Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- Americans' opinion of the health care proposals now before Congress is eerily similar to public opinion of the Clinton health reform initiatives in 1994, according to an analysis published in the New England Journal of Medicine today -- and that may not bode well for Democrats.

Want to see how Bill Clinton reacted when he found out Obama wasn't worried about yesterday's elections?

A "debate" between former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush has been nixed because the promoter overhyped it as a death-match faceoff between the men, The Post has learned. Clinton spokesman Matt McKenna said the appearance was never slated to be a "debate" and was actually a moderated panel discussion with the 42nd and 43rd leaders of the free world. "This event ... was supposed to be a discussion between the two former presidents, and has been cancelled because it was not being billed as such by an overeager promoter," McKenna said.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, is welcomed by Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, right, during a press conference following her meeting with President Hosni Mubarak, not pictured, at the Presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009. Clinton is holding hastily arranged meetings with Egyptian leaders to discuss the stalemate over restarting peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. An veiled Egyptian journalist looks at U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton during a news conference following her meeting with President Hosni Mubarak, not pictured, at the Presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009....

CNN) - Former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton are set to appear at Radio City Music Hall in February, though if history is any guide the match up is likely to produce few fireworks. The famous New York City venue announced Wednesday the two former presidents will share the same stage February 25, nine months after the ex-presidents shared a similar stage in Toronto, Canada. What Radio City is calling "the hottest political ticket in history" carries a price range $60 to $1,250. Though $1,250 may seem on steep side for the 90 minute event, a VIP ticket...

It's billed as "The Hottest Ticket in Political History:" A debate between Bill Clinton and George W. Bush at Radio City Music Hall. The event will happen in February as part of MSG Entertainment's third annual "Minds That Move The World" speakers series. The former presidents will debate topics "ranging from the economy, to foreign policy, to the current administration." From the press release: The series will be formatted to allow for President Clinton and President Bush to each present their thoughts on a wide range of important current events and national issues through a moderated question and answer period...

(IsraelNN.com) A top advisor to PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, considered to be a “moderate” and a peace partner by the U.S. government, has charged that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is a “liar” who is being bribed by “Zionists.” Omar Hilmi Al-Ghul, and advisor to Fayyad and a columnist for a PA daily made the comments in an article translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). Under the headline, "Clinton, Why Must You Lie?" he wrote, "Why is Mrs. Clinton lying to herself, to the American people, and to [other] world nations by twisting the truth...

MARRAKECH, Morocco – Trying to mute Arab criticism that the Obama administration had retreated from its tough stance on Israeli settlements, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday softened her praise for Israel's offer to restrain new housing in Palestinian areas. While Israel was moving in the right direction in its offer to restrict but not stop the settlements, Clinton said, its offer "falls far short" of U.S. expectations. Clinton said her earlier praise of Israel's offer, during a stop in Jerusalem, had been intended as "positive reinforcement." But her comment drew widespread criticism from Persian Gulf ministers...

Former President Bill ClintonBill Clinton attends an unveiling of a statue of himself.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said on Monday he would have preferred to leave the White House in a coffin because he loved being commander in chief, but signaled his political life is over. "It's good that we have a (term) limit. Otherwise I would have stayed until I was carried away in a coffin. Or defeated in an election," Clinton said at a conference in Istanbul. "I loved doing the job."

Kosovo unveils a statue of Bill Clinton The statue portrays the former president with his left arm raised while holding documents bearing the date when NATO started its air campaign against Yugoslavia – 24 March 1999. Why this is a farce: 1. It was illegal 2. It was poorly executed 3. It helped the wrong side 4. It produced the wrong outcome

On Thursday, in an effort to convince Pakistan to raise taxes on its impoverished masses, Secretary of State Clinton told government officials the United States enforces confiscatory taxation on the American people. Clinton told senior Pakistani newspaper editors in Lahore, “The percentage of taxes on GDP (in Pakistan) is among the lowest in the world. We (the United States) tax everything that moves and doesn’t move, and that’s not what we see in Pakistan,” she proudly proclaimed. Hillary Clinton Proclaims “We Tax Everything in the USA”

Secretary of State Takes On a Complicated Mission in the Mideast as Obama's 'Engagement' Diplomacy Comes Under Pressure MARRAKESH, Morocco -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used a diplomatic swing across the greater Middle East to reassert her role in foreign policy even as the trip exposed the strategic challenges facing the Obama administration's overseas agenda.Mrs. Clinton, during her first 10 months atop the State Department, has appeared at times a marginal player on a national-security team dominated by special diplomatic envoys and President Barack Obama himself. Foreign governments have questioned what role Mrs. Clinton was playing in formulating...

The 11-foot statue, dedicated to the US president to thank him for launching a Nato bombing campaign to halt the killing of ethnic Albanians by Serbian troops in 1999, sits on a boulevard also named for Mr Clinton. "I am profoundly grateful that I had a chance to be a part of ending the horrible things that were happening to you 10 years ago, giving you a chance to build a better future for yourself," Mr Clinton told the crowd. "I never expected ... anywhere someone will make such a big statue of me," he said after the statue was...

PRISTINA, Kosovo – Thousands of ethnic Albanians braved low temperatures and a cold wind in Kosovo's capital Pristina to welcome former President Bill Clinton on Sunday as he attended the unveiling of an 11-foot (3.5-meter) statue of himself on a key boulevard that also bears his name. Clinton is celebrated as a hero by Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority for launching NATO's bombing campaign against Yugoslavia in 1999 that stopped the brutal Serb forces' crackdown on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians. This is his first visit to Kosovo since it declared independence from Serbia last year. Many waved American, Albanian and Kosovo flags...

Palestinians on Sunday accused US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton of undermining progress toward Mideast peace talks after she praised Israel for offering to curb some Jewish settlement construction

Health Reform: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer says it's constitutional to mandate insurance coverage. Congress, he insists, has "broad authority" to make us buy things to provide for the "general welfare." Democrats' Alice In Wonderland interpretation of what they consider to be a "living Constitution," where words mean what they say they mean based on political considerations, gets more bizarre by the minute. (snip) We've been down this road before. In 1994, Hillary Clinton's secretive health care task force was trying to nationalize health care. "A mandate requiring all individuals to purchase health insurance would be an unprecedented form of...

Stuart Taylor explains how the Administration's cave in to the Moslem members of the United Nations (and other statements and writings of its officials) is a real and present danger to the continuing application of the First Amendment right to free speech

More than 300 killed and injured is the cost of the “welcome” given to the U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, by the extremist militants of the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Pakistan. This massacre, which was committed by means of a car bomb in Peshawar, coincided with another massive attack at the heart of Kabul, when the Taliban targeted United Nations employees in order to strike a major blow to the international body’s role in Afghanistan. Such attacks provide the latest evidence that al-Qaeda and the Taliban are now in an intensive mode of counter-attack, aimed at challenging the American...

ABC News Clinton Questions Pakistan's Willingness to Go After Bin Laden In her Toughest Talk Yet, Clinton Asserts That Al Qaeda Has 'Safe Haven' in Pakistan By KIRIT RADIA Oct. 29, 2009— Secretary of State Hillary Clinton dropped the diplomatic language today and said she finds it "hard to believe" that Pakistan couldn't get al Qaeda's leaders "if they really wanted to." Clinton made her sharpest comments during a three day diplomatic offensive in Pakistan, a U.S ally where she has generally praised Pakistan and its military for its willingness to take on the Taliban along its rugged frontier with...

Clinton's Goodwill Trip Marred By Pakistan Attackby Jackie Northam October 28, 2009 The thrust of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's three-day visit to Pakistan is to build and repair fragile relations with a country the U.S. sees as a critical ally in the fight against Islamist extremism. But just hours after Clinton's arrival in Pakistan on Wednesday, word came of the powerful car bomb attack at a market in the northwest city of Peshawar that killed at least 100. Many of the victims were women and children. The news broke as Clinton was 100 miles away in Islamabad, sharing lunch...

The UNHRC endorsed Goldstone's Gaza report and I, for once, am happy for this just and timely decision. However, it is clearly not enough, as there are still criminals walking among us, some of whom are even occupying key positions in the US and European governments. To fix this unbearable situation, in which criminals are not persecuted simply because of the high positions they occupy, I would like to propose for the Human Rights Council to start from the very head of the pyramid of power, to set an example for all other would-be war criminals. And what example could...

ISLAMABAD: SNIPPET: "‘But we worry about proliferation and we have good reason to worry about proliferation,’ she said, alluding to Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan. The United States has warned that the scientist, who was effectively put under a five-year house arrest after he admitted leaking nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya, is still a proliferation risk. ‘We want to encourage Pakistan to join with us in the non-proliferation review conference that will be held next spring,’ Clinton told reporters travelling with her. ‘We want them to work with us on the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty. We want them...

At least five people have been killed and 35 wounded by a large blast in a market in Peshawar, Pakistani, local media say. Huge plumes of black smoke were seen drifting over the city. Pakistan has seen an increase in such attacks in recent weeks as the military carries out an operation against Taliban militants in South Waziristan. The blast comes as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton begins a visit to the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Pakistani television showed footage of burning shops in Peshawar, in the northwest of the country, and ambulances rushing to the scene

Bill Clinton Abandons Charity Work A parody. 11/02/2009, Volume 015, Issue 07

Hillary Clinton has actually done the right thing and is taking a stand against the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), and the United Nations which in the past had banned any criticism of Islam in regards to human rights. Miracles do happen! Clinton Denounces Proposed 'Defamation of Religions' Policies By Michelle A. Vu|Christian Post Reporter U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton voiced strong opposition Monday to proposed U.N. resolutions on “defamation of religions,” saying that such policies would restrict free speech.

Bill Clinton, accustomed to speaking to cheering thousands at a hundred grand a pop, was dispatched the other night to a Deeds rally to set the throng on fire with one of his late-October stumpwallopers. The rally, such as it was, was held not at an arena or a hotel - not even a Motel 6 - but in a campaign office in the Washington suburbs. The "throng" was counted in the dozens, about the size of a PTA meeting. Not even Bubba could dispel the gloom of a wake.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton walks with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., left, and others, upon her arrival for the Democratic Policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009

Yes, it's "Happy Birthday, Hillary"! The Secretary of State turns 62 today... I wonder how she is celebrating the big event... Which Soviet Block dictator is she kow-towing to today? What lie or lies is she trying to peddle on behalf of the Obama Administration today? Yes, the great leader who was named after Sir Edmund Hillary (who first climbed Mt. Everest some 7 years AFTER Hillary was born) became famous, continues to serve us all in her capacity of Secretary of State -- and make no mistake: SHE's Secretary of State, not Bill!!!!! Let's all wish her "Happy Birthday",...

If President Clinton was known for political triangulation, his wife is establishing herself as the quarterback of a multidirectional diplomatic offense. Sen. John Kerry's dramatic insertion into talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai last week marked the third time the Obama administration has used proxy diplomats to resolve major foreign crises. While critics of the approach say it is undermining Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and regular diplomatic channels, Mr. Kerry and State Department officials say that the secretary fully supported the senator's unusual role. Mrs. Clinton even called Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, on Monday to...

Hill's powerless playMichael Goodwin Last Updated: 5:46 AM, October 25, 2009 **SNIP** The Secretary of State is MII--Missing In Inaction. It's not just that she's been whittled down by the Obama White House, where there can be only one One. **SNIP** She was asked if it's true she is a hawk on Afghanistan. "No, I don't think so," she responded, rejecting labels without saying anything meaningful about our policy in a country where we have 68,000 troops and the debate is whether to send more. Clinton is smart and tough and no dovish lefty, but suddenly she is acting like...

Notebook: Sec. Clinton | October 23, 2009 As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton's approval rating is at 65 percent, higher than both Michelle and President Barack Obama's. Katie Couric comments that even conservatives are changing their tune.

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration expressed mild disappointment Friday that Iran withheld a decision on whether to accept a U.N.-coordinated plan that could ease fears about Iran's potential for making a nuclear weapon. The U.S., along with Russia and France, officially endorsed the plan Friday. The State Department said it was unhappy that Iran was not ready to embrace the plan, which calls for Iran to ship most of its low-enriched uranium to Russia for further enrichment and eventual use as fuel for a research reactor in Tehran that makes medical isotopes and is under regular monitoring by a U.N....

Video I like this one it points out it was clinton who did it!

*snip* Turns out that when the former governor instituted a state-hiring freeze back in 2003, it was just a ruse so that he could do favors for a bunch of politically connected buddies. He ended up hiring just over 2,500 people during the so-called freeze. But these weren’t ordinary applicants; politicians, including then-state-senator Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, pushed all the job seekers on Blago. None of the politicians in the report are accused of doing anything wrong -- leaning on clout is the status quo in Springfield -- but the report does illustrate the insider game that occurs...

When White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs goofed and referred to "Secretary Kerry" on Wednesday, it seemed like one heck of a Freudian slip. But Sen. John Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat and former presidential candidate -- fresh back from a successful diplomatic mission to Afghanistan -- is brushing off any suggestion that he's positioning for a promotion or stepping on the real secretary of state's toes.

Remarks at the U.S.-Iraq Business and Investment ConferenceHillary Rodham Clinton Secretary of State Hyatt Regency Washington, DC October 20, 2009 **SNIP** But as the Iraqi Government continues to make its reforms, I urge U.S. businesses to really see all of the progress that has been made. The security situation has improved. The conditions for investment are stronger. And in the words of an Arab proverb, “Dawn does not come twice to awaken a man or a woman.” The world is watching for every opportunity to invest in Iraq, and companies that wait too long may discover they are too late.

In the last six months of Bush's ‘992, the economy gained on a monthly average 129,000 jobs, and in the first half of ‘993, the monthly average was 208,000... While I am at it, get this: the last six months of Clinton's ’00, the economy gained a poor monthly average of 100K, and the following half year the economy lost 73,000 jobs on a monthly average, which confirms again that GW Bush inherited a recession, whereas Bill Clinton inherited a booming economy...

If there was upside to White House foreign policy this past week, I didn’t see it. Since the inauguration, the complaint has been that the president never switched from campaigning to governing. Now that administration plans for foreign policy and national security are finally starting to emerge it looks pretty much like an extension of the campaign – lots of talk. The president’s preferred strategy appears to be, what is called in the current jargon, “soft” power or “smart” power, which places a premium on negotiations and international institutions to get things done. Sadly, we are seeing scant signs that...

If anyone still naively believes the Obama administration attaches much importance to human rights on the world stage, they should take a look at its new policy towards Sudan. As the Associated Press reports, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have launched a new strategy of engagement with the barbaric regime of Omar Hassan al-Bashir, already responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths in Darfur. As Obama puts it: “If the government of Sudan acts to improve the situation on the ground and to advance peace, there will be incentives. If it does not, then there will be increased pressure imposed...

The hedge-fund billionaire charged as part of a vast insider-trading case surfaced in an earlier, separate probe into U.S. fundraising by a Sri Lankan terrorist group, people familiar with the probe said. As part of that investigation, federal agents said they uncovered documents showing that Raj Rajaratnam, founder of the Galleon Group, was among several wealthy Sri Lankans in the U.S. whose donations to a Maryland-based charity made their way to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, according to people familiar with the probe.

A week of hard negotiations between the United States and Russia netted what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton classified as “significant breakthroughs in our two countries’ relationship.” Among the breakthroughs cited by Secretary Clinton—Russia will be allowed to inspect US nuclear weapons sites, Russia retains the right to preemptive, first-strike use of nuclear weapons, and Russia will not assist the United States in seeking sanctions against Iran’s acquisition of nuclear warheads. “By acceding to their demands we are showing them that we do not pose a threat to their interests,” Clinton explained. “A gesture of submission on our part eases...

OCTOBER 17, 2009 Rajaratnam Surfaced in U.S. Terrorism Probe By EVAN PEREZ and MATTHEW ROSENBERG WASHINGTON—The hedge-fund billionaire charged as part of a vast insider-trading case surfaced in an earlier, separate probe into U.S. fundraising by a Sri Lankan terrorist group, people familiar with the probe said. As part of that investigation, federal agents said they uncovered documents showing that Raj Rajaratnam, founder of the Galleon Group, was among several wealthy Sri Lankans in the U.S. whose donations to a Maryland-based charity made their way to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, according to people familiar with the probe. Raj...

--snip--The Russian leadership, hardly believing its luck, needs no interpreter to understand that when the Obama team clownishly rushes in bearing gifts and "reset" buttons, there is nothing ulterior, diabolical, clever or even serious behind it. It is amateurishness, wrapped in naivete, inside credulity. In short, the very stuff of Nobels.

Hillary Rodham Clinton might be regretting her promise never to run for president again -- a new poll shows the secretary of state is now more popular than President Obama. Some 62 percent of respondents rated Clinton favorably, compared to Obama's 56 percent rating, according to a new Gallup poll. Obama's approval has been declining since peaking at 78 percent when he came into office -- one of the highest ratings since Gallup began its popularity poll in 1992. But the dismal economy, battles for health-care reform and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are taking their toll.

About the only thing more comical than Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize was the reaction of those who deemed the award "premature," as if the brilliance of Obama's foreign policy is so self-evident and its success so assured that if only the Norway Five had waited a few years, his Nobel worthiness would have been universally acknowledged

Former Secret Service agent opens window into private lives of presidents October 14th, 2009 Jamie Weinstein In his In the President’s Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents they Protect, journalist Ronald Kessler gives us a peek inside the intimate lives of our presidents. Through interviews with over 100 secret service agents from the past and present—dating all the way back to John F. Kennedy—Kessler paints a picture of what our presidents are like when no one is looking. They're always watching. We learn from the agents Kessler interviews that John F....

HILLARY CLINTON’S words of support for Georgia during her visit this week to Moscow did little to calm fears in Tbilisi about Russia’s intentions in the turbulent Caucasus mountains. Two of Russia’s most powerful men sent shivers through Tbilisi during the US secretary of state’s stay in Moscow, with statements that fuelled worries the Kremlin’s fight with rebels in its own restive Caucasus republics could spill into neighbouring Georgia. The struggle between Moscow’s security forces and militants, once confined to Chechnya, is equally intense in two other Russian regions, Dagestan and Ingushetia, where police and soldiers come under daily attack...

In its pages, Omar (and his mother) reveal that the Clinton administration failed in a major assassination attempt of Osama bin Laden, just days after the 1998 East Africa embassy bombings. This is something that has often been speculated but never confirmed. Former insiders like Richard Clarke say Omar bin Laden’s account of the assassination failure appears to be credible. And if this is the case, it might explain a little more about what documents Sandy Berger really had stashed away.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009 This video excerpt from the movie Dr. Strangelove came to mind when reading the news about our Secretary of State at the conference table with Russia. It helps to emphasise the absurdity in which they conduct foreign policy and continue to weaken the country's national security. Hilliary Clinton and President Obama have agreed to let the Russians see the "big board." According to a Fox News report, Russia and the United States have tentatively agreed to a weapons inspection program that would allow Russians to visit nuclear sites in America to count missiles and warheads. The...