Free Republic

Last Thursday night the House of Representatives met in a closed session to debate H.R. 3773, the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. It passed the House on Friday by a vote of 213-197. The bill is intended to update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to resolve the problems modern electronic communication poses for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other agencies which pursue international terrorist networks that seek to inflict harm upon the United States. It states that a “court order is not required for electronic surveillance directed at the acquisition...

John McCain's ad guru, Mark McKinnon, is on record with his admiration of Democratic front-runner Barack Obama, and has vowed to make no television commercials which would harm Obama's campaign. Paul Weyrich, president and CEO of Free Congress Foundation, said things might have been different if information such as the revelations about McKinnon and WND's report that McCain's foundation has been funded by billionaire George Soros since 2001 had been available earlier. "This validates everything that those of us who have reservations about McCain have been saying,” Weyrich said.

I believe that the voters in this Republican nomination contest—here in Virginia and across the country—deserve a real choice. And Governor Huckabee is clearly the conservative alternative. He is the best choice, and he is my choice. So I am voting for him on Tuesday, here in Virginia. I don’t buy the idea that John McCain is a true conservative. Nor do I buy the idea that Mike Huckabee should get out of this contest. The people in the Potomac area—Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. In addition, we have many important states coming up, including my home state...

Conservatives may be surprised to hear that for over 50 years they have been successful in stopping the growth of big government. Going all the way to the early 1950s Federal spending has hovered in a fairly narrow band around 20% of GDP. But even that limited success is soon to be swamped by reality. For the Federal Government’s long-term projections show a radical change over the next 40 years, with Federal spending soaring close to 40% of GDP or more. This is due to our nation’s big entitlement programs – Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. Counting state and local...

Scott Swett interview by Paul Weyrich on RighTalk Radio, December 28, 2007 Weyrich: Back with The Right Hour on the RighTalk Radio Network. I'm Paul Weyrich, and with us now is Scott Swett, who has just written a book entitled, To Set The Record Straight: How Swift Boat Veterans, POWs and the New Media Defeated John Kerry. Swett is a former chairman of the Free Republic Network, and was very much involved with the entire controversy over the Swift Boat veterans in the 2004 elections. Scott, welcome to the program. Swett: Thank you very much, Paul. It's good to be...

Fred Thompson received the endorsement of the National Right to Life Committee on Tuesday and a surrogate for the campaign of Mitt Romney claimed Wednesday that it was motivated by money. Paul Weyrich, president of the Free Congress Foundation, says he can't find any other explanation. National Right to Life officials said Tuesday they backed Thompson because of his 100 percent voting record on pro-life issues, his willingness to back overturning Roe and the viability of his campaign. But Weyrich, a Romney backer, told the Washington Times the endorsement "makes no sense" and claimed the Thompson campaign bought off the...

Responding to the National Right to Life Committee's endorsement of Fred Thompson, Paul Weyrich suggested that Thompson's backers greased some palms. "I think in all probability the Thompson people were engaged with the National Right to Life people in financial dealing," Weyrich told the Washington Times. That's a pretty tough charge and almost certainly not what Romney's campaign wanted their big social conservative "get" to suggest (at least not publicly). Sensing opportunity to win more points from their own big "get" (the group's nod) Thompson communications director Todd Harris unloaded: "Gov. Romney is new to the pro-life movement and his...

Today’s Washington Times has a bit of an eye-opening comment, high in its story of the reaction to the National Right to Life Committee’s endorsement of Fred Thompson. Paul M. Weyrich, president of the Free Congress Foundation, said the endorsement "makes no sense," and speculated that it had been motivated by money. "I think in all probability the Thompson people were engaged with the National Right to Life people in financial dealing," said Mr. Weyrich, who has endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination. "In the past, the Republican Party has funded National Right to Life, and...

Some pro-life advocates were astonished by the National Right to Life Committee's endorsement of Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson yesterday — a move they say puts politics over principle. Paul M. Weyrich, president of the Free Congress Foundation, said the endorsement "makes no sense," and speculated that it had been motivated by money. "I think in all probability the Thompson people were engaged with the National Right to Life people in financial dealing," said Mr. Weyrich, who has endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination. "In the past, the Republican Party has funded National Right to Life,...

I feel comfortable saying, based on conversations with NRLC members, that Jim Bopp's attack on Sam Brownback did not help the Romney team with the NRLC. Paul Weyrich coming unglued and accusing Thompson of bribing NRLC for their endorsement is really not going to help Romney at the grassroots level. Weyrich can say what he wants, but (a) it's not true and (b) it's not helpful. I would suggest that if they don't think Thompson is a threat, the Romney camp might not want to get bogged down on this. The latest poll numbers in Iowa and South Carolina are...

There is an old hymn written by Fanny Crosby, sung at generations of camp meetings, which exclaims: "Crown Him! Crown Him! Prophet, and Priest, and King!" Since the emergence of evangelicalism as a cultural force in the 1950s, three approaches to politics, represented by three personalities, have emerged. They are the prophet, the priest and the kingmaker. The prophet has been psychologist James Dobson, who dispenses child-rearing advice on the radio from his Colorado ministry, Focus on the Family. On family issues, Dobson's counsel is moderate and broadly appealing. On politics, his tone sharpens. He rails against compromise on social-conservative...

WASHINGTON, DC, November 7, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Mitt Romney's campaign for President received a major shot in the arm on Monday in the form of an official endorsement from well-known conservative leader and chairman of the Free Congress Foundation, Paul Weyrich.  Despite a lingering uncertainty for many conservatives about Romney's authentic conservative persona due to his notorious 'flip-flopping' in recent years, Weyrich's endorsement joins a growing number of similar Romney endorsements from other notable conservative leaders. Weyrich is the founder of the Heritage Foundation and current chairman of the Free Congress Foundation.  He is considered a major leader by...

Paul Weyrich Talks About Why He Endorsed Romney - And Not the OthersNational Review Online Jim Geraghty 6 November 2007 I spoke to Paul Weyrich, chairman of the Free Congress Foundation and a founder of the Heritage Foundation and the Moral Majority, about his endorsement of Mitt Romney. “I felt it would come down to a contest between Giuliani and Romney,” Weyrich said. “I don’t want Giuliani as the nominee because a lot of our values voters will defect... I know the same argument is made about Romney, but eventually, I think those voters can be brought around. There...

Paul Weyrich, one of the nation’s most influential conservative leaders, says he is out to prevent Rudy Giuliani from winning the Republican nomination for president — and predicts the religious right will unite behind any GOP candidate except Rudy. In an exclusive interview with Newsmax.com, Weyrich also predicts Republicans face a “disaster” in the Senate in next year’s elections, says Hillary Clinton would be the easiest Democratic candidate to defeat, and charges that the Bush administration’s Iraq policy has been a “mistake” from the beginning. Weyrich is no stranger to speaking his mind. As Chairman and CEO of the Washington-based...

This is a big one folks. In a Brody File exclusive, we've found out that Paul Weyrich, the former co-founder of The Moral Majority has endorsed Mitt Romney for President. The Brody File has the press release. Read below: Today, Paul Weyrich, Chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Research and Education Foundation, announced his support for Governor Mitt Romney and his campaign to be our country's next President. Paul Weyrich is one of the premier leaders in the conservative movement, having founded the Heritage Foundation and the American Legislative Exchange Council. "As he travels across the country, Governor Romney...

The Law of the Sea Treaty (“LOST” to opponents, “UNCLOS” to supporters) is up for a vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this Thursday, November 1. The State Department pushed this treaty in 1981 when Ronald Reagan was President. He rejected it, primarily because of Part XI of the Treaty, which regulates minerals on the seabed outside any sovereign state's territorial waters. It establishes an International Seabed Authority (ISA) to authorize seabed exploration and mining and collect and distribute the seabed mining royalty. President Reagan strongly objected to the provisions of Part XI, saying that they were unfavorable to...

For months, social conservatives have viewed Fred Thompson as a Reaganesque savior in a dreary field of GOP presidential hopefuls. But the former Tennessee senator's early days on the campaign trail have left some prominent evangelicals underwhelmed. "I'm personally not that impressed," says Paul Weyrich, a veteran strategist who cofounded the Moral Majority. One sticking point: Thompson's stance on a same-sex marriage ban. On the trail, he has declined to endorse a constitutional amendment blocking gay marriage, instead backing a broader amendment that would bar states from imposing their laws on other states. "The [marriage ban] approach has been tried...

At last Fred D. Thompson is in the race. He skipped the Republican debate in New Hampshire in favor of an appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Did he make a mistake? I believe he did. New Hampshire voters like their politics retail. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is leading because of the time he has spent there. Same for Iowa, whose caucuses are first, as to which Thompson has four months to catch up. The entry of Thompson helps former Mayor Rudolph "Rudy" Giuliani. Thompson splits the conservative vote between Romney, Senator John S. McCain, III and...

do not believe it necessary to amend the Constitution frequently but there are times when an amendment is justified. One such amendment should prohibit politicians from using the phrase "I'm going back to my home state to be with my family." Usually this is code for "I have a difficult, unpredictable election coming up and it would be an embarrassment to lose as an incumbent, so I have decided to retire." Such was the case earlier this month when a well-known Member of Congress announced her retirement. But in spite of my dislike of the phrase, there are a few...

Jun 25, 2007 One of the most sacred rights Americans enjoy and have enjoyed from the earliest days of our Republic is the secret ballot. With minor exceptions over the years, when one casts a vote privacy is assured. Many states have laws that prohibit politics 100 feet from the sidewalk to the voting booth. Each law varies and people often try to take advantage of those laws, which is why most states permit poll-watchers, often hired by political parties. If a voter encounters someone breaking the law, the voter may approach a poll-watcher to alert the police. I mention...