Free Republic

During a White House summit in February, Republican Sen. John McCain ripped President Barack Obama for “unsavory” closed-door deal-making on health care legislation, saying that the “American people care about what we did and how we did it.” But now that Republicans and the White House are pushing through an $850 billion tax deal — a measure drafted behind closed doors — McCain and his GOP colleagues say there’s nothing wrong with the way the bill came together. “I didn’t see anything where they sat down with an individual senator and said, ‘Hey, what do you need to support this?’” McCain told...

Given the conventional wisdom that “elitist” derision towards her only makes her supporters support her more adamantly, you’d think savvy Beltway consultants who don’t like her would keep that fact to themselves. And yet. Here’s their answer to the question, “Which voice in your party would you most like to mute?” That’s among “political” insiders, i.e. consultants. Among senators and congressmen polled, she finished second behind “no one,” tied with Michele Bachmann and Glenn Beck, among others. These insiders are the same people, mind you, who earlier this year voted her seventh among Republican governors with the brightest political future...

Republicans' liberal use of Mafia metaphors has angered some Italian-American activists who weighed in on the contentious campaign for the governor's office Tuesday. Also on Tuesday, Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Forrester enjoyed some unexpected praise from environmental leaders who are at odds with his Democratic opponent, U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine, over preservation of a Delaware River island. The Italian-American activists gathered in Trenton to demand an apology from top Republicans, who have repeatedly compared Corzine and his allies to mobsters in an effort to underscore his links to the party's most controversial figures. "To actually have a party organization that...

Urge your representative and senators to oppose amnesty for illegal aliens, in any shape or form.   The Bush administration will continue to push for some form of amnesty. A statement posted on the White House website (http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/immigration/) in a report covering President Bush’s January 7th White House meeting during which he discussed his immigration policy, stated:   “On January 7, 2004 President Bush proposed a new temporary worker prrogram to match willing foreign workers with willing U.S. employers when no Americans can be found to fill the jobs. The program would be open to new foreign workers, and to...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - While their presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites) slugs it out publicly with George W. Bush, Democrats are waging a quiet backroom battle to keep independent Ralph Nader (news - web sites) off the election ballot as a potential spoiler. With the November poll shaping up as another cliffhanger like the 2000 contest, which Democrats say Nader helped tip to Bush, the party is working on several fronts to restrict the presidency to a two-man race. "Any votes that are taken away from John Kerry clearly are a threat," Democratic National Committee (news - web...

Elected officials like to talk about "doing the public's business." Implied in this basic precept is conducting public business with the consent of the governed. But there is an alarming and growing trend that neither seeks, nor seems to want public input. For years, our legislature has added special provisions into the state budget at the last minute; programs and funding neither discussed, nor approved in committee, appearing mysteriously at the twelfth hour when budgets are ready for final approval. Lawmakers are increasingly funding prisons and other projects, such as improvements to a state aquarium, through unusual lease-purchase and other...

BERLIN — Abutt Focker was beaming as he took the vow of marriage with his same-sex partner. "I love Dick, and we wanted to marry as soon as the new law was passed," he said shortly after he and his longtime lover, Dick Schlupper, became husband and husband. Since August 2001, Germany has legally recognized same-sex marriages, creating a torrent of lesbian and gay couples who wed in government offices. But it didn't take long (24 hours to be precise) for many couple's dreams to turn into nightmares, resulting in a new flood of gay and lesbian legal paperwork; divorce...

<p>May 22, 2003 -- Soon after Acting New Jersey Gov. Donald DiFrancesco left office early last year, he joined the board of directors of a bank that got his help while he was still in office.</p> <p>In one of his last acts in office, DiFrancesco signed legislation giving the Burlington County Bridge Commission, which operates two Delaware River toll bridges, the power to issue bonds for other government entities.</p>

<p>Since my last vanity announcement on keywords went so swimmingly (it ended up with something like 5000 keywords added to it) I thought a great idea would be to throw some propane on some other fires with a vanity.</p> <p>Breaking news is being abused again, big time. This goes in cycles, with sometimes people being responsible, but other times people not being very responsible.</p> <p>We are in one of the not-very time periods.</p>

Where did this forum come from? I've done a search on Smokey, and Backroom, and I'm puzzled. What's the purpose, and what stuff gets posted here?

June 05, 2002 N.Y. Rep. Gilman Mulls Party Switch WASHINGTON- With his job on the chopping block, the senior Republican in New York's congressional delegation is considering a switch to the Democratic Party. A spokesman for Rep. Benjamin Gilman said Tuesday that State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat, broached the idea with the GOP lawmaker during a private meeting in Albany, N.Y., about congressional redistricting. "He told the speaker it was a very interesting offer," Brian Walsh said of Gilman's reaction, declining to elaborate. Silver said he told Gilman on Monday that if the congressman runs as a...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SANTA BARBARA - Gubernatorial nominee Bill Simon today delivered the following remarks to reporters during a media availability in Santa Barbara: "Thank you all for coming. I am traveling in Santa Barbara today on my campaign to unseat Gray Davis, and to restore leadership and integrity to the office of the Chief Executive of California. The needs of working Californians require that the incompetent and possibly corrupt administration of Gray Davis be voted out of office. "The quality of our schools, roads, and cities has not kept pace with the economic boom that occurred in the mid...