Free Republic

The presidency has changed Barack Obama. His hair has gone gray, which is to be expected, and he looks older, which is also to be expected, but his eloquence has been replaced by petulance and he has lost the power to persuade, which is something of a surprise. You can speculate that if the Obama of today and not Winston Churchill had led Britain in World War II, the Old Vic theater would now be doing “Hamlet” in German. The president has lost his voice, that is certain. The numbers say so. Obama has the approval of only 44 percent of...

Republicans are now among the Jewish state's most important friends. This was not always so.The movement to isolate Israel may be in full swing on college campuses across the country, and Israel may be the subject of ever-louder international denunciations, but when it comes to a Republican Party riven by squabbles, the Jewish state has become a unifying glue. Support for Israel is all but unanimous among the party's politicians in Washington, and in the presidential race, candidates vie to outdo one another when it comes to expressing their commitment to it; even the isolationist presidential candidate Rand Paul has...

Another shutdown showdown? Just in case you were under the impression Obama is merely wasting time at the UN Climate Conference in Paris, no, he’s looking to waste a fair amount of U.S. taxpayer money too - with $3 billion set to directly from the U.S. Treasury to the UN Green Climate Fund. Now you might remember that whole thing about how Congress controls the purse strings, which somehow never seems to stop Obama from spending as much as he wants however he wants regardless of congressional disapproval. This time, Republicans swear, things are going to be different: Looking for...

"It's a great day to be a Republican in California!" I thought to myself when my colleagues elected me to be the next Beach Cities Republicans Club President, a growing grassroots organization in an otherwise deep blue state, which has witnessed and assisted remarkable Republican gains. I was following a long-list of who's who in the South Bay. The prior president, David Hadley, won the state assembly seat for my district, the first Republican in over two decades. Another fiscal conservative Republican won a seat in the East Bay, the first in over thirty years. Los Angeles County will enjoy...

Capitol Hill Republicans are aiming to take the air out of President Obama's push for a global climate deal at next week's international summit in Paris, warning they will block vital funding if he tries to circumvent Congress. Obama and other world leaders are charging ahead with the two-week U.N. conference starting Monday, under heightened security in the wake of the Paris terror attacks. At a press conference alongside French President Francois Hollande, Obama cast the climate summit as a global statement of solidarity. "What a powerful rebuke to the terrorists it will be when the world stands as one...

After a brief turn at the top of the Republican presidential field, Ben Carson has returned to second-place behind front-runner Donald Trump. Such is not the case in Maryland, however, where Carson spent nearly three decades as the lead neurosurgeon at Baltimore's Johns Hopkins Hospital. According to a University of Baltimore/Baltimore Sun poll released Tuesday evening, Carson tops the GOP field in Maryland with 27 percent support among likely Republican voters in the state. Trump, the outspoken billionaire who regained his edge in national and early primary state polls following the terror attacks in Paris, trails Carson by four percentage...

After news broke that a SuperPAC supporting John Kasich is preparing to launch a $2.5 million assault on Donald Trump, the billionaire businessman once again said he's seriously considering a third party bid if he fails to win the Republican nomination. [TRUMP TWEET] Earlier this year, the RNC and Trump signed a pledge: Trump promised not to run as an independent candidate if he lost the nomination. In return the Republican National Committee pledged not to launch attacks against him. All he wanted, Trump said, was a level playing field. And he got one. The RNC hasn't done anything to...

Link only: http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/can-gop-party-bosses-rig-rules-keep-trump-winning-you-bet

Nearly a dozen big Republican donors backing different presidential candidates are coming together to help fund an advertising campaign attacking front-runner Donald Trump, who faced sharp criticism from rivals this week for his inflammatory comments about Muslims. Matt David, spokesman for the group planning the attack, a Super PAC called New Day for America, which is supporting Ohio Governor John Kasich's presidential bid, said 10 new donors had pledged money in the two days since Politico reported Thursday evening the group's plans to attack Trump in New Hampshire....

Republican presidential candidates respond to the ridiculous Democratic National Committee ad you can see here. Huckabee’s comment is most apposite, and is true not just of the DNC, but of the Obama Administration and the mainstream media — as well as much of the Republican establishment.“EXCLUSIVE: Republicans Slam DNC Ad Attacking Them for Using Term ‘Radical Islam,’” by Patrick Howley, Breitbart, November 21, 2015: WASHINGTON -Republicans are slamming the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) new attack ad criticizing the GOP for using the term “radical Islam.”After radical Islamists carried out deadly terrorist attacks in Paris, the DNC released an ad hitting...

In its incredibly limited wisdom, the D.C.-based Republican Party establishment is declaring war on current GOP voter favorite Donald Trump, and it seems they've enlisted the help of at least a couple of Keystone Cops -- consultants Liz Mair and Rick Wilson -- in an effort to destroy their own front runner. In the Republican primary race, the newest NBC News/SurveyMonkey online poll shows Donald Trump has the frontrunner spot to himself, with 28% support among Republican and independent voters who lean Republican. In fact, so arrogant is the establishment, they want to encourage their own voters to stay home....

I turned on MSNBC this morning in the admittedly masochistic hope of seeing Melissa Harris-Perry, only to find Harry Smith--of all people--hosting continuing coverage of the Paris attacks and related issues. After running clips of Ted Cruz, Ben Carson and Mike Huckabee questioning the admittance into the US of Syrian refugees, Smith immediately displayed on screen and read the passage of Matthew 25 that begins "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat . . . I was a stranger and you invited me in," etc. Smith then turned to the Rev. Jacqui Lewis, pastor of the...

According to a new poll by Public Policy Polling, Donald Trump continues to be the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. The billionaire businessman has 26% support among Republican voters. He's followed by retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson with 19%. In PPP's last poll from early October, Carson had 17% and Trump 27%. This is a positive development for those who want Trump to fail, but it's a far cry from the inevitable Trump collapse many experts predict. If one thing is clear, it's that he certainly has staying power. That doesn't mean he will actually win, but he certainly has a...

Donald Trump on Tuesday named Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) when asked about his possible running mate in 2016. “Ted Cruz is now agreeing with me 100 percent,” he said when asked about his vice presidential pick, according to Lifezette. “Well, I like him,” Trump told radio host Laura Ingraham during her broadcast. "He’s backed everything I’ve said.” Unlike most of the Republican presidential hopefuls, Cruz has mostly refrained from attacking Trump, even appearing alongside him at a rally in September against the Iran nuclear deal. The pair has also struck similar tones on topics such as border security and illegal...

In an otherwise sensible economic debate last week, all the Republican candidates flunked the stress test on bank bailouts. Instead of pledging to end bailouts forever, they said they might do it all over again. This a big problem for the party, because the 2008 taxpayer rescue of the big banks, AIG and investment houses continues to cast a long shadow. Americans still think of the GOP as the party of corporate bailouts. Here's how John Kasich put it: "When a bank is ready to go under, and depositors are getting ready to lose their life savings, you just don't...

Presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)97% drew his sharpest distinction yet with donor-class favorite Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)80% last Friday by releasing an in-depth, pro-American immigration plan. The new plan helps Cruz counter what he says is Rubio’s “blazingly, on-its-face false” argument that both Senators share similar positions on immigration. Last week, Cruz attacked Rubio for joining Chuck Schumer and Barack Obama in fighting “tooth and nail to try to jam… amnesty down the throats of the American people.” Following the criticism, Rubio told reporters that Cruz “proposed legalizing people that were here illegally. He proposed giving them work permits....

Movember 11, 2015Tripwire : Of Course Wall Street Wants/Needs Marco Rubio... by sundance The currently considered TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) trade deal has the potential to be the fulcrum under every plank in the 2016 presidential election. Many people view immigration as the #1 concern underlying further economic issues – however, few people recognize that immigration is actually part of the TPP construct.You can learn more about TPP in summary form HERE and HERESo lets take this conversation back to where it belongs, at the point where massive money intersects with consequential presidential politics.Globalists, via Wall Street international financiers, are determined...

Obama insists that DEMOCRATS are the future of America saying that the Republican party is 'outdated.' In reality, Obama is dead wrong. More Republicans are making massive gains at the state and local levels. Take the victory of the governor elect Matt Bevin in Kentucky recently! Bevin, a Tea Party favorite became only the second Republican in four decades to win Kentucky’s governorship! The Washington Post reports: With Matt Bevin’s win in Kentucky on Tuesday night, Republicans now hold 32 of the nation’s governorships — 64 percent of all the governors mansions in the country. (One race, in Louisiana, won’t...

There are a few things we can get out of the way about Tuesday's Republican presidential debate. First, after months of decline, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul had his first great night, challenging Sen. Marco Rubio on tax expenditures and defense spending, pushing Donald Trump on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and stepping into his father’s role as the libertarian gadfly in the race. "If you're a profligate spender and you spend money in an unlimited fashion for the military, is that a conservative notion?" Paul asked in his closing statement. "We have to be conservative with all spending, domestic spending and welfare...

Republican presidential candidates are competing to propose dramatic changes to tax policy that go well beyond the party’s previous platforms and all but ensure the issue will play a central role in the general election. Driven by a desire to stand out in a crowded field and spark economic growth, the GOP contenders no longer just say they want to lower rates and expand the tax base. Their new ideas, once the province of right-leaning think tanks, make previous Republican plans look timid. Nearly all the GOP candidates—who will meet again Tuesday evening in a debate hosted by Fox Business...