Free Republic

TRENTON, New Jersey — Republican Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday touted an anti-tax crusader's endorsement of a proposed 23-cent- per-gallon gasoline tax hike along with a sales tax cut, sweeping aside objections raised by Democratic leaders in the state Senate and voicing confidence that the measure would be passed in that chamber. Christie all but dared lawmakers not to act on his plan during a statehouse news conference, a day after the Assembly passed the plan to pay for a $2 billion a year transportation trust fund for eight years. The fund runs out of borrowing authority Friday, and Christie's...

John Kasich and two other prominent Republicans said on the one-year anniversary of Donald Trump’s announcement speech that they won’t endorse him for president. Kasich, who ran against Trump in the primary, was asked on MSNBC Thursday about the pledge he signed saying he would support the eventual nominee. “It’s painful,” the Ohio governor said, NPR reports. “Look I’m sorry that this has happened. We’ll see where it ends up. I’m not making any final decision yet, but at this point, I just can’t do it.’

Hillary Clinton laughed as the person introducing her omitted “under God” from the pledge of allegiance. Wednesday, during a campaign rally at Camden County College in New Jersey, the woman said, “Only Hillary can bring us together as one nation, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.” After the woman said “one nation,” she can be heard beginning to say under, but then caught herself. The crowd roared in approval.

Seventeen GOP presidential contenders pledged to support the eventual nominee, but now presumptive nominee Donald Trump is calling out former establishment darling Jeb Bush for not honoring that pledge. "Jeb Bush signed a pledge and basically it says I’m gonna support the person who wins the Republican primaries right? And it said that very strongly and he signed the pledge and now he says he’s not going to honor the pledge. That’s very dishonorable. I think he should honor it. Even if he doesn’t love me. And it’s hard for him to like me. But remember this, look, I hit...

Donald Trump’s announcement that he no longer stands by a pledge to support the GOP has thrown his hold on South Carolina’s 50 delegates in doubt. The Palmetto State was one of several that required candidates to pledge their loyalty to the party’s eventual nominee in order to secure a slot on the primary ballot. Though Trump won all of the state’s delegates in the Feb. 20 primary, anti-Trump forces are plotting to contest their binding to Trump because of his threat on the pledge Tuesday. The loyalty pledge is nothing new in South Carolina, where it has been required...

"I don't make a habit out of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my family, and Donald Trump is not going to be the Republican nominee," Cruz told reporters Friday afternoon, his clearest suggestion yet that he could not back the billionaire if he is the GOP's standard-bearer in the general election. . . . "I want to be crystal clear: These attacks are garbage," Cruz wrote on Facebook. "For Donald J. Trump to enlist his friends at the National Enquirer and his political henchmen to do his bis bidding shows you that there is no low Donald...

Cruz, speaking to reporters on Monday, reiterated that he would support Trump in the general election, though he qualified it by saying, “I can give you one example where I would no longer support Donald Trump. If for example, he were to go out on 5th Avenue and shoot somebody, I would not be willing to support Donald Trump.”

The Fox News Republican debates ended where they began: with a pledge. During the first Fox-hosted Republican presidential debate in August, the candidates were asked whether they would pledge not to run as an independent if they lost the Republican nomination — a clear shot at Donald Trump, who was openly mulling the possibility. Flash forward to Thursday night. The rival Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio and Gov. John Kasich were pressed on whether they would support Trump if he secured their party's nomination. Moderators Megyn Kelly, Bret Baier, and Chris Wallace threw the candidates off their talking points....

More than a dozen of New York City's most famed hotels are pledging to get greener. The Waldorf-Astoria New York, the Lotte New York Palace, the Pierre-A Taj Hotel and the Crowne Plaza Times Square are among the 16 city hotels - all currently thronged with tourists visiting New York for the holidays - whose owners have agreed to cut greenhouse gases from their buildings by 30 percent or more in the next decade. ...

Sanity — and Santa — have been restored at a Brooklyn public elementary school where St. Nick was banned, the Pledge of Allegiance was dropped and Thanksgiving was replaced with a “harvest festival.” The good news arrived at PS 169 in Sunset Park on Monday morning, a day after The Post exposed the bizarre PC extremism of Principal Eujin Jaela Kim.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will pledge to use "every single aspect of American power" to destroy Islamic State during a rare Oval Office address on Sunday in an effort to reassure Americans his administration is handling the threat of terrorism forcefully. The president will speak to Americans shortly after 8:00 p.m. EST to discuss how the government has worked to keep the country safe since the Paris attacks and, going back further, since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington. Obama has come under consistent pressure from Republicans to step up his response to Islamic...

GOP front-runner Donald Trump signed a formal pledge crafted by the Republican National Committee that he will not run for president as an independent if he doesn’t win the party’s nomination.

I think that Iran right now is in the driver’s seat to do whatever they want to do. I think what’s happening with Iran is, I think it’s one of the, and I covered it very well. I assume you saw the news conference. I think Iran is, it’s one of the great deals ever made for them. I think it’s one of the most incompetent contracts I’ve even seen. I’m not just talking about defense. I’m not talking about a contract with another country. I’ve never seen more of a one-sided deal, I think, in my life, absolutely.

At a press conference at Trump Tower in New York City, Donald Trump reveals that he has signed a pledge to support whoever the Republican nominee for President may be- and that he will not run on a third party ticket.

From Mike Allen writing at Politico: A close associate tells POLITICO that Donald Trump plans to sign a loyalty pledge Thursday that would bind him to endorse the Republican nominee, and would preclude a third-party run. Trump made the stunning decision, which he has long resisted, to avoid complications in getting listed on primary ballots, and to take away an attack line in the next debate, the associate said.

Much controversy erupted post-debate following Donald Trump’s refusal to pledge he would not mount a third party campaign for the presidency. I hope he never does, here’s why. Trump didn’t explain during the 30 to 60 seconds he was afforded for explanation; then again, who could? The answer “why” is far more serious than a half-minute soundbite would allow. However, using one specific example allow me to point out the obvious. We’ve taken a lot of criticism for pointing out the lack of difference between Republicans and Democrats, so take the time to just consider this simple real life question.

A question came up at last night's debate over whether Donald Trump would support the GOP nominee if it weren't him. But the same question could easily be asked about Jeb Bush. Because when there is a primary and a conservative candidate gets nominated over an establishment one, very often establishment GOP types don't support the nominee or actively support the Democrat. That's what happened in Virginia when conservative Ken Cuccinelli got nominated over the establishment candidate. Lt. Governor Bill Bolling never did endorse Cuccinelli, and was outed as a traitor to the Republican Party when it was revealed he...

Sunday, Flag Day, June 14,2015, inside Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, the 36th Annual National Pause for the Pledge of Allegiance will take place at 7 PM EST, as well as a Navy Tattoo, from 6:00 PM to 8 PM.

New Jersey Judge David F. Bauman recently dismissed a case orchestrated by a student, his parents, and the American Humanist Association and ruled that hearing the words "under God" during the Pledge of Allegiance does not violate the constitutional rights of atheist students. In his decision released Monday, Bauman brilliantly laid to rest the notion that the phrase can, or should, be erased from America's history.

In veiled threat, Wendy Sherman says if Israeli gov't doesn't show commitment to two-state solution, US will have trouble backing it in UN. U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman Reuters US Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman had a harsh message for American Jewish leaders on Monday. Sherman warned them that if the new Israeli government does not demonstrate a strong commitment to the two-state solution, the US will have trouble assisting it in efforts to halt international initiatives at the United Nations. Speaking at a conference of the Reform Movement in the United States, Sherman insisted...