Free Republic

t's official. WSBT first told you that a long-time St. Joseph County Democratic Chair Butch Morgan had resigned. But there was some confusion over whether that in fact did happen, until shortly before 10 p.m. when his attorney confirmed it. Earlier Monday night, Morgan’s attorney told WSBT he was considering a leave of absence, not a resignation. That was after Indiana State Democratic Chairman Dan Parker sent WSBT an email stating Morgan resigned effective at 6 p.m. This comes as the St. Joseph County Prosecutor investigates the local Democratic Party for possible voter registration fraud. A South Bend Tribune and...

BAGHDAD (AP) — The U.S. is abandoning plans to keep U.S. troops in Iraq past a year-end withdrawal deadline, The Associated Press has learned. The decision to pull out fully by January will effectively end more than eight years of U.S. involvement in the Iraq war, despite ongoing concerns about its security forces and the potential for instability...

How absurd is the Obama DOE’s explanation for violating the federal law against prioritizing private lenders ahead of taxpayers (i.e., sliding the president’s Solyndra cronies ahead of the public)? As Andrew’s post demonstrates, it is laugh out loud absurd — or at least it would be if the scheme were not so outrageous. Let’s put aside for the moment that, by the administration’s “reasoning,” the public could be robbed on every loan by simply “renegotiating” it 10 seconds after it was finalized. What is truly priceless is the administration’s claim that the law had to be ignored because “investors are...

President Obama has deployed combat troops to central Africa to aid in the fight against the Lord's Resistance Army. In a letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner, Obama says 12 troops with "appropriate combat equipment" were deployed on October 12 and approximately 100 in total will be deployed including a second combat team and headquarters, communications and logistics personnel. The forces will provide information and advise and assist "select partner nation forces," Obama explains. The troops will not fight except in self-defense. The full letter is after the jump.

Documents obtained under a federal Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch detail costs incurred during the First Lady's trip to South Africa and Botswana in June - with the cost of firing up 'Air Force 2' alone amounting to $424,142. The White House earlier professed the purpose of the trip was to help 'youth leadership, education, health and wellness' in south Africa.

As a way to solve the national debt crisis, North Carolina Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue recommends suspending Congressional elections for the next couple of years. “I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won’t hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover,” Perdue said at a rotary club event in Cary, North Carolina, according to the Raleigh News and Observer. “I really hope that someone can agree with me on that.” Perdue said she thinks that temporarily halting elections would allow members...

Not content with going after the nation's children, its grocery stores, the food pyramid and McDonalds, Michelle Obama is now going after the country's most beloved restaurant chains Olive Garden, Red Lobster and its sister restaurants have pledged to serve healthier meals by cutting calories and sodium in its meals by 20 per cent over a decade. And if the little ones desire some French fries they will only be able to do so with adult supervision. Among promised changes for children, Darden Restaurants Inc said a fruit or vegetable side and low-fat milk will become standard with kids' meals...

“We can’t just leave it up to the parents," Michelle Obama We live in a golden age. A wondrous era where the government compels us to buy health insurance, whether we need it or not. And whether we want to or not. Where the First Lady is no longer in charge of the White House's meals, but of our meals. Where wise and generous czars in the nation's capital ponder day and night how to stop the flow of free information that's rotting our minds and filling our heads with critical thoughts about the government. Previous generations had to do...

The law firms representing two prominent Solyndra executives are major Democratic Party donors, The Daily Caller has learned. Reuters first reported that the bankrupt company’s CEO, Brian Harrison, and CFO, W.G. Stover, plan to refuse to talk openly to congressional investigators about how their company squandered $535 million in taxpayer money. They will invoke their Fifth Amendment right not to self-incriminate themselves at a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on Friday. The law firms representing the executives are Orrick, Harrington and Sutcliffe, and Keker and Van Nest. Both are major contributors to Democrats and both have handsomely helped President...

WASHINGTON-- First Lady Michelle Obama is expected Thursday to announce headway in her drive to have restaurants reduce portion sizes, part of her "Let's Move' campaign against obesity. "The Childhood Obesity Task Force Report"--commissioned as part of Mrs. Obama's "Let's Move" project, "specifically calls on restaurants to, "consider their portion sizes, improve children's menus, and make healthy options the default choice whenever possible." below, from White House.... UPCOMING GUIDANCE FOR FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA Thursday, September 15 11:45 AM - First Lady Michelle Obama will make a major Let's Move! announcement related to providing healthier choices and greater variety for...

...Tahrir Square when she was sexually assaulted by a mob on the night that Hosni Mubarak’s government fell in Cairo. Ms. Logan, a CBS News correspondent, was in the square preparing a report for “60 Minutes” on Feb. 11 when the celebratory mood suddenly turned threatening. She was ripped away from her producer and bodyguard by a group of men who tore at her clothes and groped and beat her body. “For an extended period of time, they raped me with their hands,” Ms. Logan said in an interview with The New York Times. She estimated that the attack lasted...

White House senior advisor Valerie Jarrett said President Obama will not release his academic records, commenting a day after Obama put out his “long form” birth certificate and Donald Trump decided to press his luck by demanding Obama’s college transcripts. “We know this is nonsense,” Jarrett said in an interview on The Joe Madison Show on SiriusXM on Thursday morning.”He is almost 50 years old. And he is president of the United States and I don’t think anybody will debate his intelligence and so now we do need to get serious…let’s just get serious…get back to focusing on what’s important.

Dollar Loses More Ground. NEW YORK—The dollar dropped after economic indicators pointed to a dismal employment picture and slowing economic growth. The dollar has been hammered recently, losing out on interest-rate differentials and regularly hitting multiyear lows against other major currencies. Losses were especially bad Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke indicated the central bank is far from tightening monetary policy as economic growth remains slow and unemployment remains high.

Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post and others have noted that President Obama seems a few beats behind things; unable to anticipate things as they develop, and awkward when forced to catch up. When he responds, his answers seem lacking. Good politicians are in tune with their times, great ones foresee them, but Obama seems out of step with his times, and behind them. He is in the right job (he thinks), at the wrong moment, handed a crisis he never expected, and is doing his best to ignore. He was told, and believed, he was the new FDR at...

Miles from Washington, President Obama on Wednesday tried to persuade people that they should care about keeping the government open — because if it shuts down, they won’t be able to walk around national parks. Obama told clean energy workers in Pennsylvania that some of them are probably thinking, “What do I care?” They should care, he said, because a shutdown would stall small-business loans and mortgage work. And, if any of them wanted to vacation at Yellowstone National Park, “you're out of luck,” Obama said. “You may have to figure out if you can get your money back,” he...

"Noting the interdependence among peace, security and development, President Rousseff and President Obama reaffirmed their desire to build a just and inclusive world order, which promotes democracy, human rights and social justice." "They reaffirmed the imperative to modernize the international financial institutions in a way that reflects the changes in the world economy and moves towards global financial stability, sustainable development and poverty reduction." "They welcomed the strengthening of the collaboration on environment and climate change, including under the Common Agenda on Environment and the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation Regarding Climate Change, and agreed to include in the Common...

Obama to speak again on Libya from Brazil within the hour (about 3:45 p.m. EDT.)Fox News Channel reporting first U.S. Tomahawk missiles launched against Libya.Earlier, the AP reported the U.S. was planning such attacks on Libya's air defense systems.A Pentagon briefing will follow Obama's remarks.

Attorney General Eric Holder finally got fed up Tuesday with claims that the Justice Department went easy in a voting rights case against members of the New Black Panther Party because they are African American. Holder's frustration over the criticism became evident during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing as Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas) accused the Justice Department of failing to cooperate with a Civil Rights Commission investigation into the handling of the 2008 incident in which Black Panthers in intimidating outfits and wielding a club stood outside a polling place in Philadelphia. The Attorney General seemed to take personal offense...

STORYMIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (WSVN) -- A man has been arrested after, officials said, he caused a security scare at a South Florida airport. On Jan. 11, Miami-Dade Police officers stopped Oluwole Aboyade in the Dolphin parking garage at MIA after he reportedly began taking pictures of sensitive areas at the airport. According to a Miami-Dade Police report, an officer said he became alarmed when he saw Aboyade taking pictures of buildings, surveillance cameras, airport runways and restricted areas. When the police approached the Nigerian national, he said he would remain silent. The police report read, "Mr. Aboyade was observed walking...