Free Republic

HAGERSTOWN, Md. - Two months before pictures of Iraqi prisoner abuse became public, the family of one accused soldier wrote to 14 members of Congress that "something went wrong" involving "mistreatment of POWs" at Abu Ghraib prison. Separately, a suspended Army officer in Iraq (news - web sites) wrote to Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania that he was being unfairly punished after "pictures of naked prisoners" were discovered. He sent the letter six weeks before the CBS program "60 Minutes II" first broadcast photographs of the prisoners on April 28. The strongest reply any of them got was a...

<p>What if the budget is ruled unconstitutional once the budget impasse ends? The Governor's deliberate mixing of taxes and appropriations in the same bill makes this a distinct possibility - one that we must avoid.</p> <p>The constitutionality of the budget bill is a pressing issue because, unlike any other legislation, there are substantial consequences if the budget is not enacted. Time in which to resolve the legal uncertainty is short: Local school divisions must know by May 1 the amount of funding the Commonwealth will provide for fiscal year 2005 in order to finalize contracts with teachers and other employees.</p>

“My economic policy is not to export American jobs, but to reward companies for creating and keeping good jobs in America. Unlike the Bush Administration, I want to repeal every tax break and loophole that rewards any Benedict Arnold CEO or corporation for shipping American jobs overseas. “ - Senator John Forbes Kerry, February 10, 2004 The truth of the matter is that H.J. Heinz is an extremely diversified multinational corporation. It has 70 manufacturing facilities worldwide. Of these the company only has 10 plants within the United States. The remaining 60 are located outside the United States, many...

Refreshen your memory ,as to the quotes of Democrats from a few years ago, to just a few months ago, on the war in Iraq.

AUSTIN -- State Sen. John Whitmire plans to hold a news conference today in a Senate room he is barred from using until he pays $57,000 in fines levied against him by Republican senators. Whitmire, D-Houston, broke ranks with fellow Democratic senators earlier this week by announcing he was quitting a Senate boycott. He said he would return to Austin from Albuquerque, N.M., in an effort to negotiate a deal to end a stalemate in the congressional redistricting battle with Republicans. Whitmire's staff announced the news conference without booking the Lieutenant Governor's Press Conference Room. But Senate spokesman Mark Miner...

A former US intelligence official who served under the Bush administration in the build-up to the Iraq war accused the White House yesterday of lying about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein. The claims came as the Bush administration was fighting to shore up its credibility among a series of anonymous government leaks over its distortion of US intelligence to manufacture a case against Saddam. This was the first time an administration official has put his name to specific claims. The whistleblower, Gregory Thielmann, served as a director in the state department's bureau of intelligence until his retirement in September,...

True to Clintonion form, Clinton butt-boy Erskine Bowles is running outrageous lying ads on South Carolina television. In one ad the announcer claims that Bowles worked to broker a BALANCED BUDGET ACT. (The truth: A GOP Congress FORCED Clinton to submit a balanced budget after two submitted Clinton budgets would have broken the bank...Congress sent Clinton's "busters" back to him)......In another ad, the announcer says that Liddy Dole voted to CUT increases in Social Security (The Truth: Clinton INCREASED the taxes paid by Social Security recipents.)... The ad also claims that Liddy Dole voted FOR the largest tax increase in...

Players, owners just don't get it -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Peter Gammons Special to ESPN.com Aug. 17 What these billionaires and millionaires and all their high-priced lawyers had better understand is that they don't matter. All those people who lost their jobs and their savings at Enron matter. The police and firemen who can't get raises in New York City, with all its Wall Street green, matter. All those folks whose family stores were systematically run out of business by the Wal-Marts of the world matter. Or teachers, always the bottom of the priority ring, all the way up to those in...