Free Republic

Rep. David Camp (R-Mich.) will decide whether or not to run for Senate by next January. “I always knew I was going to be on the ballot. We run every two years in the House. “I just don’t know where I’m going to be on the ballot at this point,” he told Bloomberg TV in an interview airing Friday evening. “I think certainly by January, I’ll be able to know whether I’m going to do one or the other.” He said he was being encouraged to look at the race for the seat being vacated by Sen. Carl Levin (D)....

A day ago, Senator John McCain told Newsmax that the US needs to impose a no-fly zone in Syria to “negate Bashar Assad’s power” and force the regime to the negotiating table. Hours later, after McCain and Carl Levin demanded answers from the Joint Chiefs on why the military has not recommended this option, Joint Chiefs chair Martin Dempsey responded that a no-fly zone would cost between $500 million and $1 billion a month — and would largely be a non-sequitur anyway: "The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has told the Senate Armed Services Committee that establishing a...

The nation's top military officer has laid out five options the Obama administration is considering on Syria, including "limited" strikes against the Assad regime and an all-out campaign to secure chemical weapons that includes "thousands" of U.S. forces. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, revealed the options in a letter to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich. The letter was sent Monday as, on the other side of the Hill, the House Intelligence Committee signed off on the administration's call to arm the Syria opposition -- though the committee, which held that up for...

The party has an outside chance of winning the five or six seats it needs to retake control, but needs to find top-tier recruits in several states and is running out of time to do so. ....Here are five states where the party needs to land strong candidates to broaden the battleground and have a hope of winning back the Senate. Michigan Iowa Montana Arkansas New Hampshire

We have truly entered the world of "Alice in Wonderland" when the CEO of a company that pays $16 million a day in taxes is hauled up before a Congressional subcommittee to be denounced on nationwide television for not paying more. Apple CEO Tim Cook was denounced for contributing to "a worrisome federal deficit," according to Senator Carl Levin — one of the big-spending liberals in Congress who has had a lot more to do with creating that deficit than any private citizen has. Because of "gimmicks" used by businesses to reduce their taxes, Senator Levin said, "children across the...

Scandal: Senate Democrats, including supporters of the Disclose Act, provided the names of groups they wanted targeted in a taxpayer-funded witch hunt overseen by an IRS employee and Obama campaign donor. Using the Citizens United case as a pretext, retiring Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., on July 27, 2012, wrote IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman to investigate 12 conservative groups he accused of violating their tax-exempt status and engaging in coordinated political activity. The groups Levin asked to be targeted for special scrutiny were Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies, Priorities U.S.A., Americans Elect, American Action Network, Americans for Prosperity, American Future Fund, Americans...

Sen. Carl Levin (D., Mich.) repeatedly pressed the Internal Revenue Service to investigate the tax-exempt status of specific conservative nonprofit organizations in letters to then-IRS commissioner Doug Shulman and director Lois Lerner in 2012.

2014 retirements: Dems heading for the hills By: Alexander Burns April 23, 2013 04:49 PM EDT Doesn’t anyone want to run for Senate in 2014? Midway through candidate recruitment season, the bad news for Democrats is this: They are watching a generation of talent leave the Senate and head for retirement. The less-bad news: So far, few marquee-name Republicans are interested in these seats either. When Montana Sen. Max Baucus called it quits on Tuesday, he became the latest in a long series of senior legislators to announce that they’ve had quite enough of life on the Hill. National Democrats...

We've just received word that the former Delphi Tower in Saginaw Michigan has been evacuated, and that it's being treated as a HAZMAT situation. Police, Fire, and HAZMAT crews are on the scene. The building houses the Saginaw offices of US Senator Carl Levin. Little else is known, but we were contacted by one evacuee who told us that "Levin got a suspicious letter in the mail." Given the two recent Ricin-tainted letters received in D.C., we assume they're taking no chances. More as it develops.

I’m embarrassed that I forgot he was from Detroit when I was gaming out his paths to elected office. He works in Maryland, but Maryland’s a very blue state for a conservative-leaning novice pol who’d presumably run as a Republican. Virginia’s a bit more purple, but the only seat that’s open anytime soon is Mark Warner’s and Warner doesn’t seem especially vulnerable. He could always proceed directly to running for president, but how often does someone start their political career as commander-in-chief? Even O spent some time in federal and state legislatures before taking the plunge. But wait. What about...

Politico reports Michigan Senator Carl Levin (ANTI) has announced he will not seek reelection. On The Issues has Levin’s voting record at this link. A typical Democrat, Levin has obviously never seen an anti-gun bill he was not smitten with. Briefly quoting the On The Issues report linked above: Voted NO on allowing firearms in checked baggage on Amtrak trains. (Apr 2009) Voted NO on prohibiting foreign & UN aid that restricts US gun ownership. (Sep 2007) Voted NO on prohibiting lawsuits against gun manufacturers. (Jul 2005) Voted NO on banning lawsuits against gun manufacturers for gun violence. (Mar 2004)...

2014 may turn out to be what Republicans hoped 2012 would be. Taking over the Senate, and kicking Harry Reid back to minority leader. Michigan Democrat Senator Carl Levin announced he will not seek re-election in 2014, created yet another chance for Republicans to pick up a seat. Of course the problem always is, will Republicans find a strong enough candidate to run for the open seat?

Michigan Democratic Sen. Carl Levin announced Thursday he will retire at the end of 2014. The chairman of the Armed Services Committee, first elected in 1978, is the longest-serving senator in Michigan history and will turn 80 before Election Day next year. In a statement, Levin said the decision not to seek another term was “extremely difficult.”

Stopping veteran Dem retirements is top priority for Reid, SchumerBy Alexander Bolton - 11/25/12 06:00 AM ET One of the highest immediate political priorities for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Democratic political guru Charles Schumer (N.Y.) is to persuade veteran colleagues not to retire in 2014. Democratic sources identify four senators as most likely to retire: Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). Another possible veteran retirement is Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.), who has yet to announce his decision. But Democratic aides expect him to run...

In the fall of 2010, the Michigan Economic Development Corp. — the state's "corporate welfare” arm — uploaded a video to YouTube highlighting the battery manufacturer A123 Systems. At the time, the company was promoted heavily by President Barack Obama, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and U.S. Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow. Since then, A123 has shed money, laid off half its workforce, recalled products and seen its stock price plummet to about 26 cents this week from a previous high of $26. Now, just two years after the initial roll-out, A123 is...

"I think it was a planned, premeditated attack," Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said, according to Roll Call, the newspaper that covers Congress. But he said he did not know who carried out the attack. "People don't go to demonstrate and carry RPGs and automatic weapons," sad Arizona Sen. John McCain, the top Republican on Levin's committee. "This was not a 'mob' action [or] a group of protesters."

Senator John McCain urged military air strikes on Syria Thursday, saying the U.S. can’t afford to be “standing by, watching a massacre.” While opposing the use of U.S. ground troops, the Arizona senator said the U.S. should give weapons to the Syrian rebels and establish “sanctuaries” in the war-torn country that would be protected by allied air power. “For the United States to stand by and for the president of the United States not to say a word on behalf of these people is shameful,” McCain said at a Bloomberg Government conference in Washington on defense strategy. With Iran aiding...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democratic chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee says Republicans who want to spare the military from devastating across-the-board spending cuts must be willing to consider closing tax loopholes and raising rates to boost revenue. Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan told reporters Tuesday that Republicans, including presidential candidate Mitt Romney, must abandon their no tax increase pledge.

The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said Wednesday that he would "love" to see controversial conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh dropped from the Armed Forces Network. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) called Limbaugh's show "offensive" and told CNN he has been "delighted" to see advertisers drop the program in the wake of outrage over Limbaugh calling a Georgetown University law student a "slut" and a "prostitute." Sandra Fluke, the student, had testified for House Democrats in favor of the White House's contraception coverage mandate. Several Democrats, along with many liberal groups, have called for Limbaugh's sponsors to leave him...

U.S. Sen. Carl Levin has scheduled a March 20 hearing of his Senate Armed Services Committee to scrutinize Air Force plans to cut Air National Guard troops across the nation, including a one-third reduction of military personnel at Selfridge Air National Guard Base. An Air Force report concludes that eliminating Selfridge’s 24 A-10 Thunderbolt aircraft while adding four KC135 air refueling tankers would cost the Harrison Township base 720 jobs. But the Michigan National Guard said errors in the Air Force count puts the true number at 561, compared to an overall troop force at Selfridge of 1,586. In a...