Free Republic

An Alabama congressional candidate uses a .40 Glock pistol, a .270 Cooper rifle and an AR-15 to destroy a copy of the Obamacare bill in a new video released by his campaign. The message in candidate Will Brooke’s video, shared first with The Daily Caller on Wednesday, is clear: Republicans have been successful in taking shots at Obamacare, but it’s going to take “more extreme measures” to get rid of it. Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2014/03/26/alabama-congressional-candidate-shoots-up-obamacare-bill-in-new-ad-video/#ixzz2x7nwK5ha

Just because the President has advised the Redskins to change their name and just because two members of Congress recently scolded the NFL for keeping the name, team owner Daniel Snyder has not been compelled to change it (he's been anything but, actually). But with his colleagues -- and his commissioner -- still seemingly on his side (for now, at least), Snyder has taken a step to ingratiate himself into the Native American community. In a letter released Monday, Snyder announced that he would create a Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation that, in Snyder's words, will "provide meaningful and measurable...

We’ve been told before that a tea-party revolt was brewing, only to see it fall flat, so maybe this is idle saber-rattling on a slow news day.Riddle me this, though. If this is just a bluff, what’s the angle? What do the anti-Boehner forces gain by warning this guy through the media that he has nothing to lose by screwing the caucus every which way before the midterms? If he’s a dead man walking, what’s keeping him from bringing amnesty to the floor and letting 20 RINOs pass it with Pelosi’s help? “My sense at the present time that the...

In contrast to the remarkable string of potentially transformational reforms enacted by the previous Legislature in 2011 and 2012, 2013 offered signs of a political class returning to its "business as usual" ways. Some "reversion to the mean" is normal, because major reform tends to come in waves. Plus, many current lawmakers are eager to get the next reform wave rolling. Still, positive reforms signed into law in 2013 were scarce, so we'll begin with the bad news: Obamacare Medicaid expansion: Maybe its members will amaze us with an awesome 2014, but it's likely this Legislature will be remembered most...

When some blame the GOP for being a "Do Nothing" Congress," they might first look at the hundreds of laws passed by the House that the Democrat-controlled-Senate refuses to even consider. But in some ways, the "Do Nothing" label is a badge of honor. Conservatives want government to do less and to free citizens to do more. The Left wants more government intervention, more regulations, and more special entitlements. President Obama promises to use his pen; many wish a conservative Congress could wield a targeted eraser! Here's my Stop/Start list for Washington. Stop throwing good money after bad in a...

The United States Congress does not work for us. As in you and me. I have come to this somber conclusion after reading enough articles, blogs, facts, and budget numbers to make an actuary cross-eyed. And I feel more at peace now because I can say “wow, that explains a lot. That explains everything.” I won’t inflict blindness on you by citing every possible statistic here. Here’s a few: ⁃ Starting Congressional Base Salary $174,000 ⁃ Average First Year Attorney Salary - Washington DC: $160,000 ⁃ Total Congressional Pay + Expenses (not including office expenditures): $233,000,000 ⁃ Estimated Total Campaign...

Gutierrez (D-4th), 60, a national advocate for immigration reform, is serving his 11th term in Congress. Gutierrez’s office issued a vague statement of its own, saying the matter before the Ethics Committee related to a “long-standing contract” that was “allowable under House rules” but that was canceled by Gutierrez last year. USA Today reported last year that Gutierrez paid an Illinois lobbyist more than $500,000 in taxpayer funds to work side-by-side with his congressional staff. The lobbyist, Doug Scofield, the lawmaker's former chief of staff, was paid as a contractor to train staff, review and draft news releases and help...

My good friend is running for the 4th Congressional District in the state of Florida. Ryman Shoaf is a Tea Party conservative who wants to restore our country, and North Florida in particular, to a Constitutional- following Republic. The incumbent is Ander Crenshaw, who has held the seat for many years and has over time lost his conservative creds and has become a RINO. His Heritage Foundation rating for following the Constitution is 45% (overall Republican average is 65% - pathetic, I know, and a topic for another day). Ryman has nearly 1000 petitions signed and needs another 3000 by...

VonCannon announces congressional run; changes district and party. Guilford County’s GIS records show VonCannon purchased his home on Dec. 2. That same day he updated his voter registration to match his new address. VonCannon’s voter registration also listed him as a Democrat until May 2013, when he changed to a Republican. An employee of Randolph County’s Board of Elections said records show him as a registered voter there until Dec. 6. Bruce VonCannon:Are Congressmen the Next Chinese Import? Mr. VonCannon told the News and Record on December 10 that he retired from Banque Privee Edmond de Rothschild in 2012. It...

Dmytro Yarosh, a leader of the Right Sector movement, addresses a rally in central Independence Square in Kiev [Caption from] Reuters The leader of the far-right Ukranian Nationalist Pravy Sektor (Right Sektor) party has reportedly threatened to attack Russia's lucrative gas pipeline which travels through Ukraine to prevent the Kremlin from sparking a "Third World War.' ...

I can at least appreciate the semi-honesty about their real goals here. Via The Hill: A letter sent to Kerry on Friday, signed by 27 House Democrats, details what they said would be the climate impacts of approving the $5.4 billion project, which would run from oil sands in Alberta to Gulf refineries.“The math doesn’t add up. In order to meet our commitment to fight climate change, we need to keep at least 80 percent of carbon reserves below ground,” the letter, spearheaded by Reps. Jan Schakowsky (Ill.), Mike Quigley (Ill.), Rush Holt (N.J.) and Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.), states.“If the...

As the U.S. Senate took up a bill to provide financial aid to Ukraine, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, rose to object to an IMF bailout Majority Leader Harry Reid attached to the legislation. In the process he blasted Reid for repeatedly demonizing the billionaire Koch brothers - Reid tried to blame the Koch brothers for halting progress on the Ukraine bill. "I'm beginning to think [the Koch brothers] are a character almost out of Dr. Seuss in the majority leader's mind, they are the grinch who stole Christmas in his telling," Cruz said. Cruz accused Reid of "using his...

Liberals will use a Straw Man argument and say that Bush and Clinton used Executive Orders far more than Obama has. But it isn't the NUMBER of Executive Orders that is at issue, it is the NATURE of the Executive Orders. If Congress passes a law saying that illegals will be deported - WILL - if they do X,Y and Z when coming here, how can Obama keep from breaking the U.S. Constitution by saying that "Dreamers" can stay and long as they do A, B and C? Some would say that Governors cannot override federal law as the U.S....

U.S. Capitol. Credit: Brian Jackson (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Washington D.C., Mar 13, 2014 / 01:40 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Speaker of the House John Boehner has extended an open invitation to Pope Francis to address a joint meeting of Congress, praising the Pope’s advocacy for the vulnerable. “Pope Francis has inspired millions of Americans with his pastoral manner and servant leadership, challenging all people to lead lives of mercy, forgiveness, solidarity, and humble service,” Speaker Boehner said March 13. “His tireless call for the protection of the most vulnerable among us—the ailing, the disadvantaged, the unemployed, the impoverished, the unborn—has awakened...

Hmmm. Nah, there are no national implications here...This was no referendum on ObamaCare, the left's explosion of the size of gov't, etc. Dems and MSM on television talking to voters: "These are not the droids you are looking for. Move along, move along."

GIVE STATES VETO OVER ABUSIVE FEDERAL POWERS PETITION CONGRESS TO PROPOSE THIS AMENDMENT TO THE U.S. CONSTITUTION. IT WILL GIVE THE STATES A VETO ON OVERREACHING FEDERAL POWERS. http://tinyurl.com/VetoTheFed

Republican David Jolly narrowly defeated Democrat Alex Sink in the special election for Florida’s 13th District on Tuesday in an expensive race watched closely by both parties as the midterm election season kicks into high gear. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Jolly beat Sink 48.5 percent to 46.6 percent, according to The Associated Press. Both Democrats and the GOP plowed millions of dollars into the swing district race in hopes of an election year boost. The results appeared to vindicate the strategy of the GOP, which focused its attacks on linking Sink to Obamacare and managed to win with...

Ron Paul has basically said that Crimea has the right to self-determination and by extension a right to an independence referendum vote. The Obama administration seems to be goading Europe (not that it would take that much) into agreeing with it that Crimea (and Eastern Ukraine) do not have the right to self-determination, and that Western powers will not accept a referendum vote in Crimea (or Eastern Ukraine for that matter) that leads to Crimea joining Russia, or becoming independent. Margeurite, yesterday, nailed it on the head, though, in a thread of mine: "The West cannot have it both ways....

WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the Senate Intelligence Committee says the CIA improperly searched a stand-alone computer network established for Congress as part of its investigation into allegations of CIA abuse in a Bush-era detention and interrogation program.

Democrats took to the Senate floor Monday night to talk about global warming and planned not to let up until morning. At least 28 senators were expected to participate in the dusk-to-dawn event, which was led off by the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada. Several Democrats who face tough reelection fights in the fall planned to skip it. Democratic leaders have no plans to bring a climate bill to the Senate floor this year, so the speeches were about little more than theatrics.