Free Republic

Prepare to be excited about a blockbuster economic report on Friday morning — but not too excited. Preliminary data from the Commerce Department is expected to show that United States gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of more than 4 percent in April through June. Some economists think growth may have topped 5 percent — a figure reached only once in the eight years of the Obama administration as the economy recovered from the recession. While he said he didn’t know the actual number, President Trump didn’t wait to herald the rosy news. At an event in Iowa...

Writing in the The Weekly Standard, Andy Smarick warns fellow President Trump critics against falling into the seductive trap of weighing Trump's actions piecemeal and missing the cumulative effect of his assault on dignity, if I may paraphrase. Smarick seems concerned that GOP Trump foes are lowering their standards, relaxing their guard, perhaps even slowly warming up to Trump because of policy successes he's accumulating. If you weigh his good and his bad actions and statements on a ledger, you will miss the damage to civil society Trump is surely causing. "In recent months, a consensus has emerged among...

Ron DeSantis is a Trump-endorsed congressman running in a Republican primary for governor of Florida. But during a recent campaign stop, he took aim at an opposition party candidate more than 900 miles away in Queens, N.Y. “You look at this girl, Ocasio-Cortez or whatever she is, I mean, she’s in a totally different universe,” DeSantis told supporters, referring to the 28-year-old Democratic Socialist who last month defeated the fourth-highest-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives, Rep. Joe Crowley. "It's basically socialism wrapped in ignorance. ... You're repeating canned left-wing talking points and you're somehow the savior of the Democratic...

Donald Trump will campaign in Tampa Tuesday, having transformed, in a way no one could have imagined just a few years ago, the Republican Party of Florida into the Florida Party of Trump. You can see it in every Republican primary in every corner of the state, as rivals argue over who supports the president more. You can see it in the Republican gubernatorial primary, where the No. 1 issue is who will fight illegal immigrants harder. Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, long a rising star seemingly on a trajectory to the governor’s mansion, is losing to a relative newcomer, U.S....

A House panel on Wednesday approved the Homeland Security appropriations bill, which includes $5 billion in funding for President Trump’s controversial border wall......It approved an amendment by Rep. David Price (D-N.C.) pushing back on Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s June decision to deny asylum to victims of domestic abuse and gang violence. “.... those fleeing gang violence and domestic violence would, under certain circumstances, be eligible for a credible fear claim,” Price said, vowing not to let the “draconian measure” stand.

Republican advertisers are really stupid. They are plenty of video, articles, etc. that crazy and unhinged leftists have said and done since 2016 that they can use against Democrats if they want to win in November. Look at this video from James Woods, a crazed soy boy leftist jumping around screaming "No Trump, No Pence". It's sad and funny at the same time.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) posted strong fundraising numbers for June, surpassing the cash-strapped Democratic National Committee (DNC) for another month in a row. RNC officials reported almost $14 million in fundraising in June, compared to just $8 million raised by Democrats during that time. The party remains far ahead of the DNC in to-date fundraising totals for this cycle, enjoying a lead of almost $100 million in total funds raised, according to The Washington Post. Democrats ended June with just $9 million cash on hand and $6.3 million in debt, according to the Post. That's compared to a much...

Graffiti on a Boston wall screams: “Kill your local Trump supporter.” Meanwhile, Londoners at a massive protest took turns, under the famous “baby Trump” balloon, at bashing another naked Trump balloon while crowds cheered. Bashers stepped away looking lighter, as though they had been dunked in a river by some cult promising inner salvation. Children have been pepper-sprayed at free speech protests attended by their parents. The elderly have been beaten nearly to death while walking to their cars, which perhaps sported a Trump sticker on the back.

The Republican Party has become the party of blue-collar America. After the 1992 election, 15 of the 20 most manufacturing-intensive Congressional districts in America were represented by Democrats. Today, all 20 are held by Republicans.

Republicans on Capitol Hill are scrambling to distance themselves from President Trump’s controversial comments on Russia earlier this week. With less than four months before the election, Senate Republican leaders say they will likely act on legislation sponsored by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) this year. That measure would impose stiff economic penalties on Russia if it meddles in a U.S. election in 2018 and beyond. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has indicated to colleagues that he may bring the bill straight to the floor, skipping the committee process to save time. White House press...

Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona lashed out at President Donald Trump on Wednesday for Trump's recent comments about NATO's collective defense obligations. In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday evening, in response to a question by host Tucker Carlson, Trump echoed Carlson's concerns about whether the U.S. should defend a small country like Montenegro if it were to come under attack. McCain, who is known to be hawkish on Russia, accused Trump of toeing the Kremlin line. “The people of #Montenegro boldly withstood pressure from #Putin’s Russia to embrace democracy. The Senate voted 97-2 supporting its accession to...

I'm just starting to hear the first inklings of the concern that Russians are going to "interfere" in the 2018 midterm elections on behalf of Republicans. They've accused those of us in the #WalkAway movement of being Russian bots. They've accused the NRA of being Russian agents. They're accusing the President of being a traitor. The former FBI Director and many others is urging all patriots to put aside "policies" and vote Democrat. We are rapidly approaching a point where the Deep State/Media/Democrat Party/etc. are defining Trump and the entire Republican Party as traitors. The logical extension of their position...

Instead of simply trading in one bad party for a slightly less bad one, frustrated voters need to use this moment to push for credible alternatives. Last weekend’s Politico Magazine featured an historical retrospective of the rise and fall of major American political parties during the mid-1850s. Written by professor Joshua Zeitz, a historian and one-time Democratic candidate for Congress, the piece urges “Never Trump” Republicans to give up on the GOP, cast aside ideas of independence and join the Democratic Party. While deeply steeped in historical examples and context, Zeitz presents a false dichotomy to erstwhile Republicans. “Today’s Never...

With the 2018 midterms under way, President Donald Trump's reelection campaign and two affiliated committees entered the third quarter with a massive fundraising haul of $90 million and a steep decline in attorneys fees, which have consumed his reelection expenses since he took office. Trump's campaign committee and two fundraising committees that jointly raise money with the Republican National Committee - Trump Victory and the Trump Make America Great Again Committee - together raised $17.7 million in the second quarter, for a total of about $90 million in the 2018 cycle, according to Federal Election Committee records filed Sunday evening....

Early jockeying has begun in the race for chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee — the largest caucus on Capitol Hill, and one that has seen its influence grow with Donald Trump in the White House. At least five House Republicans told The Hill they are weighing bids to replace the group's chairman, Rep. Mark Walker (N.C.). Known informally as the RSC, the caucus imposes a two-year term limit on its chairman, giving more members a chance to lead. So far, the possible contenders are: four-term Rep. Vicky Hartzler (Mo.); three-term Rep. Roger Williams (Texas); two-term Rep. Barry Loudermilk...

SALT LAKE CITY — Sen. Mike Lee received a phone call Monday from President Donald Trump telling him he would not be his nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, the Deseret News has learned. Lee, R-Utah, wouldn't discuss details of the conversation other than to confirm he wasn't Trump's choice but that he would attend the president's prime-time announcement of his pick.

A man was arrested after he allegedly threatened to kill supporters of President Trump and Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) at the congressman’s Long Island campaign headquarters. Martin Astrof, 75, showed up at Zeldin’s Nesconset office on Friday morning and verbally assaulted Zeldin and Trump fans, the Suffolk County Police said in a statement. When he tried to drive off, Astorf almost hit volunteer Donato Panico with his car. Astrof was arrested outside his home shortly after the incident. He has been charged with making terroristic threats and reckless endangerment, police said. Zeldin condemned the attack on Twitter late Friday night....

In recent days, there has been a strong media push for Raymond Kethledge to be Trump’s choice to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy. Judge Kethledge is currently a Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. He was nominated by George W. Bush in 2007 and confirmed a year later. The Sixth Circuit has a reputation for not only being too liberal, but being so liberal that they are reversed more often than any other court. According to Mark Walsh of ABA Journal: Conservatives decry the 9th Circuit’s perceived liberal bent. As candidates for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination,...

Twenty-seven conservative leaders signed a statement in support of Lee, including Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, Conservative Partnership Institute Chairman Jim DeMint, and FreedomWorks President Adam Brandon. “Sen. Lee has a proven record of standing up for principle, for doing the right thing for the right reasons, even in the face of withering criticism,” the letter states. “And that’s what this nominee is in for.” The statement warns the confirmation battle to replace Kennedy is likely to be the “roughest fight Washington has seen in decades,” and notes that a Supreme Court with a conservative majority will...

"""Figures. Perkins Coie Law Firm That Paid for Junk Steele Dossier is Behind Fake News Hit Piece on Jim Jordan""" Last fall Glenn Simpson revealed in Congressional testimony that the Clinton campaign and Democrat Party were the financial backers behind Fusion GPS’s Trump dossier project. Perkins Coie, the far left law firm frequently hired by the DNC, hired Fusion in May 2016 to continue an opposition research project on Donald Trump. Simpson told investigators Perkins Coie were the main lawyers for the DNC.