Free Republic

Watch the video of Ted Cruz on O'Reilly Factor. On the "O'Reilly Factor" Wednesday, Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) condemned Democrats for "choosing to stand with convicted felons like the murderer of Kate Steinle rather than with the American people."In his exchange with host Bill O'Reilly, Cruz discussed the Democrats' vote to block "Kate's Law," the measure named after Steinle that would impose a mandatory five-year sentence to any illegal immigrant that is deported and then found to have illegally returned to the U.S. Steinle was murdered by an convicted felon, multi-time deported illegal immigrant who was sheltered...

Join CWA of Illinois and other Illinois pro-life leaders this coming Thursday, September 3, for a press conference outside of Sen. Mark Kirk’s Chicago office. Earlier this month, Sen. Kirk voted AGAINST defunding Planned Parenthood despite undercover evidence of America’s largest abortion provider harvesting and haggling over the body parts of aborted children. Sen. Kirk needs to hear from Illinois pro-lifers right now.

Long-simmering tensions within the Republican Party spilled into public view Wednesday as the pragmatic and conservative wings of the GOP blamed each other in blunt terms for the party’s failure to capture the Senate. With tea party-backed candidates going down in Delaware, Colorado and Nevada, depriving Republicans of what would have been a 50-50 Senate, a bloc of prominent senators and operatives said party purists like Sarah Palin and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) had foolishly pushed nominees too conservative to win in politically competitive states. (snip) Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott put it plainly: “We did not nominate our...

Has Obama registered as an agent of the Islamic Republic of Iran yet? Why not? What would he be doing differently if he were one? “Senators: Obama Admin Hiding Secret Iran Deal Letters,” by Adam Kredo, Washington Free Beacon, August 19, 2015:Two leading U.S. senators are calling on the Obama administration to release secret letters to foreign governments assuring them that they will not be legally penalized for doing business with the Iranian government, according to a copy of a letter sent Wednesday to the State Department and obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.Sens. Mark Kirk (R., Ill.) and Marco...

The presidential administration that vowed to be the most transparent since the baptism of Nkuwu Nzinga has once again demonstrated that such vows mean nothing to it. In addition to the secretive manner in which Secretary of State John Kerry conducted negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran over its nuclear program — in itself secretive — there was also the matter of secret “side deals” between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency. And now, additional side deals, this time between President Barack Obama and the leaders of foreign governments, have also come to light. Republican Sens. Marco Rubio...

Two leading U.S. senators are calling on the Obama administration to release secret letters to foreign governments assuring them that they will not be legally penalized for doing business with the Iranian government, according to a copy of a letter sent Wednesday to the State Department and obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. Sens. Mark Kirk (R., Ill.) and Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) disclosed in the letter to the State Department that U.S. lawmakers have been shown copies of several letters sent by the Obama administration to the Chinese, German, French, and British governments assuring them that companies doing business

Reflections on the Kirk campaign and the helper scandal… In the classic Kaufman & Hecht comedy “The Front Page” (and its wild remake, “His Girl Friday”), there is a moment when everything looks darkest for our heroes, as the governor and mayor are about to arrest the publisher and editor for harboring an escaped criminal… when all of a sudden a piece of evidence falls into their hands (proof of attempted bribery of one Mr. Pettibone by the governor and mayor), which gives them a second chance, an opportunity to escape punishment for their error and come back on top,...

Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) is moving to block future State Department funding and nominees unless President Barack Obama guarantees that Congress will have the authority to fully review a recently inked nuclear accord with Iran before the deal is approved by the United Nations, according to a copy of a letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. Cruz, a vocal opponent of the administration’s diplomacy with Iran, maintains that the White House is seeking to circumvent congressional review of the deal by going straight to the U.N. Such a move could lift key sanctions on Iran before Congress has...

If only American politics were a movie, then Sen. Mark Kirk could blurt out whatever comes to his mind. The media would be astonished at the honesty. They'd call it endearing. Soon, Washington would speak a dead language: direct talk. And filmgoers across the land would feel a wave of the warm and fuzzies. But that's the movies. And Sen. Kirk knows this isn't some picture show. Hollywood tried that blurting honestly plot with "Bulworth" and it flopped, miserably. By now you know the issue: Kirk just blurts things out, like his already famous "bro with no ho" comment. Audio:...

It took Republicans three tries to win control of the US Senate and consolidate Congress under their leadership. In the end, the landscape left by the 2008 Democratic triumph left them uniquely vulnerable in the sixth-year midterm of an unpopular presidency. The tables will turn in 2016, warns National Journal’s Charlie Cook, as the gains of 2010 will make Republicans highly vulnerable to losing control of the Senate once again: Today, The Cook Political Report puts two Republican-held seats in the “Toss Up” category—the open seat in Florida and Kirk in Illinois. That toss-up column will certainly grow as...

This morning on radio, Glenn gave some hints from an important phone call he received before going on the air. While Glenn was unable to release any of the details about who called or exactly what it was about, he did share a snippet of content concerning the GOP. Courtesy of Glenn, we do know that there were “big names involved” and Glenn was “encouraged by who it came from.”Glenn did provide some of the message from the mystery caller, saying“Just please tell Glenn to continue to put the heat on. Because the party is split. And half of...

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) today issued the following statement condemning the espionage charges filed by the Iranian regime against The Washington Post reporter, Jason Rezaian: “It appears that Mr. Rezaian is being persecuted because of his profession as a reporter and his American citizenship. Freedom of press is a right that should be guaranteed to all individuals regardless of their nationality. We urge the Iranian government to immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Rezaian. “This case is just the latest example of the true nature of the Iranian regime. The Obama Administration should demand...

Did anyone think one of the Senate’s most reliable RINOs, who’s up for reelection next year not just in a very blue state but in Barack Obama’s home state, and who supported the Schumer/Rubio Gang of Eight amnesty bill, was going to go to the mat to block Obama’s pick for AG to protest executive amnesty?Conservative Republicans won’t stick up for religious liberty even in red states for fear of being called bigots. The odds of a moderate Republican opposing the first black woman Attorney General of the United States in a Democratic stronghold were precisely zero. “I am...

Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk on Thursday slammed President Barack Obama's announcement of a framework nuclear agreement with Iran, contending it will lead to a "total meltdown" in U.S. relations with Middle Eastern allies. Kirk, a former Navy Reserve intelligence officer, is among the strongest supporters of using economic sanctions against Iran in an effort to force the country to divest any efforts to gain access to nuclear weapons. Under the conditions of the framework reached between the U.S., five other world powers and Iran, United Nations sanctions that have threatened Iran's economy would be lifted. "It looks like they...

Republicans are debating whether their path to the presidency in 2016 runs through the blue-collar Rust Belt states, or the demographically changing new South and Sunbelt states. For Democrats looking to retake the Senate, however, the formula is more clear-cut: Win back white working-class voters, or be consigned to a longer-term minority. Most of the Senate battlegrounds run through the Midwest—Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio—along with New Hampshire, which carries demographic similarities with those older, whiter Great Lakes states. To defeat the vulnerable Republican incumbents, Democrats have a challenging task ahead: Making inroads with blue-collar voters, who have been stubbornly resistant...

Rep. Tammy Duckworth D-Ill., made it official on Monday and announced her 2016 Senate in a video, largely autobiographical, titled “Tammy Duckworth is running for the Senate.” As first reported in the Chicago Sun-Times, Duckworth, a wounded Iraq war vet, elected to her second term last November, is looking in 2016 to clinch the Democratic nomination and take on Sen. Mark Kirk R-Ill. Kirk is a top target for the Senate Democrats as he seeks a second term. Duckworth does not mention his name in her announcement video. Duckworth describers herself as a wife, a mom and a combat veteran...

The latest move in the nuclear negotiations with Iran could be to take them to the United Nations. And that will trigger a Republican hatefest for the ages.The Obama administration hinted Thursday that it may take elements of an Iranian nuclear deal to the United Nations -- while bypassing Congress for now. And that possibility has turned an already ugly political fight over the negotiations even nastier. In one scenario floated this week, the White House would not immediately put aspects of an Iran deal up for a vote in Congress. Instead, the Obama administration would take aspects of the...

Forty-seven Senate Republicans are signaling in an open letter to Iran and the White House that a deal over Tehran’s nuclear program will be at risk once President Obama leaves office. “It has come to our attention while observing your nuclear negotiations with our government that you may not fully understand our constitutional system,” the senators wrote in the letter, which was first reported by Bloomberg. “Thus, we are writing to bring to your attention two features of our Constitution — the power to make binding international agreements and the different character of federal offices — which you should seriously...

Signers include former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Sens. Susan Collins and Mark Kirk and Massachusetts Gov. Charlie BakerMore than 300 veteran Republican lawmakers, operatives and consultants have filed a friend of the court brief at the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage late Thursday. The amicus brief, organized by former Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, was filed for the four same-sex marriage cases the Court will hear on April 28 that could legalize the unions nationwide. In 2013, Mehlman marshaled a similar effort for the case that overturned California’s Proposition 8, which had banned same-sex marriage...

Sen. Kirk: Chicago Could End Up Like Detroit If Mayor Emanuel Not Re-Elected March 2, 2015 Craig Dellimore (CBS) — Republican U.S. Senator Mark Kirk has given his tacit endorsement of Mayor Rahm Emanuel for re-election, reports WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore. He refused to call it an endorsement, but Senator Mark Kirk made clear he feels Chicago would risk dire financial straits like Detroit has seen if Mayor Emanuel is not re-elected.