Free Republic

LCMS President Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison will take part in a Capitol Hill hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in Washington, D. C., on Thursday, Feb. 16. The hearing will focus on the issues of freedom of religion and freedom of conscience in relation to the Obama administration's recent health-care ruling regarding contraceptives. The panel also will include Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Baptist and Jewish leaders. The Rev. John T. Pless, who teaches theological ethics and is an assistant professor of Pastoral Ministry and missions at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, and Ann Stillman, vice-president and general...

House Editor David Wasserman writes: At the outset of Congressional primary season, the battle for the House is at cross-currents. Atmospheric indicators are suddenly looking surprisingly favorable for Democrats: a National Journal poll showed Democrats leading the generic Congressional ballot 48 percent to 37 percent, and a recent Washington Post poll put President Obama ahead of Mitt Romney, 52 percent to 43 percent. But as Democratic Rep. Heath Shuler's retirement reminds us, the structural impediments to a Democratic majority continue to pile higher, and for every seat on the minus side of Democrats' ledger, the stronger the wave they will...

Occupy D.C. Protester Charged With Assaulting Cop Released to Halfway HouseBy Benjamin R. Freed in News on February 9, 2012 2:30 PM The Occupy D.C. protester who allegedly hurled a bottle of Coca-Cola into the face of a U.S. Park Police officer at last weekend's massive clearing out of McPherson Square was released today to a halfway house pending his next court date. Appearing in D.C. Superior Court, Jeremiah D. DeSousa, who was arrested moments after the officer was struck, waived his right to a pretrial hearing and instead will appear at a felony status conference on February 28. DeSousa...

Pelosi might have skirted House ethics rules on campaign solicitationsBy Russell Berman - 02/09/12 05:06 PM ET House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) might have briefly run afoul of congressional ethics rules at a Capitol press conference on Thursday when she made a statement that could be construed as a solicitation for campaign contributions. The Democratic leader was holding a briefing to promote a campaign finance disclosure bill when she said she was “asking people to contribute to us, if they want to elect more reformers to Congress.” House ethics rules prohibit members of Congress from soliciting campaign donations in...

Taxes are set to go up on 160 million Americans in a few weeks. But there’s little sign of urgency — let alone progress — coming out of Washington. House lawmakers dashed out of town Thursday for a four-day weekend, but not before engaging in another round of sniping. Meanwhile, the clock continued to tick toward the end-of-month expiration of the 2 percent payroll tax holiday. Democrats formally rejected two GOP measures to rework unemployment insurance – provisions that Republicans say are needed to gain their support to extend the tax credit. One tweak would force people who receive unemployment...

he prognosis for Fox’s critically praised medical drama “House” is terminal. Fox has pulled the plug on the medical drama, which stars Hugh Laurie as a cranky, though brilliant doctor. Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-drama-house-hugh-laurie-article-1.1019474#ixzz1lsTD6koI

Federal workers' union criticizes $260B House GOP transportation planBy Keith Laing - 02/08/12 02:31 PM ET A union that represents employees of numerous federal agencies accused Republicans in the House of Representatives of cutting benefits to fund their $260 billion surface transportation bill. The Washington, D.C.-based National Treasury Employees Union sharply criticized H.R. 3813, the Securing Annuities for Federal Employees Act of 2012, arguing the legislation would divert savings from spending less on federal employees' pensions to the Highway Trust Fund. The bill, which was sponsored by Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.), was approved Tuesday by the House Oversight and Government...

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney scoffed at Republican primary candidate Mitt Romney’s criticism of a new rule that will require all health insurance policies – except for people working directly in a church or seminary – to cover sterilization and FDA-approved contraceptives, including those that induce abortions, saying that Romney backed a near-identical policy as governor of Massachusetts. The new policy, part of Obamacare and due to go into effect on Aug. 1, has been denounced by the U.S. Catholic of Conference Bishops (USCCB) as a violation of religious liberty that would force

House panel approves Keystone pipeline billBy Ben Geman - 02/07/12 04:27 PM ET The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday approved legislation that would reverse President Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline. The bill is the latest GOP-led effort to advance the Alberta-to-Texas pipeline. Republicans are also trying to punish Obama politically ahead of the 2012 election for failing to greenlight the project that GOP lawmakers call a way to create jobs and boost energy security. Rep. Lee Terry’s (R-Neb.) bill — which passed the powerful committee in a 33-20 vote — is likely heading for...

House insider trading bill takes dig at PelosiBy David Lawder | Reuters – 1 hr 17 mins ago WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the House of Representatives will take an election-year dig at top Democrat Nancy Pelosi in changes added to a fast-moving ethics bill, adding new curbs to prevent government officials from gaining special access to initial public stock offerings. A senior House Republican aide said on Tuesday the so-called "Pelosi Provision" would strengthen the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act passed by the Senate last week. **SNIP** The provision, one of a number of changes drafted by...

House Republicans want Justice to intervene in Solyndra fight with ObamaBy Andrew Restuccia - 02/03/12 01:34 PM ET House Republicans on Friday called on the Justice Department to intervene in the ongoing fight over the Obama administration’s $535 million loan guarantee to failed solar firm Solyndra. The GOP lawmakers pressed Attorney General Eric Holder to invalidate a 2011 Energy Department restructuring agreement that ensured private investors who agreed to inject more capitol into Solyndra would be repaid ahead of the taxpayer if the company collapsed. Republicans have blasted the Energy Department for “subordinating” the taxpayers’ interest in the agreement, arguing...

White House gives up more Solyndra docsBy Andrew Restuccia and Ben Geman - 02/03/12 06:45 PM ET Amid threats by a top House Republican to pursue contempt charges, the White House on Friday sent lawmakers more internal documents related to the $535 million loan guarantee to failed solar firm Solyndra. The White House, in providing the 313 pages of documents, again denied that approval of the loan guarantee in 2009 was influenced by politics, an allegation that Republicans have repeated for months. “Notwithstanding the lack of any evidence supporting the Committee’s allegations of favoritism to campaign donors or other alleged...

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.

Pelosi tells Hollywood fundraisers Dems have 'a real chance' to take back HouseBy Justin Sink - 01/31/12 04:50 PM ET Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told a crowd of top Hollywood fundraisers that Democrats have "a real chance" to retake control of the House in 2012, according to a report in the Hollywood Reporter. Pelosi met with a group of more than 50 fundraisers and consultants Monday at the house of Haim Saban, the billionaire television producer who leads the ownership group of Spanish-language television network Univision. "They identified between 50 and 75 seats that are definitely vulnerable," one attendee told...

House GOP seeks to bar the use of welfare funds at strip clubsBy Russell Berman - 01/31/12 01:47 PM ET House Republicans don’t want Uncle Sam paying for any more lap dances. A bill that GOP leaders are bringing to the House floor Wednesday would require states to prevent welfare recipients from accessing or spending their benefits at strip clubs, casinos and liquor stores. Republicans included the proposal in the payroll tax bill the House passed in December, and are bringing it back up for a vote separately as part of a package of bills they want included in a...

Did Newt Gingrich resign his speakership “in disgrace,” as Mitt Romney alleged in last Monday night’s debate? No, but he didn’t have the votes to keep the job. On November 3, 1998, Republicans lost five seats in the House of Representatives, shaving their majority to 223 seats, leaving them with a dangerously thin margin. Three days later, Newt Gingrich announced he would not run for a third term as speaker. The pressure had been building for months. In January 1997, Gingrich narrowly won a second term as speaker with only 216 votes — out of 228 Republicans. (Several of them...

U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee are formally requesting that the White House turn over internal memoranda ( on Health Care Negotiations ) previously kept shrouded from Congress and the public... For more than two years, members of the Energy and Commerce Committee have (sat on their hands or grooved to no avail}sought access to this information, which details administration / special interest group (collusion) to pass the "health care law".

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A new surrogate for Mitt Romney warned Saturday night that if Newt Gingrich is the nominee he could give Democrats united control of Congress. Henry Barbour, a top Rick Perry fundraiser who endorsed Mitt Romney after the Texas governor dropped out, said Gingrich could not beat President Obama and would cost Republicans many House and Senate seats. Barbour told The Hill that endorsing Romney and coming to his South Carolina rally was a "very easy decision" because of Gingrich, who he said would turn the presidential race from a referendum on Obama into "the adventures of Newt...

President Barack Obama's appointments to two key agencies during the Senate's year-end break ensures that GOP senators will return to work Monday in an angry and fighting mood. Less clear is what those furious Republicans will do to retaliate against Obama's "bring it on" end run around the Senate's role in confirming nominees to major jobs. While Republicans contemplate their next step, recess appointee Richard Cordray is running a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the National Labor Relations Board, with three temporary members, is now at full strength with a Democratic majority. Obama left more than70 other nominees in...

As rancorous and partisan as Congress was in 2011, Capitol Hill looks to be even more politically charged this year, as House Republican leaders plan a sustained attack on the Obama administration’s domestic agenda. House Speaker John A. Boehner said Friday he has asked all House committee chairmen to review President Obama’s economic and jobs policies to find ways to counterbalance “the devastating impact these policies have on our economy.”

Brother testifies in favor of “Terri Schiavo Day” by Matt Lacy – Bobby Schindler, the brother of Terri Schiavo testified on Tuesday in support of a New Hampshire bill proclaiming March 31 of each year as a day to remember Terri Schiavo. Schiavo, who spent 15 years on a feeding tube, became a focal point over the right to die issue and highlighted the need for individuals to have a living will specifying their wishes.. On February 25, 1990 Schiavo collapsed while at home. After being admitted to the hospital, doctors were unable to determine an exact cause of...

House GOP leaders get heat from rank-and-file ahead of debt voteBy Erik Wasson - 01/16/12 05:00 AM ET House Republicans want to embarrass President Obama with a vote on the debt ceiling this week but they may get some heartburn courtesy of rank-and-file conservatives. House Republicans on Wednesday will vote to disapprove a request by Obama to add $1.2 trillion to the $15.2 trillion debt. The vote affords an opportunity to highlight multiple trillion-dollar deficits under the president’s leadership. Some conservatives members are angry however that the vote, like an earlier debt-ceiling increase in September, has no teeth and plan...

White House sends GOP another batch of Solyndra documentsBy Andrew Restuccia and Ben Geman - 01/13/12 05:38 PM ET The White House on Friday sent more internal documents to Republicans investigating the $535 million loan guarantee to failed solar firm Solyndra, arguing that the cache of emails should satisfy GOP investigators. The emails show senior White House aides discussing the need to coordinate messaging with the Energy Department and others ahead of Solyndra layoffs that occurred in early November 2010. Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee have been pressuring the White House for weeks to release more Solyndra...

Yesterday, as the New Hampshire returns rolled in, I tweeted wearily, “I’d hoped for something different.� The incomparable Stephen Kruiser tweeted back, “You’re young. Get used to saying that if you plan on staying in the GOP.�That wisdom returned to me this morning when I read this from CNSNews.com: When the Republican-controlled House approved its first CR on March 4, 2011, the national debt was 14,182,627,184,881.03, according to the U.S. Treasury. As of the close of business on Jan. 9, 2012, the national debt was 15,236,506,139,986.86.That means the debt increased by $1.05 trillion over the past ten months.That equals approximately...

The House Republican leading the investigation into the Obama administration’s $535 million Solyndra loan guarantee alleged Tuesday that White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley resigned in part because of the GOP probe into the failed solar company. “I understand his desire to leave the White House given the seriousness of this and other investigations marring the integrity and credibility of this Administration,” Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s investigative panel, said in a statement. Stearns, who is heading up a months-long Republican investigation

Moran Stages Another Attempted Democrat House Floor CaperBy Billy House and Kelsey Snell | National Journal – 6 hrs ago As House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and a group of other House members continued their trip through Latin America, Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., took to the House floor on Tuesday in the second Democratic effort since Friday to embarrass House Republicans for not being in Washington working on the extension of the payroll-tax holiday and unemployment insurance. But few Americans beyond the 25 people sitting in the House gallery saw what happened on Tuesday, which was much like what occurred...

Indiana House Dems end chamber boycott, GOP plans initial vote on divisive labor billBy Associated Press, Published: January 9 INDIANAPOLIS — A divisive labor bill is back in Republican hands after Indiana House Democrats on Monday ended a three-day boycott of the chamber to stall the measure. Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma said the right-to-work bill will get a committee vote Tuesday morning and could make it out of his chamber by the end of the week if Democrats continue to attend House sessions. **SNIP** Republicans want to make Indiana the first state in more than a decade to enact...

House liberals cheer proposed Obama administration immigration reformBy Mike Lillis - 01/08/12 05:40 PM ET Several senior House liberals are cheering President Obama this week after his administration proposed new rules making it easier for some illegal immigrants to remain in the country while they apply for citizenship. "The President deserves credit for setting in place another essential building block through administrative action – moving us closer to a common sense immigration policy – that puts America, its families and its economy first," Rep. Xavier Becerra (Calif.), vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said Friday in a statement. The...

June 07, 2010 I SUPPOSE IF I SUGGESTED SUMMARY EXECUTION I WOULD BE CALLED "HARSH"? SNIPPET: "U.S. Intelligence Analyst Arrested in Wikileaks Video Probe Note that he didn't just lift a video and send it to Wikileaks. He also stole and released 260,000 classified US State Department diplomatic cables."

Republicans block Dem leader Clyburn from speaking on House floorBy Pete Kasperowicz - 01/06/12 10:13 AM ET House Republicans on Friday morning blocked Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn (D-SC) from speaking on the House floor during a brief pro forma session. After the daily prayer and pledge of allegiance, Clyburn rose to spoke, but presiding officer Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) said Clyburn was "out of order," and that no business was to be conducted during these pro forma sessions. Denham then gaveled the session closed. Republicans in late December prevented House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) from speaking on the...

Bauer Hints At New Walkout Over Right To WorkRepublicans Adamant To Push Bill Through UPDATED: 1:07 pm EST January 4, 2012 INDIANAPOLIS -- The leader of Indiana's House Democrats hinted Wednesday that party lawmakers may walk out for the second year in a row to oppose the same Republican "right-to-work" bill blocked last year by their five-week boycott. But some lawmakers seemed split on whether to make such a move. House Democratic Leader Patrick Bauer told The Associated Press that his caucus planned to meet Wednesday to debate how to handle the GOP proposal that would make Indiana the 23rd...

Did you miss the Christmas White House visitor log document dump? Share By Michelle Malkin • January 2, 2012 03:31 PM Yes, again. Those bulldozers are working overtime. Over Thanksgiving, I told you about the last batch of White House visitor logs quietly dumped over a busy holiday season. I noted MSNBC host Rachel Maddow’s August 5 visit (along with several other prog media personalities). It was her fifth visit to Casa Obama; she didn’t respond to questions about what she and her pals discussed with the president. She does, however, have the audacity to blast others in the media...

House Democrats prepping for fight over proposed cuts to jobless benefitsBy Vicki Needham - 12/26/11 07:15 AM ET House Democrats are critical of GOP proposals that make sweeping changes to the federal unemployment benefits program, but are holding back specifics on how they intend to work out those differences as both sides line up for a battle over extending jobless assistance. The two sides face a deep divide on what to include and how to cover the $200 billion cost of jobless benefits legislation that is expected to extend the policies through the 2012 elections. On the cusp of early...

Democrats believe their chances of recapturing the House have improved significantly after what was widely seen as a GOP meltdown in the payroll tax debate. Democrats believe the messy fight has helped narrow the advantage Republicans have traditionally held on tax policy. Democrats have long espoused populist tax policy, with mixed results in recent years. Democratic strategists think that is about to change as high unemployment rates have given new traction to their proposals, which Republicans dismiss as class warfare. Tad Devine, a Democratic strategist, said he believes Democrats can recapture the House in part because of growing public resentment...

Far too often, Congress passes legislation without considering the real world ramifications of their actions. As you can see from the chart provided by Speaker Boehner which compares the Senate and House provisions, the Senate bill does little to help Americans who are struggling to make ends meet. Furthermore, as Charles Krauthammer points out in his Op-ed, this dreadful legislation creates so much work, and additional cost, that many businesses will struggle to implement this abbreviated tax cut. When I’m elected to the Senate, I will not compromise my principles to pass legislation that creates more problems than it solves....

We Stand for Principle Over Politicsand the Establishment Can't Stand It December 21, 2011 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: "House Democrats tried Wednesday to force a vote on the Senate’s two-month extension of the payroll-tax cut, but Republicans gaveled the House closed to prevent them from having a chance, as top GOP leaders huddled down the hall to try to figure a way out of the mess. The House was set to hold a pro forma session, but two top Democrats, Reps. Steny H. Hoyer and Chris Van Hollen, demanded to be recognized to try to force a vote on the...

Just across from National Journal. Our dumb national nightmare is over. House Republicans on Thursday crumpled under the weight of White House and public pressure and have agreed to pass a two-month extension of the 2 percent payroll-tax cut, Republican and Democratic sources told National Journal…The House will pass the two-month extension with a technical correction to the language designed to minimize difficulties businesses might experience implementing the short-term, two-month tax cut extension. In exchange, Reid agreed to appoint several Senate Democrats to start negotiating with the House on a full-year payroll-tax holiday extension, which is right in line with...

Yesterday the House voted to reject a Senate plan for temporarily extending the payroll-tax cut and subsequently moved to recess, and they deserve credit for doing so. This move does not eliminate the possibility of extending the tax cut, which expires at the end of December: The House previously passed a bill extending the cut for a full year, and that bill is good policy. It doesn’t increase the deficit. It forces a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline. And it’s President Obama’s major year-end priority. So why is the Democratic Senate blocking the bill’s path between Capitol Hill and...

It appears that four current members of the United States House of Representatives received loans via the VIP program of Countrywide Financial Corporation. Once again the motives of the former giant mortgage institution have been brought into question. Where they trying to peddle influence with these loans? Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) is the Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and he has been investigating the VIP program for a number years. Issa reportedly learned about the four loans after issuing a subpoena to Bank of America. Countrywide was purchased by Bank of America in 2008 and...

The White House is renewing its call for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down, saying his regime does not deserve to rule. The White House said Wednesday in a statement that Assad's regime has no credibility and has "flagrantly violated" its commitment to end violence. The statement said the Obama administration is deeply disturbed by continued reports of government-backed violence against the Syrian people. Witnesses said more than 200 people have been in killed in two days of violence this week. The violence came after Assad agreed to allow foreign monitors under an Arab League plan aimed at stopping...

House Seeks Full-Year Payroll Tax Relief Extension to Help Families & Job Creators Posted by Don Seymour on December 20, 2011 Today the House of Representatives will seek to extend payroll tax relief for a full year to help families and job creators by moving to a formal conference committee that can resolve the differences between the House and Senate-passed bills. Early last week, the House passed a reasonable, responsible bill that extends payroll tax relief for a full year, reforms and extends unemployment insurance, and includes a two-year “doc fix” while also advancing bipartisan measures that support private-sector job...

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said on Monday the House will defeat the Senate’s two-month extension of the payroll tax and will seek a conference committee to resolve differences between the Senate bill and the House’s one-year extension of the payroll tax cut. “It’s time to stop the nonsense,” Boehner told a news conference. “Why do we have to go to the lowest common denominator?” Boehner said Senate Democrats must come back to Washington and admit that their bill is dead and cannot be resurrected. Boehner also noted that President Obama “has said repeatedly” that Congress should not leave Washington...

Members of the House of Representatives are being told that no holiday greetings, including “Merry Christmas,” can be sent out in official mail. According to the Washington Examiner, members who submit official mailings for review by the congressional franking commission that reviews all congressional mail to determine if it can be "franked," or paid for with tax dollars, are being told that no holiday greetings, including "Merry Christmas," can be sent. "I called the commission to ask for clarification and was told no 'Merry Christmas.' Also told cannot say 'Happy New Year' but can say 'have a happy new year'...

“You’re talking to a guy who is really sad but also who is really angry,” Rep. John Dingell told Roll Call in a wide-ranging interview on the eve of the 56th anniversary of his 1955 entry to Congress.

The House on Thursday approved legislation Republicans said was aimed at ensuring the EPA cannot regulate so-called "farm dust." The House on Thursday afternoon approved legislation Republicans said was aimed at ensuring that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cannot regulate so-called "farm dust." The Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act, H.R. 1633, which would prevent the EPA from issuing any new rule over the next year that regulates coarse particulate matter, or "nuisance dust," passed in a 268-150 vote.

Listen to Joe Kaufman discuss Libya, Israel, Florida and Debbie W Schultz's future here: http://freedomradiorocks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Joe-Kaufman-live-interview-162.mp3 Learn more about Joe at http://kaufmanforcongress.com Go to http://freedomradiorocks.com and here the entire show with Free Republic's fan Joyce Kauffman of 850 WFTL of Fort Lauderdale and Tim Sumner's National Security Update at http://freedomradiorocks.com . Go to our website and subscribe by hitting the iTunes button and never miss our show!

On Thursday morning, Attorney General Eric Holder will appear before the House Judiciary Committee and he’s set to get grilled over Operation Fast and Furious. Fast and Furious was a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives program overseen by the Justice Department. The operation facilitated the sale of thousands of weapons to Mexican drug cartels via straw purchasers. Straw purchasers are people who legally purchase guns in the United States with the known intention of illegally trafficking them into Mexico. At least 300 people in Mexico were killed with Fast and Furious weapons, as was U.S. Border Patrol agent...

Pelosi and the Consequences of Throwing Stones in Glass HousesBy Patricia Campion | Yahoo! Contributor Network – 16 hrs ago **SNIP** Perhaps the rapid walk-back by camp Pelosi was inspired by a sudden fear Gingrich knows a lot about her too. That little trip she took to Syria in 2007, for example, where she violated the Logan Act. Despite White House objections then-Speaker Pelosi fly to Syria where she claimed to bring a message from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to President Bashar Assad saying Israel was ready for peace talks. The only problem was, as reported by the Washington...

A White House spokesman pointed Friday to an account published by the left-wing advocacy group Media Matters for America in its denial of three online claims that President Barack Obama was briefed about the failed “Operation Fast and Furious” gun-walking program in 2010. According to recently released White House visitor logs, then-Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler was admitted to the White House four times in 2010 between May 7 and May 19. The Los Angeles Times has reported that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives program was at its peak during May 2010.

Despite a subpoena, the White House is still withholding records related to the failed $535 million federal loan to Solyndra, Republican investigators from the House Energy and Commerce Committee said Thursday. In a letter to White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler today, Republican committee Chairman Fred Upton and subcommittee chairman Cliff Stearns said the White House had not fully complied with the committee’s Nov. 3 subpoena for documents concerning the Solyndra loan. “[D]ocuments already in the Committee’s possession clearly indicate that you have numerous other documents in your possession which are responsive to the subpoena, but which have not been produced,”...