Free Republic

Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) will not run for re-election this year, a source close to the Congressman told Roll Call. The Blue Dog Democrat had decided against a bid in a redrawn 11th district, which was made substantially more Republican than his current district during GOP-led redistricting.

After President Obama's third State of the Union address this week, the Cost of Government Center decided to take a look at how this speech different from joint addresses past. The speech, while rife with the President's usual demands for tax hikes on families and small businesses, was more of a campaign speech than an executive joint address. It is telling, then, that the President spent more time avoiding many of the top issues of past addresses than mentioning them. Notably absent from the speech was any mention of his plan to salvage the economy via government “stimulus.” The President...

Links to all references: LIVE LINKS TO EACH HJR and SENATE RESOLUTION http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:H.J.Res59: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:H.J.Res67: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:S2128: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:H.J.Res104: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:H.J.RES.2: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:H.J.Res15: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:H.J.Res42: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:S2678: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:S.RES.511: LINK TO ORIGINAL ARTICLE http://thepatriotsnews.com/indx.php/content/163

The United States Department of Labor gives the unemployment rate in November of 2006, when Democrats won control of the House of Representatives, as 4.5 percent. In November 2008, when Democrats won the presidency, control of the House of Representatives and Senate the unemployment rate was 6.8 percent. When the Republicans won control of the House of Representatives in November 2010, the unemployment rate was 9.8 percent, says the United States Department of Labor. Now one year later, November 2011, with Republicans in control of the House of Representatives, unemployment is down more than 1 percent, says to the Department...

How many speeches has Barack Obama given on jobs? How many times has he said the economy is his number one priority? Unfortunately, his rhetoric doesn't match his actions. The only suitable job worth creating to him is a government job. When it came time to approve the Keystone Pipeline, a project that would transport oil from Canada to the refineries in the Gulf states, Obama said no. Tens of thousands of jobs would have been created, but politics won the day. Now, GOP members of the U.S. Senate are using the Constitution in an attempt to approve the pipeline...

WASHINGTON — Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Tuesday are expected to publish a report on the disputed gun trafficking investigation called Operation Fast and Furious, concluding that agents in Arizona — not Obama administration officials — were responsible for the tactics used in the inquiry and for providing misleading information relayed to Congress. In an 89-page report, titled “Fatally Flawed: Five Years of Gun-walking in Arizona,” the Democratic staff portrays Fast and Furious as the fourth investigation, dating back to 2006, in which Arizona-based agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives employed...

The announcements by Sens. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) that they would not run for reelection reflects what may be the last gasps of the Great Plains Democrats, much as California’s 2010 Democratic landslide assured that Republicans are soon to become endangered species in places like Los Angeles and Silicon Valley. The conventional explanation for these trends centers on culture or ideology, but the real cause may lie with an evolving conflict between two dueling political economies. On one side lies the information or “creative” economy, centered in coastal big cities and university towns. On the other lies...

Congressional caucus is determined to save F-35 WASHINGTON -- For all its high-tech stealth and record cost, the F-35 joint strike fighter embodies the droll military motto "hurry up and wait." Conceived in the heady post-Cold War 1990s, the futuristic fifth-generation jet fighter was to be a technological marvel built in a rush and paid for with "peace dividend" dollars. But now the fighter is billions over budget and years behind schedule. With the Pentagon facing $1 trillion in possible cuts, the F-35's high cost makes it a prime target. But thanks in part to campaign contributions from its main...

Recently, a federal district court in Washington, D.C. issued a ruling upholding an Obama administration policy that requires federally licensed firearms retailers in states bordering Mexico to report multiple sales of semi-automatic rifles. The case was brought by two NRA-backed firearm retailers and by the National Shooting Sports Foundation acting on behalf of its affected members. Plaintiffs have already filed an appeal—but while we await the outcome, your help is urgently needed in seeking congressional action to end this illegal policy. Devised by Attorney General Eric Holder’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the plan requires all of the...

Karen Harrington endorsed by Nationally Syndicated Talk Radio Host, Mark Levin August 15, 2011 Pembroke Pines,FL, (August 15, 2011)— Karen Harrington is proud to have received the endorsement of nationally syndicated conservative radio talk show host Mark Levin. Levin graciously and enthusiastically offered his endorsement to Harrington’s campaign for Congress on his Friday show (8/12) which also featured Karen as a call-in guest. “It’s my honor to endorse you,” Levin said on his program. “I am extremely grateful to have received an endorsement from one of the pre-eminent talk radio show hosts in the country, Mark Levin. Rest assured, Mark’s...

It starts from the Superiority Syndrome: People acting as if they’re more important than a U.S. President — when they clearly are not. To fingers in the face. To people questioning his already established and proven citizenship. The incidents of disrespect towards President Obama continue. When people criticize Administration policy, that’s just politics. But several incidents directed at this President appear to find new lows. Of course, people can disagree with the President. But, why can’t people respect the Office of the Presidency? The very public nature of disrespect towards President Obama is noteworthy. Did Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ) have...

With Giffords' official resignation, as I understand Arizona law, they have to have a special election for the remainder of the term, then the regular election in the fall. Does anyone have any information on who is running in this special election? could be a harbinger.

Well-known is the predicament in which President Obama finds himself: a sluggish economic recovery, an agonizing inability to proclaim a plan for the long-term well-being of America, and starkly divided opinion about his leadership creep upon his every move. Congress also faces a struggle of vast proportions, though this monster is one borne out of decades of virulent ethical failures on the part of our very own representatives. Congress, it seems, is not quite the vaunted institution which once saw honorable statesmen opine about the founders and the dangers of encroaching government. Congressional officials—necessarily from both the Democratic and Republican...

This Salon headline will bring agreement from many anti-Semites who believe the Jews (or Zionists) control the world. Zbig: Israelis “bought influence”and outmaneuvered Obama By Zbig, the author is talking about, Zbigniew Brzezinski, national security adviser for Jimmy Carter, famous for helping to create the Taliban, inventing anti-Israel conspiracy theories, and spewing anti-Semitic rhetoric. Salon did a phone interview with the former national security adviser from his office at The Center for Strategic and International Studies, The George Soros-created progressive foreign policy think tank. The purpose of the interview was for Brzezinski to “pimp” his new book

President Obama's private attorney Michael Jablonski has issued a letter to the Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp confirming that he will not attend the Georgia Access Ballot Challenge hearing set by the Honorable Judge Michael Malihi for January 26, 2012 at 9am. Here is the letter from Jablonski stating the reasons why he as well as the president will not show: Hon. Brian P. Kemp Georgia Secretary of State 214 State Capitol Atlanta, Georgia 30334 via email to Vincent R. Russo Jr., Esq. Re: Georgia Presidential Preference Primary Hearings Dear Secretary Kemp: This is to advise you of serious...

FILE - In this Aug. 13, 2011 file photo, Republican presidential hopeful Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., steps from her campaign bus to greet supporters after winning the Iowa Republican Party's Straw Poll in Ames, Iowa. (Associtated Press, File) Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann announced today she will seek a fourth term in the U.S. House following her failed presidential bid. Bachmann declared her plans in an interview with the Associated Press. The Republican congresswoman had been mum on her plans since folding her presidential campaign after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses earlier this month.

In the end, Michele Bachmann provided no surprises in her post-presidential bid path: Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann announced Wednesday she will seek a fourth term in the U.S. House following her failed presidential bid.Bachmann declared her plans in an interview with The Associated Press. The Republican congresswoman had been mum on her plans since folding her presidential campaign after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses earlier this month.“I’m looking forward to coming back and bringing a strong, powerful voice to Washington, D.C.,” Bachmann said.Bachmann will be a formidable candidate in Minnesota’s 6th District, where other Republican hopefuls had stood...

For the first time, the media actually reports on Obama's issue with 'divided loyalties' and mentions the fact that Barack Obama's father was from Kenya. The report from Atlanta also aired plaintiff Carl Swensson explaining the importance of the founders original intent to preclude the United States from ever having a president with the possibility of 'divided loyalties'. Even though this is a first, the media back in 2007 should have reported and allowed interviews such as this pertaining to candidate Obama's 'divided loyalty' issue due to the fact that his father was from Kenya and that his British Nationality...

Washington politicians and all Americans can accomplish anything if they follow the example set by U.S. troops, President Barack Obama said during his State of the Union address tonight. All of official Washington – including Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and all the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- was in the House of Representatives to hear the president’s address.

In a State of the Union speech devoid of clarity or specifics, President Barack Obama offered but one shining exception: a direct call for members of Congress to send him a bill to ban congressional insider trading.