Free Republic

A new Quinnipiac poll has Rand Paul tied for 5th. That’s eight different polls since November showing Paul in 4th place or worse. There was a moment in 2013 when political realignment was within our grasp– a once-in-a-generation opportunity to unite conservatives and progressives under the banner of classic Jeffersonian liberalism. That window is closed– squandered by the mind-boggling incompetence of senior adviser Doug Stafford. I know what you’re thinking: It’s still early! Polls don’t matter until [some arbitrary future date]. (SNIP) Rand could meet with Al Sharpton again. Because that went over so well the first time. Rand could...

Against State’s New RFRA Bill This year’s Final Four in Indianapolis has become an awkward event for many, because of a recent bill passed in the state of Indiana that many fear can be used to discriminate against the LGBTQ community. Dick Vitale has already backed the idea of moving NCAA events out of the state, and USC athletic director Pat Haden will not attend an upcoming College Football Playoff meeting in the city out of respect for his gay son. UConn has also announced that its coaching staff would not make the trip to the Final Four. Kentucky superfan...

GOP presidential hopeful Ted Cruz is getting a big polling bump after his announcement that he will seek his party's nomination, Public Policy Polling reports. Support for the first-term Texas senator, who opened his national campaign office in Houston on Tuesday, rose from 5 percent to 16 percent, PPP noted, pushing Cruz into the top-tier of Republicans who will likely make a primary run. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is leading the pack, followed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and then Cruz, whose popularity with conservatives in his party is growing, PPP said of its latest survey of likely GOP...

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and a delegation of senior committee leaders were in Saudi Arabia’s capital on Tuesday to continue a series of visits with key allies in the Middle East. In meetings with Saudi Interior Minister Mohammad bin Naif and Saudi Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman, lawmakers expressed appreciation for the historic partnership between the two countries. Talks focused on our efforts to address the threats posed by ISIL and Iran’s rising influence in the region. Saudi Arabia is leading a coalition of Arab states in a campaign against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen....

Juan Williams: Boehner’s Trip to Israel is RacistPosted By Daniel Greenfield On March 31, 2015 @ 1:03 am In The Point | No Comments “Something something racist.” A Democratic argument from 2008 to 2016.Juan Williams is back and he wants you to know that Boehner’s trip to Israel is racist. Also all trips are racist. And all planes. Especially white planes. The real issue here is the way Boehner is recklessly sowing division along party lines on Israel. He is also — intentionally or not — heightening the silent but simmering racial tensions that increasingly divide Americans on the subject.The...

KUWAIT CITY, KUWAIT – During a visit to Iraq on Monday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and senior lawmakers met with the country’s leaders and our ambassador and commanders on the ground to assess efforts to defeat ISIL and combat Iran’s rising influence. In Baghdad, the delegation met with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Speaker of the Council of Representatives of Iraq Salim al-Jabouri. Lawmakers also met with U.S. Ambassador Stuart Jones and Lt. General James L. Terry, commander, Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve. Similar to the delegation’s visit to Jordan, discussions in Baghdad focused on Iran’s rising...

Less than a week after leaving the Republican Party, Glenn Beck had something to say about how Ted Cruz should approach the primaries. Leave Scott Walker and Rand Paul alone. Otherwise, Beck warned, “we’re just going to end up with Jeb Bush.” (Bill O’Reilly was skeptical about Beck’s whole GOP-leaving business.) Cruz professed his admiration for Paul and Cruz, but didn’t quite commit to refrain from criticizing them. That’s because he can’t. The Republican presidential race can be split into the conservative primary and the establishment primary. Beck isn’t wrong that a divided conservative vote could benefit Bush, but there...

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) traveled to Baghdad on Monday, where he met Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to discuss the political and security situation there, according to the prime minister's office. In another meeting with Speaker Salim al-Jabouri, Boehner affirmed support for Iraq's democratic system and discussed the shared U.S. determination to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), according to a parliamentary statement provided to The Hill by a local journalist. The Speaker's visit with a congressional delegation comes as local forces, including Iranian-backed Shiite militias, work to retake the city of Tikrit, about 100 miles northwest...

The sweeping re-election of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie proves moderates are an integral part of the Republican Party, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky says. “There’s room in the Republican Party for moderates, like Chris Christie. They seem to be the only ones that are winning in the Northeast,” Paul told “The Steve Malzberg Show” on Newsmax TV. “The other thing that might happen in the Northeast if we had a little more libertarian-leaning Republicans, they would have a chance in the Northeast. But there’s room for moderates, like Chris Christie, and he’s got a place in the party.” …

Amman - His Majesty King Abdullah II, on Monday, received a delegation of US senators, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The meeting reviewed ways to strengthen Jordan-US relations in various fields, and the latest regional and international developments. His Majesty the King expressed his appreciation for the United States' efforts to support Jordan in dealing with various challenges facing the region, and the aid that the US provided to the Kingdom, which helps Jordan implement its comprehensive and development plans and programs. The meeting tackled the latest developments in the Middle East, particularly endeavors to combat the threat...

His Majesty King Abdullah II received on Sunday, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, John Boehner, and his accompanying delegation to discuss Middle East issues. The meeting, which was attended by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah and His Royal Highness Prince Faisal Bin Al Hussein, dealt with Jordanian-US ties and ways to enhance these, especially in political and economic fields, in addition to regional and international developments, top of which are efforts to combat terrorism and extremist ideology and achieve peace in the region. The King said efforts should be ramped up to fend off the threat of...

As Secretary of State John Kerry and his P5+1 counterparts sought to finalize the political outlines of a comprehensive agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Sunday stood alongside the talks’ most vocal critic, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and reiterated that Congress must approve any deal.

Tim Cook: Apple Will Oppose Bills Like Indiana's 'Religious Freedom' Law Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook on Sunday broadened his criticism of a new law in Indiana, which opponents say could be used to discriminate against gay people, to other states that he says have similar laws. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law Thursday, sparking an outcry from those, including Cook, who say it could be used to protect businesses that refuse to serve gay people. The law's supporters say it will prevent the government from forcing business owners from providing services that go...

Late last summer, with midterms consuming the attention of the political class, a group of GOP activists spent two days in Des Moines trying to convince their fellow Republicans that change was coming to their party. With eyes on 2016, they attended the Iowa State Fair, talked with newspaper editorial boards, and even ventured onto conservative talk radio. To cap it off, on the last evening, supporters gathered at 801 Chophouse, the upscale watering hole of the city's political elite, as if to announce their movement had gone mainstream. That it couldn't be dismissed as fringe any longer. Their issue,...

Scott Walker and Jeb Bush were bound to collide sooner or later. It turned out to be sooner. As the son of a Baptist minister, and the son of the 41st president of the United States, these two were destined to be the odd couple of the 2016 election. Walker is running against the establishment and the Washington elites. Bush embodies both. Walker will need at least $100 million to compete in the GOP primary, and more if he makes it to the general. Most of the Republican donors who write those kinds of checks are on Bush’s speed dial....

PM Netanyahu at Cabinet: I just met US Senate Republican leader McConnell. Over the weekend I spoke with US Senate Democratic leader Reid. » I heard from both of them about strong and continuing bipartisan support for Israel and of course this is very important. » I expressed our concern over the agreement formulated with Iran in the nuclear talks, which appears to confirm all of our concerns and more» Even as meetings proceed on this dangerous agreement, Iran's proxies in Yemen are overrunning large sections of that country, » and are attempting to seize control of the strategic Bab-el-Mandeb...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) fired at Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), among others, calling their ideas “fiscally irresponsible and dangerous to the country” and “just as bad as the Democrats” after they voted to raise defense spending on Thursday without offsetting that with spending cuts to discretionary federal programs. Paul had introduced an amendment that would have raised defense spending, but offset that increase with cuts elsewhere, such as the Departments of Education, Energy and Commerce. That amendment competed with an amendment from Rubio that would have increased defense spending with no offsetting spending cuts—just a blanket...

Conservatives often find themselves at odds with the libertarian crowd. However, is that anger really warranted? As President Reagan once said, “If you analyze it, I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism.” True conservatives and libertarians, let’s not pretend there aren’t fakers on both side, all agree on the fundamentals: limited government, personal responsibility, and economic freedom. Neither group wants the government interfering in our daily lives and telling us what we can and cannot do. Now there may be slight disagreements on how that plays out in the policy arena, but we should not allow...

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., on Monday is expected to announce he's running for president. However well he ends up doing in the Republican primaries, one thing is for sure — the development is terrible news for Sen. Rand Paul's presidential ambitions. Whatever small chance Paul had in the 2016 presidential race was premised on his ability to reach beyond the core supporters of his father's, by articulating a message that appealed to a broader coalition of Republicans. The biggest opportunity Paul had for growth was with Tea Party voters who would be drawn to his limited government message. The biggest...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) argued for criminal justice reform at a historically black college in Maryland on Friday, in what has become a staple of his message to young voters and minorities ahead of a potential presidential run in 2016. Paul, who has frequently nodded to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s idea that there are “two Americas,” said in his speech at Bowie State University there’s one America where citizens are free to pursue their lives freely, and one where the federal government piles on with unnecessary laws, burdensome fines and regulations, and overly strict sentencing guidelines that contribute to keeping...