Free Republic

Executives from some of the biggest credit card companies found themselves on the defensive on Capitol Hill today over their fees and interest rates. John Dimsdale reports.

James Dobson is the Godzilla of the religious right. Other leaders have blazed for a while and then guttered out—Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson because they were incapable of buttoning their lips, Ralph Reed and Bill Bennett because, in different ways, they fell prey to the temptations of casinos. But until now Mr Dobson has gone from strength to strength. Mr Dobson has long enjoyed unrivalled clout with Christian conservatives. Who else could have derailed a bankruptcy bill that was beloved by business (in 2002) or ejected Tom Daschle from his South Dakota Senate seat (in 2004)? The Dobson-inspired House...

NEW YORK, February 21, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - America's largest abortion provider Planned Parenthood is launching a wireless phone business. Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), according to its 2004-2005 annual report, showed a record income of $882 million dollars and a profit of $63 million. The new service, Planned Parenthood Wireless, will provide 10% of revenues generated directly to PPFA. The wireless company facilitating this venture is called Working Assets. It also worked with Planned Parenthood for the defeat of the South Dakota abortion ban. "Both our organizations are committed to preserving the right to choose and Planned Parenthood Wireless...

Obviously, the biggest issue for the Democrats in 2008 will be the war. They're betting their entire stake on the hopes that America is fed up with the war dragging on so long, and they're convinced that their big wins in 2006 were due primarily to President Bush's determination to stay the course, versus their own antiwar stance. Hillary is furiously back pedaling trying to distance herself from her own pro war votes as her popularity erodes away and shifts to the up and coming antiwar superstar, Barack "Osama" Obama. And most of the lesser Democrat presidential wannabes are falling...

PayPal, the ubiquitous online payments service, has been in the news lately as much for its former employees as for its fast-growing business. From YouTube to LinkedIn, from award-winning picture “Thank You for Smoking” to path-breaking rocket company SpaceX, PayPal alumni are everywhere. As Forbes magazine recently put it, “maybe there was something in the beer.” It was just a matter of time until one of them got into politics. Enter Rod Martin.

Bank of America Corp. has begun offering credit cards to undocumented customers, many of whom are illegal immigrants, according to the Wall Street Journal. The only requirement to get a card with the new program is to have had a BofA checking account for three months without an overdraft – those without a Social Security number or a credit history are still eligible. BofA executives said the program aims to tap into the growing market of illegal immigrants, which is largely Hispanic, and has not violated any U.S. banking or antiterrorism laws. Cards are already being offered at 51 branches...

State Senator Tom McClintock is the most recognized and popular conservative leader in California today. At the close of his 2006 campaign for Lt. Governor, more than 80 percent of California’s public had heard of him and viewed him favorably by a three-to-one margin. He has received the support of more than 44,000 individual contributors and an additional 35,000 volunteers – constituting one of the broadest political followings in California. Through Citizens for the California Republic, Tom has a vehicle to amplify and broadcast McClintock’s commentaries and proposals to an awakening constituency throughout California. The following is my conversation with...

When the members of the Republican party betray the sound conservative principles of its founders and its own longstanding party platform and then vote in a leader whose personal beliefs and public record are more in line with those of the degenerate socialist Democrat party, then obviously the Republican party is sliding to the left. When large numbers of the members of a conservative party enthusiastically (you might even say overzealously or militantly) campaign for a social liberal and against sound conservative principles and candidates, then they are pushing the conservative principles, conservative candidates and conservative members out the exit...

Fifty-one-year-old Bruce Leckband doesn't owe any company -- or anybody, for that matter -- so much as a dime. He carries no credit-card debt, no car loan and no mortgage. (The Reno, Nev., resident is a lifelong renter.) "I've always been able to live within my means," he says, "because I save and budget -- and then I buy." Living debt-free? In a nation where consumer debt has become as American as baseball -- thanks in part to the historically low interest rates ushered in by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan -- the notion sounds somewhat preposterous. Today the...

Interesting activism idea thanks to Nepppen To: All I found a gold mine of future Hunter supporters. Requires a little bit of time and a tiny bit of typing, if you die hard Hunter supporters are interested ill tell you. 314 posted on 02/02/2007 11:12:39 AM PST by nepppen (RESISTANCE IS FUTILE..............DUNCAN HUNTER FOR PRESIDENT..............) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies | Report Abuse ] President Hillary Chavez Clinton to Seize Oil Profits for the Public Good, Nationalize Oil Companies youtube.com ^ | 2-2-2007 Posted on 02/02/2007 11:00:39 AM PST by Right Wing Assault...

Conservatives are lousy proselytizers. True, conservatives dominate talk radio, write scores of best-selling books, and are well-represented in the ranks of the political commentariat in newspapers, magazines, and on the internet. But in almost all of these cases, conservatives are "preaching to the choir." Very few liberals or "undecideds" listen to Rush Limbaugh or read Ann Coulter or watch Bill O'Reilly. Their audiences - like those for Laura Ingraham, Mark Steyn, National Review, et al. - are overwhelmingly conservative (or at least non-liberal) in their political orientation. As compelling as these conservative voices may be to you and me, they...

A PROFIT WITH HONOR Walk into any Gap clothing store this holiday season and expect to see red T-shirts, red hats and red bracelets. Of course decorating with red is nothing unusual this time of year, but the merchandise is meant to remind customers of something not often associated with the holidays: the global AIDS epidemic. Gap is one of a number of companies this year who are tapping into consumers' growing desire to do good deeds with their purchasing dollars. Other retailers selling products to benefit humanitarian causes include Bath & Body Works, a division of Limited Brands Inc.,...

Imagine you just picked up a terrific pair of Lacoste sneakers on sale. Then, the phone rings a month or two later. The store is demanding that you hand over more money for the same shoes sitting in your closet. Crazy talk, huh? That's how it works in the whacked-out world of credit card companies. They've got ways to zing you even when you think you're in the clear. Amazingly, they're getting away with it. For now. It's getting harder -- some might say downright impossible -- to be savvy when it comes to credit cards. It is true many...

This is our last chance to get out the vote and to keep Pelosi and Reid from being Speaker and Majority leader! We have the power to stop them! If we get hundreds of Freepers on this, we can hold the House and the Senate and stuff it in the face of the Clown Car Media and their year's worth of predicting disaster for the GOP! Please go to: http://www.GOP.com/Call or just click the link above and sign up to call 30 Republican voters, even if you can't do all 30. It's easy and most of all with many polls...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Welcome to campus, college freshmen. ADVERTISEMENT Back in the day, all those people staked out in front of the Student Union were pushing fraternities, or protest petitions or -- depending on your era -- T-shirts or Frisbees or water bottles or tie-dyes. Now those folks are stuffing credit card applications into the goodie bags of newbie students. That's not so bad. Students who need to buy books, travel home for Thanksgiving and enjoy the occasional pizza and wings with friends can certainly use the flexibility that credit cards offer. But those same students, unfamiliar with the hidden...

New research revealed how largely Protestant clergy and laity differ about religion and politics. For the most part, however, both groups say their church is not heavily involved in local and national political issues. Phoenix-based Ellison Research conducted two studies for Facts & Trends magazine on Protestant church ministers and adults who attend Protestant churches at least once a month who were asked about their personal political views and how appropriate it is for churches to be politically involved. Measured on their involvement in local politics, 6 percent of ministers said their church was very involved, 36 percent of said...

EL CAJON, Calif. (National Catholic Register) – The 2006 version of Catholic Answers Action’s Voter’s Guide for Serious Catholics became available in late July. Like the previous version distributed in the 2004 election cycle, the 16-page guide identifies five “non-negotiable” issues that Catholic Answers says should take precedence when Catholics are deciding how to vote. The issues are abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem-cell research, human cloning and homosexual “marriage” – all of which must be universally opposed by the Catholic voter. “On most issues that come before voters or legislators, the task is selecting the most effective policy to implement or...

...while liberal bloggers haven't had as much success as conservative bloggers at breaking big stories, they have done one thing extremely well: raise money for liberal candidates. Granted, they don't have much of a win and loss record, because more often as not they seem to support candidates that don't have any chance to win, but that doesn't change the fact that they are funneling lots of lucre into Democratic coffers. So, why have the liberal bloggers been able to raise so much money when conservative bloggers have been unable to do the same thing? Well, as RNC eCampaign Director...

In 2004 it was blogging. What will be the next techie breakthrough for getting in touch with voters? Strategists won't let it surprise them. ... As people increasingly tailor their leisure time to suit their lifestyles — through blogs, MySpace, iPods, video on demand — politicians and their promoters are facing the same problem as Hollywood and the makers of toothpaste: How do you sell your product to an increasingly fragmented audience? ... In the latest creative wrinkle, politicians are podcasting — White House hopefuls Gen. Wesley K. Clark, John Edwards and Sen. Bill Frist are among those regularly offering...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- It's not your imagination. There are more offers from credit card companies in your mailbox. The industry desperately seeks new customers in a nation where everyone already seems to have several credit cards. Last year, companies mailed out 6.06 billion solicitations, a record. Also a record: Only about 18 million offers, or about 0.3 percent, were accepted. Recognizing the need for better bait, companies are sweetening more of their offers with the promise of rebates or rewards. Spend something, get something back. There is a card that pays down your mortgage. A card that rebates 5 percent...