Free Republic

Jim Moran came out of the RAT caucus and said they are saying they need 80 RATs to crossover. Doesn't think more than 50 - 60 will crossover. House coming back at 9 pm to vote

House Democrats blocked legislation on Thursday that would have permanently extended three tax credits for charitable giving, ending an effort to give nonprofits a last-minute victory. The bill got a strong majority in the House, with 275 members voting for it, including 47 Democrats. But the measure fell eight votes short of the two-thirds majority it needed to pass, with 149 Democrats voting against it after House Democratic leaders whipped against it and President Obama threatened a veto. The vote ends a last-ditch effort by the nonprofit sector to get three of its priorities into law for good, after a...

President Barack Obama’s Nov. 21 amnesty puts millions of illegals on a fast-track to citizenship, Utah Sen. Mike Lee announced Thursday. Obama and his administration “have cleared the pathway to citizenship for millions of people who have crossed out borders illegally,” Lee said in a Thursday speech on the Senate floor. “They know what they have done, and it is illegal,” he added. Obama’s amnesty allows illegals with U.S.-born children to briefly leave the country, perhaps for a business meeting in Canada, and then be given “advanced parole” by border officials that lets them legally return to the United States....

The Capitol Hill switchboard has been overwhelmed by calls to Congress. The 202 224-3121 number is jammed, likely by people protesting House Speaker John Boehner’s 2015 government funding bill, which allows funding for President Barack Obama’s unpopular decision to stop enforcing immigration law, and to award work-permits to at least 5 million illegal immigrants. Boehner’s effort to fund the $1.1 trillion bill and amnesty is being backed by President Barack Obama, whose deputies are pushing Democrats to support Boehner’s bill. The Daily Caller called the switchboard number at 3:28, and it was not answered for seven minutes. It is usually...

After passing the Senate by unanimous consent on Monday, it seemed as if the FOIA Improvement Act would become law—a nearly identical version passed the House earlier this year. Today, however, it was up to Speaker of the House John Boehner to allow a vote on the bill’s final passage before the House adjourned this week. Instead, it was “held at the desk,” meaning Boehner may have just killed FOIA reform. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a law, signed in 1966, that gives U.S. citizens the right to access information from the federal government. Through FOIA, journalists and...

Are Boehner, McDonnell, Chief Justice Roberts and other assorted RINOs being systematically blackmailed by WhiteHouse/FBI/CIA/IRS? It would explain a lot. In all seriousness. We know how this President operates. We know how he uses the government agencies. We know he targets enemies. We know the Republican leadership doesn't represent the people who keep voting for it. We've all seen crazy decisions made by them that seem illogical and self-destructive to their party's interests (to say nothing of the country's). We know we're all being spied on. We all know the US is no longer a free country. Has any independent...

If some (i.e. Harry Reid) in the Senate seek unanimous consent to go straight to a vote on Cronybus, but Cruz (and others who may wish to join him) delay this move by forcing Reid to hold a cloture vote - and thus stall the vote in the Senate on Cronybus by 30 hours - would you support this if it led to a short-term funding measure? While this move may upset Boehner, who has now bent his will to Obama's desire, would you support Cruz (or whomever may wish to do this - Warren?) doing this?

The cromnibus had an unlikely savior Thursday afternoon in the form of a lame-duck lawmaker who used to raise reindeer. Rep. Kerry Bentivolio (R-Mich.), who lost his primary earlier this year, was originally among the conservative Republicans who voted against the rule. Without the help of Democrats, Republicans could only lose 17 of their own to pass the rule, which sets up floor debate for the underlying "cromnibus" spending bill. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) intervened once there were 18 Republican defectors — and not a single Democrat voting "yes." Many Democrats will vote against the government spending measure because they...

Updated 2:30 p.m. | Unsure whether they have the votes to pass a trillion-dollar federal spending package, House GOP leaders on Thursday afternoon delayed a final vote on the “cromnibus.” They did so with mere hours to go until the government is set to run out of funding, and just before the House was scheduled to vote. GOP leaders called a recess to floor proceedings, with a GOP leadership aide confirming “no conference meeting [is] planned at this time.” The aide said “leadership teams are still talking to their respective members,” and noted, “We still plan to vote this afternoon.”...

A Republican has joined Democrats in criticizing the inclusion of a partial repeal of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law in legislation funding the government. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) signed on to a letter with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) that calls on congressional leaders to scrap portions of the $1.1 trillion "cromnibus" that relax restrictions on banks trading financial derivatives. The pair argued in the letter that there is "broad bipartisan support" for removing that particular language. Brown and Vitter, who have worked together in the past on bills to limit big banks, argued that the language was unfairly jammed into...

The federal government's funding authorization expires tonight at midnight, and the Republican plan to renew it bodes poorly for the GOP's leadership of Congress next year. ... Congress shouldn't let the government shut down, but Republicans should neither acquiesce to president Obama's unprecedented executive power grab, nor give up control over the budget for well into the 114th Congress. ... Republicans take control of both chambers in January, so they have no good reason to make a deal with the Senate Democratic leadership that sets spending levels until next October. ... There are, as speaker Boehner has pointed out, some...

Starting next month, Mary Landrieu is going to have a lot more time on her hands. That can be a great thing if you’re really looking forward to finally catching up on the Grand Theft Auto online game series, but such pursuits don’t really do much to pay the bills. The soon to be former Senator probably won’t have to worry about that too much, though. She’s reportedly a very hot topic on K Street . Mary Landrieu may have lost her Senate seat, but the Louisiana Democrat is a hot commodity on K Street. Several headhunters, veteran lobbyists...

Republicans are ramping up for a fresh fight against Obamacare in the new year, banking on Democratic support to repeal a key component of the law. Republicans have slowed their anti-Obamacare drumbeat in recent months, with their success in the midterm elections, President Obama’s executive action on immigration, government funding and end-of-year business dominating the GOP agenda. But come early 2015, Republicans will restart their push to repeal the 2.3 percent tax on medical devices that kicked in last year as part of the Affordable Care Act. And with the GOP controlling both chambers of Congress in January — and...

In a lengthy interview on Friday afternoon, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) exposed how House Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Majority Whip Steve Scalise strengthened President Barack Obama’s executive amnesty with procedural trickery former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber would envy—and they did it all in the name of pushing a bill that they told Republicans would block Obama’s executive amnesty. What’s more is that a series of interviews and recent developments indicate that Boehner’s gambit here is placing several of his top lieutenants—including at least two committee chairmen—at political risk of serious primary challenges...

Now this is just pathetic. Some of you turned Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC)87% into the hero of the day because of his Benghazi investigation. He could do no wrong. What happens when you build a cult of personalty around any politician is then they can go BOHICA on you. Bend over America. Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC)87% is now on record admitting he’s going to help shove President Obama’s amnesty plan right where you don’t want it. (SNIP) So, Hemmer asked Gowdy who he’d stop the President. Gowdy’s answer? He wants to let Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)Heritage ActionScorecardSen. John McCain52%Senate Republican...

President Obama warned Saturday that positive economic trends would be reversed by a “Christmas shutdown” in Washington and also pushed the incoming GOP-led Congress to embrace a minimum-wage hike and other administration priorities. In his weekly address, the president touted this week’s data showing the U.S. added more than 200,000 jobs in November, bringing the 2014 total to 2.6 million jobs. That progress, Mr. Obama added, could be undone if Congress fails to pass legislation to fund the government past Dec. 11.

No, not that Executive Order - not the one he never signed about immigration. No, in this one he declares a day off for the Feds the day after Christmas. By his authority he orders all departments and agencies of the Federal Government closed the day after Christmas. For those wondering about the immigration Executive Order, it never happened. He signed two Presidential Memoranda that day, Nov. 21, in Las Vegas. Not an EO. You can read all his Memoranda at the White House Presidential Memoranda page. And all the Executive Orders are at the Executive Order page. These Memoranda...

AP

Old habits die hard. The media are so enamored of the continuing (and largely contrived) story about the great Republican civil war that they fail to appreciate that the real internecine fight is being waged on the other side of the aisle. I grant that there's a lot of shouting today among Republicans. But it's a ritual skirmish over whether a government shutdown would force the president to withdraw a signature measure — last time, Obamacare; this time, executive amnesty. From opposite sides of the (Democratic) spectrum, Schumer and Warren are trying to remake and reorient the Democratic Party post-Obama....

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers gives the Republican Party's Weekly Remarks Today I’d like to tell you the story of a little boy who was diagnosed with Down Syndrome just three days after he was born. His diagnosis came with a list of future complications: endless doctors’ appointments, heart defects, even early Alzheimer’s. Seven years later, as the mom of that little boy, Cole, nothing has given me greater joy than watching the impact he has had on the world — and dreaming of the difference he will make when he grows up. This week, the House spoke for Cole and...