring 200 soldiers home for the holidays. The company's generosity is making it possible for Pierson Young's husband to be there for their baby girl, Addison's first Christmas. "We're very excited," said Young. "When he left last time, she wasn't holding her head up on her own and now she can almost sit by herself," she said. "And all these new things we get to share with Daddy. Milestones that I was afraid he was going to miss--but is now going...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Lindsey Graham makes an unlikely champion for action on climate change. The South Carolina Republican has joined forces with Democrat John Kerry of Massachusetts and independent Joe Lieberman of Connecticut to drum up support for a bill that would put a price on heat-trapping pollution. Graham's position has irked just about everybody. (snip) Q: How did you get involved in this issue? A: It was a slow evolution. I started traveling with Sen. (John) McCain, who has been a climate change advocate for a long time, and I went to the Arctic region with him and...

South Carolina's unemployment rate has hit a new high at 12.3 percent. The November jobless rate released Friday by the state Employment Security Commission sets a record. Officials attribute the rise to continued losses in the hospitality and construction sectors. Officials also adjusted the state's October jobless rate down slightly, to 12 percent. It had been 12.1 percent, a figure that placed the state fifth-highest in the country and matched a state record earlier in the year. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is set to release state-by-state figures later Friday.

Sen. Jim DeMint said Thursday he is prepared to use every procedural tool to delay a vote on the Democratic healthcare legislation. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is planning to schedule votes around the clock over the next week to meet a deadline of passing the bill by Christmas. Without the cooperation of Republicans, the marathon schedule would end with a vote on Christmas Eve. Reid hopes that Republicans will waive some of the procedural formalities so senators are not forced to spend the evening before Christmas milling about the Senate floor. But Sen. DeMint (R-S.C.), chairman of the...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is scheduled to meet privately Wednesday evening with top administration climate aide Carol Browner. Graham is working with Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) to craft a bipartisan cap and trade bill. He plans to discuss the ways Senate leaders can deal with manufacturing and coal state worries that the bill will spike electricity bills in the midst of a deep recession. “We’ve got to address people’s concerns about compliance costs and rate payer increases,” he told POLITICO. He’ll also use the meaning to address nuclear power, off-shore drilling and new coal technologies —...

Staffer once claimed to have fathered child of former candidate's mistress ABC News will air an exclusive interview next month with the man who once claimed to have fathered the child of former Sen. John Edwards' mistress, the network said Wednesday. ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff's interview with Andrew Young will air Jan. 29 on "20/20." Young was a longtime friend and aide to Edwards, the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2004. Young will discuss his upcoming book, "The Politician," an account of Edwards' 2004 campaign and the Rielle Hunter scandal, the network said. Hunter's video production firm worked...

As President Obama heads to Copenhagen this week to convince world leaders of the United States' commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, he's getting help from an unexpected quarter. In the Senate, where partisan feuding engulfs Obama's health care bill, an unusual group of lawmakers is working across party lines on a compromise bill that would boost domestic energy production while reducing pollution that causes global warming. Described by participants as "tripartisan," the effort unites Sens. John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat; Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut independent; and Lindsey Graham, an outspoken South Carolina Republican.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Lindsey Graham on Tuesday praised President Barack Obama for heeding his advice to bypass the naval brig in Charleston, S.C., and transfer terror suspects instead to an Illinois prison from the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said he spoke with Obama recently and reiterated his strong opposition to moving the Guantanamo detainees to the medium-security brig at the Naval Weapons Station in Charleston. "I spoke to the president about Charleston a couple weeks ago," Graham told McClatchy. "He listened intently as I said I thought Charleston is not an appropriate...

Just in case you’ve missed it, there has been a lot of debate recently about reforming our nation’s health care system. The president and his allies in Congress have told us they have just the ticket to fix our problems: a plan that creates a new federal government insurance company and pays for it by raising taxes on just about everyone and cutting nearly $500 billion from Medicare. Their plan takes an unsustainable mountain of government debt, bureaucracy and spending, then bulldozes a new mountain of bureaucracy and debt right on top of it. But for all of the mind-boggling...

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) is putting Capitol Hill on a "Code Red" alert Tuesday in an effort to stop the Senate's health care reform legislation. In a release from his office Monday, DeMint announced he will speak at what is being billed as an "emergency rally" coordinated by several groups, including the American Conservative Union and the Susan B. Anthony List. "The event has 'tea party' trimmings and plenty of muscle, including grass-roots support from six states," according to the GOP senator's Web site.

US Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) has begun to make a name for himself in national politics. Not content to pursue his own hard-line conservative course in the Senate, he has begun to encourage the election of Republicans of similar outlook across the nation. DeMint has his own political action committee, the Senate Conservatives Fund, which is frequently at odds with the choices -- stated or assumed -- of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the GOP’s official body for electing members of the upper chamber. In Florida's 2010 GOP Senate primary, DeMint endorsed conservative underdog Marco Rubio, a former speaker of...

Hub-Bub has been awarded a grant for $10,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts for the Hub-Bub Artists-in-Residence program. Only 30 other artists' communities in the U.S. will receive funding from the NEA during this grant cycle. Hub-Bub will also receive funding in 2010 from the Dedalus Foundation, which fosters public understanding of modern art by facilitating research, publications and exhibitions in the field. Funding from Dedalus will be used to bring six visiting artists to Spartanburg over the next year for community-based art projects.

WASHINGTON — Senators negotiating a bipartisan climate change bill on Thursday unveiled the broad outlines of their plan to combine greenhouse gas limits with expanded offshore drilling, more nuclear power and protections for refiners in a bid to attract support from wary lawmakers. Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., announced their proposal as international leaders at a summit in Copenhagen were trying to devise a plan to combat global warming. President Barack Obama is set to attend the Copenhagen meeting next week. Graham said the group “did this just for Copenhagen … to give the...

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina's first lady, a former Wall Street vice president who helped launch her husband's political career, announced Friday she is filing for divorce months after his tearful public confession of an affair with an Argentine woman.

Sanford’s Wife Files for Divorce ROBBIE BROWN December 11, 2009 Jenny Sanford on Friday filed for divorce from her husband, Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, who confessed in June to an affair with a woman in Argentina. “As so many of us know, the dissolution of any marriage is a sad and painful process,” Ms. Sanford said in a statement. “Because Mark and I are public figures, we have naturally had less privacy with which to deal with our difficulties than do other couples. Indeed, I know it will soon become known, so I choose to release this brief...

CHARLESTON, S.C. – South Carolina's first lady, a former Wall Street vice president who helped launch her husband's political career, filed for divorce Friday more than five months after his tearful public confession of an affair with an Argentine woman. "This came after many unsuccessful efforts at reconciliation, yet I am still dedicated to keeping the process that lies ahead peaceful for our family," Jenny Sanford said in a statement. The divorce complaint was filed in Charleston County Family Court. In a statement, the governor blamed himself and said he and Jenny will "work earnestly to be the best mom...

ATLANTA — Jenny Sanford announced on Friday that she is filing for divorce from her husband, Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, who confessed in June to an affair with a woman in Argentina. “As so many of us know, the dissolution of any marriage is a sad and painful process,” Ms. Sanford said in a statement. “Because Mark and I are public figures, we have naturally had less privacy with which to deal with our difficulties than do other couples. Indeed, I know it will soon become known, so I choose to release this brief notice that I am...

Jenny Sanford announced today that she will file for divorce from embattled South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, who admitted in June to an affair with a longtime lover in Argentina. "I am now filing for divorce," she said in a statement. "This came after many unsuccessful efforts at reconciliation, yet I am still dedicated to keeping the process that lies ahead peaceful for our family." Sanford moved out of the South Carolina governor's mansion with the couple's four children in August. "I remain thankful to so many across this state and nation for their words of encouragement and prayers during...

COLUMBIA, SC (WCSC) - South Carolina's first lady is filing for divorce. In a statement issued Friday morning, Jenny Sanford said she is filing for divorce from Gov. Mark Sanford, who disclosed an extramarital affair with an Argentine woman after staff reports of a hiking trip on the Appalachain Trail fell apart under scrutiny. The memo states: "As so many of us know, the dissolution of any marriage is a sad and painful process. It is also a very personal and private one. Because Mark and I are public figures, we have naturally had less privacy with which to deal...

Barack Obama began his presidency with an open hand toward the man he had just defeated in a race that was at times bitter. "There are few Americans who understand this need for common purpose and common effort better than John McCain," said Obama at an inauguration-eve tribute dinner to his former foe. But in the year since that evening of comity and collegiality, McCain has emerged as one of the leading critics of the new president. On foreign policy, his traditional area of expertise, and domestic affairs, where McCain has shown new passion, the 72-year-old Arizonan is making it...

Three Senators released a broadly-worded blueprint of a climate change and energy bill on Thursday afternoon that they believe can win the 60 votes needed to push the bill through next year. The proposal was timed to help persuade delegates to the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen that the Senate is serious about passing a climate bill and not mired in a partisan morass. Senators John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and Joseph I. Lieberman, Independent of Connecticut, sent President Obama a letter on Thursday outlining their plan.

A report released this week by the Center for American Progress (CAP) includes recommendations that could serve as a blue-print of sorts for a broad immigration reform bill being crafted by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Immigration subcommittee, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). An overhaul of the U.S. immigration laws has for years been a high priority for technology companies that say they need more H-1B visas and green-cards to hire high-skilled workers and keep the industry competitive on a global scale. Microsoft founder Bill Gates and others make yearly pilgrimages to Washington to make...

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) inched his way further into the 2010 Senate races Thursday, endorsing a member of the Texas Railroad Commission for the seat that might be vacated by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-Texas.) in her run for governor. In the blistering cold with the Capitol as a backdrop, DeMint threw his weight and the weight of his Senate Conservatives Fund behind Michael Williams, an African-American who served in both the Reagan and first Bush administrations. Williams said he’s looking to come to Washington to “stop the slouch toward European-style socialism.” DeMint said he’s looking to pull the Republican...

A South Carolina House panel voted down a resolution Wednesday to impeach Gov. Mark Sanford, but the embattled Republican faces one more procedural hurdle before his survival in office is guaranteed. In their final meeting to consider the impeachment resolution, members of the special House subcommittee called Sanford's behavior "reprehensible," "arrogant" and "indefensible" - but six of the seven lawmakers on the panel concluded that the Republican's behavior does not rise to the constitutional level of impeachment. Sanford has been under scrutiny since June, when he left the country for five days to visit his Argentine mistress without informing his...

South Carolina's First Lady Tells Barbara Walters About Decision Not to Stand Next to Husband Gov. Mark Sanford During Press Conference Jenny Sanford, wife of embattled South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, told Barbara Walters in her first television interview about her husband's affair that she wouldn't have stood by his side when he publicly admitted the affair even if he had asked her to. Sanford, who has moved out of the South Carolina governor's mansion with the couple's four children, openly discussed the heartbreak behind the headlines of their breakup.

Boeing plans to make all the parts for the 787 Dreamliner currently produced in the Puget Sound region at a second location so that the second final assembly line being set up in North Charleston, S.C., can operate independently.Local Boeing workers have long complained that only the vertical tail fin of the 787 Dreamliner is built in the Puget Sound region. But now even that small claim to uniqueness is going to be shared, as Boeing continues to turn the screws on the Machinists union after their two-month strike in 2008. The company said Monday it plans to use suppliers...

Two of the most influential Republicans in the U.S. Senate these days come from South Carolina, Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham. But Graham’s efforts to work with majority Democrats on some issues has angered many GOP voters in the state, even prompting efforts to censure him. Fifty-one percent (51%) of Republican voters in South Carolina say the GOP should be more like DeMint, who’s a staunch conservative, than like Graham, according to a new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state. Thirty-two percent (32%) of the state’s Republican voters think the party should model itself more after Graham, and 18%...

Shaw Airmen supporting the alert mission, from maintainers to pilots, standby 'round the clock in case they are needed. The alert mission at Shaw is part of Operation Noble Eagle, which provides quick-reaction support to protect U.S. airspace and significant events like presidential movements and space shuttle launches. "We have to be ready if the alarm goes off at 2:30 in the morning," said Master Sgt. William Martin, alert NCO-in-charge. "I want everything to be ingrained in them (the Airmen) so they can get the mission done." Recently, the alert Airmen were tested by exercise Fertile Keynote. The exercise was...

Sen. Lindsey Graham may be under fire from conservatives back home in South Carolina. But the Republican got a personal assurance from President Obama yesterday that the White House is supporting his efforts to craft a sweeping Senate energy and global warming bill. “The president told me personally he was very open, that nuclear power would be part of the mix, that clean coal would be part of the mix, that he’s for offshore drilling in a responsible way,” Graham said today in describing his Oval Office meeting with Obama. “But we have to have a price on carbon,...

Senator pledges to hold nomination until the Senate votes on the Fed Audit WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina), chairman of the Senate Steering Committee, announced this morning that he will oppose the nomination of Ben Bernanke to serve a second term as the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. Senator DeMint made the announcement after Bernanke's confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee, and pledged to object to floor consideration of the nomination until the Senate votes on S. 604, the Federal Reserve Sunshine Act of 2009. "Ben Bernanke is an intelligent and well-intended public...

COLUMBIA. – South Carolina junior Senator Jim DeMint announced Thursday he will oppose the nomination of Ben Bernanke to serve a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve. DeMint said he would also block consideration of the nomination on the Senate floor until lawmakers vote on their version of a House bill introduced by Texas Congressman Ron Paul that would require an audit of the Federal Reserve. The House bill has more than 300 co-sponsors. The Senate version of the legislation sponsored by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has more than 30 co-sponsors and would allow the Government Accountability Office...

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a darling of the Tea Party crowd, credited that movement with blocking Democratic health care reform efforts and predicted the conservative activists behind the movement could ultimately thwart the passage of that bill and others.. "The only reason we don't have national health care right now is you - is the people outside of Washington," DeMint told a gathering of Tea Party activists gathered Wednesday night in Washington for the premiere of a documentary about the movement. "I think we do have a shot at stopping this thing," he said of the health care reform bill...

Republican Senator Jim DeMint, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, said on Thursday he would oppose Ben Bernanke's nomination for a second term as Federal Reserve Chairman. "Americans want a new Fed chairman who is willing to provide transparency into the Fed's actions, who is willing to accept responsibility for the Fed's mistakes, and who is willing to support true monetary reform that guarantees the soundness of our money," DeMint said in a statement.

(snip) “Why did I do this? I want my time to count. I want to be seen as someone who can solve a hard problem by working with my colleagues across the aisle. I want to do something that matters. I can’t think of a better use of my time than to work with Democrats and Republicans to break our dependency on foreign oil, to create jobs for our next generation of Americans that will never go to China. And yes, leave behind a cleaner planet.” (snip)

Fort Mill, S.C. – "I'm living the American dream," said Jack Sheppard. "I've got the No. 1 product in America." That would be guns, and the 42-year-old Sheppard, owner of Aim Right Guns & Ammo, is an expert. At his shop on Main Street in this small South Carolina town just over the state line from Charlotte, N.C., business was brisk. It was a Black Friday bonanza. For the second year, the 48 hours starting at 12:01 a.m. the Friday after Thanksgiving marked what's called "Second Amendment Weekend," at least by the Republican state legislator who sponsored the bill. To...

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - A Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor is blaming Islamist extremists in the Middle East after his campaign website was hacked and defaced Tuesday morning. However, a computer expert says it's impossible to determine where the hacker was based. Bill Conner, an attorney and Lt. Colonel who served the Army in Afghanistan, said his website was hacked "apparently from the Middle East." "From Garmsir to Fort Hood, we face in radical Islam an enemy whose attacks range from petty web hacks to mass murder," Connor said. "What was done to our campaign website is nothing compared to...