Free Republic

Went to Cabela's today and they had a table set up in the front of the store for the NRA. The price was $25 (lowered from $35) and you also got a $25 Cabela's gift card, a hat, and the magazine. I let my membership lapse a few years ago but this was a no brainer to sign up for. Just a heads up for anyone going to Cabela's this weekend.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said yesterday that Republicans have done so well in cutting spending that he declared an “ongoing victory,” and said there is simply no fat left to cut in the federal budget. Mr. DeLay was defending Republicans’ choice to borrow money and add to this year’s expected $331 billion deficit to pay for Hurricane Katrina relief. Some Republicans have said Congress should make cuts in other areas, but Mr. DeLay said that doesn’t seem possible... Asked if that meant the government was running at peak efficiency, Mr. DeLay said, “Yes, after 11 years of Republican majority...

GOProud, the advocacy organization for homosexuals that also portrays itself as "conservative," reportedly will be left out of the annual summit for conservatives in the United States, the CPAC meetings, next year. Its inclusion last year and this year by David Keene, the outgoing chief of the American Conservative Union, which sponsors the Conservative Political Action Conference, had prompted a long list of major players in the movement, including the Heritage Foundation, the Media Research Center, Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America, to boycott. That left Al Cardenas, the new chairman, promising just days ago a "comprehensive vetting...

The new chair of the American Conservative Union, Al Cardenas, today distanced his organization from GOProud, telling FrumForum in an exclusive interview that “it’s going to be difficult to continue the relationship” with the gay conservative organization. The ACU, which annually organizes the Conservative Political Action Conference, has faced some criticism for including GOProud as a co-sponsor for the second year in a row. Socially conservative organizations have denounced the move, and the Heritage Foundation claimed that GOProud’s inclusion was part of their decision to opt-out. Cardenas, who was selected yesterday to replace outgoing chairman David Keene, told FrumForum that...

Many conservative organizations have chosen to boycott this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), but Veterans in Defense of Liberty will be there in force. Our group is going to CPAC to fulfill our sworn and solemn oath to “defend and protect the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic.” Unfortunately, the nation’s pre-eminent grass-roots conservative gathering has become a showcase for the enemies of the American tradition. The American Conservative Union‘s (ACU) board of directors, led by Grover Norquist, Suhail Khan and until he stepped down yesterday, David Keene, seems to have forgotten the constitutional grounding of American society....

The news that Sarah Palin won’t be attending CPAC next week doesn’t come as much surprise. For those keeping score, she’s now been invited three times — and said no thanks each time. A Palin aide did not immediately return a request to explain why, but her reasoning is pretty evident. A Palin source bashed CPAC and its leader David Keene in an interview last year with POLITICO announcing that the former governor wouldn’t be attending – even though CPAC had listed her as an invited guest for the second year in a row. The source called the annual...

WASHINGTON -- Allegations of a pro-gay takeover, boycotts, embezzlement and terrorist-loving board members. Sounds like a Hollywood version of a conspiracy thriller, but it's not. It's the buzz around this year's Conservative Political Action Conference, the nation's single largest annual congregation of conservative leaders. Conservatives riding a new wave of momentum thanks to the strength of the Tea Party movement and big wins in the November midterm election should be riding high ahead of this year's CPAC,scheduled to take place in Washington on Feb. 10-13. But the conference, which has met for 38 years, has found itself beset by conflict...

Friction between parts of the social conservative and libertarian wings of the conservative movement has escalated into a shooting war in the run-up to the 28-year old Conservative Political Action Conference, with accusations of embezzlement (true), homosexuality (true), and creeping sharia (disputed) hurled against the 28-year old conservative institution. CPAC’s leaders respond that its foes’ real gripe is that it won’t give a platform to their lunatic conspiracy theories about presidential birth certificates (disputed). But however esoteric the disputes, the fracas has led to real-world repercussions: a move by a group of conservative figures to begin organizing a move to...

Friction between parts of the social conservative and libertarian wings of the conservative movement has escalated into a shooting war in the run-up to the 28-year old Conservative Political Action Conference, with accusations of embezzlement (true), homosexuality (true), and creeping sharia (disputed) hurled against the 28-year old conservative institution. CPAC’s leaders respond that its foes’ real gripe is that it won’t give a platform to their lunatic conspiracy theories about presidential birth certificates (disputed). ...Two of the heavyweight groups of the broader right, the Heritage Foundation and the Media Research Center, have dropped out of CPAC and are expected, planners...

Two of the nation's premier moral issues organizations, the Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America, are refusing to attend the Conservative Political Action Conference in February because a homosexual activist group, GOProud, has been invited. "We've been very involved in CPAC for over a decade and have managed a couple of popular sessions. However, we will no longer be involved with CPAC because of the organization's financial mismanagement and movement away from conservative principles," said Tom McClusky, senior vice president for FRC Action.

David A. Keene WASHINGTON – The non-profit organization responsible for the largest annual conservative gathering in the U.S. is under investigation for embezzlement of hundreds of thousands of dollars in donor money over several years, WND has learned. The American Conservative Union, headed by David Keene and best known for its organization of the Conservative Political Action Conference each year in the nation's capital, has been embroiled in controversies in recent years, but this one is shaking the foundations of the Washington institution. The American Conservative Union reported to the Internal Revenue Service last month a "material diversion of...

David A. Keene WASHINGTON – The non-profit organization responsible for the largest annual conservative gathering in the U.S. is under investigation for embezzlement of hundreds of thousands of dollars in donor money over several years, WND has learned. The American Conservative Union, headed by David Keene and best known for its organization of the Conservative Political Action Conference each year in the nation's capital, has been embroiled in controversies in recent years, but this one is shaking the foundations of the Washington institution. The American Conservative Union reported to the Internal Revenue Service last month a "material diversion of...

Democrats are in for ugly blowback once they realize how soundly they are defeated in November, Dave Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, tells Newsmax. Already, because of a belief they will lose, the Democratic leadership has gone into “triage mode” by deciding to cut off support for 30 members of Congress seeking re-election, Keene says. “Once that happens to those members, it’s no longer the Republicans’ fault, it's no longer the tsunami that is approaching, it’s their leaders who have sold them out, and you can see the results already,” Keene says. “On the Hill, they are fighting...

The Heritage Foundation Bloggers Briefing on August 10, 2010 welcomed guest speaker David Keene, Chairman of the American Conservative Union, speaking on his organization’s recently launched project aimed at exposing ACORN spin-offs, and unmasking what they have done in the past. Given the political situation the country is currently facing today, the American Conservative Union puts forth the questions of what are we [America] going to be facing this fall, and further, what role will ACORN play? ACORN is a community organizing group which was found to have forged thousands of voter registration cards in dozens of states. Former employees...

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683           Response from David Keene, NRA First Vice President, to DISCLOSE Act Criticism "As an NRA member, I am writing to express my outrage that the NRA would do a backroom deal with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to regulate and limit the First Amendment right to political free speech of other groups, while carving out an exemption for the NRA. Your unsavory and unprincipled deal with the Democratic leadership makes it likely that the House will now pass the DISCLOSE Act, H. R. 5175. Besides being unconstitutional, the DISCLOSE Act could...

Days before Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon arrogantly addressed a joint session of Congress on how we ought to run this country, members of the National Rifle Association gathered in Charlotte, N.C., to celebrate their victories in Congress and the courts, discuss their passion for guns, hunting, the shooting sports and plan for the future. The largest turnout for an NRA Annual Meeting since the association’s founding in 1871, the more than 72,000 members in attendance served as a boisterous reminder to politicians of both parties that the nation’s gun owners remain a potent political force that no one should take...

Washington, DC – David Keene, Chairman of the largest and oldest conservative organization in America, the American Conservative Union, today commented on the decision by Washington liberals in the House to pass the Obama / Pelosi / Reid health bill. “With this vote, the U.S. House has chosen big government over freedom and bureaucracy over people,” said David Keene, “The American Conservative Union has opposed this bill from the start because of its massive cost and red tape. The more we learn and Americans learn about the devil in the details of this bill the more disgust among Americans will...

What’s expanding faster than the federal government? CPAC! Last year the diminutive crowd of a mere 8500 overwhelmed the traditional venue, the Omni Shoreham in Washington. This year, the conference was held across the street at the ginormous Marriot, which also became overwhelmed when the crowd swelled to over 10,000. About 5000 attendees were college students, which accounts for the freakish straw poll victory by Ron Paul Perot. Growing even faster than the federal deficit or CPAC, is the Tea Party Movement whose presence was felt throughout the convention. Conservative ideals have always been appealing to most Americans. The problem...

(excerpt) This moment at CPAC is even more important for the conservative movement as it happened at an important time when there is already a generational change going on in America. Boomers are fading, Xer’s are ruling, and Millenials are finding their way. Forty-eight percent of those who participated in the CPAC straw poll last week identified themselves as students. They are the future of conservativism. And they shouted down an anti-gay bigot. There will surely be other homocon-related clashes within the conservative movement, just as the Democrat Party has regularly used the gay community as pawns in their re-election...

The few controversial parts of CPAC 2010 were outweighed by the momentum driving the various factions on the right together - opposition to the federal government's spending, bailouts, and attempted takeover of healthcare. 10,000 turned out for CPAC 2010 this year, 1500 more than last year. With Republicans out of power in Washington and Tea Partiers revolting against the Obama administration's massive spending and bailouts, conservatives are coming together stronger than ever. Although there was a National Tea Party convention earlier this month in Nashville featuring Sarah Palin, attended by 1500, it was clear that Tea Partiers were unified with...

California Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) chairman Ryan Sorba generated a media controversy when he was shown at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) denouncing the organizers for inviting a homosexual Republican group, GOProud, into the event as an official sponsor. In "controversial" remarks, Sorba said homosexuality was unnatural and that he welcomed more debate and discussion about the subject from his political adversaries. But what many people don't realize is that Sorba's "outburst" was provoked by a speaker who preceded him, Alexander McCobin of Students For Liberty (SFL). McCobin went out of his way to use valuable time from...

When I attend many conservative functions in my early 20's, I was usually the young "whipper snapper" in the room. Now that I am 39 years of age, one troubling thing that I have noticed is that I am -STILL- the young Whipper Snapper in the room. Morality is dying off with the “greatest generation”. As I look into this CPAC audience I noticed something a little different than the conservative functions to which I am accustomed. I see allot of...

http://www.acuratings.org/ They were released last week. Currently they're only available in PDF format. They aren't the be all end all but they are a usual barometer among many. They look at 25 votes for each house across a wide spectrum of issues. In 2008 there was a huge lurch to the left according to their scores. Some called their ratings outliers because of this. 2009 saw a general improvement of scores more in line with other years.

Today is the opening of the Conservative Political Action conference (CPAC) — the storied annual gathering of the Right. As I noted the other day, it’s also the season for a bumper crop of conservative manifestos, action plans, and ideological contracts. The Mount Vernon Statement, which lays out broad principles for “constitutional conservatism,” has garnered the most buzz. An elegant tribute to limited government and the Founding Fathers, the document carries the signatures of movement leaders, Beltway heavyweights, and veteran activists. Two of the most prominent backers: the American Conservative Union’s David Keene and Americans for Tax Reform’s Grover Norquist....

Tomorrow, for the 37th time, conservatives will gather in Washington to discuss, debate, and forge new solutions at the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC. For those who may be tempted to despair about the state of the limited government, pro-market and pro-family movement, a little history is in order. In 1975, then-Governor Ronald Reagan inspired a dispirited conservative movement to revolution at CPAC. In a message that resonates to this day, President Reagan proclaimed, “Our people look for a cause to believe in,” and then asked: “Is it a third party we need, or is it a new and...

Decision Brief No. 05-D 44 2005-08-31 On eve of U.N. push for global government, advocates urge Senate to approve a building block: The Law of the Sea Treaty (Washington, D.C.): As concern grows that the United Nations is intent on replacing what the National Security Guidance calls "an orderly arrangement of sovereign states" with a proto-world government - complete with the ability to impose international taxes, a new push is being made for a treaty that would advance that purpose: the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST). This sovereignty-sapping agenda is at the heart of a dispute now playing...

WASHINGTON, DC -- The American Conservative Union's political action committee, ACU PAC, today formally endorsed New York Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman in the upcoming Special Election in New York's 23rd Congressional District. ACU PAC Chairman David Keene said in announcing the endorsement that the New York State Conservative Party has given the people of the 23rd District the choice Republican leaders would deny them. "Doug Hoffman is an intelligent, sincere leader who can and will win this election and at the same time send a message to NY State GOP leaders that they won't be able to ignore," Keene...

Just got this e-mail from Ziegler: "You will want to read about my bizarre adventures on Saturday at Western CPAC in Newport Beach. You can view the complete story with video here. Please spread this link to those who you think might be interested as there are many who will be trying to spike this story. Also, please don't respond to this e-mail unless it is urgent as my e-mail box needs to be cleaned out and I am way behind in doing that. Thanks so much for your support." REMEMBER: JOHN ZIEGLER WILL BE SPEAKING AT UC MERCED THIS...

Washington conservatives who dissent from the party line are often accused of selling out our principles in hope of snagging an invitation to a Georgetown cocktail party. It costs much, much more than that to buy Washington's pillars of conservative orthodoxy. Thanks to the brave people at FedEx, the whole world now knows exactly how much more... When you hear a member of Congress described as more or less conservative than another, it's the ACU's voting index that is being cited. ACU sponsors the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC, the biggest event on conservatism's annual calendar... The leaders of...

Dennis Whitfield of the American Conservative Union has sent out a press release on today’s embarrassing Mike Allen story that alleges a pay-for-play proposal between the conservative group and FedEx. "" “An article containing a false headline has been published by Capitol Hill newspaper Politico today regarding an issue with expansion of the National Labor Relations Board. This article concerns two letters; one issued by ACU and another issued by a separate organization. Mr. David Keene’s name was on a letter prepared by another organization. This was a personal decision on his part and he was not representing ACU at...

The American Conservative Union asked FedEx for a $2 million check in return for the group’s endorsement in a bitter legislative dispute, then flipped and sided with UPS after FedEx refused to pay. In return for the $2 million, ACU offered a range of services that included: “Producing op-eds and articles written by ACU’s Chairman David Keene and / or other members of the ACU’s board of directors. (Note that Mr. Keene writes a weekly column that appears in The Hill.)” The conservative group’s remarkable demand — black-and-white proof of the longtime Washington practice known as “pay for play” —...

David Keene, the Chairman of the American Conservative Union trashed Sarah Palin publicly today on NewsMax. However, a quick search of Mr. Keene's recent political contribution history reveals the following: David Keene, Managing Associate of the Carmen Group Lobbying Firm, and Head of ACU, Alexandria, VA. Political contributions in 2008 election cycle: KEENE, DAVID, ALEXANDRIA,VA 22314 THE CARMEN GROUP/EXEC 5/1/07 $1,000 Specter, Arlen (R) KEENE, DAVID, ALEXANDRIA,VA 22314 THE CARMEN GROUP/EXEC 12/19/07 $800 Specter, Arlen (R) KEENE, DAVID, ALEXANDRIA,VA 22314 THE CARMEN GROUP/EXEC 12/19/07 $200 Specter, Arlen (R) What I want to know is, how does a guy like this...

State of Conservatism by: Alanna Hultz, March 06, 2009 American Conservative Union (ACU) chairman David Keene addressed the National Press Club as part of the club’s Newsmaker series on the “State of Conservatism.” Keene said “in 2006-2008 the public was convinced it was time for a change and in 2008 the Republican brand was hurt because Republicans acted like moderates and liberals.” Keene said, “I don’t hope Obama will fail but I know his policies will fail because they are wrong.” He said Republicans need to get their policies together and not criticize a popular president. He argued that the...

Thursday, Nov 29, 2007 David Keene "The Laura Ingraham Show" 11/29/07 David Keene On His Endorsement Of Governor Mitt Romney: Laura Ingraham: "David, I know you made an announcement. I didn't reveal it to the listeners because I wanted you to tell us when you came on the show about who you were endorsing for the Republican nomination." David Keene: "Well, I decided earlier this week and announced this morning that I'm supporting Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor. I came to that decision after a lot of thought. Early on in this process, I thought I'd stay neutral for...

Islamisation of David Keene, American Conservative Union June 27, 2007 David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union (ACU), has been moving, along with several other paleo-conservatives like Dinesh D’Souza, towards a partnership with Saudi-funded, pro-Hamas institutions. A forewarning was the appointment of Grover Norquist to the ACU board. A second forewarning was the appointment of Suhail Khan to the ACU board. Then Tuesday, David Keene joined United for Peace and Justice, the ACLU, the Communist Party-USA, as a speaker in the “Day of Action to Restore Law and Justice” to “…call on Congress to restore habeas corpus, fix the...

Democrats who think they will ride to victory in November on a tide of outrage against an ill-conceived war foisted on the American public by a President who spun the intelligence available to justify action against a nation that was no threat to the U.S. may be about to get their comeuppance. President Bush's critics on the left vehemently reject the President's contention that Iraq's Saddam Hussein was actively collaborating with Osama bin Laden prior to 9/11 as either a fabrication designed to justify the use of military force to unseat the Iraqi dictator or proof that Bush just doesn't...

Leading Conservatives Call for Extensive Hearings on NSA Surveillance; Checks on Invasive Federal Powers Essential 1/17/2006 6:36:00 PM To: National Desk Contact: Laura Brinker, 202-715-1540, for Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances, laura.brinker@dittus.com WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances (PRCB) today called upon Congress to hold open, substantive oversight hearings examining the President's authorization of the National Security Agency (NSA) to violate domestic surveillance requirements outlined in the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr, chairman of PRCB, was joined by fellow conservatives Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform...

Human Events is expected to name their 2005 Man of the Year some time next week and I thought we would take a look at some of the possible contenders who helped shape the past year.2005 was very much a nascent turning point for the conservative movement and with 2008 seemingly getting closer everyday we must finsih what was started in 2005.Almost all of the candidates for Man Of the Year were part of the beginning stages of a revitalized conservative movement that was begun in 05 but will have to be finished in later years. Henry Hyde After thirty...

Harriet Miers’s confirmation hearings are about to begin, so we may be on the verge of learning something meaningful about the president’s choice to replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court. Or maybe we won’t. We haven’t learned much since she was named, and one suspects there might not be all that much more out there. I don’t know enough about Ms. Miers even to guess at her qualifications for the job to which she has been appointed. I’ve heard good and bad things about her from those who’ve dealt with her, and I’ve read reams of opinion...

The Washington Timeswww.washingtontimes.com Conservatives, liberals align against Patriot ActBy James G. LakelyTHE WASHINGTON TIMESPublished June 14, 2005 Conservative groups have found common ground with the liberal American Civil Liberties Union in their opposition to the USA Patriot Act and pledge to wage a high-profile fight against it, claiming even its renewal is shrouded in secrecy.     Former Rep. Bob Barr, who led conservative efforts to impeach President Clinton, is leading a group called "Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances" that is focused exclusively on opposing the renewal of the Patriot Act.     The effort also has the enthusiastic support of three...

The constant attacks on House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's character and ethics are an organized liberal campaign to demonize the Texas Republican: The goal is to cripple him as a leader or to force him out of his post as second in command among House Republicans. The campaign is being orchestrated outside Congress by a coalition of liberal interest groups financed by the usual suspects. They have taken to calling themselves the "Congressional Ethics Coalition" and claim they are non-partisan citizens' groups enraged by the "corruption" of the Republican Congress. The members of this coalition, however, are anything but non-partisan....

The left has come up with a target, and his name is Tom DeLay. He isn’t their first and won’t be their last, but for now he’s the Republican they hope to take down. They’ve tried in the past to do the same thing to others. Vice President Cheney, Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld and White House adviser Karl Rove have all been portrayed as ethically challenged and sleazy by the same folks who are now going after the House Republican leader from Texas. Trumped-up charges of illegality, paid ads and reports from ethics groups that are little more than fronts...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Not all conservatives are happy with the decision by Congress and President Bush to intervene in the Terri Schiavo case. Some leaders said Tuesday the new law allowing a federal court review of the case is an example of the big government they have always opposed. "To simply say that the 'culture of life,' or whatever you call it means that we don't have to pay attention to the principles of federalism or separation of powers is certainly not a conservative viewpoint," said former Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga. Allan Lichtman, who chairs the history department at American...

We are told that United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan gasped when informed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that President Bush intends to send John Bolton to New York to represent this nation's interests before the world body. Annan had been hoping, no doubt, for someone more malleable who would politely look the other way or at least keep his mouth shut as the various scandals rocking the United Nations play out, someone more like departing Ambassador John Danforth. Danforth may have represented the Bush administration, but he was a team player who did little to upset things and he...

Most conservatives find my old friend, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), infuriating. They had worked their hearts out for his primary opponent, Rep. Pat Toomey, earlier this year, and when Specter was reelected to fifth term Nov. 2, they began demanding that his colleagues deny him the chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the 109th Congress. When Specter gave a post-election interview that some critics interpreted as a warning to President Bush against sending pro-life judicial nominees to a Specter-chaired Judiciary Committee, they thought they had the smoking gun they needed to get him. Since then, callers demanding Specter’s scalp...

David A. KeeneIt's up to the ground armies November 2, 2004 Four years ago, I was leaving an early-morning Election Day breakfast when I ran into Haley Barbour, who had left the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee some three years earlier.The race between Vice President Al Gore and Gov. George W. Bush was very close, according to virtually every indicator, and we were all expecting the outcome to be determined by the get-out-the-vote effort the rival campaigns had put together. I asked Haley if the Bush campaign and his successors at the RNC had fielded an army capable...

I was asked some months ago by the proverbial “high administration official” what the Bush administration ought to say about Democratic charges that President Bush’s economic policies were not producing the jobs the nation needs. Remember all the talk about the “jobless” recovery that allowed corporations to return to profitability without generating new jobs? Bush was being compared to Herbert Hoover and we were told that his policies were actually designed to encourage American business to “outsource” jobs to places like India and Mexico. Democrats in general and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in particular seemed almost ecstatic every time there...

Back in 1980, the late Terry Dolan, chairman of the National Conservative Political Action Committee (NCPAC), asked me to head up an independent effort supporting Ronald Reagan’s campaign against President Jimmy Carter. Dolan felt he could raise substantial funds and quickly persuaded me to sign on. Independent expenditures of the sort we planned were perfectly legal as long as we resisted the temptation to coordinate any of our activities with the official campaign. We spent nearly $3 million (a lot of money in those days) and like to think we helped Reagan drive Carter from the White House. At about...

  Register Early for CPAC 2005 The HillTuesday, June 15, 2004 Right has few deep pocketsBy David KeeneBack in 1980, the late Terry Dolan, chairman of the National Conservative Political Action Committee (NCPAC), asked me to head up an independent effort supporting Ronald Reagan's campaign against President Jimmy Carter. Dolan felt he could raise substantial funds and quickly persuaded me to sign on.Independent expenditures of the sort we planned were perfectly legal as long as we resisted the temptation to coordinate any of our activities with the official campaign. We spent nearly $3 million (a lot of money in...

Talking Points Memo & Top Story The truth on terrorism President Bush continues to believe that the war in Iraq will eventually make Americans safer, but is this case strong enough? We're fighting terrorism as a nation divided... and defeat is not an option. Bill speaks with David Keene, the chairman of the American Conservative Union, for another view on America's war.