Free Republic

Have you noticed that Barack Obama is actually running unopposed for the Presidency? Not since 1996 has it been this dispiriting, this embarrassing to be on the right. A dozen years ago, we all knew Bob Dole didn’t stand the proverbial snowball’s chance of becoming President, since the conservative base loathed the former Kansas Senator and independent voters regarded the veteran as too old for the job. Now, twelve years later, we’re in the exact same spot with John McCain. I hate to say this, but I have abandoned all hope for a McCain victory in November. The candidate is...

While Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) hangs in there, locked in a tough race with Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), the Republican undercard is facing obliteration in the 2008 general elections for the Senate. Polling suggests that a massacre may be in the offing — and one that’s possibly even greater than the worst of previous GOP years: 1958, 1964, 1974, 1986 and 2006. Scott Rasmussen, whose site, www.rasmussenreports.com, follows these races closely, is producing truly hair-raising polling data. Of the open Republican Senate seats in contention, Democratic victory seems very likely in Virginia (Democratic former Gov. Mark Warner now has 55...

U.S. employers cut payrolls for a second straight month during February, slashing 63,000 jobs for the biggest monthly decline in nearly five years as the nation's labor markets weakened steadily, a government report on Friday showed. The Labor Department said last month's cut followed an upwardly revised loss of 22,000 jobs in January rather than the 17,000 reported a month ago. It also said only 41,000 jobs were created in December, half the 82,000 originally reported. "This confirms the fears that have been lurking in the financial markets in recent weeks. The probability of a U.S. recession is at more...

...The US is insolvent. There is simply no way for our national bills to be paid under current levels of taxation and promised benefits. Our federal deficits alone now total more than 400% of GDP. That is the conclusion of a recent Treasury/OMB report entitled Financial Report of the United States Government that was quietly slipped out on a Friday (12/15/06), deep in the holiday season, with little fanfare. Sometimes I wonder why the Treasury Department doesn’t just pay somebody to come in at 4:30 am Christmas morning to release the report. Additionally, I’ve yet to read a single account...

JERUSALEM & D.C. WERE BLIND TO THIS 'BLACK DAY' By URI DAN JERUSALEM — The reaction here is: Shock and "Oy!" Like the shock-and-awe military tactics that transformed the Mideast in the Iraq war, Hamas' stunning election victory has instantly redrawn the balance of power in the region. This time, the Israeli political, intelligence and defense establishment was caught off guard. There were no intelligence estimates or evaluation that forecast a Hamas victory, let alone the landslide that the world woke up to yesterday. That means the Sharon-less Israeli government is working overtime to contain their shock — and the...

U.S. Supreme Court says cities have broad powers to take property.