Free Republic

Many politicians (and many voters) duck the hard choices when it comes to Medicare reform. But what’s remarkable about the past year is that, in some ways, momentum appears to be building for real improvements to the program’s quality and sustainability. Based on a new proposal from Sens. Richard Burr (R., N.C.) and Tom Coburn (R., Okla.), the impossible seems within reach: the triumph of sound policy over interest-group politics.Today, Sens. Burr and Coburn have put forth a new Medicare reform proposal, the Seniors’ Choice Act, which combines the ideas behind the best two bipartisan plans that came out last...

A member of the US Senate Intelligence Committee has told CNBC that the death of Osama Bin Laden was a direct result of enhanced interrogations."The information that eventually led us to this compound was the direct result of enhanced interrogations; one can conclude if we had not used enhanced interrogations, we would not have come to yesterday's action," US Senator Richard Burr in a telephone interview with CNBC. As a member of the US Senate Intelligence Committee, Burr was briefed on the attack on the compound that led to Bin Laden's death and believes the failure of Pakistani security forces...

First, the White House spoke out against NBC News and its editing of Richard Engel's interview with President George Bush. And, today, the White House takes on the New York Times editorial page for its editorial, "Mr. Bush and the GI Bill." From the White House statement: Once again, the New York Times Editorial Board doesn't let the facts get in the way of expressing its vitriolic opinions - no matter how misleading they may be. In today's editorial, "Mr. Bush and the GI Bill", the New York Times irresponsibly distorts President Bush's strong commitment to strengthening and expanding support...

In a surprising move, after voting against cloture earlier in the day, Sen. Richard Burr (R., N.C.) and Sen. John Ensign (R., Nev.) both voted to repeal the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell� policy on homosexuality. The measure passed by a 65–31 margin this afternoon. Other Republicans voting in favor of repeal: Sen. Mark Kirk (Ill.), Sen. Scott Brown (Mass.), Sen. George Voinovich (Ohio), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), and the Maine ladies, Sen. Olympia Snowe and Sen. Susan Collins. Burr said it was not a difficult vote to cast, despite his state’s being home to Camp Lejeune, the largest...

Raleigh, N.C. — Democrat Elaine Marshall has narrowed the gap with U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, but she still trails by a wide margin a week before the election, according to a WRAL News Poll released Tuesday. SurveyUSA polled 1,000 North Carolina residents Friday through Monday; 857 were registered voters and 590 said they were likely to vote. If the election were held now, Burr would garner 53 percent of the ballots cast by likely voters to Marshall's 38 percent. Libertarian Mike Beitler would finish with 5 percent of the vote, according to the poll. The poll has a margin of...

Republican Sen. Richard Burr holds a 58 to 34 percent lead over his Democratic challenger, Elaine Marshall, according to a new poll conducted for WRAL. The poll by SurveyUSA is second in the last week to show Burr opening up a huge lead over Marshall, as the Republican continues to own the TV airwaves and Marshall runs a low visibility campaign, reports Rob Christensen. The statewide survey of 582 likely voters, which was conducted Sept 10-13, had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points. The same poll two months ago found Burr leading by a 46...

Raleigh, N.C. – Democratic candidate Elaine Marshall faces an uphill battle in the race for US Senate due to low name identification and unaffiliated voters abandoning her by a 44 percent-31 percent margin in favor of incumbent Republican Richard Burr according to a new poll released today by the Civitas Institute. According to the live caller poll of 600 likely voters, Burr continues to lead Marshall as 44 percent of voters said they would vote for him if the election for U.S. Senate were held today. Thirty-seven percent said they would vote for Marshall, and 15 percent said they were...

As dawn was breaking over the heights of Weehawken, New Jersey on July 11, two boats rowed across from Manhattan Island (such interviews as they planned were illegal in New York). The first to arrive was the Vice President and his second; twenty minutes later, the other boat brought the former Secretary of the Treasury and his second. Once they had dispensed with the formalities, two of the most prominent men in America faced each other and fired. Struck in the abdomen, General Alexander Hamilton lay on the ground, to die in agony the following day. This indispensable founding father...

I need advice from the Freeper community. I have been a JesseCrat for over 34 years (registered D so I can vote for the easiest D to beat - Like "Operation Chaos") and cannot figure which candidate to vote for in today's primary. Who is easier for Burr to beat, Cunningham or Marshall? Suggestions, please.

Republican Senator Richard Burr’s support has fallen below 50% for the first time since January in his bid for reelection in North Carolina. The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters shows Burr picking up 48% of the vote against North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall who earns 40% support. Only three percent (3%) would opt for some other candidate in this race, while nine percent (9%) are undecided. Support for Marshall is up eight points from last month and is at its highest level seen so far in the race. This is Burr’s lowest level of...

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Thursday backed a plan that he says would allow the Republicans to avoid a presidential veto while negating the effects of a new healthcare law. The 2008 GOP presidential nominee backed a plan that would strip funding from the healthcare law, which he says would not take an override to a veto to accomplish. "When I say repeal, people say you're not going to be able to do it," he said on KQTH FM Radio. "I am confident we will get majorities in both houses in the fall. And that means the power of the...

Rep. Patrick McHenry's bill to replace Ulysses S. Grant's image with the 40th president's generates controversy. Ronald Reagan is honored by, among other things, an airport, a freeway, an aircraft carrier and -- ironically for a critic of big government -- one of the biggest federal buildings in Washington. Now, some of the late president's admirers are launching a new effort to add another honor: printing his likeness on a $50 bill in place of Ulysses S. Grant's. In polls of presidential scholars, Reagan consistently outranks Grant, said Rep. Patrick T. McHenry (R-N.C.), who introduced legislation to make the change....

Voters are evenly split when asked to rate U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, according to a new poll by Public Policy Polling. The firm asked 788 likely voters for an opinion on Burr's job performance and 35 percent said they approved while 35 percent disapproved. The remaining 30 percent were undecided. As you can see on our new Polling Central feature, Burr's approval rating is lower than former Sen. Elizabeth Dole's was at the same point in the election cycle. (Polling Central is interactive. To compare Dole and Burr, just click the boxes for Dole's poll results.) In February 2008, PPP...

North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, considered one of the most vulnerable Republican senators, leads national Democrats' favored candidate Cal Cunningham by 16 points, according to a new Rasmussen poll (Jan. 27, 500 LV, MoE +/- 4.5%). Against Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, however, Burr's support drops below 50% and margin to 10 points.

These are the times that make men vomit. Have you seen the latest Gunowners Of America Alert? Mr. Milquetoast himself, Harry Reid, may pass some version of ObamaNationCare because NOT ONE Senate Republican has the brass to stand up and just say NO.....not one more lie....not one more penny... not one more day.... not one more usurpation. What possible power does this pantywaist Reid have over Senators like North Carolina's Richard Burr to silence him into submission? The State that gave the nation Jesse Helms (Senator NO), now has Richard Burr (Senator Go-Along-To-Get-Along).

An anti-gun group is using the shooting rampage Thursday at Fort Hood as an example in its campaign against pending gun rights legislation, drawing accusations of exploitation from a Republican senator. Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina is lashing out against the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, accusing the group of exploiting the deadly rampage to oppose his gun lobby backed bill -- which seeks to protect veterans' rights to gun ownership. In a statement issued Thursday, the group's president, Paul Helmke, said in light of what happened yesterday - a violent attack by an emotionally unstable soldier...

Just called Burr's office; Sen. Burr intends to vote YES cloture re S. 1776. The bill's passage will help hide the total cost for Obamacare. Yesterday his office stated that would be voting against cloture. This is a big turnaround. Call Sen. Richard Burr (NC) at 202-224-3154 and tell him to vote NO on cloture.

Mccain's abstain "makes sense" to me, given that he's the de facto amnesty republican. But what's Vitter's excuse? He also had an amendment to defund ACORN, did he not? I say defeat them all in the primaries for their support of this criminal enterprise.

Former Washington Redskins quarterback and all-time NFL Draft bust Heath Shuler may by eyeing a run at the Senate in 2010. The Times-News of Hendersonville reports that Shuler, who was recently elected to his second-term as a Democratic Congressman from North Carolina, could be looking to challenge incumbent Richard Burr in the state's next Senate election. If so, the campaign would be an all-football affair, as Burr played defensive back while attending Wake Forest in the 1970s. If history is any indication, Shuler's success in the House doesn't necessarily portend a similar outcome in the Senate. After all, it was...

Burr-Hamilton duel A contemporary artistic rendering of the July 11, 1804 duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton by J. Mund. The DuelIn the early morning hours of July 11, 1804, Burr and Hamilton departed by separate boats from Manhattan and rowed across the Hudson River to a spot known as the Heights of Weehawken in New Jersey, a popular dueling ground below the towering cliffs of the Palisades. Hamilton and Burr agreed to take the duel to Weehawken because dueling had been outlawed in New York (The same site was used for 18 known duels between 1700 and 1845.).In...

WASHINGTON -- The 42 senators and 196 House members who have signed a no-tax-increase pledge received a stern warning last Wednesday from Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform (ATR): If you vote for Amendment 2548 to the Democratic-sponsored expansion of SCHIP (State Children's Health Insurance Program), you will violate your solemn promise. However, Amendment 2548 is not the product of tax-and-spend liberals but of conservative lawmakers and policy experts. Sen. Richard Burr, a first-term conservative Republican from North Carolina and principal sponsor of 2548, pulled it off the floor Thursday night as SCHIP expansion passed the Senate, 68 to 31....

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr came out Monday against the Navy's plan to build a jet runway near a national wildlife refuge in Eastern North Carolina, calling the plan "an untenable proposition." In making the stand, Burr joined growing bipartisan opposition to the Navy's plan for a practice airstrip in Washington and Beaufort counties, putting the project's future in doubt. Burr's letter follows recent statements by Democratic Gov. Mike Easley decrying the Navy's choice of sites and demanding that Congress withhold $10 million for the project. U.S. Reps. Walter Jones and Robin Hayes, both Republicans, wrote letters of opposition, joining several...

p>North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr will endorse Sen. John McCain tomorrow in Charlotte, bringing to nine the number of endorsements the Arizonan has racked up from his colleagues.   With Burr's support, McCain has now more than doubled the number of fellow senators endorsing his bid from 2000.     More impressive are the sort of senators Team McCain is rolling out.   Trent Lott, John Warner and Richard Burr have all had their differences with the maverick over the years; Lott on campaign finance reform, among other things, and Warner and Burr on tobacco.  Indeed, McCain's efforts to raise the tax on cigarettes and bring...

Perhaps this duel is the most famous in history. Its results certainly meant the end of both Hamilton and Burr. They carried Hamilton from the field and the next day he died. Burr lived for years, but the shadow of his own doom was ever before him. It is reported that late in life he observed that, had he been wiser, he would have known that there was room enough in the world for both Hamilton and himself. Had Hamilton been equally wise, he would have known that calumnies and lies bring forth but bitter fruit. When the news of...

Detroit WHEN TREASURY SECRETARY John Snow announced guidelines for a new tax cut for the rich here last week, liberals did not denounce him. That's because the proposed tax breaks were for gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles, the favorite ride of environmentalists this side of bicycles. But the dirty secret about hybrids is that, even as the government continues to fuel their growth with tax subsidies, they don't deliver the gas savings they promise.Most cars and trucks don't achieve the gas mileage they advertise, according to Consumer Reports. But hybrids do a far worse job than conventional vehicles in meeting their Environmental...

Pathetic.One expected no better of the Senate Democrats, who want to get out of Iraq as soon as possible, or sooner than possible--most of them don't really care--and who want to embarrass president Bush. But couldn't the Senate Republicans have stood and fought against passing an irresponsible resolution suggesting that Americans want to get out of Iraq more than we want to win?The Republican leadership may have figured they didn't have the votes to defeat the Democratic proposal without giving their members a weaker alternative to vote for. But better to lose such a vote by a small margin than...

Burr addresses 'boutique fuel' By Alex Keown Daily Times Staff Writer U.S. Sen. Richard Burr introduced the Affordable and Reliable Gas Act of 2005 Friday. The bill aims to decrease U.S. vulnerability to gasoline price spikes by reducing the number of available special fuel blends on the market, also called boutique fuels. Burr said the large number of boutique fuels has reduced gasoline availability because the variety of gasoline blends makes it more difficult to substitute blends in response to a gasoline shortage. He said a locality using one boutique fuel facing a gasoline shortage may not be able...

WASHINGTON -- I had an interesting discussion with a newspaper columnist the other day. He was remarking on my commentary comparing the 90th Congress when I came to Washington with the 109th Congress that just began its business. The columnist said the incoming Senators can't compare with those greats who were key players in both parties in 1967. In fact, he pointed to articles which are being written about the seven new conservatives who have just taken Senate seats representing Florida, Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Oklahoma and South Dakota. He said when we look back at them we...

WASHINGTON Call them the five horsemen of the Republican Revolution: incoming US Sens. Richard Burr of North Carolina, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Jim DeMint of South Carolina, John Thune of South Dakota, and David Vitter of Louisiana. Their arrival in the US Senate next week gives a powerful boost to both fiscal and social conservatives on issues ranging from judicial nominations and abortion rights to tax reform. It also tips the number of former House members in the Senate to 52 percent - the first time it has passed a majority. More than just an additional five GOP votes, they...

FIVE FEISTY REPUBLICANS: From left, David Vitter of Louisiana, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, John Thune of South Dakota, Jim DeMint of South Carolina, and Richard Burr of North Carolina. How five newcomers could change Senate Staunch GOP conservatives shift from the tightly organized House to the prestigious club of 100. WASHINGTON – Call them the five horsemen of the Republican Revolution: incoming US Sens. Richard Burr of North Carolina, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Jim DeMint of South Carolina, John Thune of South Dakota, and David Vitter of Louisiana. Their arrival in the US Senate next week gives a powerful boost...

Two centuries after their famous forebears met on the banks of the Hudson, the Hamiltons and the Burrs are still at it."LOOK AT THIS," said Antonio Burr. "Look at what they're selling." Standing in the gift shop of the New-York Historical Society on Manhattan's Upper West Side, Burr held a magnet to the light. On it were portraits of his ancestor Aaron Burr, the third vice president of the United States, and Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of the treasury, whom Vice President Burr killed in a duel 200 years ago. Each man's portrait stared coldly at the other's.It was...

On November 23, 2004, former state Rep. Art Pope addressed a gathering of the Capital Area Republicans, an auxiliary group of the Wake County Republican Party in Raleigh, North Carolina. Mr. Pope talked about the recent 2004 elections, the effect of redistricting litigation, and the future of North Carolina's Republicans. He answered questions from those in attendance.

Axis of evil Meet the new Republican senators. Five of them hope to make your worst nightmares come true. BY DAN KENNEDY WHEN THE NEW Senate storms Capitol Hill early next year, the narrow Republican majority of the past two years will disappear, to be replaced by a much wider Republican majority. Currently, the Senate comprises 51 Republicans, 48 Democrats, and an independent — Jim Jeffords, of Vermont, a former Republican who usually votes with the Democrats. Because of last week’s election, the Senate will soon seat 55 Republicans, 44 Democrats, and Jeffords. What remain are five genuine specimens of...

Burr heads to U.S. Senate at opportune time By STEVE HARTSOE, Associated Press Writer November 7, 2004   1:24 pm RALEIGH, N.C. -- Richard Burr heads to the U.S. Senate on a conservative wave similar to the one he rode to Congress 10 years ago.The Winston-Salem Republican was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives when Georgia's Newt Gingrich led a GOP sweep in the 1994 election that gave the party control of the House for the first time in decades.In this year's election, the GOP cemented its hold on the House and Senate, adding seats in both chambers,...

...President Bush has won a clear mandate for his big second-term agenda, including the giants of Social Security reform and tax overhaul. Yet his ability to do anything still rests with the Senate.... Republicans [picked] up Democratic seats in both Carolinas and Georgia, as well as Louisiana and Florida. They weathered storms in Kentucky and Oklahoma, and even held Alaska. But the big daddy came with the overthrow of Mr. Daschle. That ouster... was as much a repudiation of obstructionism as it was Mr. Daschle's own record. [C]onsider not just the Republicans' numerical gains, but their ideological ones. With the...

New U.S. Senators: Obama, Isakson, Coburn Tue Nov 2,11:58 PM ET By The Associated Press Profiles of new U.S. senators elected Tuesday: ___ Tom Coburn OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — To say conservative Republican Tom Coburn has rarely been shy with his opinions is a a serious understatement. Asked about his opposition to the death penalty, the former three-term congressman said he favored executions for "abortionists" and anyone who takes life. At one town hall meeting, he said he had heard lesbianism was so rampant in area schools that girls could only go to the bathroom one at a time. He...

Just wondering, have Thune, Martinez, Vitter, DeMint, Burr, Isakson or Coburn been on any nationwide talkshows on radio or TV? I'm always curious to what the newly elected folks have to say, and haven't heard anything but Thune's victory speech. Anybody know anything?

First...Meet Your New United States Senators. Second...We will look ahead to the mid term elections. JohnThune.COM A profile of John Thune. John Thune grew up in Murdo, South Dakota, where his father taught at the local high school and coached sports and his mother was the school librarian. The fourth of five children in a family of athletes, John grew up playing football and basketball and running track.More. CoburnForSenate.com Dr. Tom Coburn Wins Senate Seat. Described by newspapers as a budget hawk, Coburn made balancing the budget a top priority. He played a central role in Medicare and health care...

What is the latest on this? Are there any seats still too close to call? How many seats did we gain? +2, +3, or +4?

Richard Burr Wins NC Senate Race

Put info and links about North Carolina here.

With less than twenty-four hours until the voters go to the polls, I’m now ready to make my calls on the Senate races, given what I have learned this morning. You can check realclearpolitics as the day progresses for more polling data. Illinois: This was the one that got away from us. Perhaps it would have been better if we had kept Senator Fitzgerald, but that’s hindsight. Obama has run a smart primary and general election campaign. Oklahoma: All the polls are moving in Coburn’s direction. I would have appreciated it if Coburn had been a little more careful this...

Senate Analysis 2004 – 11/1/04 Final Senate Race Predictions Over the past several months, I've followed the Senate races closely, noting every poll and watching every trend. I've made predictions and then rescinded them. I've made mistakes and occasionally shown some insight (odds are out as to which I've done more, though). As the election nears – just tomorrow, in fact, it's time for my final predictions. So, here they are. Not only am I predicting the winner of each race, I'm predicting the margin of victory – closer races have vote tally predictions, too – just to give me...

Beloved conservative icon and former Senator Jesse Helms will be coming to Kinston, Saturday, to stump for Patrick Ballantine and Richard Burr. Jesse Helms will be at Kings Restaurant in Kinston from 11 until Noon, Saturday, on Highway 70. Here is the Ballantine eastern barnstorm schedule: 7:00 - 7:30 pm Currituck High School Football game Barco, NC Saturday, Oct. 30, 2004 8:30 - 9:30 am Wayne County Breakfast Madison's Restaurant 413 New Hope Road Goldsboro, NC 9:15 - 10:00 am Wayne County "Feast in the East" Goldsboro Fairgrounds (off 117) 11:00 - 12:00 pm Lenoir County Rally and Brunch Special...

Burr 50 Bowles 44 woohoo!

 President, FL 10/25/2004   Kerry (D) 50%   Bush (R) 48%   Other/Undecided 2%   Data Collected 10/22/04 - 10/24/04   Geography State of Florida   Sample Population 749 Likely Voters   Margin of Error 3.7%   Client WFOR-TV Miami    WFLA-TV Tampa    WPTV-TV Palm Beach    WKRG-TV Mobile    WKMG-TV Orlando    WTLV-TV Jacksonville   U.S Senate, FL 10/25/2004   Castor (D) 50%   Martinez (R) 47%   Other/Undecided 4%   Data Collected 10/22/04 - 10/24/04   Geography State of Florida   Sample Population 738 Likely Voters   Margin of Error 3.7%   Client WFOR-TV Miami    WFLA-TV Tampa    WPTV-TV Palm Beach    WKRG-TV Mobile    WKMG-TV Orlando    WTLV-TV Jacksonville   President, NC...

With 10 days to go, GOP candidates in N.C. races broach subject to win votes in a bid that could backfire.Republicans working on behalf of U.S. Senate candidate Richard Burr and gubernatorial candidate Patrick Ballantine are saying on TV, radio and the campaign trail that their Democratic opponents have not done enough to curtail illegal immigration.

RALEIGH, N.C., — Republican leaders here are working feverishly to take a Senate seat away from the Democrats by electing Rep. Richard M. Burr, who faces Democrat Erskine Bowles in a tight race that is key to determining which party will control the Senate. "North Carolina needs him in the United States Senate," former Sen. Jesse Helms told a cheering crowd at a Tuesday night Republican rally that drew 3,000-plus to a tobacco warehouse in the rural community of Smithfield. Most polls show the two candidates neck-and-neck — a Mason-Dixon poll released this week has the race tied at 45...

October 23, 2004--Republican Richard Burr is gaining ground in the race to replace John Edwards as North Carolina's next U.S. Senator. The latest Rasmussen Reports survey shows Burr with 49% of the vote and Democrat Erskine Bowles with 45%. Burr leads by nine points among men and the candidates are tied among women. The survey of 500 Likely Voters was conducted Monday, October 20, 2004. Our previous survey, conducted two weeks earlier found Burr leading by just two percentage points, 47% to 45%. Just 47% of North Carolina voters now have a favorable opinion of Bowles. That's down from 53%...