Free Republic

Democratic Sen. Bob Casey on Monday announced he’ll seek reelection to represent Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate for a fourth term. “Folks, I’m running for re-election. There’s still more work to do to cut through the gridlock, stand up to powerful special interests, and make the lives of hardworking Pennsylvanians easier,” Casey said on Twitter. “Pennsylvania is one of the most competitive states in the country, and our race will be one of the most expensive and competitive in 2024,” he added in a separate post. The incumbent’s decision to run again is good news for Democrats, who faced an...

House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi refused to say on Thursday if President Joe Biden should seek a second term in 2024 or if her fellow Democrat should step aside and let a younger candidate run. Pelosi sidestepped the question about Biden’s future that came from a reporter during a press conference at the Capitol, and she instead launched into a full-throated endorsement of the president’s successful 2020 campaign. “President Biden is the president of the United States. He did a great service to our country; he defeated Donald Trump. Let’s not forget that. “If you care about the air we...

California Gov. Jerry Brown says he will seek re-election. […] Polls show Republicans in the race so far remain unknown to many Californians. …

An improvised explosive device blew out windows and ignited a small fire at the Jackson County prosecutor's office in Medford, Ore., Wednesday, but authorities said the damage could have been far worse had it ignited a large propane tank at the scene. No injuries were reported as a result of the blast, which occurred at about 4:30 a.m. Local and state police and the FBI and ATF are currently investigating. Law enforcement sources familiar with the case said there was no immediate claim of responsibility and as of yet, there are no suspects, but they are attempting to determine if...

Sen. Lindsey Graham is one of the strongest advocates of an American military strike against the Assad regime in Syria. He was unhappy when President Obama decided to seek congressional authorization for an attack, and then unhappy when his fellow lawmakers voiced disapproval of the president's plan. Graham believes the diplomatic path chosen by the administration will lead to a debacle. Given all that, Graham now says he will work with a bipartisan group of senators to craft a resolution authorizing the president to use military force -- not against the Syrian regime but against Iran. In an appearance on...

UPDATED: Gov. Bev Perdue is expected to announce today that she will not seek a second term as governor, two sources close to the Democrat's campaign tell The News & Observer. Perdue is expected to make an announcement this afternoon, a N.C. Democratic Party spokesman said. Her campaign aides began telling top Democrats in the past 24 hours. Perdue campaign spokesman Marc Farinella could not be reached for comment.

Union County, Ill., authorities are currently looking for a fugitive from justice. In a statement released jointly by their offices, Union County Sheriff David Livesay and Union County State's Attorney Tyler R. Edmonds are seeking the public's help in apprehending Bryan T. Todd, who was last believed to be in the Anna area. The request for help from the public was put out at 9:20 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 23.

Washington (CNSNews.com) – If the negotiated debt bill becomes law as expected, President Obama aims to press the special congressional committee created by the deal to include tax increases as a way to achieve $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Monday. “That committee will be charged with reducing the deficit further, by $1.5 trillion further,” Carney told reporters Monday. The 12-member committee will comprise six Democrats and six Republicans, from both Houses of Congress.

(CNSNews.com) – Congressional investigators plan to seek information from the White House National Security Council staff regarding communications about the botched gunrunning sting known as Operation Fast and Furious, which now has a publicized connection to the White House. “Very clearly, part of the problem is there has been political interference at the highest level,” House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) told CNSNews.com during a conference call Wednesday. “We are going to be asking the National Security Council what occurred.”

A top House Democrat is urging EPA to quickly toughen regulation of natural gas drilling following a New York Times report on the discharge of dangerous pollutants into rivers that supply drinking water. The Times – citing internal documents from EPA and elsewhere – claims that chemicals and radioactive elements in wastewater from gas projects are creating “dangers to the environment and health [that] are greater than previously understood.” Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) sent EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson a detailed letter Saturday calling for “immediate action.” “I am outraged that state and federal regulators were evidently well aware of the...

A Muslim advocacy group in the US is trying to build a more positive picture of its religion on the screen. After years of watching Muslims portrayed as terrorists in mainstream TV and movies, an advocacy group hopes to change that image by grooming a crop of aspiring Muslim screenwriters who can bring their stories — and perspective — to Hollywood. The Muslim Public Affairs Council is hosting a series of workshops taught by Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated veterans over the next month, an initiative that builds on the group's outreach for a more representative picture of Muslim-Americans on the screen....

After the monstrous shooting in Arizona last week, surely we can all agree that we've got to pass Obama's agenda immediately and stop using metaphors. At least I think that's what the mainstream media are trying to tell me. Liberals instantly leapt on the sickening massacre at a Tucson political event over the weekend to accuse tea partiers, Sarah Palin and all conservatives who talk out loud of being complicit in murder by inspiring the shooter, Jared Loughner. Of course, to make their case, they first must demonstrate: (a) Right-wingers have called for violence against anyone, especially conservative, pro-Second Amendment...

In separate letters issued Monday, two U.S. lawmakers are looking for answers on the training and methods employed by Transportation Security Administration agents, including one congressman who wants to know why officers trailed a videographer who taped a kid stripped at the security gate. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, who is expected to become chairman of the House oversight subcommittee responsible for the federal workforce, wrote President Obama demanding that he initiate a probe into why TSA officers followed around Luke Tait, a Utah Valley University student who on Friday recorded a young boy having his shirt removed by his father...

NORFOLK -- They wake each morning to pray the Liturgy of the Hours and chant it again before they go to sleep. They pray the rosary, spend time in contemplative prayer and gather each Sunday to discuss the Gospel. In almost every way they are like the members of other chapters of the Lay Fraternities of St. Dominic, except they are incarcerated. The chapter, located at Norfolk State Prison, has about 35 members, 17 of whom have made their final profession in the Dominican order. It is the only Dominican chapter in a prison. Ruth Raichle, the Catholic chaplain...

CHICAGO (AP) - Days after the November 2008 election, Rod Blagojevich sent word to Barack Obama that he would name one of the president-elect's close friends to the Senate in exchange for a position in the Cabinet, the ousted governor's former chief of staff testified Wednesday. After court adjourned Wednesday, Blagojevich's attorneys filed a motion asking to see the FBI's summaries of interviews agents conducted with Obama. Jurors at Blagojevich's corruption trial heard a tape of the impeached governor telling aides that Valerie Jarrett, the person Obama wanted as his successor in the Senate, had been informed that he would...

Senate Republicans are making a last-ditch effort Wednesday to derail health care legislation by forcing Democrats to vote on a series of politically dicey matters relating to the health care "fixes" sent over by the House this week. The "fix-it" bill makes adjustments to the legislation President Obama signed into law Tuesday. Republicans are raising a series of amendments in hopes of changing any part of the "fix-it" bill to delay implementation and send it back to the House for additional votes. The Senate will vote on 20 to 25 amendments -- including ones to ban various Medicare cuts, special...

WASHINGTON — Facing voter anger over mounting budget deficits, President Barack Obama will ask Congress to freeze spending for some domestic programs for three years beginning in 2011, administration officials said Monday. Separately, Obama unveiled plans to help a middle class "under assault" pay its bills, save for retirement and care for kids and aging parents. The spending freeze would apply to a relatively small portion of the federal budget, affecting a $477 billion pot of money available for domestic agencies whose budgets are approved by Congress each year. Some of those agencies could get increases, others would have to...

U.S. Rep. Brian Baird announced Wednesday he will not seek a seventh term in Congress next year. "Serving our country and representing the people of Southwest Washington in Congress has been the highest honor and greatest responsibility of my life," the Vancouver Democrat said in a statement. "Since the time I first announced I would seek election in November of 1995, I have done my utmost to work hard, tell the truth, listen, and do what was right for our nation. I am proud of the record of achievements for our district and I am incredibly grateful to the voters...

Now that the Bush administration is no longer there to actively lobby for Israel, the situation for the Jewish state at the hands of the assorted Israel bashers and anti-Semites of the world is growing more and more grave. Currently, the top-of-the-page headline on the home page of the influential left-wing British newspaper The Guardian is “Lawyers seek arrest of Israeli defence minister in UK for alleged war crimes.”

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Hungry Hondurans scrambled through looted stores and lined up for food on Wednesday during a break in a long curfew called to halt violence that erupted with the return of the country's deposed leftist president. Troops and police ringed the Brazilian Embassy where ousted President Manuel Zelaya took shelter on Monday after returning home in a daring challenge to the interim government that threw him out of the country at gunpoint in June and that vows to arrest him if he leaves the shelter of the diplomatic mission.