Free Republic

Mitt Romney appeared to be softening to the Occupy Wall Street protests on Monday, taking a more sympathetic tone as he remarked on the movement, which he had called “dangerous” just a week before. “I look at what’s happening on Wall Street and my view is, boy, I understand how those people feel,” he said at a town hall event in Hopkinton, N.H. “Because with median income down 10% ... with chronic unemployment, long-term unemployment worse even than the Great Depression, the people in this country are upset. And I understand middle Americans saying, ‘Wait a second, what’s going on?...

Mitt Romney faced relentless criticism four years ago for changing his positions on abortion and gay rights and equivocating on other issues, including immigration and gun control. This year, the former Massachusetts governor has largely escaped such attacks as he competes again for the Republican presidential nomination. That might be changing.

Mitt Romney and President Obama are carbon copies when it comes to environmental policies.

So former mayor Ed Koch has changed his mind after hearing President Obama's speech to the UN General Assembly last week and will back him for reelection after all. Mr. Koch, a DFB, or Democrat From Birth, created quite a stir several weeks ago when he endorsed Republican Bob Turner in the special election in New York's heavily Democratic 9th Congressional District against Democrat David Weprin. Mr. Koch urged voters in the predominantly Jewish district to vote for Mr. Turner as a way of sending a message to President Obama that they opposed his policies regarding Israel - his "open...

Sen. John McCain on Monday strongly disputed a U.S. diplomatic cable that said he pushed to help Muammar Qadhafi’s regime obtain military hardware two years ago, calling the notion “outrageous.” The 2009 cable, released by the open information group WikiLeaks and written by staff at the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, said in particular that McCain, at a meeting with Qadhafi and one of his sons, promised to help Libya obtain C-130 Hercules military cargo aircraft. (snip) On Monday, McCain told Foreign Policy magazine that the diplomatic cable was incorrect, and that he had never pledged any help to Libya in...

A leaked U.S. diplomatic cable shows that Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain promised to help Libyan dictator Muammar Qadhafi obtain U.S. military hardware in 2009. The cable, released by the open information group WikiLeaks, reveals the pledge came at meeting that was attended by other prominent members of Congress, including Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.).In the meeting, Muatassim Qadhafi, the Libyan leader’s fifth son and national security adviser, requested U.S. assistance in obtaining military supplies, both lethal and non-lethal. The cable indicates that McCain was the dominant voice among the congressional delegation in a...

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has joined Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Sen. Pennsylvania Rick Santorum in signing a pledge to oppose same-sex marriage on a number of specific fronts. The three candidates signed the pledge advanced by the National Organization for Marriage, which has led national and state campaigns to limit marriage to a man and a woman. The signature of the front-runner, Romney, is a bit of a coup for the group, as he's been careful about committing to other pledges, including a broad promise to a socially conservative Iowa group that caused trouble for other candidates....

Mitt Romney, who has been noticeably quiet during the debt ceiling debate, issued a statement today in opposition to the current deal that would hike the debt ceiling. “While I appreciate the extraordinarily difficult situation President Obama’s lack of leadership has placed Republican Members of Congress in, I personally cannot support this deal,” Romney said in a statement this morning. He said that if he were president he would have a “cut, capped, and balanced budget” and criticized the current deal for “open[ing] the door to higher taxes and put[ing] defense cuts on the table.” Michele Bachmann announced her opposition...

Rick O'Donnell, a former special adviser to the University of Texas System who received a $70,000 settlement, this week skewered top UT officials for trying to block the release of faculty productivity data, accusing them of orchestrating a scare campaign to pit donors and alumni against regents pushing for changes at the system. He also took shots at state Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, who chairs the higher education committee, saying she went to bat for university brass due to overly cozy relations between lawmakers and public universities. Faculty and administrators "basically want to be left alone," O'Donnell said. "They push...

SAN DIEGO, CA -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry told a Boy Scouts ceremony on Wednesday that the federal government is rudderless, kicking off a trip to California that has stoked speculation that he will enter the Republican contest for president. Perry fondly recalled his boyhood as a Scout in Texas, including his first visit to Washington, and applauded the group for promoting values such as fellowship, self-reliance, dedication and perseverance. "I really wish we saw more of that sort of courage throughout our society, yep, including in Washington, D.C.," he said. Perry didn't mention President Barack Obama or any politician...

Eighty-one House Republicans voted both ways...

Whether Gov. Rick Perry of Texas takes the stage wearing a suit or jeans, he walks with a confident swagger in cowboy boots. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie owns any stage because of his blunt talk and seemingly unpopular remedies. Outspoken former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin breaks political stereotypes with her unpredictability. These three share something: They are popular Republicans who are not seeking the party's 2012 presidential nomination — yet. Republican voters and political strategists lately are speculating whether one of the three might be a better choice than any of eight declared GOP contenders. People are thinking about...

Washington (CNN) - With the Republican base largely unified in its contempt for President Obama's health care law, Sen. Jim DeMint, an icon of the tea party movement, has been forced to explain his early support for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's health care plan, which was a model for reform on the federal level. The South Carolinian cited the "innovative" Massachusetts health care plan when he endorsed Romney's 2008 presidential bid, saying the plan leveraged "good conservative ideas" like bringing private insurance companies into the process. DeMint told CNN over the weekend at the Republican Leadership Conference in New...

He’s a flip-flopper who can seem disconnected from average citizens, and wears health care reform as a political albatross around his neck. That’s the standard line of attack against Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. But, the same critique could also apply to President Obama. That means if Romney gets past GOP doubters and wins his party’s nomination, the 2012 election could be a head-to-head between two men with similar vulnerabilities. On the surface, they have little in common. Romney and Obama represent dramatically different backgrounds and cultivate vastly different political images. But they share some interesting traits. With or without...

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas House is debating whether or not to require local police to enforce federal immigration law. Gov. Rick Perry declared the ban on so-called sanctuary cities an emergency matter. He says all Texas law enforcement agencies should tackle the problem of illegal immigration. Police chiefs across the state oppose the bill because they say it will make their jobs more difficult. Illegal immigrants will not report crimes if they think police will check their immigration status, and police say they already have a full plate without adding immigration enforcement. The 101-49 Republican supermajority in the House...

Mitt Romney's New Hampshire organization was rocked with the news that the candidate's top supporter in the state will no longer support him. *Snip*CNN: "Why? He thinks Romney has shifted his positions too many times over the years."

Many have tired of Donald Trump hogging so many headlines as of late, so now it’s time to let that attention-starved potential Republican presidential candidate Sarah Palin get some of her spotlight back. In her latest Facebook post, Palin unleashes a harsh assessment of President Obama’s Libya policy and throws out a few lines that should start to remind people that the bombastic Trump is not the only Republican who is ready to talk tough and who can legitimately bring the fight to Obama. Palin demands to know from Obama why exactly are we fighting in Libya, suggesting: “Between you...

Governor Palin posted the following Facebook note this morning: Please make up your mind, Mr. President. You can’t vacillate when spending America’s human and fiscal resources in yet another foreign country without good reason. You said that Libyan leader Gaddafi has got to go. Many of us heard that as your call to action and agreed, “Okay, you’re right. He’s an evil dictator who kills his own innocent people, so enforce a no-fly zone so he can’t continue an aerial slaughter.” But then you said our mission in Libya isn’t to oust Gaddafi after all. (Or vice versa on the...

Please make up your mind, Mr. President. You can’t vacillate when spending America’s human and fiscal resources in yet another foreign country without good reason. You said that Libyan leader Gaddafi has got to go. Many of us heard that as your call to action and agreed, “Okay, you’re right. He’s an evil dictator who kills his own innocent people, so enforce a no-fly zone so he can’t continue an aerial slaughter.” But then you said our mission in Libya isn’t to oust Gaddafi after all. (Or vice versa on the order or your statements. Between you and your advisers...

Please make up your mind, Mr. President. You can’t vacillate when spending America’s human and fiscal resources in yet another foreign country without good reason. You said that Libyan leader Gaddafi has got to go. Many of us heard that as your call to action and agreed, "Okay, you’re right. He’s an evil dictator who kills his own innocent people, so enforce a no-fly zone so he can’t continue an aerial slaughter." But then you said our mission in Libya isn’t to oust Gaddafi after all. (Or vice versa on the order or your statements. Between you and your advisers...