Free Republic

I have written to you in the past that we must know the mind of government or pay a huge price and perhaps pay with our lives. Ask the people of World War II Germany. They didn’t think that the National Socialists would be too bad. Then they thought that things would get better. Then they lost everything, and many lost their lives. The U.S. today is a fascist state no different from Nazi Germany. The only thing missing is the swastika and the jackboots. American fascism is far advanced from the German National Socialists. The State has had many...

When House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy headlined a fundraiser in early June the room was packed with defense industry lobbyists, but reps from one megacontractor were missing — Boeing. Not only was Boeing absent at that fundraiser, the contractor has cut off all political contributions to the No. 2 House Republican over his support for killing the Export-Import Bank, which facilitates billions of dollars in low-interest loans to U.S. exporters like Boeing. General Electric, also a major supporter of renewing Ex-Im and a benefactor of the agency, has followed suit and has not contributed to the California Republican this year....

It wasn’t too much of a surprise when New York City moved to ban the use of e-cigarettes (or “vaping”) right before Christmas last year because it looked too much like smoking. After all, Gotham bans everything they can lay their little regulatory hands on if it looks like somebody might be enjoying themselves. (Foie gras ban, anyone?) But the state government tends to be at least somewhat slower on the trigger. Not in this case, though. Albany has already taken the next step towards banning vaping indoors all across the state. The fate of a bill banning electronic cigarettes...

"An inspector general called them courageous, but Sen. Harry Reid said Friday that the government whistleblowers who accused him of using political pressure to try to win special treatment for a Las Vegas casino were “a bunch of whiners.” ........[Homeland Security Inspector General John] Roth said the special treatment was brought to his attention by more than 15 whistleblowers — an extraordinary number, in Mr. Roth’s judgment — who believed Mr. Mayorkas was caving to political pressure. “That so many individuals were willing to step forward and tell us what happened is evidence of deep resentment about Mr. Mayorkas‘ actions...

The GOP establishment and some conservative pundits, such as Ann Coulter, are in full defense mode, claiming that Romney is not responsible for losing to an incumbent responsible for perhaps the most damaging fiscal crises in our nation’s history. Don’t believe it. Romney IS responsible for wasting a billion dollars to carry out an issue-free campaign full of simple-minded platitudes. Indeed, Coulter is leading the charge with her recent column titled, Don’t Blame Romney. It’s sweet to watch Coulter defend her darling Romney, but let’s get real. The reality is that Romney was one of the worst GOP presidential candidates...

This morning's newspapers report an ominous development in the ObamaCare litigation, now pending in the U.S. Supreme Court: The Court posted a seemingly minor but potentially portentous administrative change, which suggests it might postpone delivering a final ruling on the constitutionality of ObamaCare until the middle of 2016! Specifically, the high Court increased the time it will devote to hearing oral arguments on whether the health care mandate is a tax for purposes of something called the Tax Anti-Injunction Act (26 U.S.C. § 7421(a)). The historically lengthy oral arguments in the case, HHS v. Florida -- now expanded by 30...

Geithner’s explanation of the administration's small-business tax plan came in an exchange with first-term Rep. Renee Ellmers (R.-N.C.). Ellmers, a nurse, decided to run for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010 after she became active in the grass-roots opposition to President Barack Obama’s proposed health-care reform plan in 2009. “Overwhelmingly, the businesses back home and across the country continue to tell us that regulation, lack of access to capital, taxation, fear of taxation, and just the overwhelming uncertainties that our businesses face is keeping them from hiring,” Ellmers told Geithner. “They just simply cannot.” She then challenged Geithner on...

One by one, conservatives are expressing their displeasure in the way Speaker of the House John Boehner is leading the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives. Conservative talker Mark Levin has expressed his frustration on a nightly basis in recent weeks.

Congress Has 43,457,362 Reasons to Help Goldman Sachs Embattled Firm and Its Employees Spread Millions Around Washington in Donations and Lobbying Expenses 95 Not all their money has gone for mansions and Ferraris. Employees of Goldman Sachs are listed as a top contributor to 55 separate members of Congress. (ABC News Photo Illustration) The embattled Goldman Sachs investment banking firm and its employees have spent more than $43 million dollars on lobbying and campaign contributions to cultivate friends and buy influence in Washington, D.C. since 1989, according to an ABC News analysis of campaign finance records compiled by the Center...

WSJ: Obama Breaks Pledge on Inauguration Donations Friday, January 9, 2009 12:14 PM By: Jim Meyers A full 90 percent of donations to fund Barack Obama’s Jan. 20 inauguration have come from well-heeled fundraisers — including Wall Street executives whose companies have received federal bailout money. A total of 207 fundraisers have collected $24.8 million of the $27.3 million in donations disclosed by Obama through Thursday, according to an analysis by Public Citizen commissioned by The Wall Street Journal. Slightly more than 2,000 donors accounted for the $27.3 million raised, but 378 of those people each contributed the maximum $50,000...

The Federal Election Commission is unlikely to conduct a potentially embarrassing audit of how Barack Obama raised and spent his presidential campaign’s record-shattering windfall, despite allegations of questionable donations and accounting that had the McCain campaign crying foul. Adding insult to injury for Republicans: The FEC is obligated to complete a rigorous audit of McCain’s campaign coffers, which will take months, if not years, and cost McCain millions of dollars to defend.

Governor says deal curbs the growth of Indian gamblingOLYMPIA -- Gov. Chris Gregoire is benefiting from more than $650,000 in campaign contributions from Indian tribes that hit the jackpot in 2005 when she killed a gambling compact potentially worth more than $140 million a year to the state. Unlike 22 other states that collect millions from revenue sharing agreements for tribal gambling, Washington gets no money from tribal casinos under the compact that Gregoire renegotiated with the Spokane Tribe. Gregoire backed away from the 2005 agreement that included revenue sharing in an attempt to keep gambling from expanding too quickly...

What do the farm bill, the cap-and-trade global warming bill, the clean water bill, the housing bailout bill, and the school construction bill all have in common? Not much, except that in each one and countless others the Democratic majority in Congress has inserted "prevailing-wage" requirements that amount to a super-minimum wage. We're speaking of Davis-Bacon, the 1931 law that originally applied to road building and other federal construction projects and set a floor on wages in part to price black and Mexican workers out of the work. Today, its main impact is to require de facto union wages. Many...

DALY CITY, Calif. -- One of the biggest sources of political donations to Hillary Rodham Clinton is a tiny, lime-green bungalow that lies under the flight path from San Francisco International Airport. Six members of the Paw family, each listing the house at 41 Shelbourne Ave. as their residence, have donated a combined $45,000 to the Democratic senator from New York since 2005, for her presidential campaign, her Senate re-election last year and her political action committee. In all, the six Paws have donated a total of $200,000 to Democratic candidates since 2005, election records show. That total ranks the...

DALY CITY, Calif. -- One of the biggest sources of political donations to Hillary Rodham Clinton is a tiny, lime-green bungalow that lies under the flight path from San Francisco International Airport. Six members of the Paw family, each listing the house at 41 Shelbourne Ave. as their residence, have donated a combined $45,000 to the Democratic senator from New York since 2005, for her presidential campaign, her Senate re-election last year and her political action committee. In all, the six Paws have donated a total of $200,000 to Democratic candidates since 2005, election records show.

"The Rocky Mtn News calculated that Dems raised $4 million for friendly 527s, compared with $2.9 mil raised by Republicans." [...] "Three millionaire liberals are working the state's electoral levers. "They're trying to buy the political structure of the state," says Governor Owens. "Everywhere we look, we see their money and their resources." The ringleader is Tim Gill, the founder of Quark, a software firm; over the last decade, he has donated tens of millions to gay and lesbian causes. His political activism dates back to 1992, when Colorado voters amended the state constitution to restrict certain gay-rights laws. "Nothing...

September 22, 2006 Chavez stirs Cape political waters By DAVID SCHOETZ STAFF WRITER Of the 435 members of Congress, the Cape's representative is known for having one of the closest relationships with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez - for better or worse. As critics took turns yesterday ripping Chavez for calling President George W. Bush ''the devil'' on the floor of the U.N. General Assembly, U.S. Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass., a self-described friend of the outspoken leftist South American leader, joined the chorus. ''It was entirely unacceptable,'' Delahunt said. ''This would have been an opportunity to begin to repair the relationship...

Gettin' ready!!!!

WASHINGTON - President Bush needs to do more to help push a temporary guest worker program through Congress, Republican Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), the author of a key immigration bill, said Tuesday. McCain, acknowledging that Bush has stepped up a campaign on behalf of the program, said the president has credibility on the issue because he was governor of Texas, the state with the largest border with Mexico. "Would I want him to do more? From my perspective, probably," McCain said in a conference call with reporters. McCain held the conference call in advance of town hall...

If Elected, Kerry Expected to Be Most Pro-Homosexual Prez Ever By Bill Fancher and Mary Rettig August 23, 2004 (AgapePress) - A pro-family leader says homosexuals will be celebrating if Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry wins the White House. Rob Schenck of the National Clergy Council says Kerry has promised the homosexual community that he will champion their cause -- a promise that was relayed to a homosexual rally in Boston, Massachusetts, after the recent Democratic National Convention. Schenck says members of the homosexual community "know who Senator Kerry is, regardless of what he says about his beliefs on marriage....