Free Republic

This bill will increase the VA gasoline tax by indexing it to the Producer Price Index. Click on the link to see the actual results....should be posted by tomorrow. The bill passed 26 to 14. Republicans voting FOR the gas tax included Blevins, Hanger, Norment, Ruff, Stosch, Wagner and Watkins. Their emails are listed below....

If only the Democrats had decided to socialize the food industry or housing, Romneycare would probably still be viewed as a massive triumph for conservative free-market principles -- as it was at the time. It's not as if we had a beautifully functioning free market in health care until Gov. Mitt Romney came along and wrecked it by requiring that Massachusetts residents purchase their own health insurance. In 2007, when Romneycare became law, the federal government alone was already picking up the tab for 45.4 percent of all health care expenditures in the country. Until Obamacare, mandatory private health insurance...

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi who's fighting to repeal ObamaCare appeared on Greta, tonight, defending RomneyCare. She says Romney’s health care plan is not the same as ObamaCare and, in fact, Romney's plan reduces costs. She goes on to say that Romney wants all states to impose similar laws (including mandates) and that she and is all for it. She went on to explain that she's going to be on Romney’s Health Care Advisory Team when he’s president! What this means is that while Romney may say he wants to repeal ObamaCare, he actually agrees with it. He believes that...

John Bolton announced a few minutes ago that he has endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2012 election campaign. He believes Romney is the strongest conservative, who is electable. Bolton has informed himself of romney's writings and beliefs, and considers him the best conservative in the race. Greta's show repeats on Fox a 1 a.m.

(CNN) – John Bolton, the former U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations, is set to endorse presidential candidate Mitt Romney, a source close to Romney’s presidential campaign said Wednesday. Bolton served in the administrations of former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush before former President George W. Bush appointed him the U.N. role.

Gov. Nikki Haley announced her endorsement of Mitt Romney in mid-December. The Republican presidential candidate, regarded to be somewhat moderate, earned her Tea Party support because “he knows how the private economy works, how to fix it, and most importantly how to solve problems,” Haley said in her announcement. The fact that Romney knows how to donate to campaigns might have more to do with it, though. His “Free and Strong America” political action committee donated $36,000 to Haley’s campaign in 2010. And she’s not alone, either. Romney has, to date, received 35 endorsements from politicians his PAC donated to...

China REQUIRES all foreign investors to give up their technology to them for the "right" to build goods there. Obama-seized GM can deny it till the cows come home, but it's still a lie. Dismantling America, chunk by chunk, piece by piece. Anybody see the tyrant-in-chief's body language, facial expressions and hand gestures, not to mention his words, at his Ohio press conference today? He simply can't hide his hatred for America. The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration's War on America -- read it. GM deal moves electric car development to China -- a 'shakedown'? USA Today (hat tip Van)...

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley endorsed Mitt Romney for president Friday, saying he has the executive experience in the private and public sectors that proves he can deal "with a broken Washington."

Prior to the “Republican Revolution” of 1994, Rep. Newt Gingrich of Georgia had earned an A rating with Gun Owners of America. But that all changed in 1995, after Republicans were swept to power and Gingrich became Speaker of the House. The Republicans gained the majority, thanks in large part to gun owners outraged by the Clinton gun ban. And upon taking the reins of the House, Speaker Gingrich said famously that, “As long as I am Speaker of this House, no gun control legislation is going to move in committee or on the floor of this House and there...

Here’s a blast from the past. Remember Eason Jordan? Every conservative political blogger worth his/her salt knows and remembers who he is. Former CNN head Eason Jordan is the disgraced journalist who admitted in a 2003 New York Times op-ed piece titled “The News We Kept to Ourselves” that he deliberately and intentionally whitewashed Saddam Hussein’s atrocities and regurgitated Hussein propaganda for a decade in exchange for access. Let me underscore that: In 2003, after the U.S.-led Coalition invasion of Iraq and the fall of Saddam Hussein, Jordan confessed that CNN had deliberately reported Baathist propaganda during the Saddam era...

Building First Segment Will Employ More Than 100,000 People over Next Five Years WASHINGTON - U.S.  Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today awarded a $928.6 million grant to the California High-Speed Rail Authority for initial construction of California High-Speed Rail. Construction will begin next year in Fresno, creating tens of thousands of jobs in California. “California’s population will grow by 60 percent over the next 40 years,” said Secretary LaHood. “Investing in a green, job creating high-speed rail network is less expensive and more practical than paying for all of the expansions to already congested highways and airports that would be necessary to accommodate the state’s...

Newt Gingrich is winning over Republicans. Over the past few months, the former House speaker has charmed primary voters one debate at a time. The once underdog — dismissed as a has-been when he first announced his run and the laughingstock of the race after he accumulated $1 million in debt this summer and was abandoned by almost his entire political team — has compellingly mixed historical insight, warmth toward his fellow GOP candidates, and rancor toward the media into a formula that has propelled him to the top of the polls. But is Gingrich the savior the GOP has...

WITH a single bold act, President Obama could correct the country’s course, help assure his re-election, and preserve our children’s future. He needs to redefine America’s mindset about national security away from the old defense mentality that American power derives predominantly from our military might, rather than from the strength, agility and competitiveness of our economy. He should make it clear that today American jobs and wealth matter more than military prowess. As Adm. Mike Mullen, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, declared last year, “The most significant threat to our national security is our debt.” There are...

So what does a complete review of Perry's record reveal? As it turns out, he sent a letter during his tenure as Texas Agricultural Commissioner that praised Hillary Clinton's 1993 health care reform efforts. "I think your efforts in trying to reform the nation's health care system are most commendable," he wrote. "I would like to request that the task force give particular consideration to the needs of the nation's farmers... Rural populations have a high proportion of uninsured people, rising health care costs, and often experience lack of services." He concluded by noting, "your efforts are worthy, and I...

The threat of the infiltration of Sharia, or Islamic law, into the American court system is one of the more pernicious conspiracy theories to gain traction in our country in recent years. The notion that Islam is insidiously making inroads in the United States through the application of religious law is seeping into the mainstream, with even some presidential candidates voicing fears about the supposed threat of Sharia to our way of life and as many as thirteen states considering or having already passed bills that would prohibit the application of Sharia law. Louisiana and Tennessee were among the first...

Pundit Ann Coulter has joined gay conservative group GOProud as Honorary Chair of its Advisory Council, the group announced today: Coulter’s official title will be “Honorary Chair and Gay Icon.” “Ann Coulter is a brilliant and fearless leader of the conservative movement, we are honored to have her as part of GOProud’s leadership,” said Christopher Barron, Chairman of GOProud’s Board. “Ann helped put our organization on the map. Politics is full of the meek, the compromising and the apologists – Ann, like GOProud, is the exact opposite of all of those things. We need more Ann Coulters.” “I am honored...

Here is the live proceedings of the debate prior to the final floor vote of the Senate of the 112th Congress of the United States of America.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) says he's not going to target incumbent Republican senators who back the debt deal. "I respect how any of those folks vote, I obviously disagree. This is not a good deal for America," DeMint told POLITICO Monday evening. "I respect how any of my colleagues vote on this."

http://www.c-span.org/Live-Video/C-SPAN/ Here is the live proceedings and current vote count from the House of Representatives of the 112th Congress of the United States of America.

<p>Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday unveiled a “back-up plan” for raising the debt ceiling in case the ongoing negotiations between congressional leaders and the White House fail to produce a result by an Aug. 2 deadline.</p> <p>At a Capitol news conference little over an hour before the latest round of negotiations was set to begin at the White House, McConnell described a plan that would allow the debt ceiling to be raised in three separate stages through the end of next year, for a total of $2.5 trillion.</p>

Bachmann vs. Palin feud hits Twitter By Matt Lewis A few weeks ago, I pointed out that a prominent Sarah Palin blogger had turned on Michele Bachmann. On Fox News Sunday this week, Palin pointed out that she, unlike Bachmann, had executive experience (though added that Bachmann had strengths, too). The feud was taken to a new level, however, when Bachmann’s new “celebrity” campaign manager, Ed Rollins referred to Palin as “not serious.” This was too much for Palin supporter and talk radio host, Tammy Bruce who took to her Twitter feed. Bruce, who also appears in the new film...

Governor Butch Otter, in league with notorious Marxist, B. Hussein Obama, have hatched a plan to make Idaho the first Chinese owned state in America. Otter and company have named this Project 60. Sounds innocent enough, until you realize that Otter and his minions are afraid to call it what it is, globalization of America and surrender of sovereignty. If it were called that someone may want to charge Otter with sedition. Under B. Hussein Obama it has become increasingly difficult to do business in America, unless you are from a foreign nation. Idaho, under the stewardship of Governor Butch...

The Internet was abuzz Saturday after it was reported that Rep. Anthony Weiner had apparently sent a lewd photo to a Seattle-area college student. The New York Democrat quickly asserted that his online accounts had been "hacked" after Andrew Breitbart's BigGovernment.com reported that Weiner's Twitter account was used to send the photo, which shows the pelvic area of a man in gray undershorts with his tumescent penis bulging. Late Friday night, a public message from Weiner's Twitter account (@RepWeiner) included a link to the penis photo, posted on the YFrog.com photo-sharing network. That message was directed to a Twitter account...

Benny Katzover, chairman of the grassroots Samaria Residents’ Council, is unimpressed by Binyamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress, despite all of the standing ovations. Katzover – a respected member of the pioneer generation of Samaria settler leaders – admitted that Netanyahu’s oration “was impressive and received great respect.” “But this respect was given to him because he pretended to represent authentic Jewish values,” he went on. “In fact, however, he filled up the bucket and then proceeded to empty it of water.” “He is continuing down the slippery slope of ‘two states for two nations’ from the Bar Ilan speech,” Katzover...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Top Senate Democrats and Republicans agreed Monday on a resolution backing limited U.S. involvement in the NATO-led military campaign against Libya, days after the expiration of the legal deadline for President Barack Obama to seek full-blown congressional authorization. Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., and Sen. John McCain, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, introduced the non-binding resolution along with five other Republicans and Democrats. (SNIP) Also backing the resolution were Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich.; Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.; Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.; Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

This morning Republicans are just beginning to assess the damage that former House Speaker and current presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has done to the GOP budget plan currently before Congress. On "Meet the Press" Sunday, Gingrich denounced House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan's plan to restructure Medicare, saying, "I don't think right-wing social engineering is any more desirable than left-wing social engineering. I don't think imposing radical change from the right or the left is a very good way for a free society to operate."

House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner on Sunday said he is ready to cut a deal on raising the debt limit if only President Barack Obama would get serious about spending cuts. Obama warned that congressional failure to raise the debt limit could lead to a worse financial crisis than 2008-09 and urged that debate stay separate from spending cuts. Both sides stuck to their well-staked out positions, showing little evidence of movement. Boehner and fellow Republicans warned of dire consequences to the economy if the debt limit is not linked to spending cuts and deficit reduction. "I'm ready to...

Glenn Beck doesn’t see Sarah Palin running for president and said she has done some damage to her political brand. Continue Reading Beck, a constant Palin cheerleader, said flatly on his radio show Monday, “Sarah Palin, I don’t think, wants to run for president.” The outgoing Fox News personality has hosted Palin on his show several times – once for a full hour – and she has frequently lavished praise on him. Still, even with all that good will, Beck was frank in assessing what Palin has done to hurt her own political stock – even though he credited her...

Mark Levin Talks Budget Deal. We have ALL been screwed. Good going mr. speaker! NOT in a good mood today!

Coming out of a deal, this is a losing statement. We'll know who lost by who uttered those words.

One by one, conservatives are expressing their displeasure in the way Speaker of the House John Boehner is leading the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives. Conservative talker Mark Levin has expressed his frustration on a nightly basis in recent weeks.

GOV. MITCHELL E. DANIELS, JR. 2011 STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS JANUARY 11, 2011 Mr. Speaker, members of the Assembly, Hoosier friends and neighbors, thank you yet again for the privilege of this platform. For most of us, one of the strongest memories of our youth is that great school teacher, that magical man or woman who somehow reached us, and stretched us, and in the process left indelible recollections. For me, one of those was Bob Watson—still, today, Mr. Watson to me—who introduced us to the mysteries of the periodic table in high school chemistry. In addition to mixing...

You’ve really done it this time, Arianna Huffington. You’ve violated the unwritten rules of our culture. Rose above our comfort zone. Now, sadly, we must destroy you. But don’t take it personally. It’s simply because, well, you’re a woman. Here’s how we’ll do it… First, we’ll need to create a caricature. Something we can use to demean and diminish you — and right away! Distract you and get that darn hammer away from the glass ceiling. Hmmm, let’s see. Which tools haven’t been deployed against a powerful woman lately? We used not likable with Hillary Clinton. Stupid and talks funny...

Why would a proto-feminist Secretary of State be silent on the very real potential of a patriarchal Islamist system like the Muslim Brotherhood gaining power in Egypt? Hillary Clinton's deafening silence in full view of her boss's Muslim sympathies as well as her own complicity in dialoguing with those who wish to subjugate women worldwide has left even die-hard Hillary supporters baffled and disgusted. From Reverend Amy at noquarterusa: How can Secretary Clinton continue to support President Obama in his push for the Muslim Brotherhood to be involved in governing Egypt? The Muslim Brotherhood wants to implement Sharia Law, for...

Both of Alaska's senators said Tuesday they were disappointed the top Senate appropriator was calling for a moratorium on earmarking, the practice that has directed billions of dollars in federal spending to Alaska. Democratic Sen. Mark Begich and Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski both said they agree there's a need to cut federal spending, but neither thinks an end to earmarks is the way to do it. "I have said many times before, Alaska is a young state with many needs, and we deserve our fair share of federal funding to develop our resources and our infrastructure," Begich said. Murkowksi, who...

Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office worked behind the scenes to help the organizers of a mosque and community center near ground zero, intervening with city administrators to get a temporary prayer service permit and having an official ghostwrite a letter to community leaders.

MOSCOW – Russia's lower house of parliament on Friday gave preliminary approval to a U.S.-Russian arms treaty, but decided to delay the final vote until next month. The Kremlin-controlled State Duma voted 350-58 to approve the New START treaty in the first of three required readings. The legislators said they would proceed further after returning from the New Year's vacation that lasts until Jan. 11. Konstantin Kosachev, the head of the State Duma's foreign affairs committee, said the full ratification could only happen next month "at the earliest." The New START treaty, which was ratified Wednesday by the U.S. Senate,...

...and I suggest you do the same. Boehner is faced with either voting for a democrat tax "compromise" bill laden with pork and earmarks on everything from windmills to ethanol production, or throwing it out and starting over. If he votes to support it, he will have not only caved to a lame-duck democrat majority to lose the very first battle of the House, he will have shown the democrats that everything the American people voted for ends on the Capitol steps. And that is the real issue. With a resounding cry of "ENOUGH!", Americans voted against business as usual...

Immigrant advocates say they’re making a last-ditch effort to push U.S. Sen. Scott Brown to support the "DREAM Act." A coalition of advocates, educators and religious leaders have scheduled a press conference Monday at Boston City Hall to pressure the Massachusetts Republican to vote for the federal proposal. It would allow some illegal immigrants to qualify for permanent legal residency by graduating from college or a trade school or by joining the military. The Senate is slated to vote on the measure this week. Brown has said that he opposes the bill and sees it as "amnesty."

President Obama will meet Wednesday afternoon with one of his closest Republican allies, Colin Powell, to discuss the stalled nuclear arms treaty with Russia. Vice President Joe Biden — the White House's point man on the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) — will join Obama and Powell in the Oval Office, after which the president will speak to the press. Powell, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, served as President George W. Bush's first Secretary of State before leaving the administration in 2005. He endorsed Obama over Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the 2008 presidential election....

… CHRISTOPHER HILL: Well, I agree that we need a peace process. Our problem right now is, we don’t have an interlocutor. It’s very unclear what’s going on in North Korea. Clearly, they have a succession crisis. They have an army that’s basically a law unto itself, that’s probably not taking civilian direction at this point. So, I think we have problems finding someone over there to talk to. And, in the meantime, I think it is very important that we work very closely with the South Koreans. I don’t think we want to be in a position of somehow...

JAKARTA, Indonesia — In the Muslim nation that was his boyhood home, President Barack Obama acknowledged today that U.S. relations are still frayed with the Islamic world despite his best efforts at repair. He urged all sides to look beyond "suspicion and mistrust" to forge common ground against terrorism. Forcefully returning to a theme he sounded last year in visits to Turkey and Egypt, Obama said: "I have made it clear that America is not and never will be at war with Islam. . . . Those who want to build must not cede ground to terrorists who seek...

Bill Clinton sought to persuade Rep. Kendrick Meek to drop out of the race for Senate during a trip to Florida last week — and nearly succeeded. Meek agreed — twice — to drop out and endorse Gov. Charlie Crist’s independent bid in a last-ditch effort to stop Marco Rubio, the Republican nominee who stands on the cusp of national stardom. Meek, a staunch Clinton ally from Miami, has failed to broaden his appeal around the state and is mired in third place in most public polls, with a survey today showing him with just 15 percent of the vote....

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Pork Parade has another member, and he’s a chip off the ol’ block. Congressman Duncan D. Hunter (R-CA-52) has picked up where his father, former Congressman Duncan L. Hunter, left off. The freshman member is doing his best to bring home the bacon for some of his biggest campaign donors, one of which is a company founded by his uncle. At the same time, Congressman Hunter touts his commitment to cutting government spending on his own website. It seems the best way to maintain government funding is to donate to Mr. Hunter’s campaign. “The rotten apple doesn’t fall...

The Cuban labour federation said more than a million workers would lose their jobs - half of them by March next year. Those laid off will be encouraged to become self-employed or join new private enterprises, on which some of the current restrictions will be eased. It is biggest shift to the private sector since the revolution in 1959. Cuba's communist government currently controls almost all aspects of the country's economy and employs about 85% of the workforce. "Our state cannot and should not continue maintaining companies, productive entities, services and budgeted sectors with bloated payrolls and losses that hurt...

When 52 percent of California voters passed Proposition 8 in November 2008, Attorney General Jerry Brown said he would defend the measure during the inevitable appeals. Then, as is his fashion, Brown changed his mind. Ditto Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who twice vetoed same-sex marriage bills passed by the Legislature in deference to California voters who passed an earlier same-sex marriage statute in 2000. But after Prop. 8 passed, both refused to defend the measure. This month, after U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that Prop. 8 is unconstitutional, both Brown and Schwarzenegger urged Walker to lift a stay on his...

Gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman - who has campaign billboards and Spanish-language ads in California declaring "NO to the Arizona law" - told talk show hosts Wednesday that the same controversial immigration law should be allowed to stand in Arizona. "You know, I'm running for the governor of California so I had to make a decision," Whitman said. "Does the Arizona law make sense for California? And I have said no, I don't think the Arizona law makes sense for California because we have a much bigger state with much bigger geography."

Click here to find out more! When asked about the significance of her daughter, Chelsea, marrying Marc Mezvinsky, who is Jewish, and thus being married in an interfaith union, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton responded, “Over the years, so many of the barriers that prevented people from getting married, crossing lines of faith or color or ethnicity have just disappeared.” True, the barriers have disappeared, but serious difficulties remain. While some scholars argue that mixed-faith unions “serve as a refiner’s fire” that make the relationships stronger, the statistical evidence indicates this is all too frequently not the outcome. The American...

Shocking Emails Show National Rifle Association Worked to Prohibit Rifles From National Parks What will they change their middle initial to now? Posted by Erick Erickson (Profile) Tuesday, July 13th at 2:35PM EDT You know things are bad for the National Rifle Association when it has to get the New York Times to run a puff piece on it.But in their zeal to get a puff piece out there as well as their collaboration with the left on the DISCLOSE Act, the NRA has angered a number of people on Capitol Hill.Shocking new e-mails obtained by RedState show that...

Can we please do something, as conservatives and libertarians - as patriots - to stop America's self destruction? This is not some theoretical debate. Why is this very real danger, being so stubbornly ignored?