Free Republic

ABC reports that experts who track hate groups across the U.S. are growing increasingly concerned over violent rhetoric targeted at President Obama, especially as the debate over health care intensifies and a pattern of threats emerges. New polls meanwhile show President Obama’s popularity has sunk to record lows. Is this an alarm bell for the possibility that a manufactured crisis is being prepared to reinvigorate support behind the government’s stalling socialist agenda? As far back as March controversial talk show host Michael Savage predicted that a “Reichstag fire-like event” would be concocted to reinvigorate support behind Obama but that was...

It is with much regret that we felines must rely on the human race for things we are unable to do without. Sadly, with the economic downturn our “owners,” are cutting back not only on luxuries for themselves, but we must as well. The only reason we manage to get through the days is due to our catnip, scratching posts, going outside, and litter box. Here are a few ways to handle the downturn and streamline our lifestyle: *Instead of waiting for a new scratching post, show your willingness to contribute to the household cutbacks by scratching furniture instead. If...

The results of the new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll are a major warning sign for Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress. On some key issues, the gains that Democrats had made on Republicans in the last couple of years have disappeared, and the GOP has begun to reassert itself. In other policy areas, traditional Democratic leads are diminishing. The results are found in the answers to the Journal's questions about whether respondents believe the Democratic or Republican party would do a better job of handling a particular issue. In the past, Democrats have usually led in areas like health...

"...Copeland, 53, says he has a 20-year work history in Missoula that includes managing programs, running political campaigns and washing cars. He worked as a personal secretary to actress Andie MacDowell when she lived in the Missoula area."

Republican Charles Baker says Gov. Deval Patrick and Beacon Hill Democrats have "turned a crisis into a calamity" and made the Massachusetts economy "a wreck" with excessive government spending and an unwise tax increase. In a video to supporters unveiled today, the former Harvard Pilgrim Health Care president says he has twice engineered economic turnarounds.

  THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary_______________________________________________________________FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                      July 22, 2009 Excerpts of the President's Opening Remarks at Tonight's News Conference-As Prepared for Delivery- That is why I’ve said that even as we rescue this economy from a full-blown crisis, we must rebuild it stronger than before.  And health insurance reform is central to that effort.This is not just about the 47 million Americans who have no health insurance.  Reform is about every American who has ever feared that they may lose their coverage if they become too sick, or lose their job, or change their job. ...

'I'm personally very concerned about the cost issue," said New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, referring to Congress' health-care plans. It's "the mother of all unfunded mandates," fumed Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen. That's just the Democratic governors. Indeed, nearly everone from both parties at last weekend's National Governors Association conference was sounding alarms, fretting that the states will be stuck with much of the bill for "reform." Welcome aboard, governors. With each passing day, it seems, another voice is heard from. Last week, the Congressional Budget Office warned that reforms would fuel government costs. The governors, in particular, fear that their...

Sarah Palin entered into the arena of national politics today, with an op-ed in the Washington Post. Choosing energy, a topic that she is extremely familiar with, Sarah crafted a detailed and convincing argument against the cap-and-tax bill. Palin makes several points that absolutely decimate the argument in favor of cap-and-trade: * The bill includes $4.8 billion in unemployment relief over eight years for those who lose their jobs because of a drying-up energy sector — a direct counter to the administration claim that the bill is a job creator. * The bill is regressive, in that it will hit...

Amtrak has wasted little time using its $1.3 billion slice of the federal stimulus package, unveiling the first of 81 passenger cars to be restored with the help of economic recovery funds. Passenger car no. 25103, damaged a few years ago in a yard collision but now completely refurbished - complete with that "new car" interior smell - was shown off Monday at Amtrak's maintenance facility in Bear. More than 100 hard-hatted workers joined Amtrak president and CEO Joseph Boardman in celebrating completion of its restoration. The car, refitted at a cost of about $687,000, will rejoin the Amtrak fleet...

WASHINGTON – The huge amount of money tied up in complex derivative transactions helped cripple the economy, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told lawmakers Friday as he laid out a case for greater government control over a generally unregulated sector of the financial markets. "Establishing a comprehensive framework of oversight is crucial," Geithner said .. Despite apprehension among Republicans, the effort to add government restrictions to these more freewheeling financial instruments has gained support within the Democratic-controlled Congress. "Clearly, we're going to be significantly expanding regulation of derivatives," said Rep. Barney Frank, ..

In a stunning report (pdf) released yesterday by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the current financial crisis was traced back to government intervention in the U.S. housing market.  Yes, you read that right.   The report issued by the Republican minority didn’t disclose the names of the culprit individuals, but it sure pointed a lot of fingers at organizations, politicians, lobbyists and Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac. According to the report, government intervention “created ‘affordable’ but dangerous lending policies which encouraged lower down payments, looser underwriting standards and higher leverage.  Finally, government intervention created a nexus of vested interests...

Joe Biden's weekend statement that the administration misread how bad the economy really was, had been celebrated as just another gaffe by Obama's "Minister of LOL." Fact is that it was not another screw-up by Joe six-pack, it was part of a clearly orchestrated campaign by the Obama administration to make an excuse for the failure of the President's economic policy of high taxes, government control of major industry, and over spending. The basic contention of the administration is that the estimates were made before they knew the economy was contracting at a annual rate of 6%. Not only were...

Well now. Our economy is really lunging forward, isn’t it? What a ride! Are you holding on? We’re billions of dollars further in debt (trillions?) and the economy is still stagnant. TARP, the stimulus bill, massive debts our children and grandchildren will have to pay .. and what has this all brought us? Banks aren’t lending, businesses aren’t hiring – let along expanding – and consumers aren’t buying. Oh, to be sure, the malls are crowded. Turn up the thermostats and see how long that lasts. Those aren’t shoppers, they’re just your neighbors trying to stay cool while watching the...

Most people knew that Vice President Joe Biden would be one of President Obama’s major handicaps throughout his inexperienced administration’s first years. It’s not because Joe is incompetent, in fact he was selected to be the wise old man of experience. No, it’s because Joe has trouble shading the truth. He is no good at spin. He is a blunt, ‘tell it as it is’ type.

GOP says even bloodhounds can't find stimulus jobs Posted: 01:32 PM ET From CNN Congressional Producer Deirdre Walsh WASHINGTON (CNN) – On the day the June jobs report showed the U.S. labor market shedding 467,000 jobs, House Republicans released a tongue-in-cheek Web video featuring a bloodhound named "Ellie Mae" sniffing out stimulus jobs. Narrated by Georgia Republican Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, the clip shows the bloodhound "on the money trail" visiting AIG's headquarters in New York City and projects in Wisconsin and North Carolina supported by federal stimulus dollars. It was modeled on a campaign commercial run by the current Senate...

Duxbury, Mass. -- As millions of Americans struggle through the painful rebuilding of a crippled economy, a Massachusetts builder has published a book that promises to help average citizens understand just how the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression happened. Doug Friesen, a Duxbury-based home designer and builder, decided to write a book on the roots of the economic meltdown as a way of productively channeling his anger and frustration over the financial crisis. Titled "The Age of Entitlement: How Greed and Arrogance Got Us Here," the 180-page book begins with a layman's analysis of the monetary system before...

(CNSNews.com) - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two government-run mortgage giants, are absent from the Obama administration’s sweeping new financial regulations, despite the fundamental role played by both organizations in the financial system’s collapse. Testifying before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said that the administration’s new regulations were only meant to address the most fundamental issues of the recession. “We considered a full range of options and decided that now is the time to pursue the essential reforms,” Geithner said. “Those that address the core causes of the current crisis, and that will help...

This current financial crisis had many causes. It had its roots in the global imbalance in saving and consumption, in the widespread use of poorly understood financial instruments, in shortsightedness and excessive leverage at financial institutions. But it was also the product of basic failures in financial supervision and regulation. Our framework for financial regulation is riddled with gaps, weaknesses and jurisdictional overlaps, and suffers from an outdated conception of financial risk. In recent years, the pace of innovation in the financial sector has outstripped the pace of regulatory modernization, leaving entire markets and market participants largely unregulated. That is...

Guidelines released today for spending the $1.2 billion provided by the federal stimulus bill for summer job programs spell out the jobs, the employers and the youths that can be included in the programs. But looming deadlines and the complex ways of determining whether youths meet low-income limits make the labor department's call for the workforce boards to spend the money "expeditiously and effectively" all the more difficult.