Free Republic

So we all know that Cindy McCain is loaded. She’s an heir to the Anheuser Busch fortune and has millions upon millions. I love how the McCains & Clinton’s have 10-100X the millions that Obama has and he’s the elitists. Whatever. I want to challenge the idea that money is what defines whether one is a member of the American Elite. In doing so, I rely mainly on Christopher Lasch’s work The Revolt of the Elites. According to Lasch: The new cognitive elite is made up of what Robert Reich called “symbolic analysts” — lawyers, academics, journalists, systems analysts, brokers,...

With Thursday's California Supreme Court ruling regarding same sex marriage, we can expect a resurrection of one of the most shopworn political epiteths: San Francisco values. GOP Rep. Sam Graves unveiled an ad this week using the money phrase to disparage his Democratic challenger Kay Barnes, aka the "Big City Mayor" (formerly that is, of Kansas City.) Barnes' sin: She attended a fundraiser thrown by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and she shares Pelosi's "San Francisco Values." You know what that means. Or at least what it is supposed to mean. Nevertheless, you've GOT to see Graves' commercial only to check...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: I want to hit you between the eyes here. I keep hearing from people who say, "Rush, we're screwed. We are screwed, no matter what happens here. Whatever scenario you just announced, we're screwed. If McCain is the president, big-time Democrat majorities in the House and Senate, we're screwed. If Obama the president, big-time majorities in the House and Senate, we're screwed." I don't think we're screwed. If I thought we were screwed, I would retire. What would be the point here? A friend of mine runs a business. In this business he's got a lot...

Stunned House Republicans vowed campaign changes Wednesday and debated the wisdom of attacking Democratic presidential front-runner Barack Obama in congressional races after their third straight election defeat in once-friendly territory. "The political atmosphere ... is the worst since Watergate and far more toxic than the fall of 2006 when we lost 30 seats," Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia wrote the leadership in a bluntly worded memo. "Clearly, I think we've got to do a better job" going into the November elections, said the Republican leader, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, one day after Democrat Travis Childers won a Mississippi congressional...

NMCEP will lead an event in early 2008 that will define the expectations of Americans that they be provided with reliable and competitively priced energy. This will be the first attempt to inject rural viewpoint into energy policy. Senator Pete V. Domenici is expected to deliver a major address at the event. Additional event details will be up soon.

I was going to title this post "Bend Over, America", but I didn't want to upset the gays. So, by this time I'm sure most of us were expecting to be paying nearly $1 a gallon again for gas and the last of our troops would be coming in from Iraq. Well, at least that's what we were promised by the new Democrat majority in Congress. Instead, their planned retreat from Iraq has (thankfully) failed numerous times and since taking control of Congress, gas prices have risen more than $.50 a gallon. Is anyone allowed to say these things in...

It's probably no secret to anyone who reads my column regularly that I will not be voting for either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton for president. But I also will not be voting for John McCain. I could tell you all the reasons and have expressed them already in a number of columns in recent months. But this time, I'll let someone with whom I seldom agree express them for me. His name is Jonathan Chait, a senior editor at The New Republic. Here's what he wrote in that magazine: "Even though it is in the public record, McCain's voting...

President Bush threatened to veto the Foreclosure Bill proposed by the democrats. *link* This bill created by democrats wants to allocation billions of taxpayer funds to bail out individuals who basically bit off more they can chew it attempts to prevent foreclosure on homes across the county. Rep. Neugebauer from Texas brings up a valid point “The American people don’t want to make their neighbor’s payment when they’re having trouble making their own”, which is precisely what this bill would do. Assuming the bill passes, and homeowners are pulled from the brink of defaulting on their mortgage loan, what makes...

I was taking a look at USA Today this morning at breakfast. It had a front page article about the Reagan Revolution on the bench. That was the top layer of the article at any rate. Thinly veiled, just below, was the message, "Do you really trust a Republican to appoint any more judges when your rights are at risk?" I guess that's pretty run of the mill journalism, but we'll get a lot of it in the coming months. John Hinderacker is predicting that this year will actually be even worse than what we've gotten used to. Hard to...

The true real differences between the two political Parties!

In the 5th Congressional District, incumbent Republican Dan Burton gets to try for yet another term in November. Burton withstood a challenge from former Marion County Coroner Dr. John McGoff, saying his opponent was very well-financed with special interest money. Plus, he says his campaign had problems with the Indianapolis print media. Heading into November, Burton believes the main issue will be the economy. McGoff says the Republican crossover vote was probably the biggest factor in his loss. Burton faces Democrat Mary Etta Ruley in the general election.

Rep. Patrick McHenry says the candidates who want his seat in Congress don't want to talk about his voting record. Unfortunately for the North Carolina Republican, there's plenty of other material for them to work with. The contest has gotten so ugly that McHenry's GOP opponent has accused McHenry of putting American lives at risk after he returned from Baghdad - perhaps a new height in primary election squabbling. "It's getting a little testy out there," said Michael Bitzer, a political science professor at Catawba College in Salisbury, N.C. "Campaigns are modern-day warfare, so you are going to pull out...

The Republican free-for-all to replace retiring GOP Rep. John Doolittle is ugly and getting uglier, with the campaigns spending plenty to tag one candidate as a greedy carpetbagger and the other as a big-spending liberal. Those are fighting words in the Fourth Congressional District, which rambles from the Sacramento suburbs of Rocklin and Roseville east to Lake Tahoe and north to the Oregon border. Former Rep. Doug Ose and state Sen. Tom McClintock are brawling for the GOP nomination in a district where Republicans outnumber Democrats 47 percent to 30 percent and the incumbent is leaving after being named in...

The following was a comment I received from a reader with regards to my article Self Loathing Patriots. It is a bit long and does contain some vulgar language, but is definatley worth reading. It goes a long way to show how we are truely viewed around the world by those people who do matter, rather than we Michael Moore and Nancy Pelosi would have us believe we are viewed as... "“Before I came over here I thought we (the Australian Army) were pretty hot.. was I ever wrong!...The Yanks (I hope you don’t mind me using that word) are...

Is Rasmussen becoming the most incapable pollster next to American Research? Maybe. Just this morning, Rasmussen released a poll showing Texas GOP Senator John Cornyn ahead of his Democrat challenger by only 3 points. Possible? Sure. Likely? Not. Rasmussen made a similar mistake just last month in the Louisiana Senate race between incumbent Mary Landrieu and GOP State Treasurer John Kennedy. On April 14, Southern Media and Opinion Research correctly found Landrieu leading Kennedy by 12 points. That same morning Rasmussen and friends reported that Landrieu had a lead of 55 to 39. But on April 20, the Times Picayune...

WASHINGTON — Congressman Jerry McNerney, a freshman Democrat, has emerged as one of the Republicans' top targets in Congress this year, making the race in his district that rarity in California politics — a national battleground contest and a true tossup. In 2006, McNerney pulled off one of the big upsets of the year when he knocked off Republican Richard Pombo, a committee chairman who earned the ire of environmental groups. Now, efforts by the GOP to retake the district, which stretches from Stockton through Alameda County to Morgan Hill, ensures an expensive campaign and should be one of the...

It’s Time for Conservatives to Dump the GOP! Don Boys, Ph.D. It is time for Christians and Conservatives (not always the same) to run from the Republican Party as if their hair is on fire. How much longer will principled people pretend that the GOP takes a principled stand? Some background: Every member of my family in West Virginia was a Democrat, but when I turned 18, I wanted to vote for Ike, so I registered as a Republican and have generally voted for them most of my life—until recently. When I was administrator of a large Christian school in...

Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann admitted that he had an affair with a subordinate on Friday at a press conference held in response to an internal investigation of sexual harrassment claims against Director of General Services Anthony Gutierrez. Results of the internal investigation were released on approximately 9:30am Friday morning.

John Hawkins of Conservative Grapevine and Right Wing News hit the nail on the head with his article:"Stop Apologizing for Being American". He explores the plethora of reasons why liberals bash America and whine about the history of our nation. It amazes me how we’ve got “people” in our country (Michael Moore, everyone on The View with the exception of Elizabeth Hasselbeck, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Harry Reid etc) who insist that this nation has done so much harm to the world that they can barely stand to live in it. Yet, these are the same people that insist on...

Born December 9, 1962 in Madigan Army Medical Center – Fort Lewis, Washington State Following his service in the Army, Pete’s father earned a PhD in paper chemistry and began a career with Champion International. After various moves, the Olson family settled in Seabrook, Texas in 1972. Pete attended public school and graduated from Clear Lake High School in 1981. He played varsity basketball his Freshman year and later graduated from Rice University in 1985 with a BA in computer science and enrolled in the University of Texas School of Law in Austin. On the day he completed the Texas...

Joe Andrew, former Chairman of the DNC threw his support behind Obama. This is of course after he threw his support behind Hillary. One thing you’ve got to admire is the consistency of liberals. They always enjoy voting for something prior to voting against it. Andrew cites a number of reasons as to why Obama is the “right” choice. He goes on to wonder “how the world would be different if Al Gore and not George Bush, would have been President of the United States.” Well for starters we would have let Al-Qaeda get away with 9-11, and we would...

WASHINGTON — Local congressman Jerry McNerney, a freshman Democrat, has emerged as one of the Republicans’ top targets in Congress this year, making the race in his district that rarity in California politics — a national battleground contest and a true toss-up. In 2006, McNerney pulled off one of the big upsets of the year when he knocked out Republican Richard Pombo, a committee chairman who earned the ire of environmental groups. Now efforts by the GOP to retake the district, which stretches from Stockton through Alameda County to Morgan Hill, ensures an expensive campaign and one of the state’s...

Congressman Tancredo (R-Colorado) joined Congressman Ortiz in Brownsville on Tuesday for a joint committee meeting regarding the proposed fence building to attempt to curb illegal immigration (amongst other things) in the area. Not surprisingly, Tancredo was met with a rather cold reception with his known favoritism towards building the fence. “It really isn’t a border to most of us who live down here” said Betty Perez local activist. No need to guess which side she’s advocating. Now, on the not so stereo-typical side, you’ve got me to give you some insight into uber minority: the endangered Republican Female Mexican American...

He’s baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack. In a press conference held on Monday, Rev. Jeremiah Wright stated that the criticisms made against him and his sermons were truly an attack on the “black church”. Additionally, he fights back against criticism that he is unpatriotic or un- American, statements made against him after his shocking statements regarding Sept. 11. He states that he served his country and thus cannot possibly be anti-American or considered un-patriotic. He then goes on to ask “how many years Dick Cheney served” --- First of all, although serving our country should always be recognized and respected, there is a great...

Fred Thompson was superb last night on Fox News in responding to Sean Hannity's very legitimate questions about Obama, his politics, electability, and overall qualifications as President, Commander In Chief. NOTE: Barack Obama's refusal to appear on Fox News despite repeated requests, invitations from Fox News seems as if it might finally come to an end as he is currently scheduled to appear on Fox News Sunday.

Given recent results in congressional elections and current polls, and given the beating we took in 2006, there is significant concern that 2008 will result in the Democrats making sweeping gains in the House and Senate. Given the electoral history of the past few decades, I believe that the fears of Democrats picking up an additional 5 or more seats in the Senate, or 20 or more seats in the House, are WAY overstated, PROVIDED McCain wins by a few points or more in November. Why? I surveyed the Senate elections occuring in presidential years. In no year at least...

A group of Republicans said Thursday they are making an organized effort to support the Democratic candidate in the 6th U.S. Congressional District race, state Rep. Don Cazayoux. About 40 people who identified themselves as Republicans who gathered at a news conference to announce the newly formed “Republicans for Cazayoux” said Cazayoux’s values — being pro-life, pro-gun and his ideas for national security — have led them to support a Democrat in the congressional race. Cazayoux, of New Roads, will face Republican Woody Jenkins, a former state representative, in a special election for the 6th District seat May 3. Two...

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows John McCain leading both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton by an identical margin of 48% to 43%. While the topline results are the same, there are important differences in the way those results are obtained. Clinton does better among Democrats than Obama while Obama does better among unaffiliated voters. Among those not affiliated with either major party, McCain leads Obama by five and Clinton by sixteen. Daily tracking results are updated daily at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time (see recent daily general election results). In the race for the Democratic Presidential...

Peninsula GOP leaders asked Atherton Republican Greg Conlon "to take a bullet for the party," he said, and run against Jackie Speier in the special election to replace the late Rep. Tom Lantos earlier this month. The 75-year-old Conlon played the good soldier, dutifully finishing second with 9 percent of the vote, as Democrat Speier grabbed 79 percent for an easy - and expected - victory. Across the Bay Area, more Republicans are being asked to face that same electoral firing squad, marching into legislative contests where they have little or no chance of winning behind an increasingly tattered GOP...

For my inaugural post on FreeRepublic.com, something I should have posted about a month ago. Just in time to be too late for the NCAA Basketball Tournament, here now is the (unofficial) Republican Veepstakes Bracket. The field is broken down in to four regions (Governors, Congress, Cabinet, and Activists) of 16 participants. Note that I don't condone betting or pools, and I'm sure FR doesn't either. Governor's Region: #1 Mitt Romney (MA) versus #16 Jodi Rell (CT); #8 Sonny Perdue (GA) versus #9 Rick Perry (TX); #5 Bobby Jindal (LA) versus #12 Matt Blunt (MO); #4 Mike Huckabee (AR) versus...

Freshman Rep. David Davis (R-Tenn.), who won a crowded Republican primary in 2006 with just 22 percent of the vote, is in a two-man race this year with one of his vanquished foes. Johnson City Mayor Phil Roe (R) finished fourth in 2006 with 17 percent of the vote, but has quietly become one of the few challengers in the country this year to out-raise an incumbent. He reported collecting $120,000 between January and March, compared to $80,000 for Davis, who still holds a 2-to-1 advantage in total cash. Better still, with the 2006 runner-up to Davis deciding against another...

The Dems have their final trainwreck prior to the Pennsylvania primary and it promises to be a show. The National Constitution Center is a beautiful building and it's nice to see Philly in the spotlight. 8:03: Obama's special interest rhetoric grates on me as he's taking money from just about everyone. Oil companies come to mind first. 8:04: Clinton speaking now and talking about the Constitution and going right to the liberal playbook: government is not doing enough for people. We've come a far way from "not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for...

LOS ANGELES, (AP) -- A splinter group of Republicans with ties to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and financed by six-figure donations will recruit candidates with hopes of reversing the party's disappointing record in recent statewide elections. Disclosure of the group Tuesday — California Republicans Aligned for Tomorrow — comes at a time when the California Republican Party has been struggling with financial and management problems and factional strife between moderates and conservatives. A list of supporters comes from across the party's political spectrum, but the organization appears geared to promoting Republicans who can compete statewide in a state that leans Democratic....

Dear JJ, I want to personally thank you for all you've done to support our campaign. Your continuing commitment over the past months to the values we share means so much to me. With the Pennsylvania primary approaching on April 22 and important states following soon after, I need your involvement now more than ever. The stakes couldn't be higher, as you well know. If we want to end the war in Iraq, restore America's reputation in the world, rebuild the middle class, reform our government, and provide affordable health care for all, we need to work together. The Republicans...

Rep. Patrick J. Murphy (D-Pa.) has been one of the most high-profile freshman members of Congress in his first term. As one of Barack Obama’s most visible supporters in Pennsylvania, he routinely appears as a surrogate to tout Obama’s candidacy. And because he is the only Iraq war veteran serving in Congress, Democrats have turned to Murphy as someone with the credibility to speak out against the war. But while Murphy has emerged as a rising star in Democratic circles, Republicans have quietly recruited a candidate with an equally compelling story who is now on pace to raise the amount...

"And [these small towns] fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not..." Obama reportedly continued. "It's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." -Senator Barack Obama April 2008, San Francisco If you go to the most expensive private school in Hawaii and then move on to Columbia University and Harvard Law School, you may not understand...

This is my first post here at Free Republic, I'm sorry if I'm not formatting it correctly! I realize that you don't agree with my of my views as an anarcho-capitalist. I'm not posting here to troll, get into debates I'll never win, etc., I'm here to beg you to support McCain! It wasn't until a few months ago that I understand why (as a libertarian) I always viewed the right with respect while viewing the left with disdain. I'll articulate it here: Leftist programs knowingly create perpetual votes; rightist programs don't create perpetual votes at all. Leftist view government...

BUSH'S RESIGNATION SPEECH The following "speech" was written recently by an ordinary Maineiac [a resident of the People's Republic of Maine]. While satirical in nature, all satire must have a basis in fact to be effective. This is an excellent piece by a personw ho does not write for a living. The resignation speech we wish George W. Bushwould give: Normally, I start these things out by saying "My Fellow Americans." Not doing it this time. If the polls are any indication, I don't know who more than half of you are anymore. I do know something terrible has happened,...

ALIQUIPPA, Pa., April 9 (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Wednesday attacked her rivals over Iraq, saying Democrat Barack Obama is all talk when it comes to ending the war and Republican John McCain would keep it going. New York Sen. Clinton and Illinois Sen. Obama traded barbs in Pennsylvania, whose April 22 vote is the next milepost in a long campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination to determine who will face McCain in the November election. Polls showed a tightening picture in the state with Obama making a move against Clinton's former big lead. The rivals spoke...

Barack Obama is wrong to consider relying heavily on Iran to help stabilize Iraq, John McCain said Wednesday.Speaking to FOX News,  the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said he doesn’t think it’s wise to hold high level diplomatic talks with the Iranians, who are developing nuclear weapons, threatening the existence of Israel and causing much of the unrest in Iraq. “I’d be opposed to any meeting with the Iranians that would enhance their prestige. … There’s plenty of ways of conversing without putting people on the world stage and not sacrificing our standards and everything that we hold dear,” the Arizona...

By LETTER OF THE WEEK I've been a conservative Republican since Ronald Regan ran for office back in 1980. I supported Bush I and Robert Dole against Bill Clinton. I supported Bush II against Al Gore in 2000. My political views began to change when Bush rallied this country for war against Iraq due to the WMD threat. I listened to U.N. inspectors (at least one was a U.S. citizen) that said Saddam didn't have any WMD. I watched the inspectors be discredited. I came to believe that Bush had better find WMD or his justification for war and my...

The foul odor of media-in-the-can-for-McCain and the Rethugs hangs over the 2008 campaign. McCain sez: It's fine with me if we're in Iraq for 100 years. The media sez: He didn't say that! The Washington Post charges Democrats are "distorting" McCain by saying, well, that he said what he said. The New York Times says Democrats are misharacterizing and distorting McCain, by saying, well, that he said what he said. Again, the facts the media is trying so hard to ignore: McCain said he'd be fine if we stayed in Iraq for 100 years. After all, he said (you can...

Many of those with political experience in the Fox Valley are working to analyze the results from our March 8 special election to fill the U.S. House seat left vacant by Dennis Hastert. One thought offered, that GOP voters thought it was a done deal and stayed home, is wrong! Many who voted crossed the aisle. I did. Jim Oberweis set the tone with his negative material. Many voters were put off by the aggressive ads. Bill Foster addressed people with some respect. Look at election results from the February primary. State Sen. Chris Lauzen won Aurora districts by a...

"I've got two daughters. Nine-years-old and six-years-old. I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby. I don't want them punished with an STD at the age of sixteen" — Barack Obama, comments at a Pennsylvania town hall meeting on March 29th. What grabbed a lot of attention about this comment was Obama's reference to a potential baby, his own grandbaby, as a "punishment". This, it was pointed out, was especially offensive to "single moms," and issued, as one commenter put it,...

State Sen. Tom Butler, D-Madison, announced today he will not be a candidate for the Congressional seat being vacated by Bud Cramer. Butler, who is serving his seventh term in the Alabama Legislature (fourth in the Senate), was considering running as a Republican for the north Alabama congressional seat. "After much prayer and consideration, I have decided not to run. I appreciate the support of many across the district and the state who encouraged me to seek the office, but at this time being with my family and finishing the job I stated in the State Senate is my priority,"...

  Red, White & Black? by Paul R. Hollrah On March 23, 2007, a reception was held at the Tamiment Library at New York University. The occasion was the official opening of the archives of the Communist Party USA. The keynote speaker was Gerald Horne, noted Communist and contributing editor of the Communist Party journal, Political Affairs.  In his speech, Horne spoke glowingly of an African-American poet, Frank Marshall Davis, of Chicago, who moved to Honolulu at the height of the anti-communist fervor of the late 1940s. According to Horne, Davis was “certainly in the orbit of the Communist Party...

Flirting females baffle men, say researchers By Julie Henry Last Updated: 2:33am BST 30/03/2008 The flutter of eyelashes, the smile across the dancefloor and the giggle after a lame joke - every woman knows the time-honoured ways to get a man. Men commonly mistake women's sexual signals as merely friendly But research suggests that the flirty female is wasting her time. Men, it seems, are blind to the subtle seduction techniques of the opposite sex. Short of pouncing on the object of her lust, a woman's non-verbal signals of sexual interest often prove sadly lost on the young male brain,...

off you go

Though retiring Republican incumbents hold two western New York seats near Syracuse and the Canadian border, the party is having a difficult time coming up with top-notch candidates to hold the seats. In the past day alone, two top recruits have told the Washington GOP establishment that they will not be seeking their party's nomination to replace Reps. Tom Reynolds and Jim Walsh, while Democrats have largely settled on their candidates. Walsh's Twenty-Fifth District, based around Syracuse, looks like one of the best pickup opportunities Democrats have in the Northeast. Former Congressional aide Dan Maffei, a Democrat who came just...

BEHIND any successful politician lies a usable contradiction, and John McCain’s is this: We love him (and occasionally hate him) for his stubborn individualism, yet his politics are best understood as a decade-long attack on the individual