Free Republic

There are now 23 Democrats who won't seek reelection in the 2022 midterms as Representative Albio Sires from New Jersey plans to retire and party leadership desperately grips their slim majority in the House.... ...With a series of upcoming retirements, Democrats' majority in the House looks increasingly vulnerable, and Pelosi can only afford to lose three seats in order to keep her party in power.... [list of the 23 at link]

“It’s time to put down the gavel,” Patrick Leahy declared a few minutes ago in bowing out of the 2022 midterms. “It’s time to pass the torch to the next Vermonter.” It’s the identity of the next Vermonter that will worry Democrats, who have to defend another open seat in an election cycle that looks to be a disaster already.It doesn’t help that the heir apparent within Democrat ranks is only seven years younger than Leahy himself:Leahy is chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and also president pro tempore of the Senate, making him third in the line of succession...

You Down With CCP?Should an eight-term member of the House of Representatives–who is on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the Defense Intelligence and Warfighter Support Subcommittee–be buying into Chinese Communist Party (CCP) companies?If you answered YES, you are probably Vermont Rep. Peter Welch.Welch is just the latest United States politician to get caught with his hands in the cookie commie jar. Welch’s financial data shows that on March 15, 2019, he bought roughly $15,000 worth of shares in two Chinese funds, KraneShares Bosera MSCI China A ETF and KraneShares CSI China Internet...

Today, U.S. Representative Peter DeFazio (OR-04) introduced the Wall Street Tax Act, legislation to create a new tax on financial transactions that would generate billions in revenue, while reducing speculative trading and volatility in the market. “High-frequency traders front-run the market and drive up prices for individuals, pension funds and other value investors,” said Rep. Peter DeFazio. “Some days high-frequency traders trade billions of shares that they sometimes hold for only seconds or less. They reap enormous financial benefits for themselves and their privileged elite investors but add no value to our economy. Congress needs to rein in excessive speculative...

Democrats are sounding growing alarms in the final push before the midterm elections that the party lacks the message it needs to combat President Trump and win back Democratic majorities in Congress. Some of the comments are positively biting, and illustrate that nerves are on edge less than two weeks before Election Day. They also hint at the fights that will take place if Democrats under-perform and fail to at least win back the House majority, which would count as a significant disappointment at this stage. **SNIP** "There's one issue in this election: Donald Trump. That is it," Rep. Peter...

Got milk? Twenty-five members of Congress say if it's from soybeans, almond or rice, it should not be labeled as milk. Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), leading the bipartisan charge against “fake milk,” signed a letter along with other congressional members, asking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to investigate and take action against manufacturers of “milk” that doesn't come from cows.

A group of 23 liberal House Democrats urged Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thursday to delay Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to Congress next month. In the letter spearheaded by Reps. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the lawmakers argued that Netanyahu was being used as a "political tool" against President Obama. "As members of Congress who support Israel, we share concern that it appears that you are using a foreign leader as a political tool against the president," they wrote. Netanyahu's March 3 address will be just two weeks before the Israeli elections and...

Are you a Democrat who can provide legal justification for President Obama issuing work documents to illegal aliens in his proposed executive order? If so then you need to contact Lawrence O'Donnell, host of MSNBC's The Last Word. O'Donnell has claimed that he spent days trying to track down such a Democrat but was unable to find any who could provide such justification. Among those Democrats unable to provide a constitutional basis for that part of the executive order was Representative Peter Welch of Vermont who presented the face of befuddlement when asked that question by O'Donnell.

(CNSNews.com) – A group of House Democrats labeling themselves the Safe Climate Caucus held a press conference today to warn that if Congress does not address global warming, the country could face dire consequences, including detrimental effects to California wines and an end to Vermont skiing. One Democratic representative even worried that global warming could destroy the state of Maryland. “If we do nothing about what is happening, it will destroy our economy, it will destroy our state, and it will have a broad impact not just here in this country but around the world,” Maryland Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.)...

Democrats in House of Reps. joined J Street in supporting Obama administration's attempt to force Israel into making painful concessions Seventy-four Democrats in the House of Representatives have joined the dovish J Street organization in supporting the Obama administration's attempt to force Israel into making painful concessions to the Palestinian Authority. “In our view, support for a two-state resolution is inseparable from such support for Israel, its special relationship with the United States, and its very survival as a democratic homeland for the Jewish people,” the letter said. Seven Jewish members signed the letter, including Reps. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), John...

Capitol Hill opponents of the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline are attacking the State Department’s finding that the proposed project will cause minimal environmental harm if managed properly.The State Department’s conclusion in an environmental analysis released Friday is a crucial step toward final federal approval of the 1,700-mile pipeline, which would bring crude from Alberta’s oil sands projects to Gulf Coast refineries.But the finding isn’t sitting well with Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), who called the analysis flawed, alleging the State Department failed to “adequately asses the real environmental impact.” The pipeline would run through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska and...

Keith Ellison, widely hailed as America's first Muslim congressman, could more accurately be described as CAIR and Hamas' man in Congress. Congressman Ellison has been a regular presence at CAIR fundraisers and at pro-Hamas rallies in the United States. As a former member of Farrakhan's Nation of Islam , Ellison has enough anti-semitic and Islamist credentials to satisfy anyone, and had expressed openly anti-semitic beliefs in the past. Since Ellison got his start with CAIR , his attempt to provide support for Hamas is completely unsurprising. Both Hamas and CAIR are projects of the Muslim Brotherhood, which also helped...

In a rousing speech that drew an overflow crowd to the University of Vermont on Friday, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama endorsed Bernie Sanders for U.S. Senate and Peter Welch for the U.S. House, saying the country could use a "nice cool blast of the truth." The rising star of the Democrats said Americans were starting to pay attention to their federal government and are ready for a "call to action." He called Sanders and Welch "two outstanding progressive candidates" who could bring about change in Washington He also praised former Gov. Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, who...