Free Republic

It was a chaotic scene with tempers flaring at the latest town hall meeting presented by Congressman Allen West. Driving into the Mae Volen senior center in Boca Raton, you got a sense of what was coming as the driveway was lined with protest signs against the outspoken freshman. Inside the building were the people behind the signs, and before West even began to speak, the arguing between West supporters and protesters began. (video)

Congressional Republicans have been targeted by a crime wave this spring, with burglars curiously able to repeatedly break into offices without security noticing. Despite security in the Hill office buildings, the offices of Reps. Jon Runyan (R-N.J.), Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) and Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) were burglarized last month, with Runyan’s office hit twice. Also hit was the Oversight and Government Reform Committee office and the staff office for the Appropriations subcommittee on Homeland Security, both under control of the Republican majority.

Love him or hate him, it is hard not to recognize that Congressman Allen West has a sense of humor. If you are attending an Allen West speech, in addition to the unpredictable, you can probably expect a touch of fun. Whether it be poking fun at himself or at the mainstream media, West seems to garner a few hearty chuckles from his audiences. Saturday night’s speech at the Broward County Lincoln Day dinner in Fort Lauderdale was no exception.

The powers of government were never given the jurisdiction to do the things they are doing today. Many laws, taxes, restrictions and government powers come from this post-constructional (89 years later) jurisdiction. Abortion, Roe V. Wade, prayer in school, gun control are all fruits of the tree of this unlawful and unconstitutional jurisdiction. I will demonstrate, with facts and freely available documents, how this unconstitutional jurisdiction came to be and how to fix it. - Bruce Ray Riggs

What next? The folks in charge of franking congressional mail refuse to allow our elected representatives to wish us a merry Christmas. Lest you vainly hope, as I did at first, that this is a noble attempt to demonstrate fiscal restraint, let me disabuse you of that idea. At first glance, the rules appear merely to ban holiday greetings when those greetings are “the primary purpose of the communication.” That makes sense. I don’t want my Congressman to use my tax dollars to send out his family’s Christmas letter. But, as it turns out, not even incidental use of the...

Last week, Attorney General Eric Holder tried to stall the momentum building behind the Fast and Furious investigation by submitting a letter to Senate and Congressional investigators in which he continued to plead ignorance, and in which he did his best to undercut the progress of the investigation to this point. In the letter, Holder actually had the gall to re-affirm his feigned ignorance of Fast and Furious: “[I have] no recollection of knowing about Fast and Furious or of hearing its name prior to the public controversy about it.”

Change font size: A | A Noel Sheppard's picture A number of Democratic members of Congress came out Wednesday throwing their support behind the protest known as Occupy Wall Street. Fox News's Neil Cavuto interviewed one of them on Your World marvelously asking Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Oh.), "So why didn’t you celebrate when Tea Partiers were running around the country and protesting all the spending and protesting the budget and the debt getting out of control? I don’t remember you glomming on to that one" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

On Saturday morning, Illinois Democrat Congressman Mike Quigely made a surprise appearance at the American Islamic College Conference in Chicago. The unaccredited college is the first of its kind in the United States. Quigley gave remarks to the primarily muslim audience. He rambled on about the typical racism and discrimination that the liberal left is so convinced America is rampantly infected with. As you can see in the video below, he proceeded in his congressional capacity to apologize on behalf of the country for discrimination against muslims’ faith.

A Southwest flight carrying 115 passengers from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to BWI Airport was diverted to Nashville International Airport due to a passenger's "suspicious behavior," an airline spokesman said.

A Republican member of the House Tea Party Caucus on Wednesday countered recent inflammatory remarks by members of the Congressional Black Caucus against the Tea Party. "I'm a TEA Party caucus member and have spoken at two tea party rallies. I am also NOT a racist. Maxine & Andre - get a grip," Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.) tweeted. Rep. Andre Carson (D-Ind.) and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) both directed harsh remarks at the Tea Party movement last week. Carson accused the Tea Party members in Congress of wanting to see blacks "hanging from a tree." Waters said at an event...

(CNSNews.com) – Congressman Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) has claimed that "Tea Partiers" have enacted a "plan to dismantle the American government" and in the process, the country has lost its "moral compass." "These ‘Tea Partiers,’ as willing conspirators with their so-called leadership have enacted on a plan to dismantle the American government and in the process, we have lost our moral compass," said Johnson when speaking with the Congressional Out of Poverty Caucus last week.

President Barack Obama alienated 37,00 twitter followers last night with scores of tweets urging followers to contact their local Congressman over the debt deal. With his approval rating sitting at an all-time low of 40 per cent amidst the debt crisis, tens of thousands of Americans unfollwed the President to avoid the deulge. The president’s staff sent a total of 118 tweets asking his followers to write their Republican lawmakers to demand a compromise on debt legislation. The first tweet read: 'The time for putting party first is over. If you want to see a bipartisan #compromise, let Congress know....

U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan's open defiance of Speaker John Boehner's efforts to solve the debt-ceiling crisis could cost the Urbana Republican his safe seat in next year's election. Two Republican sources deeply involved in configuring new Ohio congressional districts confirmed to The Dispatch today that Jordan's disloyalty to Boehner has put him in jeopardy of being zeroed out of a district.

Top House Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi, are again calling for the Ethics Committee to investigate one of their own following allegations of sexual misconduct by Oregon Rep. David Wu. "With deep disappointment and sadness about this situation, I hope that the Ethics Committee will take up this matter," Pelosi, the minority leader, said in a statement to reporters late Sunday. The Oregonian reported last week that the young daughter of a longtime Wu campaign donor called the congressman's office this spring accusing him of "an unwanted sexual encounter." The newspaper said that Wu acknowledged the incident, which occurred over Thanksgiving...

Perhaps Chris Matthews hasn’t had a showdown quite this good since his contentious 2004 Republican Convention interview with then Sen. Zell Miller. During that exchange, the Georgia Democrat challenged the MSNBC “Hardball” host to a duel. But on his Tuesday program, Illinois Republican Freshman Rep. Joe Walsh went head-to-head with Matthews about the debt-ceiling debate. That prompted several interesting exchanges between Walsh and Matthews, including one referencing his 2008 comment that President Barack Obama gave him a “thrill” up his leg: WALSH: Hey, Chris, what’s the president’s plan? Hey Chris, explain… MATTHEWS: That’s not the point. I pointed out that...

Congressman Tom McClintock, House Floor remarks in support of an amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act to deny authorization for the use of funds for the war in Libya. Speech in Support of the Amash/ Kucinich Amendment to HR 2219 Congressman Tom McClintock Mr. Chairman: For more than three months, our nation has been amidst a quiet constitutional crisis that carries immense implications. The Gentleman from Florida is sadly mistaken to dismiss this as a meaningless philosophical discussion. This issue strikes at the very heart of our Constitutional form of government. On March 19th, completely without Congressional authorization,...

PLEASE COPY AND PASTE BELOW AND E-MAIL OR FAX Speaker Boehner http://www.speaker.gov/contact/ FAX- 202-225-5117 Email:speakerboehner@mail.house.gov __________________________________________________________ Speaker Boehner, This is a plea for you to exercise your responsibility to control our rogue Administration and it’s arbitrary decision to use U.S. planes and arms against Khadaffi in Libya. The sixty days for Congressional approval have ended. The implications here are monumental and disastrous for our democratic republic. Our president, who is showing clear signs of becoming a traitor, has used his own simple judgement to turn the might of our military against another country, Obama’s enemy du jour. He does not...

House members side with Netanyahu House lawmakers from both parties are siding with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over President Obama in their differing approaches to the Israel-Palestine border dispute. Obama last week called for Israel's 1967 borders to mark the "foundation" for renewing stalled peace talks between the two sides – a concession to Palestine that Netanyahu has bluntly rejected, including in remarks to a joint meeting of Congress Tuesday. "The vast majority of the 650,000 Israelis who live beyond the 1967 lines reside in neighborhoods and suburbs of Jerusalem and greater Tel Aviv," Netanyahu told lawmakers in his...

Authorities intercepted a parcel this morning addressed to Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) containing a bloody pig's foot and a derogatory message, a source has confirmed to CBS News. The parcel was intercepted at the Congressional mail facility in Landover, Maryland, where mail sent to lawmakers is screened for security risks. The U.S. Capitol Police and U.S. Postal Service confirmed that there is an open investigation, though would not confirm the details of what was contained in the parcel because the investigation is ongoing. King's office, which did not see the parcel, referred all questions to the Capitol Police. According to...

Washington (CNSNews.com) – An illegal alien apprehended by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency during the last fiscal year had an estimated 84 percent chance of never being prosecuted, according to figures compiled by the office of Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas). Culberson submitted the figures for the record during a hearing Wednesday of the House Appropriations subcommittee on homeland security. Of 447,731 illegal aliens apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol during fiscal year 2010 (which ended last September), only 73,263 (16.4 percent) were prosecuted, according to the submitted data. That means that 374,468 illegal aliens that were taken into...