Hundreds of grassroots conservatives rallied outside the U.S. Capitol to protest against government spending and defend free markets Friday afternoon.

"Big-government supporters are on the attack - the free market and our American way of life are the targets," said Americans for Prosperity President Tim Phillips.

AFP is holding their annual "Defending the American Dream Summit" this weekend. The group assembled 1,000 people for their conference and urged them to participate in this "free market call to arms" in front of the Capitol's reflecting pool  amidst an uncertain financial market.

"Free markets work! They work every time, they work all the time!" yelled AFP's North Carolina Director Dallas Woodhouse to loud whoops of applause.

Several protesters carried American flags in addition to their own protest signs. "Regulate yourself," said one.

"Stop Pelosi's Politburo!" "We are taxed to the max" and "No Commies in Congress" said some others.

During the event AFP members broke into the popular "Drill, Baby, Drill" chant to encourage Congress to increase domestic energy exploration.

One member shouted "NoBama" several times.

The Hartford Courant reports:

"Same-sex couples won the right to marry in Connecticut in an historic ruling by the Supreme Court today.

Citing the equal protection clause of the state constitution, the justices ruled that civil unions were discriminatory. In a 4-3 decision released at 11:30 a.m., the majority wrote that the state's "understanding of marriage must yield to a more contemporary appreciation of the rights entitled to constitutional protection."

The uptick rule requires that every short sale be transacted at a price that is higher than the price of the previous trade. The intent of the rule is buy time for the stock and force short sellers to pause before transacting.

Without the uptick rule, stocks are susceptible to “bear raids” in which shorts overwhelm a stock in huge surges of selling that intimidate buyers from stepping in. This creates a panic that can spiral ever downward.

That's exactly what's happened.  Note that the uptick rule was put in place in 1938.  It was eliminated by the SEC a little more than a year ago -- and that's an enormous benefit to hedge funds, which have little stake in the market's upward performance and make money merely by speculating about what the market will do -- but a huge detriment to everyone else. 

What's more, there was no reason not to extend the temporary ban on short selling of financial companies.  But the SEC removed the ban yesterday.  Again, it worked for the hedge funds -- which make money through speculation alone.  But it drove the markets down again yesterday by allowing the hedge funds to engage in an orgy of short selling, and thereby only deepened a sense of concern, despite the worldwide rate cut -- which, rationally, should have buoyed the markets.

Other experts have pointed to the SEC's lax enforcement of disclosure rules and regulations, and failure to enforce accounting standards.

Make no mistake -- the SEC hasn't created this crisis.  But its missteps and errors are exacerbating the pain, panicking the markets, and creating an ever-more-hospitable political environment for Barack Obama.

"Is John McCain really serious about questioning Barack Obama's association with William Ayers?

The evidence suggests he is not.

To truly drive Ayers into the public conversation, to trick what they consider an irredeemably biased press corps into biting, McCain has three vehicles gassed up and ready to go.

(1) He could put lots of money into an Ayers ad -- video press releases don't cut it.
(2) He could devote a stump speech to Obama's associations and Obama's associations only
(3) He could mention Ayers in a debate.

So far, McCain has done none of those things.  On top of doing none of those things, he has declared Obama's association with Rev. Jeremiah Wright as off-limits."

Since American taxpayers own 80% of AIG, the primary sponsor of the largest sports franchise in the world, can we call it "soccer" now.

The 2007 state fair was days away when Alaska’s public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, took another call about one of his troopers, Michael Wooten. This time, the director of Gov. Sarah Palin’s Anchorage office was on the line.

As Mr. Monegan recalls it, the aide said the governor had heard that TrooperWooten was assigned to work the kickoff to the fair in late August. If so, Mr. Monegan should do something about it, because Ms. Palin was also planning to attend and did not want him nearby.

Somewhat bewildered, Mr. Monegan soon determined that Trooper Wooten had indeed volunteered for duty at the fairgrounds — in full costume as “Safety Bear,” the troopers’ child-friendly mascot.

The Connecticut Senator has been out front denouncing the "companies that form the foundation of our financial markets," for "their insatiable appetite for risk." He has also decried "reckless, careless and sometimes unscrupulous actors in the mortgage lending industry" and he has proclaimed that "American taxpayers deserve to know how we arrived at this moment." To that end, we propose he take the stand -- under oath.

Former Countrywide Financial loan officer Robert Feinberg says Mr. Dodd knowingly saved thousands of dollars on his refinancing of two properties in 2003 as part of a special program the California mortgage company had for the influential. He also says he has internal company documents that prove Mr. Dodd knew he was getting preferential treatment as a friend of Angelo Mozilo, Countrywide's then-CEO.