Free Republic

House Ways and Means Committee Republicans aren't ruling out the use of the chamber's "inherent contempt" authority if Attorney General Eric Holder refuses to act on the panel's accusations against former IRS official Lois Lerner.

Jacques Belleaud at MyFoxDC reports: The Mexican government has urged a U.S. court to stop Arizona from enforcing a minor section of the state’s 2010 immigration law that prohibits the harboring of illegal immigrants. Lawyers representing Mexico asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in a filing Wednesday to uphold a lower-court ruling that blocked police from enforcing the ban. Mexico argued the ban harms diplomatic relations between the United States, undermines the U.S.’s ability to speak to a foreign country with one voice and encourages the marginalization of Mexicans and people who appear to be from Latin America. “Mexico...

A bus full of three-dozen undocumented immigrants — displaying their illegal status for all to see — is set to stop in Nashville on Thursday to raise awareness of immigration politics. The “UndocuBus,” as organizers call it, will be at a public rally Thursday near the Super Mercado La Reyna #2 at 3761 Nolensville Pike in Nashville from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The group’s motto: “No papers, no fear.” Advertising for Thursday’s event is virtually nonexistent, but supporters are beginning to spread the word via Facebook. The group includes six undocumented immigrants from Tennessee. “The Hispanic community in Tennessee...

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin praised Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer for having “cojones” in pressing the state’s controversial immigration law. Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Palin used the Spanish slang for testicles when asked about last week’s injunction against the most controversial parts of Arizona’s law and the state’s effort to press forward with its immigration enforcement plans. “Jan Brewer has the cojones that our president does not have,” Palin said. “If our own president will not enforce our federal law, more power to Jan Brewer.” Palin called the judge’s ruling in the injunction sought by the White House “unfortunate”...

I'm not sure if we can believe anything in The Washington Post but this one needs mentioning even if they fabricated the story since it has to do with actually making Sarah Palin look good. What's wrong with this picture? Since when would the WaPo want to make a conservative like Palin look good under any circumstances? Nonetheless, Matt DeLong of the Washington Post quoted Sarah Palin as saying Barack Obama lacks 'the cojones' to tackle immigration. Here's the exact quote, copied and pasted from the WaPo story: Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said Sunday that Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer...

It should come as no surprise that there was not a single Republican vote for the $819 billion stimulus package that passed the House last night. Those Republican smiles over the efforts of President Obama to reach out to them were actually more like grimaces. Indeed, talk of bi-partisan cooperation at the outset of a new administration in Washington is common, yet it seldom ever materializes, especially since the GOP was taken over by the wingnuts of the far right 30 years ago. That party is now a distant cry from what it was under President Eisenhower in the 1950s,...

President Bush fired back at ex-president Clinton on Thursday, saying his weak response to repeated terrorist attacks on U.S. interests during the 1990s encouraged al Qaida to launch the 9/11 attacks. "The terrorists saw our response to the hostage crisis in Iran, the bombings in the Marine barracks in Lebanon, the first World Trade Center attack, the killing of American soldiers in Somalia, the destruction of two U.S. embassies in Africa and the attack on the USS Cole," Bush noted, after getting an update on the war on terror at the Pentagon. "The terrorists concluded that we lacked the courage...

Wed Aug 24, 2:29 AM ET SYDNEY (AFP) - Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law have been told to get out of Australia. A day after a group of mainstream Muslim leaders pledged loyalty to Australia at a special meeting with Prime Minister John Howard, he and his ministers made it clear that extremists would face a crackdown. Treasurer Peter Costello, seen as heir apparent to Howard, hinted that some radical clerics could be asked to leave the country if they did not accept that Australia was a secular state and its laws were made by parliament....

Clarifying remarks from a radio interview that drew praise from some supporters, Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., said he was not suggesting that the U.S. should nuke the Islamic holy site Mecca as a response to a nuclear homeland attack by al-Qaida. The congressman's press secretary told WorldNetDaily the comments were an off-the-cuff response to a hypothetical situation. "He doesn't believe that we should go out and threaten to bomb anybody's holy city," said spokesman Will Adams. In the interview this morning with Pat Campbell of WFLA radio in Orlando, Tancredo discussed his request for a briefing from the Justice Department...

Dear Republican Congressmen: Less than 1 year ago, Americans voted to give President Bush a second term to continue working toward his vision for America. Voters gave President Bush the best present that any Republican president could ask for - a Republican controlled Congress. Americans breathed a sigh of relief that gridlock was over for at least 2 years. Some real changes could finally be made. Despite being the majority party, the Republican Congress has been mired in political correctness. Minimal changes have been made. Instead of taking the lead, the Republican Congress has laid down in the middle of...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Taking on "special interests" sounds good to most politicians - except when they're the special interest. That's why Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal to relieve lawmakers of the job of drawing their own political district lines is running into opposition from - who else - lawmakers. The governor's plan would assign the task to a panel of retired judges. It's especially troubling to U.S. House members from his own Republican Party, some of whom fear that recasting congressional districts in Democrat-leaning California could cost the GOP seats. Republicans outnumber Democrats in the House 232-201 (there's one independent and...

Chicago Tribune, 10 Nov 04 (Excerpt from article entitled "GIs punch into Fallujah center")... "A U.S. psychological operations unit broadcast a message in Arabic over a loudspeaker in an attempt to draw out insurgents. 'Brave terrorists, I am waiting here for the brave terrorists. Come and kill us. Plant small bombs on roadsides. Attention, attention, terrorists of Fallujah.'" Related Tribune article also reports of a Humvee with a loudspeaker blaring Richard Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries," the music used in the helicopter attack scene in "Apocalypse Now." FINALLY...a war-effort contibution from Hollywood!

The Racicot Doctrine - Republican Surrender? By William A. Mayer, Editor & Publisher July 23, 2002 Observing the media stoked hysterics swirling around a relatively few gross examples of corporate malfeasance and the concomitant antics this feeding frenzy has engendered in the stock market, the question occurs to us as to whether the GOP has learned anything since 1992? The answer appears to be a resounding no. RNC Chief, Marc Racicot, in an alarming strategic admission, recently explained to Fox News how the Republican Party would combat the hue and cry coming from left: "…Talk about things when they're wrong,...

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) --  Republicans shut down three Senate committees Wednesday, two of which were considering Enron-related legislation, to retaliate against Democrats who voted down a federal appeals court nominee.</p> <p>"Senate Republicans strongly believe that we should have an understanding on when President Bush's circuit court nominees, many of whom have been languishing in the Judiciary Committee for almost a year, will get hearings and be treated fairly," said Ron Bonjean, a spokesman for Republican Leader Trent Lott. "We will continue to call attention to this issue."</p>