Free Republic

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says entitlement reform is not on the agenda in 2018, despite what Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and senior Trump administration officials say. McConnell, speaking at an event sponsored by Axios on Thursday, said the lack of Democratic support for entitlement reform makes it highly unlikely that it will move through the Senate in an election year. “I think the Democrats are not going to be interested in entitlement reform so I would not expect to see that on the agenda,” McConnell said. He said that bipartisan immigration and banking-reform legislation are much more likely...

A federal agent was arrested Tuesday for taking pictures in the women’s restroom of a UW-Madison residence hall, the university’s police department said. Justin T. Fahy, of Monona, allegedly went into a bathroom at Witte Residence Hall, 615 W. Johnson St., on Friday afternoon, put his cell phone under an occupied stall and took pictures, police said. The 27-year-old Fahy, who identified himself as a special agent for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), told police it was a misunderstanding and that he mistakenly entered the wrong restroom, said UW police spokesman Marc Lovicott. Ashlee Sherrill,...

"The U.S. is about to spend a small fortune on teaching science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM....That’s a good investment in theory, but the American education system is in no position to make the most of it." "...Students should reach college prepared to take serious science and engineering courses, yet many don’t. Our math teaching is half a century out of date, and without math there is no STEM. Computer science builds on electronics and “discrete mathematics,” as opposed to the classical type leading to calculus."

NORWALK, WIS. — Not long ago, a local farmer here plunged into a depression so intense that he could barely muster the strength to leave his bed. The 40-something father of eight went dark for weeks, despite the enormous amount of daily work needed to keep his family farm going. “If you are running a small farm, you still have to get up and milk the cows. You got to go put the crops in. There are demands that nature doesn’t let you forget,” explained Jerry Menn, a farmer and doctor who was familiar with his friend’s crisis. “His massive...

Senator Ron Johnson sends a letter to current FBI Director Christopher Wray questioning the surrounding investigative details about how the James Comey (July 5th, 2016) exoneration manuscript was changed and sculpted. (Full pdf below) Within the letter Senator Johnson shares the changes that were made to the manuscript, and asks Wray if FBI officials are aware of who made the changes and why. Prior revelations from within an ongoing IG report showed FBI Counterintelligence Agent Peter Strzok participating in both the investigation of Hillary Clinton, and changing some of the manuscript to shape the narrative away from criminal conduct and...

Collins shrugged off the House snub, saying it didn’t matter if the House passes a spending bill that doesn’t include the legislation. “That has never been the plan,” she told reporters. “The plan is for the majority leader to add [the bills] in the Senate.”

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is reportedly considering retiring after the 2018 midterm elections. Politico reported Thursday that Ryan has told his “closest confidants” that his current term as speaker will be his last.

Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX) will not run for reelection and will retire from Congress at the end of his term in 2019. Farenthold has been accused of sexual misconduct by several of his former female staffers. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) had reportedly asked Farenthold to retire immediately, but Farenthold refused and will serve out the remainder of his term. Farenthold has served in Congress since 2011. The Associated Press @AP Two Republicans say that Texas GOP Rep. Blake Farenthold, facing sexual misconduct allegations, won't seek re-election next year. http://apne.ws/9avgVsc 5:05 PM - Dec 14, 2017 https://apnews.com/dist/assets/images/Twitterlogo.png Farenthold...

House Speaker Paul Ryan plans to retire after the 2018 midterm elections, Politico reported on Thursday. From Politico: Ryan was tiring of D.C. even before reluctantly accepting the speakership. He told his predecessor, John Boehner, that it would be his last job in politics—and that it wasn't a long-term proposition. In the months following Trump's victory, he began contemplating the scenarios of his departure. More recently, over closely held conversations with his kitchen cabinet, Ryan's preference has become clear: He would like to serve through Election Day 2018 and retire ahead of the next Congress. This would give Ryan a...

Congressional Republicans say they reached agreement on a final tax bill that will provide a new 20-percent deduction for pass-through income from farms and small businesses. The agreement, which the House and Senate are expected to take up early next week, also calls for doubling the estate tax exemption and will include key expensing provisions that farm groups sought to preserve and expand, lawmakers said. They said the agreement also would allow deduction of state and local taxes, including income and property taxes, up to $10,000, a concession to lawmakers in high-tax states that could also benefit farmers. Senate Agriculture...

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) did not mince words when asked to comment on Tuesday night's election results in Alabama. When asked what he believed the "message" from last night was, Johnson said that "Alabamians didn't want somebody who dated 14-year-old girls." He then said that Steve Bannon should learn that the GOP needs better candidates in order to win Senate races before going into an office away from the camera. NBC News tweeted a video of the exchange. Watch the video here:  Reporter: "What message did the election send last night?" Sen. Johnson: "Alabamians didn't want somebody who dated 14-year-old girls." pic.twitter.com/tmWDDxIw0G— NBC...

A Democratic lawmaker says that a supporter of Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore (R) called her office pretending to be a reporter before becoming enraged and shouting racial slurs at the congresswoman and her staff. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) tweeted Tuesday afternoon that "another" Moore supporter had just called her office posing as a reporter for The Associated Press, before having their cover blown. This resulted in the caller becoming angered and calling the congresswoman and others in the room the n-word and other racial slurs. "Another #RoyMoore supporter just called my office posing as an @AP reporter," Moore tweeted....

A Democratic congresswoman asked the Senate’s administrative operations to have a plan in place to prevent GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore from targeting any of the teenagers in the chamber’s page program, should he win election. Rep. Gwen S. Moore, Wisconsin Democrat, said the reports of Mr. Moore’s pursuit of relationships with teens when he was a lawyer in his 30s, decades ago, demand action now.

We went to Wisconsin hasn’t been won in many, many years. Do you remember that? We went to Wisconsin. Hadn’t been won in many, many years. She decided not to go. Thank you very much, Hillary. . .I guess the Russians advised her not to go. . . But she decided not to go. And her husband supposedly said “You better go to Wisconsin. You better go to Michigan. I don’t like what I’m seeing. I was in Michigan and I was driving down the street and they have a Trump/Pence sign on every single lawn all the way to...

the Left engaged in gross abuses of criminal law to intimidate, harass and silence conservatives in the state. The specifics were chilling -- from pre-dawn raids on political activists' homes, to stifling gag orders preventing them from saying a peep about what was happening to them, all in pursuit of criminalizing and punishing the Badger State conservative movement. Eventually, one target violated his gag order and blew the whistle on the whole operation, eventually leading to investigations of the investigations, and multiple courts shutting down the witch hunts with extreme prejudice. ... ruthless the Left had become in its efforts...

On Wednesday, a Wisconsin judge unsealed an 88-page report on the state Department of Justice’s (WIDoJ) investigation into a leak of sealed evidence from the politically motivated “John Doe” investigation of Gov. Scott Walker, his supporters, and various conservative groups related to his recall election campaign. Despite concluding a crime was committed during the John Doe proceedings, WIDoJ recommends no criminal charges. Instead, the report recommends that former Government Accountability Board (GAB) lawyer Shane Falk be referred to the state judiciary’s Office of Lawyer Regulation for discipline and that contempt proceedings be initiated against John Doe special prosecutor Francis Schmitz and former...

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, posted to Facebook her call on Franken to resign Click here to see the list of Senators calling on Franken to resign. A top Senate Dem says he expects Franken to resign Thursday shortly after Franken’s office said he would be making an announcement Thursday. Democrat Senator Ron Wyden tweeted,”I expect that Senator Franken will announce his resignation tomorrow. It is the right thing to do given this series of serious allegations.”

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — More than a dozen states banded together Monday to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to block a California law requiring any eggs sold there to come from hens that have space to stretch out in their cages. In a lawsuit filed directly to the high court, the states allege that California's law has cost consumers nationwide up to $350 million annually because of higher egg prices since it took effect in 2015. The lawsuit argues that California's requirements violate the U.S. Constitution's interstate commerce clause and are pre-empted by federal law. A federal appeals court...

The national revulsion against abusive civil asset forfeiture has not kept police from trying to pocket as much as they can from people who are innocent of any wrongdoing. A recent case shows how police can pressure motorists into waiving their right to contest seizure of money during a highway traffic stop. Phil Parhamovich is a musician who lives in Wisconsin. For years, he’s been saving money for a music studio for his band – “The Dirt Brothers” – and had accumulated $91,800 by early 2017. He doesn’t much trust financial institutions and did not want to leave that large...

Senate Republicans were confident that they had the votes needed Friday to pass their tax plan as last-minute changes brought more GOP lawmakers on board. Sens. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., earlier Friday said they would back the bill after securing further tax relief for pass-through businesses. Then, Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., committed to supporting the plan, leaving Republican leaders confident that they had the support. On Friday morning, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, called holdout Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., the last two senators who need to get on board. The GOP can...