Free Republic

Scott Walker weighed in on the latest Donald Trump kerfuffle on Twitter, saying there was “no excuse” for Trump’s remarks about Megyn Kelly. Walker has so far made a point of staying out of the fray, avoiding both engaging with Trump or responding to Trump’s attacks on him. But today he changed tack, taking a jab at the business mogul.

What a hoot to watch pundits clutching their pearls and whimpering for smelling salts aghast over the latest “shocking” thing Donald Trump said, while The Donald ignores them and continues to soar. Silly kingmakers just don’t know what to make of this. Well, we do! The elites are shocked by Trump’s dominance, but everyday Americans aren’t. Everywhere I’ve gone this summer, including motorsport events in Detroit full of fed up Joe Six-Pack Americans, the folks I meet commiserate about wussified slates of politicians, but then unsolicited, they whisper their appreciation for Trump because he has the guts to say it...

A new CNN poll reveals that one in three Americans agree with my call for President Obama’s impeachment. That’s a huge number – especially considering how misconstrued the issue is when relying on media to explain impeachment. Let’s go around the media filters and acknowledge this ourselves: many Americans haven’t heard what impeachable offenses really are; but when... they do, more citizens will rise up to hold their government accountable. On the heels of this new poll, The Hill reports that the Obama White House is now taking talk of impeachment very seriously. They can’t poo-poo this as liberal followers...

No one can argue with the fact that Paul Ryan’s compromise budget bill raises taxes and increases spending. Show me one Republican who got elected on that platform. Spare America the Orwellian word games. If the government is taking money out of your pocket to fund its growing Big Brother operations, it’s a tax. Whether money is taken from you via your phone bill, your airline ticket, or your income, it’s a tax. If politicians can’t be honest about this, it’s time to go home. The TEA Party’s very acronym stands for “Taxed Enough Already.” We sent these politicians to...

AUSTIN — Democrat Chris Bell of Houston lost his 2006 election challenge to Gov. Rick Perry, but financial reports released Friday show he won $426,000 in a lawsuit settlement from Perry's campaign over what he had claimed were illegal political donations. Perry's campaign in the final days of the 2006 election received a $1 million donation from the Republican Governor's Association without disclosing the source of the RGA money.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right. I take it from -- a little bit from your discussion -- I don't mean to read into it. You can speak for yourself, obviously -- but that you -- that you are -- that you're pleased with at least with the field tonight or with the way that they answered. Is that correct? PALIN: Yes, I was pleased. I was very happy with it. Let me go back to that issue with Governor Perry. I was governor of Alaska at the time that that issue came down, and I told our health and human services...

Gov. Rick Perry's presidential pitch goes something like this: During one of the worst recessions in American history, he's kept his state "open for business." In the last two years, Texas created over a quarter of a million jobs, meaning that the state's 8% unemployment rate is substantially lower than the rest of the nation's. The governor credits this exceptional growth to things like low taxes and tort reform. It's a strong message. But one of the governor's signature economic development initiatives—the Texas Emerging Technology Fund—has lately raised serious questions among some conservatives. The Emerging Technology Fund was created at...

UPDATE: Former U.S. Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell will not speak at a tea party event featuring former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in Indianola, Iowa, this weekend, an organizer told Washington Wire. “I made a mistake,” said Ken Crow, president of Tea Party of America. “I assumed there was an open slot and there wasn’t.” Monday night, Mr. Crow told Washington Wire that Ms. O’Donnell would appear. Tea Party of America’s cofounder, Charlie Gruschow, said the group withdrew Ms. O’Donnell’s after receiving numerous “emails from a lot of tea party folks that were very disappointed that she would be speaking.” “We...

HANNITY: Alright. You know, when you think of the president's lecture after Gabrielle Giffords, when you think you were in the middle of that debate because you had targeted districts which has been done, you know, for decades. And the assault on your character and the attempts to somehow connect you and the Tea Party to all of this, and then here is the Vice President of the United States and a U.S. congressman and they just dismiss it, this is nothing. Well, how do you react to that? PALIN: Well, the president's speech in Arizona as he asked folks...

VAN SUSTEREN: Well, you know, I think -- it will be interesting to see what happens. The Tea Party, I think, had an enormous victory, because they did change the discussion here in Washington. It's a little bit like trying to change the direction of an aircraft carrier. It's not easy. So they certainly, I mean, that's huge. And I'm sort of curious whether the American people will now sort of take a bow, those who are Tea Party activists, and go back to their lives, which are very busy and very full, and they're worried about their own lives,...

Imagine our surprise when reading media reports today that the “One Nation Tour” has been cancelled. Why didn’t anyone tell me? Oh, wait, that’s because it hasn’t been cancelled. (Good ol' media... you never cease to amaze!) As I said myself at the end of the east coast leg of the tour, the summer is long, and I’m looking forward to hitting the open road again. The coming weeks are tight because civic duty calls (like most everyone else, even former governors get called up for jury duty) and I look forward to doing my part just like every other...

Unfortunately, Redstate editor Erick Erickson made a woefully misguided post in defense of John Ziegler after Ziegler posted yet another one of his manifestos, this one aimed at the Palins and published by the Daily Caller. I'm assuming the Stalker Weekly rejected it first and DC picked it up. They're always trolling for a negative Palin story to drum up traffic. From Ziegler's pre-criticism rebuttal, I suspect we learn his true motivations. There's a documented history of his turning on people while claiming he isn't whenever he has been met with rejection.

Language granting HHS that power was never in the original law. Instead, through new rules and regulations, HHS gave itself the power last summer using a broad interpretation of certain parts of the law. ....... Heritage Foundation health policy expert Edmund Haislmaier said HHS “exceeded its statutory authority” by issuing such waivers. “The first problem is that it appears HHS has exceeded its statutory authority in creating this waiver process,” Haislmaier said in testimony before the House Oversight Committee’s subcommittee on Health Care. “The statute does not explicitly grant HHS authority to waive the application of this provision. In contrast,...

After learning this afternoon of Afghan President Karzai’s ultimatum to NATO concerning airstrikes, we need to consider how dangerous this new development is. While it's always devastating to hear about civilians killed in the fight against the Taliban, President Karzai surely knows that no one works harder to eliminate civilian casualties than NATO. His public ultimatum issued today to allies and supposed friends is dangerous. What President Karzai is saying is that if we don’t severely limit our air campaign he will take “unilateral action.” And he further says that if the airstrikes continue we will be seen as an...

The single most important judicial issue in Indiana is the ongoing debate over the state’s method for appointing appellate judges. It’s not much of a debate, actually, thanks in part to Daniels. Indiana uses a form of the Missouri Plan, the commission-based method for choosing judges that was designed by Progressive Era lawyers to put “experts” in charge of judicial selection. The “experts,” of course, are lawyers. When the issue was in front of Daniels he took the worst possible approach. In 2009, overwhelming majorities of the Indiana General Assembly (88–3 in the House, 35–15 in the Senate) approved legislation...

VAN SUSTEREN: All right, you talk about out of office -- let me ask you about 2012, not about you specifically. I may get to that. I don't know. But in terms of (INAUDIBLE) I'm sure you've seen all the controversy surrounding Donald Trump. What do you think about Donald Trump? PALIN: I respect what he's doing in putting his money where his mouth is. He's actually investigating his speculation there on Obama's birth certificate and Obama's college records and all those things that Obama, though he promises to be a transparent official, he certainly isn't because he could certainly...

HANNITY: You also in fairness, you had very harsh, very strong words for President Obama, on a whole variety of issues. Not the least of which is that, he didn't fulfill most of the promises that he has made. You even said at one point, win the future, when you said, WTF is about right, which is pretty funny line. Then you went through how he's ignored the debt, ignored the deficit spending, rammed through Obama care, et cetera, et cetera. . . . PALIN:. . .He has lied to the American public. And we are saying, enough is enough,...

Hello, Madison, Wisconsin! You look good. I feel like I’m at home. This is beautiful. Madison, I am proud to get to be with you today. Madison, these are the frontlines in the battle for the future of our country. This is where the line has been drawn in the sand. And I am proud to stand with you today in solidarity. I am here today as a patriot, as a taxpayer, as a former union member, and as the wife of a union member. What I have to say today I say it to our good patriotic brothers and...

VAN SUSTEREN: I'm very well. All right, Governor, 20/20 hindsight -- should we have led this, participated in these air strikes over Libya? PALIN: Well, I think the point is that we're not leading with the air strikes, and I think this is turning into much more than just allowing a no-fly zone to be enacted. I think there's a lot of confusion as it pertains to our foreign policy in Libya right now, and that's a frustrating for Americans, certainly frustrating thing for our troops. Our troops deserve better. We've received different messages from our president and from his...

She was relaxed, but spunky. She was real. She was armed with stats. She was unapologetic about her convictions. She was tough on President Obama’s agenda. She was fed up with the status quo. She was “sick and tired of the games that are being played in Washington, D.C., because we’re talking about our money, we’re talking about our kids’ future, we’re talking about our republic and the solvency of our republic.” She was willing to laugh at herself. She was confident about her experience.