Free Republic

Remember these sixteen names when they run for office again. The sixteen Republicans who voted to proceed were Sens. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), Kelly Ayotte (N.H.), Richard Burr (N.C.), Saxby Chambliss (Ga.), Tom Coburn (Okla.), Susan Collins (Maine). Bob Corker (Tenn.), Jeff Flake (Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Dean Heller (Nev.), John Hoeven (N.D.), Johnny Isakson (Ga.), Mark Kirk (Ill.), John McCain (Ariz.), Pat Toomey (Pa.) and Roger Wicker (Miss.). List courtesy The Hill.com. As reported by RedState yesterday, this bill would allow doctors to add a person’s name to the national database currently used for background checks, and list them as...

Congress is revisiting its decision to cut annual cost-of-living adjustments (Cola) to pensions for most working-age military retirees after talk of the cuts drew outrage from veterans' groups and others. The budget agreement approved this month reduced those adjustments by 1% annually once a service member retires until that retiree reaches 62. Lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee, back from a week-long break in their home states, said they were interested in repealing the Cola change scheduled to take effect on 1 December 2015. But Pentagon officials asked them to hold off on making any more changes until a...

NASA will complete a $350 million structure to test rocket engines at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi early this year. Then, it plans to mothball the 300- foot-high, steel-frame tower for the foreseeable future. The reason: Congress ordered the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to finish building the facility even though the agency doesn't need it. The tower was designed to test a GenCorp Inc. engine for a rocket program canceled in 2010. Its funding survived thanks to Mississippi Republican senators led by Roger Wicker, who crafted a provision requiring the agency to complete the work. The test stand is...

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., announced Tuesday that she will be introducing legislation to roll back provisions in the pending budget deal that would cut military retirement benefits by reducing cost-of-living adjustments. Shaheen, who is up for re-election in 2014, said that the plan would be paid for by closing “select corporate tax loopholes,” even though Republicans resisted doing so in the budget agreement that has yet to pass the Senate. “This bipartisan budget agreement will create economic certainty for small businesses, help promote job creation, and protect our country from another government shutdown but like I’ve said before, it’s not...

Nashville, TN – Today, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham introduced the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The legislation currently has 33 cosponsors – but Senator Alexander is not one of them. Conservative Senate candidate Joe Carr called on Senator Alexander to change his stance and add himself as a co-sponsor. “I’m strongly pro-life and believe it’s imperative the Senate pass this important piece of legislation. When Senator Graham announced his co-sponsors and Senator Alexander’s name was missing, I was disappointed. I am hoping Senator Alexander will change his stance and add himself as a co-sponsor. This legislation is too...

President Barack Obama delivered an impassioned speech Thursday at the memorial service for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. But that was to be expected. We all know Obama can give a stem-winder. What wasn’t expected was that this would be by far the toughest week of the Obama presidency—the first time I can remember the president being dealt an unequivocal policy defeat. Only the “shellacking” of the 2010 midterm comes close, and even there a case can be made that achieving the decades-old progressive dream of universal health care was worth losing the House of Representatives and a filibuster-proof...

On Wednesday, authorities arrested Paul Kevin Curtis of Mississippi on suspicion that he is the author of the ricin-laced letters sent to politicians in Washington including President Obama. The letters never got within miles of their intended targets; mail screening for the House, Senate and White House was tightened after the anthrax attacks and remains tight. The ricin letters included a distinct phrase: “To see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its occurrence.” The letters were signed “I am KC and I approve of this message.” Liberty Speaks blog decided to see what...

Washington (CNN) -- An envelope that tested positive for the deadly poison ricin was intercepted Tuesday afternoon at the U.S. Capitol's off-site mail facility in Washington, congressional and law enforcement sources tell CNN.

This is not good at all. CNN is reporting that an envelope that was sent to a Senator (unnamed) has tested positive for ricin poisoning. It’s been tested at least three times and each time it came up positive. The mail facility is off-site so the ricin is not in the Capitol. Watch the report from CNN:

The Republican plan to block debate on Senate Bill 649, which requires background checks on almost all gun purchases and transfers, failed spectacularly Thursday morning when sixteen Republican Senators joined almost all of the Democrats to vote in favor opening debate on the bill. Among those voting to defeat the filibuster were 9 Democrats with “A” ratings from the National Rifle Association, and 12 A-rated Republicans (out of 16 Republican “ayes”). Two Democrats, Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) and Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK), joined the majority of Republican Senators who tried to prevent debate, much less a vote, on the bill....

On her MSNBC show today, Andrea Mitchell accused Republicans of "red-baiting" Chuck Hagel, a reference to tactics most notably associated with the McCarthy period during which people were accused [often accurately, it should be noted] of Communist or affiliated sympathies. Such cries of McCarthyism have of course become standard liberal fare when it comes to Hagel's confirmation process. View the video here.

A GOP counter-delegation is forming to undermine the Obama administration's work on an international climate change agreement in Copenhagen, warning that the president is poised to make commitments he can't keep and drawing heightened attention to controversial leaked e-mails. A GOP counter-delegation is forming to undermine the Obama administration's work on an international climate change agreement in Copenhagen, warning that the president is poised to make commitments he can't keep and drawing heightened attention to controversial leaked e-mails. At least a half-dozen Republican senators and representatives are planning to head to Denmark next week, as part of the overall U.S....

The 1st Congressional District, the northernmost in the most culturally Southern state, has given the nation William Faulkner and Elvis Presley, and next Tuesday will have a special congressional election that will test the Republican hope that Barack Obama and his former pastor can be the basis of a Republican strategy to nationalize congressional races to the disadvantage of Democrats. A Senate seat also could be affected by the cascading consequences of Republican Sen. Trent Lott's December resignation. Republican Gov. Haley Barbour replaced him with 1st District Rep. Roger Wicker, who this November will be on the ballot seeking election...

Gov. Haley Barbour said he'll have 60 days from Monday to call a special election to fill Sen. Roger Wicker's vacated House seat. The candidates will have another 60 days to campaign before the election. Southaven Mayor Greg Davis said he filed papers Monday to run for the seat Wicker has vacated. He served in the state House of Representatives before becoming mayor of Southaven. "I've been wanting to get back to the legislative arena and this seems like a good opportunity," Davis said. Former Tupelo Mayor Glenn McCullough, also a member of the GOP, has also been named as...

The latest word out of the Magnolia State is that Gov. Haley Barbour (R) is likely to pick either US Rep. Chip Pickering (R) or US Rep. Roger Wicker (R) to succeed Minority Whip Trent Lott (R) as the next US Senator from Mississippi. On the Democratic side, the scuttlebutt is that former Attorney General Mike Moore, probably the most electable politico among the state’s beleaguered Democrats, has decided that he will run, setting up what is likely to be a fierce, well-funded competition that is sure to receive national attention. Whether Barbour will choose Pickering or Wicker is still...

REPORT FROM CONGRESS By Congressman Roger F. Wicker WICKER CALLS FOR U.S.-MEXICO BORDER FENCE A plan to construct a security barrier along the 2,000 mile boundary between the U. S. and Mexico is at the heart of the most sweeping legislation ever introduced to fight illegal immigration and protect America's borders. I have joined as a co-sponsor of this bill, which would strengthen immigration law and send a message to the world that the U.S. is serious about solving this critical problem. The TRUE Enforcement and Border Security Act includes provisions to increase border patrol agents, give law enforcement authorities...

Congressmen Taylor, Thompson to Face Republican Challengers Mississippi's two Republican congressmen will run unopposed by Democrats this year, but Democratic U.S. Reps. Bennie Thompson and Gene Taylor face challenges from the GOP. The qualifying deadline for candidates was Friday. In the 4th District represented by Taylor, a last-day Republican qualifier was state Rep. Mike Lott of Petal. Also running as Republicans are Karl Mertz of Long Beach, who challenged Taylor in 2002; Steven McCaleb of Long Beach and Randy McDonnell of Biloxi. Tracella Lou O'Hara Hill of Hattiesburg is running as a Reform Party candidate in the 4th District. The...

Reservist Sen. Begins Stint at S.C. BaseApril 17, 2003 06:36 PM EDT CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. - Sen. Lindsey Graham, the only U.S. senator in the reserves, donned combat fatigues Thursday and spent the day working in this Air Force base's legal office. "I've got to do some reserve duty and I asked, 'Where can I help?'" said the South Carolina Republican, a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force Reserve. Graham, 47, an attorney, served six years of active duty as an Air Force prosecutor and defense attorney. He is not drawing pay for serving, but does earn credits...