Free Republic

Via RCP. Wait, wait, wait — before you start shaking your first at him, isn’t his point here oddly simpatico with what tea partiers say every day about Beltway squishes like King himself? It all depends on what benchmark you use to define “Republican.” The Republican establishment of the past 10 years has been fiercely interventionist, willing to bend on civil liberties in the name of fighting terrorism, and happy to back new entitlement programs like Medicare Part D so long as their guy’s in the White House. Rand Paul, by contrast, tilts towards isolationism, wants to sue the NSA...

Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski told fellow panelists Monday she thought that Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) and Republicans like him don’t love the country because of their battles to defund Obamacare that she believes led to the government shutdown, drawing the ire of host Joe Scarborough. “That shows just how much they hate him and don’t love the country, and that’s what’s scary about this,” she said. “If they actually go through with this, this is about something else.” “Are you saying they don’t love the country?” Scarborough asked. “Are you saying they do? Ted Cruz and his group...

The tea party senator and his allies campaigned on the promise to revolutionize Washington — so why is everyone so surprised they’re trying to do it? And on the third day, Ted Cruz looked upon his creation, and he saw that it was good. Yes, Congressional negotiations had devolved into a manic game of finger-pointing that centered on cancer-patient gaffes and pitched battles over war memorials; hundreds of thousands of federal workers had been sent home without paychecks; and Republicans were continuing to cling stubbornly to a list of extraordinary demands that Democrats flatly refuse to entertain. With the country...

Dear Ms. xxxx: Thank you for contacting me regarding the Continuing Resolution (CR) and defunding of Obamacare. I know how passionately Texans feel about this issue, and I appreciate the benefit of your comments. All Americans should be exempt from the onerous and costly provisions of Obamacare and the best way to do this is to repeal and defund the law in its entirety. Texans continue to share with me real-life examples of how this law is hurting businesses, killing jobs, and burdening individuals with costlier premiums. All Americans should receive relief from this law, so I was pleased when...

•Fresh (95%): Rush Limbaugh — "Ted Cruz is fighting for freedom in the greatest tradition of American freedom fighters." •Fresh: (90%) Sarah Palin — "Maybe if Ted had worn pretty pink running shoes he'd have gotten more respect from the same leftwing media that gushed over the Texan state senator who filibustered in the Texas legislature." •Fresh (85%): David French — "While the leftist outlets (and, sadly, some Republicans) spew forth their vitriol, I can’t help but think that moments like this and Senator Rand Paul’s “Stand with Rand” filibuster represent key turning points for the conservative movement." •Fresh (82%):...

The many hours Ted Cruz & friends spent in their overnight talkathon (not really a filibuster) in the Senate has thrilled conservatives who feel the GOP establishment consists of careerist sell-outs.Is Ted Cruz now the leader of US conservatives? That’s a fair question in the wake of his lengthy overnight talkathon against Obamacare on the Senate floor. As of mid-morning on Wednesday, Texas Senator Cruz, along with Sen. Mike Lee (R) of Utah and assorted allies, had spoken for some 20 hours. That constitutes one of the longest Senate speeches since record-keeping began in 1900, and it has thrilled those...

On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) compared Tea Party Republicans to Thelma and Louise for their "foolhardy plan to drive the economy off the cliff" by risking a government shutdown over ObamaCare. In this drama, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is Louise, foot on the accelerator. The more moderate members of his party are like Harvey Keitel, watching in horror from a distance. From a certain standpoint, there would appear to be no method to Cruz's madness. First, there is no scenario in which Senate Democrats and Obama accept a budget that defunds ObamaCare. Second, a government shutdown would...

As Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis (D) inches right up to the edge of declaring her intention to run for governor, both she and her supporters know she needs two things to have a serious shot at the post: tens of millions of dollars, and broad policy platform that transcends the issue of abortion. When she sent an e-mail to her supporters Wednesday morning, Davis — who garnered national attention this summer for fighting a sweeping antiabortion bill in her state — wrote she will be “answering the question” of what’s next for her career on Oct. 3. But before...

HOUSTON – A Texas Court of Appeals in Austin has overturned the conviction of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, attorney Brian Wice told KVUE sister station KHOU 11 News. DeLay, 66, was convicted in 2010 for his alleged role in a scheme to influence Texas elections....

On September 13th, three Texas men were arrested for openly carrying legal pistols in Austin, Texas. All three men had Civil War era pistols which are not considered firearms under Texas law. Terry Louis Holcomb, a Huntsville area pastor, Scott Douglas Smith, a military veteran from San Antonio, and Gary Hayes, a quadriplegic, were arrested by state police for disorderly conduct, a charge that means the possession of a firearm for the purpose to cause alarm.

Several times a day, especially if he’s out travelin’ and talkin’ to folks, as he always is when the U.S. Senate isn’t in session, Ted Cruz will stand before an audience and reflect, seemingly for the first time, about the generational shift taking place in the Republican party. “I call them the Children of Reagan,” he says. He means the rising group of Republican officeholders who came to political consciousness during President Reagan’s two terms. He rattles off their names: “young leaders” like Paul Ryan, Rand Paul, Nikki Haley, Mike Lee, Scott Walker .  .  . and then sometimes he’ll pause, letting...

Certain norms have held together America's legislative governance for nearly a century. They're now being destroyed. Late in August, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, traveled to a private residence in Dublin, N.H., to headline a fundraiser for the state Republican Party. Cruz’s spiel lasted about an hour, and was packed with the mix of straw men and inflammatory nonsense we’ve come to expect out of the junior senator from Texas. But before he really got into it, he took a moment to say a few nice words about his GOP colleague from the state, who was also in attendance. “Kelly Ayotte...

In the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, the Republican Party will explode. When the smoke clears, there’ll be four (4!) new parties. First, there will still be the Republican Party, sort of, but it will change its name to the GOPPPP (Grand Old Party of Perennial Pathetic Putzes). The new name, though, won’t change the fact that the party has failed to win a majority of America’s voters in five of the past six elections or that it keep running candidates even its own members don’t like! It’s top contenders? Sen. Marco Rubio; Rep. Paul Ryan; Gov. Rick Perry;...

Fresh off of his endorsement from former KKK Grand Wizard and former Congressman from Louisiana David Duke, we find this photo of Congressman Ron Paul with former Klansman, former Nazi and current radio show host and moderator of Stormfront.org Don Black. Pictured next to Black in the cool hat appears to be his radio sidekick and son Derek. (Here's an interesting note....Derek's mother is David Duke's ex-wife. Que the banjos.)

LET Rand Paul have his epic filibuster and Ted Cruz his scowling threats to shut down the government. Let Chris Christie thunder to a second term as the governor of New Jersey, his hubris flowering as his ultimate designs on the White House take shape. Jeb Bush, lying low in the subtropics of Florida, has something they don’t: the unalloyed affection of many of the Republican Party’s most influential moneymen, who are waiting for word on what he’ll do, hoping that he’ll seek the 2016 presidential nomination and noting with amusement how far he has drifted off fickle pundits’ radar,...

In his second term, Richard Nixon had Watergate, but also the rescue of Israel in the Yom Kippur War. In his second term, Ronald Reagan had Iran-Contra, but also a treaty eliminating U.S. and Soviet missiles in Europe, his "tear-down-this-wall" moment in Berlin and his lead role in ending the Cold War. In his second term, Bill Clinton had Monica, but also came close to a peace treaty between Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat. Obama's second-term scandals — IRS, Benghazi, wiretapping The Associated Press and Fox — are in the low-kiloton range compared to the resignation of Nixon or the...

Money line: “This is what I do for a living.” Didn’t he predict a Bush/Clinton race in 2016 just nine months ago? If he believes what he says here about the parties swinging like “pendulums” from moderate nominees to ideologues and then back again, why would he have named Jeb as a strong contender last November? In fact, the roots of the counterargument are in Matthews’s own shpiel here: Most of the time, they head to the center. This is what Republicans did most successfully in 1952 – when, after twenty years of Roosevelt and Harry Truman – they wanted...

In a recent poll of Alaska voters, George Zimmerman -- who was recently acquitted in the shooting death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin -- got a surprising 2 percent support as a hypothetical Republican presidential candidate. The newest Alaska survey from Public Policy Polling shows Hillary Clinton's only chance of winning the state in 2016 would be in a matchup against Republican Sarah Palin, where Clinton would lead 49/40 percent. Clinton trails all other Republican candidates in the survey. Out in front, Chris Christie leads her by 8 points at 46/38, Jeb Bush leads at 49/42, Rand Paul is up...

A Marist poll released Wednesday indicates that Hillary Clinton is the clear frontrunner for the Democratic nomination in 2016, and that there is a very crowded and tight field among Republicans. Yahoo asked voters: Which candidate are you backing and why? Here's one perspective. COMMENTARY | The latest Marist poll of potential presidential candidates shows a couple of interesting results. First, Hillary Clinton is blowing away other Democrats. Second, the Republicans appear to be bunched up with no clear front runner. Turning one's attention to the Republican field, one looks upon Ted Cruz, the junior senator from Texas. Hot Air,...

Senator Ted Cruz ✔ @SenTedCruz Reaganomics: You start a business in your parents' garage. Obamanomics: You move into your parents' garage. 6:51 PM - 20 Jul 2013 2,115 Retweets 695 favorites....

Freshman Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has become an increasingly controversial figure in American politics as evidenced by comments MSNBC’s Chris Matthews made this week comparing Cruz to Nazi sympathizer Father Coughlin. Fox’s Bill O’Reilly laid into Matthews last night for equating his “black Irish” looks with Cruz’s and today Megyn Kelly picked up the thread by asking what it is about the senator that makes liberals so angry. Conservative radio host Mike Gallagher said people are only attacking Cruz because he’s “effective.” He said people are “impressed” with the “tea party darling” who “rose out of nowhere” and used this...

One bonus for Republicans in the trifecta of pseudo-scandals ensnaring the Obama White House this month is that it distracted the party from its looming civil war. It’s even possible that the Senate immigration reform got as far as it did partly because wingnut radio talkers and Tea Party xenophobes were consumed by their hatred of Obama, and paying less attention to GOP immigration sellouts. But with the easing of scandal fever on the Potomac, Republicans are back to fighting one another, and the week-long Senate clash between freshman Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. John McCain over the budget is...

Rep Steve Stockman (R-TX) giving away a Bushmaster AR-15 on July 4. People who visit his re-election website--www.stockman2014.com--can find a link marked "Enter To Win An AR-15." Under this are the words, "Click here to enter to win the gun Obama doesn't want you to have." Once you click where instructed, you are asked to enter your name, zip, and email and that's that--you're entered into the drawing and are added to his online mailing list. Democrat National Committee Communications Director Brad Woodhouse reacted to news of the give away by pointing out this was the same gun Adam Lanza...

During the 2012 election cycle I occasionally ran stories declaring that various Republicans being touted as White House material “will never be president.” Sarah Palin after her narcissistic Gabby Giffords meltdown; Newt Gingrich early in his race-baiting campaign; Mitt Romney after his British Olympics screw-up. I batted 1.000 for that cycle, but it was easy. In 2016, Republicans won’t be facing a Democratic incumbent, so somebody has a shot. I recently wrote that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will never be president, due to his out-of-control anger issues, but candidly, I think that’s my riskiest one yet. I feel no...

Former Rep. Ron Paul said the law enforcement that swarmed around Boston in the days following the marathon bombings was scarier than the actual terrorist attack. “The Boston bombing provided the opportunity for the government to turn what should have been a police investigation into a military-style occupation of an American city,” he said on the Lew Rockwell website, Politico reported. “This unprecedented move should frighten us as much or more than the attack itself.” The terror attacks on April 15 in Boston killed three and injured 264. Mr. Paul, a former libertarian political candidate who served in Congress as...

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) told a group of patriots at the FreedomWorks Texas Summit that fellow Republican Senators yelled at him and Rand Paul and Mike Lee for threatening to filibuster the Democrats’ gun control legislation. “We’ve had probably five or six lunches with a bunch of Republican senators standing and looking at Rand and Mike and me and yelling at us at the top of their lungs. I mean really upset. And they said, ‘Look, why did you do this? As a result of this I go home and constituents are yelling at me that I gotta stand on...

CHICAGO — Mayor Rahm Emanuel gave Rick Perry a Chicago-style greeting Monday, challenging the Texas governor to remember the reasons for his visit to Illinois — a jab at Perry's presidential debate forgetfulness. "I hope when he comes he remembers all three of his reasons," Emanuel said. "Because it will be a real test for him." Perry was in Illinois Monday to encourage businesses to move to Texas and was scheduled to address a Chicago business convention Tuesday. Emanuel made pointed reference to a campaign gaffe Perry committed while running for president. At a Republican debate late in 2011, Perry...

Is there nobody who can tell Ted Cruz to shut up? The young senator from Texas has been on the job for about 100 days, but he has already turned the Senate’s ancient seniority system upside down and is dominating his senior Republican colleagues. He’s speaking for them on immigration, guns and any other topic that tickles his fancy; Republican leaders are seething at being outshone yet are terrified of challenging him. Consider his news conference this week to promote the Republican alternative to gun control. With Cruz on the stage in the Senate TV studio: the bill’s primary author,...

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said today that the Senate immigration bill is even worse than feared, since it legalizes illegals' relatives and even those previously deported: "It's hard to believe, but the Senate immigration bill is worse than we thought. Despite assurances, the border is not secured before almost everyone in the country illegally is given amnesty. The bill guarantees there will be a rush across the border to take advantage of massive amnesty." Rep. Smith says the Senate immigration bill shreds current immigration laws: "And the Senate proposal offers amnesty to far more illegal immigrants than we thought. In...

Rep. Ralph Hall, the oldest member of the Texas congressional delegation, and Rep. Pete Gallego, its newest member, spoke for their Texas colleagues in the aftermath of the explosions at the Boston Marathon. "My thoughts and prayers are with those in Boston." - Rep. Hall #prayforboston 9:17 PM - 15 Apr 13 Pete Gallego ✔ @RepPeteGallego Listening 2 details re Boston Marathon bombs. Evil like that still boggles my mind. God always sees the truth. Justice comes. 8:55 PM - 15 Apr 13 Rep. Steve Stockman, a Republican from Friendswood, shared those sentiments. Rep. Steve Stockman @SteveWorks4You Please pray for...

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz has called for the complete legislative repeal of ObamaCare and its replacement by comprehensive healthcare reforms that actually increase patient choice, decrease the role of government bureaucrats and disconnect health insurance from employment. "If you lose your job," Cruz said, "you don't lose your house, life or car insurance. They go with you wherever you go." It should be the same for health insurance. In a wide-ranging exclusive interview with IBD's weekly M&M podcast, the Texas freshman said, "Our first priority is repealing ObamaCare and repealing it in its entirety. The program isn't working." And he...

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) will speak at a luncheon hosted by the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth on April 24, the Council announced Monday. Bush's speech coincides with a speech former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton plans to give at the National Multi Housing Council at the Four Seasons Resort and Club, also in Dallas, on April 24. Both Bush and Clinton have been mentioned as possible presidential candidates in 2016. Clinton and Bush are also set to appear at the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center at Southern Methodist University on April 25. Clinton's...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) doubled down Monday in his opposition to expanding Medicaid under President Obama's healthcare law, even though opposing it could cost his state $90 billion. At a press conference where he was flanked by other conservatives, Perry argued expanding the health insurance program for the poor would make Texas “hostage” to the federal government. “It would benefit no one in our state to see their taxes skyrocket and our economy crushed as our budget crumbled under the weight of oppressive Medicaid costs,” Perry said at the state capitol. States can choose whether or not to allow...

Bill O’Reilly took on the brewing war between Sarah Palin and Karl Rove after Palin called out Rove during her CPAC speech Saturday and he hit back at her on Fox News Sunday. Brit Hume joined O’Reilly to try to figure out what this latest bout of infighting means for the Republican Party. O’Reilly asked Hume, appearing from Miami, Florida in a salmon-colored sweater, if he was wearing material from Hillary Clinton‘s pantsuit before launching into the substance of the segment. Hume insisted that the skirmish between Palin and Rove has little to do with their actual political “ideas,” noting...

On Mar. 8, reporter Carl Cameron on Special Report on Fox News Channel was surveying potential GOP 2016 presidential candidates. Then he raised Ted Cruz--one of the most brilliant constitutional lawyers ever to serve in the Senate--the new 41-year old Hispanic senator from Texas. Cameron added, “But Cruz was born in Canada and is constitutionally ineligible” to run for president. While many people assume that, it’s probably not true. Cameron was referring to the Constitution’s Article II requirement that only a “natural born citizen” can run for the White House. No one is certain what that means. Citizenship was primarily...

Sen. Rand Paul's filibuster against the confirmation of CIA Director and "drone czar" John Brennan offers a "teachable moment" to the media and the left about the Tea Party. As they seethe in outrage and confusion that it took a Republican to question the constitutionality of drone attacks, it is important to remind our friends on the other side that it wasn't just any Republican, but a--gasp!--Tea Party Republican who spoke "truth to power." Not only that, but the Senators who were first to offer their assistance were also Tea Party Republicans--the so-called McCarthyist Ted Cruz of Texas, and Marco...

On Sean Hannity's Wednesday radio show conservative commentator and “Mugged” author Ann Coulter laid out what she viewed to be the proper criteria for the Republican Party’s 2016 presidential hopefuls. She ruled out rising-star Texas Sen. Ted Cruz as a potential candidate unless the United States were to absorb Canada’s three most western provinces due to eligibility questions stemming from the fact that Cruz was born in Calgary, Alberta. Beyond that, Coulter also wants the next GOP presidential candidate to live up to certain gender and appearance standards. “Look — the general principles on choosing our next president, and like...

Our new Sen. Ted Cruz, of the great state of Texas, has a knack for making himself heard, and I look forward to a tenure filled with such press statements. Dear Rahm, this is what a little state-to-state competition looks like. Companies bullied by Mayor Pottymouth aren’t obligated to stay in the cold, bankrupt, and increasingly inhospitable state of Illinois. And, Cruz is proactive in his pitch to Rahm-targeted Bank of America, TD Bank, Sturm & Ruger, and Smith & Wesson (though not proactive in the subsidies arms race we too often see in state competition over sports teams and...

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is rolling out the welcome mat for New Yorkers who would like to keep their guns—and their money. Abbott used his campaign money to produce and place ads on media websites in New York City and Albany encouraging residents to move to Texas. Why? To avoid the severe gun restrictions put into place by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, as well as the high income taxes of the Empire State. One ad reads: "WANTED: Law abiding New York gun owners seeking lower taxes and greater opportunities." If the viewer clicks on the ad, the link...

Alternate headline: “Liberals to discover strange new respect for ‘Natural Born’ Clause circa 2016/2020.” The newly sworn-in Texas senator and rising Republican star was born in Canada, to a mother who was born in Delaware and Cuban father. That’s triggered a debate about whether he’s eligible for the nation’s highest office — nevermind that he’s been in Congress less than a week. While there’s no legal precedent for Cruz’s situation, most constitutional scholars surveyed by POLITICO believe the 42-year-old tea party sensation would be OK. But there’s just enough gray area to stoke controversy, as Cruz learned during his campaign...

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) thanked his Sarah Palin fans for their help in getting the newly elected tea party favorite into office. In a message through Palin’s PAC on Tuesday, Cruz wrote: “We started out as underdogs in a long, competitive primary. But despite the odds being stacked against us, Governor Palin and SarahPAC showed daring leadership by endorsing my campaign. The Governor’s vision and the support of patriots like you helped transform my long-shot candidacy into victory on election night.” In July, the former Alaska governor made her first 2012 campaign stop and rallied for Cruz...

On NBC, DEM Rep. --former . Gov Jennifer Granholm (D-MI)-- again repeated VP Biden's line that that was the info we got from the intel, at the time of the attack, and that it was the REP. that cut the defense, thus(as a result) it affected (somehow) the security around the embassy... My question is, why is it that liberals can not stop hammering us on Iraq and refuse to take the truthful answer that we all thought that Saddam Hussein had WMD according to our intel at the time? -- BTW The DEM Mayor Kasim Reed (D-Atlanta) kept spinning...

The Dallas Morning News announced this afternoon that they are endorsing candidate Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election. In an editorial piece, the newspaper calls Romney a "principled, pragmatic leader" and that the former Massachusetts governor as a man who has "shown an ability to lead" and "can get Washington working again." The article went on to chastise Obama for being "less leader than follower" with his inability to address the escalating national debt and continually blaming George W. Bush for "the mess he left behind."(continued)

TAMPA -- The Paulistas were at the Republican National Convention last week, and they were cranky. They held up cranky signs and wore T-shirts with cranky messages. They scowled. They pouted. They sometimes shouted when others were speaking. They were clearly cheesed off that their man, who won several states during the primaries, did not get to write the platform and otherwise dominate the convention. Oh, wait. Oops. No, Dr. Paul, the gold-medal winner this year in the Olympic Pat Paulsen look-alike competition, didn't win several states. In fact, he did not win a single state. He ran early and...

This year’s cast of GOP convention speakers could be future rivals, each jockeying for prime positioning in case 2016 opens up, Republican strategist Steve Schmidt said on MSNBC Monday night. The emerging five: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Rep. Paul Ryan. “All of these people in their own right are people who may have presidential aspirations and the ability to run a formidable campaign,” he said. “You maybe see the next generation of rivalries in the Republican Party.… You may see them all previewing what’s going...

Mitt Romney will not be on the ballot in Washington State, if a lawsuit from the Libertarian party succeeds. Citing a legal technicality which disqualifies the republican party from being considered a “major party” due to its failure to get a senate candidate on the ballot in 2010, libertarians appear to have the law on their side which would disqualify the republican party from being able to place its candidate on state ballots in November. That would remove Romney from the ballot, which would still allow his supporters to write in his name but would likely suppress the number of...

Sarah Palin stepped out in Kansas yesterday wearing a Superman T-shirt, skintight cropped pants and five-inch platform wedges - her political uniform of choice while campaigning for Republican Sarah Steelman. While mounting an aggressive campaign in Missouri with television and radio ads, and then serving barbecued pork sandwiches at a rural political picnic, the 48-year-old ditched her suits for an entirely new look. Taking to the makeshift stage in the middle of a farm field, the former Alaska governor proved her new style seems to be nowhere near as conservative as her political views. After the former vice-presidential candidate was...

Establishment Republicans rally today to debunk Sarah Palin much as Letterman, Couric, Tina Fey and the vast info/entertainment culture did at the beginning. It is a measure of her success and the fear Grizzly Mama strikes in the heart of the timid. The Ted Cruz victory in the Texas Senate race brings substantive political change and Sarah Palin is behind the paradigm shift. It is, as The Washington Post called it, “a victory for the Tea Party.” Today, “the establishment” pushes further away from the main pulse of America and Sarah Palin holds the pulse. The paradigm shift can best...

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: First, the sizzling political controversy over a fast food chain. Chick-Fil-A is at the center of a political storm. Why? Well, the company's president openly opposes gay marriage, Dan Cathy saying gay marriage invites God's judgment on our nation. And then came the responses, mayors of several cities recently banning Chick-fil-A. There's also an on-line petition to boycott the chain. But now the counter-protest begins, some conservative political_leaders urging people to support the restaurant chain, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin even tweeting photos of herself and her husband, Todd, at a Texas Chick-fil-A. Governor...

So I got this email from Texas Alliance for life that includes the following "David Dewhurst is the ONLY candidate with a track record of passing pro-life laws. He knows how to get things done to protect unborn babies and their mothers. Please don't gamble when you vote on Tuesday. Vote for David Dewhurst." I don't know why they are implying Cruz is not pro-life, when he is, and why they are getting involved in this fight.