Free Republic

The daughter of California Rep. Maxine Waters netted around $240,000 this past election cycle — from her mother’s own campaign, new records show. The congresswoman’s campaigns shelled out payments to Karen Waters for work she did on her 82-year-old mother’s re-election campaign, including “slate mailer management” and “GOTV” — or likely “Get Out the Vote” services.

Having appeared to confirm no 'actual' American emails were intercepted in previous statements, it seems President Obama has some more questions to answer after the Guardian reveals that in fact, the Obama administration permitted the National Security Agency to continue collecting vast amounts of records detailing the email and Internet usage of Americans for more than two years. “The internet metadata of the sort NSA collected for at least a decade details the accounts to which Americans sent emails and from which they received emails,” the Guardian's Greenwald wrote. “It also details the Internet protocol addresses (IP) used by people...

Senior executives at Solyndra collected hefty bonuses -- ranging from $37,000 to $60,000 apiece -- as the Fremont company bled cash and careened toward bankruptcy this summer. Bankruptcy documents filed in Delaware earlier this week reveal that more than a dozen senior executives at the defunct solar manufacturing company were awarded sizable quarterly bonuses April 15 and again July 8. Solyndra ceased operations in late August and filed for bankruptcy Sept. 6. About 1,100 employees were laid off without severance pay. The bonuses, awarded to more than a dozen executives, came on top of what were already highly competitive salaries....

HARTFORD, Conn.—Hartford Police Chief Daryl Roberts says the city is a bit safer after citizens turned in 78 unwanted firearms during a gun buy-back program last weekend. Police say people turned in handguns, rifles, numerous rounds of ammunition and gun magazines. All the weapons will be destroyed, unless forensic tests show they were used in crimes. The program offered a $75 gift card for a semiautomatic weapon, $50 gift card for a revolver and a $25 gift card for a shotgun or rifle. It was a joint effort by police, Hartford Hospital, St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Connecticut Children's...

AUSTIN — Texas state parks need “significantly” more money, Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick said Wednesday, becoming the latest state political figures to signal support for the 600,000-acre system after years of neglect. Gov. Rick Perry called in July for a funding boost, and Democratic gubernatorial challenger Chris Bell has as well. A recent report by the Star-Telegram found that chronic funding shortages had resulted in deteriorating sewer systems, inoperable vehicles, leaking roofs and the partial shutdown of one park because of environmental violations. In a letter Wednesday to the Legislative Budget Board, Craddick, R-Midland, said it’s important to come...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has set box office records and bodybuilding records. Now he has a campaign fund-raising record. The Republican governor pulled in $28.8 million from campaign donors last year, more than twice as much as former Gov. Gray Davis collected in his first year in office. Davis, the Democrat whom Schwarzenegger ousted in the 2003 recall election, still holds the single-year mark with a $29.1 million haul in 2002. Schwarzenegger didn't do it for his own possible re-election campaign in 2006 - those accounts had less than $700,000 in them at the end of 2004. Most of the cash...