Free Republic

We’ve written extensively of late regarding the widening divide between fiscally conservative Republicans and the “neoconservative” fiscally liberal wing of the party – led by U.S. Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham and John Cornyn. In fact according to the website Mississippi PEP, they’ve censured him. For those of you unfamiliar with this aging RINO, Cochran is one of several Southern “Republicans” who habitually caves to U.S. President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats (along with Graham, North Carolina’s Richard Burr, Tennessee’s Lamar Alexander and Georgia’s Johnny Isakson). “When any official continues to engage repeatedly in a course of conduct that violates...

Chuck Hagel won confirmation Tuesday to become defense secretary over objections to his views on Middle East security and the administration’s handling of an attack on a U.S. consulate in Libya. On a 58 to 41 vote, the Senate confirmed the former GOP senator as four Republicans joined 54 Democrats in approving Hagel, ending a nearly two-month battle that included an unprecedented filibuster against the nominee. The four Republican senators voting in favor were Thad Cochran (Miss.), Mike Johanns (Neb.), Richard C. Shelby (Ala.) and Rand Paul (Ky.). All 41 no votes came from Republicans. The vote marked a foreign...

Forty-one senators have pledged to filibuster any bipartisan spending bill that includes an amendment to strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood, threatening an impasse with House conservatives.   The group, led by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), includes thirty-nine Democratic senators and two Independents, Sens. Joe Lieberman (Conn.) and Bernie Sanders (Vt.).   It’s just large enough to sustain a filibuster to block any spending bill that cuts Planned Parenthood funding from passing the upper chamber. Congress is trying to reach an agreement on a spending bill for the remainder of fiscal year 2011. The current continuing resolution keeping the government...

President Obama signed the START nuclear disarmament treaty with Russia this morning. Despite the great attention the president has devoted to this treaty -- and the vast coverage of the treaty negotiations by the media -- the White House refused to allow reporters or TV cameras in the room. Still photographers were the only representatives of the free press permitted to record the historic moment. Those cameras captured President Obama signing the documents, seated at the Resolute Desk. Behind him stood Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,...

The Congressional Pig Book is CAGW's annual compilation of the pork-barrel projects in the federal budget. The 2010 Pig Book identified 9,129 projects at a cost of $16.5 billion in the 12 Appropriations Acts for fiscal 2010. A "pork" project is a line-item in an appropriations bill that designates tax dollars for a specific purpose in circumvention of established budgetary procedures. To qualify as pork, a project must meet one of seven criteria that were developed in 1991 by CAGW and the Congressional Porkbusters Coalition. The 2010 Congressional Pig Book Summary gives a snapshot of each appropriations bill and details...

The Senate voted 67-28 to pass a cloture motion, seemingly enough to assure final ratification. Eleven Republicans joined with 56 Democrats to pass the cloture motion. It will take 67 votes to ratify the New Start pact, which would give the Obama administration its top foreign policy goal in the lame-duck session. Among Republicans announcing their support were Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, George V. Voinovich of Ohio, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker of Tennessee, Johnny Isakson of Georgia, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Thad Cochran of Mississippi, and...

Sen. Chris Dodd and Rep. Rosa DeLauro got together today to introduce four public-service bills in their respective chambers of Congress. National service was a major theme of President Barack Obama's ascent to office -- mentioned prominently in his inaugural address. This package of bills speaks directly to that topic, expanding service possibilities for all age groups. One bill would establish a summer program for kids to serve in an organized community project. Another would allow high-school students to spend a semester getting academic credit for volunteering. And a third would establish a national program encouraging people 55 and older...

GULFPORT -- Notably mild-mannered Republican Sen. Thad Cochran shocked many earlier this year with comments about John McCain's volatile temper. He has since mended fences with the GOP presidential nominee. But as first reported at sunherald.com, Cochran told the Sun Herald he witnessed a confrontation between McCain and a Sandinista rebel decades ago in which McCain "got mad at the guy and he just reached over there and snatched him." --------------------------------------- "McCain was down at the end of the table and we were talking to the head of the guerilla group here at this end of the table and I...

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., has endorsed Mitt Romney's bid for the White House and says he would welcome an opportunity to help the Republican "implement his conservative vision'' if elected. "It is an honor to join Governor Romney and his campaign for our nation's highest office,'' Cochran said in a statement released by the Romney campaign and confirmed by Cochran's office. "At this moment our nation faces unprecedented challenges, and Governor Romney has the experience, vision and values needed to strengthen our country for future generations,'' Cochran said in the statement. "Governor Romney is a man...

WASHINGTON -- After Congress recessed for Thanksgiving with urgent unfinished business that included facilitating income tax refunds and providing veterans benefits, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid left on an eight-day government-financed trip through Latin America. Reid was scheduled to leave the Sunday after Thanksgiving and return the following Sunday. His itinerary included Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala and Paraguay. His staff told this column Reid made the trip because of "stagnant" U.S. policy in Latin America under the Bush administration. Although congressional recesses supposedly are "home work periods" enabling lawmakers to deal with constituents, many travel abroad on "codels" (congressional delegations)....

WASHINGTON - Veteran Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., announced Wednesday that he will run for re-election to a fifth term, a rare dose of good news for Republicans amid otherwise gloomy prospects for increasing their numbers in the Democratic-dominated chamber. "While I delayed making this decision until after our state and local government elections were over, there is no reason to delay any longer," Cochran, 69, said in a statement announcing his plans to run again. Five Senate Republicans and no Democrats have announced they are retiring. In 2002, Cochran was re-elected to his seat with 85 percent of the vote,...

U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., said Thursday he has not decided if he will run for a sixth term in 2008 but will make an announcement in "a few weeks." Cochran, in a telephone interview with the Daily Journal, said he had delayed an announcement because he wanted to avoid any conflict with this year's state elections. Qualifying deadline for next year's Senate race is Jan. 11, with party primaries in March. In a Nov. 1, 2006, interview with the Daily Journal's editorial board, Cochran said he would decide in late 2007 about running again. He said then that which...

A company headed by the niece of Gov. Haley Barbour has won bidding for a country club once owned by imprisoned ex-WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers. The company, Alcatec, is owned by Rosemary Ramirez Barbour, who is married to Hinds County Supervisor Charles Barbour, the governor’s nephew. Rosemary Barbour said Thursday that her company bid $810,000 for the Brookhaven Country Club. “I think it’s great for the community,” she said. The country club formerly owned by Ebbers includes almost 130 acres with an 18-hole golf course, eight tennis courts, a swimming pool, a clubhouse, maintenance sheds and a home. Rosemary Barbour...

E-mail Author Author Archive Send to a Friend Version April 26, 2006, 11:22 a.m. Bridge to November The inability of a handful of House Republicans to stomach a long-overdue belt-tightening reform is threatening to prevent the House from passing a budget resolution for the first time since 1974. Fortunately for fiscal conservatives, a pork-laden spending bill has come along just in time to remind the public why this particular reform is so desperately needed. On Tuesday, President Bush threatened to veto an emergency spending bill for Iraq and Katrina if it exceeds $92.2 billion. Bush, who has yet to...

...Time spoke to dozens of academics, political scientists and current and former Senators...