Free Republic

Failure to buy health insurance in the just-passed health care bill could get you five years in jail with a $250,000 fine. How can violating a law that's unconstitutional be a felony, asks Investor's Business Daily (IBD)? The passage last Saturday night of the House health care measure by a fragile 220-215 margin may well prove to be a Pyrrhic victory. In polls, townhall meetings and tea parties, Americans have shown they don't want a "reform" that costs a staggering $1.2 trillion yet fails to meet the left's desire of insuring all the uninsured. And they certainly don't want a...

Health Care Reform: Failure to buy health insurance in the just-passed health care bill could get you five years in jail with a $250,000 fine. How can violating a law that's unconstitutional be a felony? The passage last Saturday night of the House health care measure by a fragile 220-215 margin may well prove to be a Pyrrhic victory. In polls, townhall meetings and tea parties, Americans have shown they don't want a "reform" that costs a staggering $1.2 trillion yet fails to meet the left's desire of insuring all the uninsured. And they certainly don't want a bill that...

Earth: An environmental writer mainstreams an idea floating around the green fringe — save the earth by population control and give carbon credits to one-child families. Are we threatened by the patter of little carbon footprints? New York Times environmental writer Andrew Revkin participated in an Oct. 14 panel discussion on climate change with other media pundits titled "Covering Climate: What's Population Got To Do With It?" People who need people they are not. In a recently rediscovered book, "Ecoscience: Population, Resources, Environment," co-authored with Malthus fans Paul and Anne Ehrlich, Holdren wrote that families "contribute to general social deterioration...

'Hate' Crimes: The House has voted to make it a federal crime to assault people because of their sexual orientation. Aside from violating the Constitution's equal-protection clause, just what does this have to do with national defense? The House voted 281 to 146 Thursday to make it a crime to attack homosexuals and others. The measure was attached to a must-pass $680 billion defense bill. We think the amendment itself is a crime against common sense and the law. Saying "it's a very exciting day for us here in the Capitol," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi praised the passage of the...

War Strategy: When Bush and Petraeus proposed the surge in Iraq, Democrats demanded that the general testify before Congress. So why has the Senate blocked a similar invitation to our commander in Afghanistan? Those with memories longer than the 24-hour news cycle recall that in the dark days of the Iraq War, David Petraeus was summoned to Washington to explain the surge strategy that would eventually lead to victory in Iraq. Democrats hoped for a show trial. MoveOn.org took out a full-page ad in the New York Times labeling the commanding general of our efforts in Iraq "General Betray-us." Then...

Policymaking: If the stimulus isn't working, perhaps it's because it was largely written by a collection of leftist interest groups called the Apollo Alliance that counts among its directors a co-founder of the Weather Underground.The Labor Department reported Friday that 42 states lost more jobs than they gained in August, and that 14 plus Washington, D.C., reported unemployment rates of 10% or more. Michigan's rate rose to 15.2%, highest in the nation. Nevada, represented by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, is second with 13.2%. California, home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is tied for fourth with Oregon at 12.2%. Clearly,...

This editorial from Investor's Business Daily is worth the read.And, this part is worth a fleeting note: Part of it has to do with Reid's rise to Senate minority leader and then majority leader in 2006. His constituents increasingly feel left behind. Sherman Frederick, publisher of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, wrote in 2006: " 'Sen. Reid;s undoing came early in his last term when he became a big shot in the Democratic Party and quickly morphed into someone Nevada voters did not recognize - his political girlfreind in the House, uber-liberal Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California.' "

Politics: The senator who called the president a liar and never apologized may have worn out his welcome in his home state. Harry Reid may be riding the liberal agenda into political oblivion.In 2004, Republicans defeated Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle largely on the theme that he neglected his home state in favor of national party interests. The GOP is hoping that in 2010 lightning will strike a second time, and Nevada polls indicate it may be more than wishful thinking. In 1998, Reid beat John Ensign by a hair-thin 428 votes. Ensign would go on to win Nevada's other...

Leadership: Scores of congressmen and women are trying to hide from their constituents this August recess as the revolt over ObamaCare continues. If you haven't seen him or her lately, you might try your refrigerator.IBD Exclusive Series: Government-Run Healthcare: A Prescription For FailureIt's amazing how frightened of the community the party of the great community organizer has become now that the community has organized itself against his attempt to impose socialized medicine on the country. They cheered when he told them to get in the faces of their opponents. Now they won't show their faces, period. Senate Majority Whip Dick...

Health Insurance: Driven by focus groups, the administration and Congress rail against insurance companies to get ObamaCare passed. So why have they been protecting the insurance companies from real competition?In a recent stop in North Carolina, President Obama told the crowd that our existing health care system "works well for the insurance industry, but it doesn't always work well for you." This shift from discussing what's in his plan to fighting the insurance bogeyman is no accident. In June, Joel Benenson, the president's chief pollster, told the Economic Club of Canada, where health care is a public scandal, that the...

Cap-And-Trade: The administration likes to defend bad policies with analogies to the post office. New studies from a business group and the administration itself confirm that cap-and-trade belongs in the dead-letter bin.Along with Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Rep. Ed Markey likens the cost of the Waxman-Markey cap-and trade bill to "about a postage stamp a day," based on estimates made by the Congressional Budget Office and the EPA. But as we and others have shown, they arrive at this magical number in part by ignoring the hit on gross domestic product and employment that will occur. As Garret Vaughan, economist...

Security Breaches: Scooter Libby went to prison for the "outing" of a desk-jockey CIA agent. He forgot conversations. Pelosi forgets briefings. And the outing of our entire intelligence apparatus by Democrats is OK. Remember the thrilling days of yesteryear and the alleged outing of the already known CIA officer Valerie Plame? We were told then that the Vanity Fair cover girl's 15 minutes of fame jeopardized our national security even if everybody already knew who she was. "Scooter" Libby went to prison because his memory of events and who said what to whom regarding Plame differed from the recollections of...

IBD Exclusive Series: Government-Run Healthcare: A Prescription For Failure Discourse: At a town hall last week in Dallas, an elderly "mob" with "manufactured" outrage questioned AARP's support for nationalized health care, asking: "Do you work for us or do we work for you?"There were no swastika-wearing grannies at Tuesday's meeting, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi might claim. Nor were they "taking their cues from talk show hosts, Internet rumor-mongers . . . and insurance rackets," as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said. But they were mad as hell at the perception that AARP was selling them out in the...

Pelosi doesn't gaurantee Blue Dog provisions By Mike Soraghan Posted: 07/31/09 06:35 PM [ET] Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) indicated Friday that some of the most hard-fought provisions of the healthcare bill, including parts meant to appease conservative Democrats, could change by the time the final measure reaches the House floor. Pelosi's remarks came as the House Energy and Commerce Committee hammed out the final details of the bill, including a deal with Blue Dog Democrats and a tax to pay for the legislation. Three committees have worked intensively on the bill, and assuming passage by the Energy and Commerce Committee...

Congress: In exchange for a vague promise of cuts in the cost of health care "reform," a few fiscally conservative Democrats agree to release the bill to a September floor vote. Have the pit bulls become Chihuahuas?Apparently even a Blue Dog Democrat will stop growling if you toss him a big enough bone. Four of the seven who helped keep the House bill bottled up in the Energy and Commerce Committee — Mike Ross of Arkansas, Baron Hill of Indiana, Zack Space of Ohio and Bart Gordon of Tennessee — agreed to vote the bill out of committee in exchange...

As we've discussed before, everything that happens, anywhere in the world is now being described a "a defeat for George Bush." Two such "defeats for George Bush" came to light this past week - and I'm not even counting West Virginia's loss to Pittsburgh which helped vault LSU and Ohio State into the BCS title game in January. First came the news that John Murtha (D-Pa) who has been mentor to, and ally of, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca) had changed his mind on Iraq. For years Murtha has been among the most outspoken critics of the war in Iraq. According...

There is quite a lot of interesting, but wild, speculation running around the blog-o-sphere, progressive circles and just plain dinner conversation these days about whether BushCo will allow a peaceful and constitutional transfer of Executive power in the ’08 elections. Unless or until George Bush appears on our TV boxes one night, wearing a dark blue suit, white shirt and red tie with his hands sweatily clasped in a desperate death grip on top of his desk in the Oval Office, telling us that some catastrophic event, whether man-made or natural, has just occurred somewhere, and he must, for the...

Pelosi: Radio attacks on boy unfair By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent 53 minutes ago Seeking support for a vetoed children's health insurance bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi charged Tuesday that "hate radio has made a vicious attack" on a 12-year-old Baltimore boy who receives coverage through the program. Pelosi said the allegations were "beneath the dignity of the debate" that surrounds the legislation. Democrats hope to enact the measure over Bush's opposition, and a House vote scheduled for Thursday. A two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress is required to override a veto, and supporters of the measure appear...

As if the flap over Nancy Pelosi’s private military jet were not enough … the supposedly environmentally-conscious Speaker of the House is taking a chauffeur-driven, gas-guzzling behemoth Chevrolet Tahoe to tomorrow’s Congressional Global Warming Hearing! Tomorrow morning, Speaker Nancy Pelosi will step out of her Georgetown home and into a government-owned black Chevy Tahoe sport-utility vehicle. That gas-guzzling truck will take her directly to the Rayburn House Office Building – where she will be the lead witness on a global warming hearing held by Science and Technology Committee. Pelosi’s vehicle is also exempt from federal gasoline taxes. Rep. Pelosi voted...

Number of killed unborn Americans by Liberals is much bigger then number of American soldiers killed in all wars. That is why Liberals are a Terrorists. They are cruel, without mercy and any human or ethical values. Conservative Americans made big mistake that they allowed these evil demons to control US government. They did not come to resolve any problems, but they came to create more problems because they are a terrorists. Only blood can satisfy them because these are a demons with unclean spirits and they will punish all American Patriots for making their best efforts to protect this...

Liberals have been clucking non-stop since election night at the prospects of what Democrat victory means to their radical causes. In first recruiting, then funding, faith-friendly, conservative, and in a couple of instances even born-again candidates -- the Democrat party captured needed numbers to swipe leadership posts. The strategy proved extremely effective. Nancy Pelosi will bring San Fran values to the Beltway debate, and Kennedy, Kerry, and Clinton will clamor to be first in line. But how did she get there? In many instances - by taking advantage of terrible Republicans - and their own criminal wrong doing. But the...

The Democrats seem to have taken over the House. That means that, regardless how the cliff-hanger races in the Senate turn out, the key question is whether the Republican leaders will shed their arrogance and understand that they need to listen to the American people. Even if recounts and razor-thin margins deliver the Senate into Republican hands by the narrowest of margins, 2006 is a major defeat for the GOP and only a fool would deny it. In Iraq, obviously, America is delivering a message that if we keep shedding blood to battle for democracy in Iraq, the GOP will...

A total withdrawal from Iraq would play into the hands of the jihadist terrorists. As Osama bin Laden’s deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, made clear shortly after 9/11 in his book “Knights Under the Prophet’s Banner,” Al Qaeda’s most important short-term strategic goal is to seize control of a state, or part of a state, somewhere in the Muslim world. “Confronting the enemies of Islam and launching jihad against them require a Muslim authority, established on a Muslim land,” he wrote. “Without achieving this goal our actions will mean nothing.” Such a jihadist state would be the ideal launching pad for future...

When U.S. President Harry S. Truman signed the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, the "man from Independence" surely did so with the best interests of the American people in mind. But the feisty thirty-third President of the U.S. could not have imagined the potential impact of that act 60 years later. The bill signed by President Truman revised the order for succession to the presidency. Under the revised law, the U.S. Speaker of the House is in line for succession to the presidency, after the vice president. No one anticipates that either George Bush or Dick Cheney will die...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 18, 2006 CONTACT: Brendan Daly/Jennifer Crider 202-226-7616 Pelosi: It’s Time for a Change, Not Republican Business as Usual Washington, D.C. – House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today in response to a story in The Hillreporting that House Republicans feel “there would be little need for reassessments or rehabilitation if they retained control of the House in the 110th Congress.” Specifically, Congressman Tom Davis (R-VA) said: “If we hold it together, I don’t think you will see any change at all.” “Ethical and legal scandals have plagued the Republican-run Congress – from the...

A plan is in place to censure and impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Orchestrated and organized by the radical Left and Congressman John Conyers, Jr., this plan is ready to go should the Democratic Party take control of the House of Representatives in November. The plan is the ultimate manifestation of left-wing hatred for George W. Bush rooted in the contentious election of 2000. Since failing to defeat Bush in 2004, the Left has focused its efforts on destroying his presidency by assembling a list of charges aimed at impeaching him. Impeachment plans began seriously coalescing in 2005,...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 19, 2006 CONTACT: Brendan Daly/Jennifer Crider 202-226-7616 Pelosi: ‘Voter Suppression of Minorities Cannot Be Tolerated’ Washington, D.C. – House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on media reports that a voter suppression campaign against Latino voters in Orange County, California may be connected with a Republican Congressional campaign: “The ugly voter suppression activities against Latino voters in Orange County are illegal and disgraceful. Those activities violate federal and state voting laws, and must be investigated and prosecuted by law enforcement authorities to the fullest extent of the law. “Voter suppression of minorities cannot...

Pelosi’s House "I pride myself in being called a liberal.” "I don't consider myself a moderate.” Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) (Time, 9/4/06) …And she’s not the only one. “This list of the bills most likely to be championed by committee chairmen in a Pelosi-led House of Representatives would be great fodder for the latenight talk show hosts if it weren’t true,” House Majority Whip Roy Blunt said. “Instead, it’s just plain scary. While Republicans fight the War on Terror, grow our robust economy, and crack down on illegal immigration, House Democrats plot to establish a Department of Peace,...

More than any other group, conservatives are disillusioned with Republicans these days. There was talk a few weeks ago that it would be better for the conservative movement if Republicans lost the House of Representatives. Evidently a lot of conservatives have forgotten their 40 years in the political wilderness. Lately Republican leadership in Washington has been a contradiction in terms. But the problem is not with Republican principles. It is with leaders who have lost sight of those principles. If any conservatives - fiscal, religious or otherwise - believe that their interests would best be advanced by making Nancy Pelosi...

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's prospects for becoming the nation's first female House speaker depend not only on a Democratic victory in November but also on her ability to prevent any Democrats from voting against her -- primarily centrists opposed to her liberal stances. At least one Democratic House candidate has pledged not to support Mrs. Pelosi, and others in conservative districts have refused to commit their support -- potentially leaving Mrs. Pelosi shy of the 218 votes required for the chamber's top post.

The Republican Party can stave off defeat with a strong turnout on Nov. 7, party leaders are telling the faithful -- but they are finding it tough to sell that message to some disillusioned conservative voters. "The message hasn't gotten across because a lot of people are sick and tired of thinking the only reason for going to the polls is to vote for the Republicans because they are lesser of two evils," said Tom McClusky, vice president for government affairs at the Family Research Council (FRC), a leading social conservative group. "Conservatives aren't motivated to come out, is what...

There's a difference between a party with principles not doing a good job executing those principles and a party with no principles. Anyone who thinks that turning the reins of power over to Democrats will raise the country's moral bar should take a cold shower. We can parse out every element of former Republican Congressman Mark Foley's behavior that sickens normal, decent Americans and find that these elements are today, in one form or another, a generally accepted part of everyday life in the country. We can thank liberals for this state of affairs, and these liberals are Democrats. What...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 30, 2006 CONTACT: Brendan Daly 202-226-7616 Pelosi Statement on Rumsfeld Remarks Washington, D.C. – House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today in response to Secretary Rumsfeld’s remarks he made yesterday to the American Legion convention in Salt Lake City: "Secretary Rumsfeld's efforts to smear critics of the Bush Administration's Iraq policy are a pathetic attempt to shift the public's attention from his repeated failure to manage the conduct of the war competently. If Mr. Rumsfeld is so concerned with comparisons to World War II, he should explain why our troops have now been...

Liberal activists speaking at the "Take Back America" Conference in Washington, D.C., Tuesday said a "human Congress" and a "Peoples Emergency Management Agency" are needed to help rebuild New Orleans because of the federal government's alleged failures both before and after Hurricane Katrina. They also accused the Bush administration of diverting funding that should be used to rebuild New Orleans "overseas to an unjust war" in Iraq. Rev. Lennox Yearwood, national coordinator for the Gulf Coast Renewal Campaign, called Katrina the "lunch-counter logo for the 21st Century," a reference to discrimination against African-Americans who were refused seating at lunch counters...

If the chips fall right for Democrats and their party seizes control of the House, President Bush's agenda on Capitol Hill would fall into the hands of some of his most dogged opponents. It's not just would-be Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, but a boatload of Democrats newly running committees who would determine what legislation gets debated and which programs and agencies get scrutiny. So who are the chairmen to be? _a Polish-American lawyer with a reputation for making witnesses quiver. _a die-hard liberal from New York's Harlem with 35 years in the House. _a free-spending progressive from Wausau, Wis....

Conventional wisdom in political circles is that President Bush has lost the support of the “Republican base” because of his handling of several key issues, especially immigration and government spending. Many political pundits are calling on him to court the base or risk losing control of Congress. I won’t deny the polling evidence, yet my own reading of the numbers is not as pessimistic as that of many GOP insiders. And I have a wholly different perspective on what Bush should do to improve the party’s electoral outlook. While some Republicans are recommending that the president do everything possible to...

''Your President is lying to you.'' ''This war is illegal.'' ''You can't win the war.'' These phrases have been repeated over and over again by voices in the Democratic Party. Why in the world, during a time of war, would any American publicly say things so inflammatory and negative while troops are in harm’s way? Why would folks like Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Ted Kennedy, John Murtha, John Kerry, and Al Gore and friends continue this daily dose of Democratic attack on the president in his efforts to fight the war on terror? What is it that motivates members of...

As the "Big Tent" collapses, make way for the true "third" party According to research that I conducted in 1998, there were more than 400 political parties in America. (That number has grown smaller in recent years, but is still over 200 — far larger than the "mainstream" media admits.) According to research by Richard Winger, the publisher of Ballot Access News, the third-largest political party in the United States is the Constitution Party. Thus, the CP is the true third party. Statistically, the CP has more members than any political party other than the Big Two. And, statistically, there...

I have never posted a vanity before. I have tried to swallow the bitter pill. I am perplexed by the debate about general election choices. Time to get ACTIVE; BEYOND the General Elections. No choices between Dems and RINO's. Time to MARCH TO THE PRIMARIES.. march in numbers NEVER SEEN BEFORE..... Here is my call..... I am sick and tired of being called names. I am done having the people charged with the HONOR of representing MY voice in MY country SLIT my throat for their personal gain. Meanwhile they invade the money I earn to seek the American Dream....

WASHINGTON (AP) House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi has asked embattled Rep. William Jeffereson to quit the Ways and Means Committee.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) told President Bush yesterday that he is concerned the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) raid on Rep. William Jefferson’s (D-La.) congressional office over the weekend was a direct violation of the Constitution. Hastert raised concerns that the FBI’s unannounced seizure of congressional documents during a raid of Jefferson’s Rayburn office Saturday night violated the separation of powers between the two branches of government as they are defined by the Constitution. “The Speaker spoke candidly with the president about the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s raid over the weekend,” Hastert spokesman Ron Bonjean said yesterday in confirming...

A much-esteemed, long-neglected friend sent an email this morning, which was delightful to recieve. At one point he mentioned this post from yesterday and wrote: I think (President Bush) has lost his bearings. but then, so did Moses from time to time, it’s quite understandable. That made me wonder a little - has President Bush lost his bearings, or have we? Is it President Bush who has broken faith with “his base� or have they?When I read my friend’s line, I thought of a line from Pride and Prejudice, in which Elizabeth Bennett says in new appreciation of Mr. Darcy,...

I didn't see a thread for the latest poll, so let's start one...

Nevada Sen. John Ensign says Democratic leaders who criticize the Iraq war are aiding the terrorists and hampering the war effort. "Democratic leaders like Nancy Pelosi and Ted Kennedy - let me tell you, I say this without reservation - they have hurt our military, they have emboldened the enemy," Ensign told Republicans gathered for the state party convention on Saturday. "They're fighting for the freedom of speech, they're fighting for the right to protest, they're fighting for all those things. But when we are at war, especially the leaders in this country need to be very, very careful of...

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo. WASHINGTON – Two years ago, he was as lonely as the Maytag repairman – an obscure congressman trying desperately to raise the visibility of an issue he believed threatened the very security of the U.S. More recently, he has become a force to be reckoned with, the leader of a powerful House caucus, a Republican who has taken on the president, a man respected for outspoken positions and the political force behind what has become the hottest issue in the nation. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., chairman of the House Immigration Reform Caucus and the undisputed...

President George W. Bush strides across the world stage as much as the U.S. dominates the world's stage. This is very good news for those of us who still believe in decency and democracy. So forget what some slanted opinion polls say about the leadership of the 43rd president and his patriot countrymen. Recall, Sir Winston Churchill was once one of the most detested men in Britain, then went on to save the free world. That's Churchill's undisputed legacy. In another era it may be Bush's legacy, too. This past week, Australian Prime Minister John Howard, one of America's strongest...

Conservatives, nationwide are getting angry about the loss of principle by GOP'ers in office. Big spending in Washington and Sacramento. The inability to control illegal aliens. Failure to protect jobs and the failure to stop the social agenda of liberals in our schools in finally causing conservatives to say NO to GOP incumbents, even if it means we could lose seats in a legislative body. The thought is simple, why protect a Republican running for office if their voting record will differ little from the Democrats. In Utah, GOP Congressman Chris Cannon could not win his Parties endorsement for re-election--his...

Republicans are staring political disaster in the face on immigration. PRESIDENT BUSH AND REPUBLICANS are staring political disaster in the face on immigration. The problem isn't that they might enact a bill allowing illegal immigrants living in America to earn their way to citizenship, inviting foreign workers to come here, and beefing up security on the 2,000-mile border with Mexico. No, it would be a disaster for Republicans if they didn't pass such a bill.Rarely has the American public been so involved in a national issue as they are today in immigration reform. Everybody has an opinion. Everybody agrees there's...

BUSH SET FOR IMMIGRATION SPEECH WHITE HOUSE President Bush is getting set for a prime-time speech on immigration tomorrow night. Aides note the 8 p-m, Eastern Time, speech will be the president's first from the Oval Office that does not involve Iraq and the war on terrorism. And they say that reflects Bush's "passion" on immigration. He's speaking as the Senate is poised to clear a compromise measure including his idea for a guest worker program. However, a rival House bill is limited to a border crackdown, and meshing the two won't be easy. Stand Up For America !...

There's growing support for President Bush on the hot-button issue of immigration, according to a CBS News poll. Most Americans say they approve of the immigration reform proposals the president outlined in a nationally televised address earlier this week. They're also somewhat optimistic that Congress will pass an immigration bill by year’s end. Sixty-two percent favor the president's plan to station up to 6,000 National Guard troops at the U.S.-Mexico border, while 32 percent are opposed. Six in 10 also approve of Mr. Bush's proposal for a guest worker program, which would let foreign workers stay in the United States...