Free Republic

SHEPARD SMITH JUST ANNOUNCED: HOUSE APPROVES ANWR DRILLING!!

President Bush Discusses Global War on Terror Arie Crown Theater at Lakeside Center -- McCormick Place Chicago, Illinois In Focus: Renewal in Iraq 10:37 A.M. CDT I really appreciate being invited here by the National Restaurant Association. Thanks for having me. You know, Laura and I don't eat out as much as we used to. (Laughter.) But we do appreciate your industry's contribution to the country. I appreciate your leadership in Washington on really important issues like tort reform, and tax relief, and immigration reform. I'm going to spend a little time today talking about immigration reform. But the main...

Forget the predictions of disaster for the Republican Party in 2006. This election is over before it starts, and conservatives win. Could Republicans lose control of the House or Senate? Sure. Would that make President Bush's life miserable for the last two years? Absolutely. But predictions of disaster for conservatives fly in the face of very solid history, ignoring completely the power of political paradigms. Elections are about paradigms, not presidents. In 1946 the dominant paradigm was the liberal worldview of tax-and-spend big government, combined with an internationalist foreign policy that today is referred to as American exceptionalism. The liberal...

Washington -- Republicans are scrambling for legislative achievements as time runs out on the congressional calendar and polls show their hold on the majority is in jeopardy. President Bush will address immigration reform in a nationally televised speech tonight from the Oval Office, and the Senate also is to take up the issue today. Tax cuts passed by both chambers last week await the president's signature. Votes on constitutional amendments to forbid same-sex marriage and flag burning are expected in June. And a series of smaller measures aimed at suburban voters will be taken up throughout the summer. There is...

Mindful that social conservatives must come to the polls in force this November if Republicans hope to keep control of the House, the chamber’s GOP leadership has begun crafting a “pro-family agenda” that will be unveiled later this year. GOP leaders released a long-term agenda last week that listed dozens of legislative items, but very few that are usually associated with the social conservative movement. But the House is planning to vote this year on a gay marriage amendment, and there are more such issues in the pipeline. “We’re looking at a number of items including addressing the sanctity of...

House Homeland Security Chairman Peter King (R-L.I.) said he'd fight President Bush's plan to give illegal aliens a path to citizenship........ Bush will propose sending National Guardsmen to guard the Mexican border and giving a chance at citizenship for millions here illegally when he speaks to the nation at 8 p.m. tomorrow......... "I will oppose any legislation that allows illegal immigrants to stay in the country............that's amnesty, and it's a magnet for more illegal aliens," said King. "I give the president credit for proposing using the military - and he's the first president to do it - but citizenship for...

May 13, 2006 -- WASHINGTON - President Bush plans to call for troops and a high-tech "virtual" fence to beef up the border with Mexico when he speaks to the nation on immigration Monday night, sources said yesterday. The get-tough approach will be coupled with a renewed push to give illegal aliens a chance to get in line for U.S. citizenship, said a source briefed on the speech. "He'll talk about deploying troops, strengthening border control, more raids on companies that hire illegals, a virtual fence, and letting those who are here already get in line," the source said. The...

President Bush traveled to the great state of Florida and this morning spoke about the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit in Sun City Center, accompanied by his brother, Governor Jeb Bush. He also went to Broward Community College with Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt to visit with senior citizen, and later spent some time at the Sun City Center Fire Station #28 to talk about the outbreak of brush fires in Florida. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had a press conference today, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a strong statement regarding Iran today, Congressional GOP members reached...

WASHINGTON - Republicans in Congress reached agreement Tuesday on a five-year, $70 billion measure to extend tax breaks for investors and prevent more middle-income families from being hit by a tax aimed at the wealthy. The bill would hand President Bush one of his top tax priorities, a two-year extension of the reduced 15 percent tax rate for capital gains and dividends, currently set to expire at the end of 2008. Republicans credit the tax cuts, enacted in 2003, with boosting economic growth and creating many jobs. Over five years, the bill would cost $70 billion, but over a decade,...

Presidential adviser Karl Rove and White House counsel Harriet Miers yesterday told conservative activists and Senate staff that the administration would soon send the names of more than 20 judicial nominees to Capitol Hill for confirmation. The undertaking to move ahead came at a 2:30 meeting at the White House that was boycotted by leading conservatives upset at the slow pace of nominations, according to people who attended the meeting. Conservatives are upset by the Senate’s slow pace on judges since the confirmation of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court in February. They are frustrated that the White House has...

...A plan for the administration? Free advice is worth the price, but here goes:[snip] Issue 1: Iraq, Afghanistan and the age of terror. On these, stabilize, fortify, succeed. Keep America safe. ...Find Osama--it is a scandal that the man who started the new era is still free, still taunting the West, still inspiring those who see the world as he does. It was a mistake to think finding him was not as important as a wider war on terror. Finding him is key. It is almost five years since he did what he did. Get him, try him, kill him.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush hailed the health of the US small business sector, using a neighborhood hardware store a short drive from the White House as a homespun backdrop. The president hailed what he described as a roaring US economy and its healthy jobs growth, after picking up few chew toys for Barney, the White House dog. "I just spent some of my hard-earned money on Barney," the president said during the photo-op at Frager's, an old-fashioned hardware store that he praised as "a good place to shop."

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Trying to bridge a growing chasm in his party over immigration reform, Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman said Thursday the nation needs both a temporary worker program and consequences for illegal aliens. Opening the party's annual meeting of state chairmen in this conservative bastion, Mehlman borrowed a page from President Reagan, saying the party must practice "the politics of 'and,'" meaning people on both sides of the debate have to come together to accomplish reform. "There has been a lot of rhetoric about this issue over the last few months, but in my opinion, not...

Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats on Thursday quietly blocked consideration of President Bush's three-year-old nomination of White House aide Brett Kavanaugh as a federal appeals court judge, beginning a process that may trigger a constitutional test. Under committee procedures, the Democrats can automatically block such a nomination only once. Kavanaugh is expected to be voted out of Judiciary on a straight party-line vote this coming week. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid will come under heavy pressure to conduct a filibuster. Assuming that Republicans cannot get the 60 votes needed for cloture, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist then intends to invoke the...

Republicans need to commit to winningBRUCE HAWKINS GUEST COLUMNIST The Republican Party is in the proverbial pickle jar. President Bush is staying the course admirably, but it is clear many voters would choose a different one. They want social programs rolled back, not increased through a prescription drug giveaway. They want illegal immigration stopped and borders controlled; they don't want amnesty, green card voting and a choice of Spanish or English at ATMs. They want to see the fruits of the war on terrorism, not $3 a gallon gasoline and nuclear threats. They want U.S. troops supported, not prosecuted for...

Bill Sammon, White House correspondent for the Washington Times and author of "Strategery,” said President Bush must talk much more about the amazing U.S. economic growth because the message is not getting through to Americans. A recent Fox News Opinion poll on the economy revealed 72 percent of Americans believe the U.S. economy is in "fair or poor” condition, while 46 percent said their own personal economic situation was "good or excellent.” Sammon, appearing on Fox News Channel, said much of this is a classic case of style over substance. The Bush administration, he said, has focused on national security...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Protection of marriage amendment? Check. Anti-flag burning legislation? Check. New abortion limits? Check. Between now and the November elections, Republicans are penciling in plans to take action on social issues important to religious conservatives, the foundation of the GOP base, as they defend their congressional majority. In a year where an unpopular war in Iraq has helped drive President Bush's approval ratings below 40 percent, core conservatives whose turnout in November is vital to the party want assurances that they are not being taken for granted. "It seems like for only six months, every two years --...

Protection of marriage amendment? Check. Anti-flag burning legislation? Check. New abortion limits? Check. Between now and the November elections, Republicans are penciling in plans to take action on social issues important to religious conservatives, the foundation of the GOP base, as they defend their congressional majority. In a year where an unpopular war in Iraq has helped drive President Bush's approval ratings below 40 percent, core conservatives whose turnout in November is vital to the party want assurances that they are not being taken for granted. "It seems like for only six months, every two years — right around election...

George W. Bush is taking time to explain himself, open up to the public in new ways and court the U.S. Congress as he tries to breathe life into a presidency beset by sagging ratings and influence. With a job-approval rating under 40 percent, Bush, who went to his Crawford ranch for a quiet weekend, has a long way to go. Aides acknowledge it will take a while to rebuild his image, and much will depend on the outcome of the Iraq war. White House staffers, who have long limited the president's appearances to speeches and photo opportunities with little...

Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America Prosperity Agenda PROSPERITY AGENDA Promoting Growth, Competitiveness and Quality of Life To enhance the competitive position of North American industries in the global marketplace and to provide greater economic opportunity for all of our societies, while maintaining high standards of health and safety for our people, the United States, Mexico, and Canada will work together, and in consultation with stakeholders, to: Improve Productivity Regulatory Cooperation to Generate Growth Lower costs for North American businesses, producers, and consumers and maximize trade in goods and services across our borders by striving to ensure compatibility of...