Free Republic

With gas prices topping $4 a gallon and the idea of tapping into oil under the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or the Outer Continental Shelf becoming more popular, liberal members of Congress are changing the basis for their opposition to drilling. Opposition to opening up new drilling has traditionally focused on environmental concerns, but the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on June 15 accused oil companies of not using what they already have. When CNN host Wolf Blitzer asked "why not start drilling" in more U.S. areas "that could dramatically increase supply and as a result reduce the...

The chairmen of the House and Senate Democratic campaign committees sounded differing notes of optimism on Wednesday, just more than a year away from what they say will be a second straight election on the offensive. Speaking to reporters at a briefing, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) was effusive, saying the 2008 election could be “a seminal election” on par with only a few in the history of the country. The two-cycle chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said the results could “change the tectonic plates of politics.” Schumer said he expects to hold all 12 seats that Senate Democrats...

Rep. Chris Van Hollen ended months of speculation yesterday by declaring that he will not be a candidate for the U.S. Senate next year, saying he wants to focus instead on raising his family and electing more Democrats to Congress.

A group of 11 representatives in the House want Congress to add "sexual orientation" to the list of protected characteristics used in regulating workplace discrimination in federal employment. Government employment discrimination and whistleblower-protection issues are handed by the Office of Special Counsel, which is empowered to prosecute managers believed to have violated the law. During the Clinton administration, Special Counsel Elaine Kaplan – an avowed lesbian, according to Concerned Women for America – incorporated "sexual orientation" under the "conduct unrelated to the job" portion of the regulation, thus elevating homosexuality to a protected status. Last year, Scott Bloch, who now...

GOP Hopeful Fights Uphill Battle In Md. 8th District Floyd Seeking to Unseat Van Hollen By Tim Craig Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, October 27, 2004; Page B01 Republican Charles R. Floyd said it isn't easy running for Congress in the heavily Democratic 8th District, in the midst of a heated presidential campaign. The retired military officer and State Department employee said he has been shouted down while handing out literature at Metro stops. Doors have slammed in his face. When he stands waving his campaign signs along roadways, he said, "if I don't get three middle fingers in the...

Chuck Floyd is unafraid to lay it on the line...After today's articles attacking Chuck for buying and using the Van Hollen Names, Chuck posted a picture of Van Hollen at a Pro-Palestinian Statehood Now sign. Van Hollen has not been Israel - Friendly during his term, but this photo says it all. www.vanhollen2004.net

I like this guy!! Chuck Floyd has guts, It's about time we caught the Dems Napping. I for one am giving the www.floydforcongress.com a donation. Their phone number is 301-656-1313 Van Hollen Is Caught Off Guard; Name Is Used by Foe's Web Sites The GOP candidate for Congress from Maryland's 8th District says it was an opportunity he couldn't let pass. But incumbent Rep. Chris Van Hollen said Charles R. Floyd's Web sites represent "a new low for politics in this area." Repeating a tactic he used against his Republican primary opponent this year, Floyd bought three Internet domain names...

I like this guy!! Chuck Floyd has guts, It's about time we caught the Dems Napping. I for one am giving the www.floydforcongress.com a donation. Their phone number is 301-656-1313 Van Hollen Is Caught Off Guard; Name Is Used by Foe's Web Sites The GOP candidate for Congress from Maryland's 8th District says it was an opportunity he couldn't let pass. But incumbent Rep. Chris Van Hollen said Charles R. Floyd's Web sites represent "a new low for politics in this area." Repeating a tactic he used against his Republican primary opponent this year, Floyd bought three Internet domain names...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Christine Iverson202-863-8614 Washington, DC—RNC Communications Director Jim Dyke made the following statement today on Rep. Chris Van Hollen’s (D-MD) decision to skip out on an important House Education and Workforce Committee hearing on education, in order to lead a conference call on behalf of the Kerry campaign attacking President Bush on none other than, education. “John Kerry's surrogates are apparently no more interested in their legislative duties than their candidate is. Only one day after John Kerry cost his party a key Senate vote, Kerry surrogate Rep. Chris Van Hollen is skipping out on education committee...

Gun control supporters hold rally in D.C. By KATA KERTESZ The Associated Press 5/9/2004, 6:29 p.m. ET WASHINGTON (AP) — Nick Wilcox wore a button with a picture of his late daughter and spoke of the satisfaction of joining other gun-control advocates Sunday at a rally to urge renewal of a federal ban on assault weapons. "It's always gratifying to be with kindred spirits, and that's what this is," said Wilcox, whose 19-year-old daughter, Laura, was one of two workers at a mental health department office in California shot to death in 2001 by a patient. The assailant used a...

In a race that began as a coronation for Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, U.S. Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. now has the edge in his quest to become the first Republican governor since Spiro T. Agnew was elected in 1966, according to a new independent poll. The survey of 869 likely voters taken Oct. 26-28 by Potomac Survey Research, sponsored by The Gazette and The (Baltimore) Sun, shows Ehrlich with 46 percent and Townsend with 42 percent of the vote. The margin of error is 3.4 percent. Twelve percent of likely voters are undecided.

Election: Late-deciding voters will likely sway close contests for the state's top office and for two congressional seats. The race for Maryland governor is deadlocked and will be decided by voters who have yet to choose between Democrat Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., and by a shrinking pool of others still willing to change their minds, a new poll released yesterday shows.

First, some relevant facts:1. Mr. Alzona submitted this controversial flier, solely as testimony on behalf of the Maryland Tyranny Response Team, directly to members of both the Maryland Senate and House Judiciary Committees during last week's hearings. This flier was submitted in OPPOSITION to a NAZI-like gun control bill that called for the photographing, fingerprinting, numbering and registration of all Maryland gun owners.2. Montgomery Democrat leaders, Senators Frosh and Van Hollen, plus Delegate Mark Kennedy Shriver, were the lead sponsors of their proposed final solution to the problem of "gun violence" allegedly afflicting Maryland's children.3. The multi-million dollar Kennedy Shriver...