Free Republic

A few days ago we noted that based on preliminary data, the February budget deficit would hit $229 billion (yes, nearly one quarter of a trillion in one month, about where real Greek GDP is these days) - the largest single monthly deficit in history. Unfortunately, this number was low: the final February deficit was just released and the actual print is $231.7 billion. It also means that in the first 5 months of the fiscal year, the US has raked up $580 billion in deficits, oddly matched by $727 billion in new debt issuance, 25% more new debt issued...

56 Senators voted in favor of a plan yesterday that would allow the Keystone pipeline to go forward by cancelling the bureaucratic roadblocks put up by the Obama administration/world-wide bus tour. “The 56-42 vote came after President Barack Obama called Democratic senators to lobby them to oppose the 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry tar sands oil from western Canada to refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast,” reports FoxNews.“Even so, 11 Democrats sided with Republicans to sidestep Obama's rejection of the pipeline and allow the $7 billion project to go forward.”Yet, despite the majority vote, Senate rules apparently require a...

Security: A deputy defense secretary tells Congress that the administration is indeed considering giving Moscow sensitive Aegis ballistic missile defense data. We've gone from "trust but verify" to "appease and surrender." Brad Roberts testified before a House Armed Services subcommittee Tuesday that the Obama administration was actively considering giving Moscow classified missile defense data to allay Russian concerns about the capabilities and intent of our proposed ballistic missile defense system based in Europe to guard against missiles launched from Iran. Roberts testified that the administration believes "cooperation could be well-served by some limited sharing of classified information of a certain...

If you thought Barack Obama’s first term was bad, you don’t want to see a second. The verdict is in on the last three years. President Obama has produced a steady stream of broken promises, failed policies, and misplaced priorities. However, he still claims a second term will be different. It will. It just won’t be better. We have seen the liberal agenda the president has pursued over the last three years: government run healthcare, cap-and-trade, pet projects disguised as “stimulus,” card-check, taxpayer-funded loans to now-bankrupt energy companies, and reckless deficit spending. Now imagine what he would do in a...

WASHINGTON -- The US offered to give Israel advanced weaponry -- including bunker-busting bombs and refueling planes -- in exchange for Israel's agreement not to attack Iranian nuclear sites, Israeli newspaper Maariv reported Thursday. President Obama reportedly made the offer during Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington this week. Under the proposed deal, Israel would not attack Iran until 2013, after US elections in November this year. The newspaper cited unnamed Western diplomatic and intelligence sources. Netanyahu said Monday that sanctions against Iran had not worked, adding that "none of us can afford to wait much longer" in...

So much talk amongst right wing Catholics of the erosion of religious liberty, the collapse of all things and the coming persecution. Talk of government detention centers and priests being shot like Bl. Miguel Pro. I don't think they get it. That's not what it will be like. America is different. We're into image big time. We thought the Soviets were into brainwashing and propaganda. We put them in the shade. America is all about healthy, lusty, good looking guys and gals who are clean cut, successful and smiling. We're into the good life. We're into being good and...

Finally, after weeks of historically high seasonal gas prices that are squeezing the budgets of millions of Americans, the Obama administration has provided its answer about the fuel's future and relief. Energy Secy. Stephen Chu was asked in a House hearing this week if "the overall goal (of President Obama) is to get our price lower?" Chu replied, "No." He added, "The overall goal is to decrease our dependency on oil." Actually, Chu let the administration's real agenda out of the bag back in December of 2008, hours after being named Energy secretary. Raise gas prices high enough to make...

First Amendment: The ex-head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops compares the administration take on freedom of worship to the Soviet Union's and says its contraceptive mandate will force church hospitals to close. On the first Sunday of Lent, Chicago's Francis Cardinal George issued his version of the letter issued by the USCCB he recently led. It shredded assurances by the administration that things could be worked out so that religious freedom would not be impaired and painted a bleak future that just might be the administration's intent. Going a bit further than his peers, Cardinal George essentially rejected...

RUSH: Michael Janovsky at the New York Times, April 24th, 2006, about six years ago: "Democrats Eager to Exploit Anger Over Gas Prices." This is back in 2006. The Democrats were running for office in the midterm elections trying to talk us into a recession. This is after they had failed at trying to talk us into failure in Iraq. "Democrats running for Congress are moving quickly to use the most recent surge in oil and gasoline prices to bash Republicans over energy policy, and more broadly, the direction of the country. With oil prices hitting a high this week...

And we're the ones, the old-fashioned conservatives, we want to deny people a good time, we want to deny people fun, we want to deny people all these things in life. So we have yet another example of life in America under the thumb of an ever-expanding state with central planning, otherwise known as "well-intentioned liberalism." From violating religious rights where there is no power permitted to do so, to mandating the purchase of products, to now mandating insurance companies sell certain products at a price that's also mandated, from czars, to denying the right to travel, it's all here....

The best batch of videos that every American ought to watch before they step into the booth:

Remember November - Four Weeks - The Final Act Coming Soon

Watch as Vancouver WA city councilwoman Jeanne Harris shouts down concerned citizens and fellow council members at a meeting of the City Council three days ago. Now, guess what party Jeanne Harris belongs to.

The dramatic ascent of the Tea Party continued in America this week, with the conservative movement scoring another surprise victory in the Republican primary in Delaware. German editorialists digested the news on Thursday and warned that both Republicans and Democrats were right to feel uneasy. Even a few weeks ago, it was considered impossible that the Tea Party favorite Christine O'Donnell would win the primary in Delaware. She was long seen as being too far to the right to woo enough votes. On Tuesday, such predictions were consigned to the trash when O'Donnell beat a veteran congressman to secure the...

Just heard the news alert on Fox. Moderator: please await article from their website.

It’s a darned good thing that Austan Goolsbee is “young, energetic, and looks good on TV,” because otherwise this would look a lot like Jimmy Carter’s “Malaise” speech. Chris Wallace tries to get Goolsbee to discuss what kind of changes have been made to White House economic forecasts in 2010, while Goolsbee wants to talk about how difficult it was … in 2007, in Europe, or anywhere else than the US after almost two years of the Obama administration policies. The big takeaway is that Goolsbee and the White House expect no appreciable decline in the unemployment rate for the...

As primary elections are settled around the country, it is not too early to start remembering what people should remember in November. With all of the distractions coming out of Washington through the filter of the media, it is easy for people to forget come Election Day.This writer will not forget. Here are some of the things this administration and Congress have done to deceive, mislead and insult the American people:TARP (Troubled Assets Relief Program): $750 billionWhen the financial institutions started paying the taxpayers back with interest, the Democrats, led by Representative Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts), wanted to use the interest...

WASHINGTON – Independents who embraced President Barack Obama's call for change in 2008 are ready for a shift again, and that's worrisome news for Democrats. Only 32 percent of those citing no allegiance to either major party say they want Democrats to keep control of Congress in this November's elections, according to combined results of recent Associated Press-GfK polls. That's way down from the 52 percent of independents who backed Obama over Republican Sen. John McCain two years ago, and the 49 percent to 41 percent edge by which they preferred Democratic candidates for the House in that election, according...

The American public has a more positive view of the Tea Party movement than both leaders of the majority party in Congress, according to a poll released Wednesday. An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showed that 30 percent view the grassroots conservative groups very or somewhat positively compared to 34 percent who view them very or somewhat negatively. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was seen positively by 21 percent of those polled and 46 percent viewed her negatively. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) received a lower positive rating, 11 percent, but also a lower negative rating of 31 percent....