Free Republic

While the most arrogant President in modern American history pontificates that if only he had been permitted to run for a third term he would have been easily reelected, President-elect Donald Trump is methodically preparing to assume office as the first true reformer since Ronald Reagan. Media pundits love to speculate on what Trump’s “First 100 Days” will look like. However, the country’s 45th President-in-waiting likely will press an agenda that can accomplish more in his first month than most of his predecessors accomplished in their first year.After all, what is so magical about the “first 100 days”? It...

"There are 100 United States senators. Amy Klobuchar is on this trip with us. She's a Democrat from Minnesota. I would say that 99 of us believe the Russians did this and we're going to do something about it," said Graham, who is planning a hearing with McCain on Russia's interference with US elections. "We're going to put sanctions together that hit Putin as an individual and his inner circle for interfering in our election

The rest of the title.....until the resolution is reversed! Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) tweeted on Saturday that he would oppose funding for the United Nations until the UN Security Council reversed an anti-Israel resolution that it approved on Friday, with the acquiescence of the Obama administration.The resolution not only describes the Israeli presence across the 1949 armistice line as illegal — including in the Old City of Jerusalem — but also encourages countries to target Israeli settlements for boycotts. The Obama administration had vetoed a similar resolution five years ago, taking the traditional U.S. position that the dispute between Israelis...

That has been a problem in my party, that when we’re in power, we’re nice. We bend over backwards to work with people. . . . Waters said she wouldn’t even bother to meet with Trump if he invited her to the White House, saying she doesn’t trust him. “I’m not going to go,” Waters said. “I have no intentions of sitting down with him … He can’t be trusted. Why should we work with someone I can’t trust? … I’m going to fight him every inch of the way.”

The following is a list of the judgeships that have been vacant for longer than all others. Click on any vacancy for more information, or click below for information on all judicial vacancies.

Nationwide, proceeds from sales of seized property (homes, cars, etc.) go to the seizers. And under a federal program, state and local law enforcement can partner with federal authorities in forfeiture and reap up to 80 percent of the proceeds. This is called — more Orwellian newspeak — “equitable sharing.” No crime had been committed in the Sourovelises’ house, but the title of the case against them was Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. 12011 Ferndale St. Somehow, a crime had been committed by the house. In civil forfeiture, it suffices that property is suspected of having been involved in a crime....

Joel B. PollakDecember 25, 2016 Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) tweeted on Saturday that he would oppose funding for the United Nations until the UN Security Council reversed an anti-Israel resolution that it approved on Friday, with the acquiescence of the Obama administration. The resolution not only describes the Israeli presence across the 1949 armistice line as illegal — including in the Old City of Jerusalem — but also encourages countries to target Israeli settlements for boycotts. The Obama administration had vetoed a similar resolution five years ago, taking the traditional U.S. position that the dispute between Israelis and Palestinians is...

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Saturday night called on the United States to withhold funding to the United Nations, until such time that the global body reverses the resolution condemning Israeli presence in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem. In a tweet, Cruz said he had spoken with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Saturday night to assure him of the strong support Israel has in Congress in the wake of President Barack Obama choosing to break with protocol and abstain during the vote at the UN Security Council, thus allowing the resolution to be approved. “Spoke w/ Israeli PM @netanyahu tonight...

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina warned Friday evening that Washington could cut off funding to the United Nations — as well as to certain member states — if the Security Council passes a resolution against Israeli settlements Friday evening. “If the United Nations moves forward with the ill-conceived resolution, I will work to form a bipartisan coalition to suspend or significantly reduce United States assistance to the United Nations,” Graham said in a statement. The resolution cannot pass if Washington exercises its veto power at the council, though Israel and American officials exchanged blows in the media Friday...

SCHUMER, GILLIBRAND ANNOUNCE MORE THAN $60 MILLION IN FEDERAL FUNDS FOR 38 UPSTATE NEW YORK COUNTIES WORKING TO END HOMELESSNESS SCHUMER, GILLIBRAND ANNOUNCE MORE THAN $60 MILLION IN FEDERAL FUNDS FOR 38 UPSTATE NEW YORK COUNTIES WORKING TO END HOMELESSNESS  Funding Will Be Used to Help Non-Profits, Local Governments Relocate Homeless Individuals & Families, Promote Self-Sufficiency Programs U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand today announced $60,177,796 in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for 38 counties across Upstate NY that promote the goal of ending homelessness. The funding was allocated through HUD’s Continuum of...

Check the video at this link. John McCain earning his pay at the hearings for phasing out the A-10. "The B1 Bomber will now be used for close air support? This is why we can't take you seriously..."

President-elect Donald Trump is planning executive actions and proposed legislation on border security in the first 100 days, according to a transition team official. Answering a question from Breitbart News on a conference call with reporters, Trump transition team spokesman Jason Miller reacted to the news that the Obama administration had scrapped the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System. Miller indicated that there would “much more to come” in response to the decision, as Trump finished making appointments in the necessary areas of government dealing with border security and immigration. “The national policy team and the incoming cabinet and administration members...

Did the GOP not just win an election, in part, because of the devastating effects Obamacare is having? They keep pledging they are going to repeal it, but one Republican Senator who will have a great deal of say in the matter wants to keep the Obamacare taxes in place. Some conservatives have long pushed for repealing the entire health law, including the taxes. But other Republicans, including Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), want to keep some of the taxes to provide revenue for a replacement plan. “There needs to be some source of revenue,” Cassidy told The Hill. He noted...

Congressional Republicans are considering holding off on repealing some of ObamaCare's taxes, according to lobbyists familiar with the discussions. GOP lawmakers on the House Ways and Means Committee discussed the possibility of keeping some of the taxes in place during a retreat last week at the Library of Congress, the sources say. Even if some of the taxes are not removed as part of the initial repeal bill, it does not necessarily mean they will remain indefinitely. Some ObamaCare taxes could be dealt with as part of a larger tax reform bill later in the year. Still, there is at...

Lawmakers are loath to say anything remotely critical, fearful they might set off the president-elect or his horde of enforcers. "People are naturally reticent to be the first out of the block for fear of Sean Hannity, for fear of Breitbart, for fear of local folks," Rep. Mark Sanford said. In early December, Rep. Bill Flores made what seemed like an obvious observation to a roomful of conservatives at a conference in Washington. Some of Donald Trump’s proposals, the Texas Republican cautioned, “are not going to line up very well with our conservative policies," though he quickly added that there...

A rather funny article today in Politico outlines a fear of Trump’s coalition amid congressional republicans. The article is sympathetic to the GOPe wing of the DC UniParty from a perspective of those nasty Trumpers, ie. “the posse“; and includes South Carolina Rep Mark Sanford as a testimonial of their fear:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was surprised on election night: He didn’t see President-elect Donald Trump winning or the Senate staying in Republican hands. “I honestly thought we wouldn’t hold the U.S. Senate,” the Kentucky Republican told Kentucky Educational Television’s ... “I thought we’d come up short, and I didn’t think President Trump had a chance of winning.” The Senate victories were “really something,” McConnell said, “but it never occurred to me he (Trump) might be able to win as well.” ... “It was a lot of feeling among just ordinary people...that the current administration didn’t care about them,” he...

"ISIS and other Islamist terrorists continually slaughter Christians in their communities and places of worship as part of their global jihad," Trump said in a statement. "These terrorists and their regional and worldwide networks must be eradicated from the face of the earth, a mission we will carry out with all freedom-loving partners." King said rhetoric such as this can only harm the United States when it comes to fighting terrorists. "The larger question … is do we really want to have a war of half the world against the other half of the world?" King asked.

Game changer Of all the excellent cabinet and staff picks Donald Trump has announced thus far, there may be none bigger than the choice of U.S. Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-South Carolina) as director of the Office of Management and Budget. The federal government faces no more urgent challenge than $20 trillion in debt and no existing plan but to add more of it through deficits as far as they eye can see. Mulvaney is not just a fiscal conservative in word. He was a fierce critic of former House Speaker John Boehner over Boehner’s unwillingness to stand up to Barack...

In 2007, after only one year as a Senator, Bob Corker voted against amnesty for illegal immigrants. Democrats controlled the Senate, and enough Senate Democrats also voted to kill the 2007 comprehensive immigration reform bill. Ted Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) was the key engineer of the bill along with Diane Feinstein (D-California). Yet, Kennedy had the support of GOPe senators John McCain (R-Arizona) and Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) along with President George Bush. Feinstein, McCain and Graham are still in the Senate. So is Corker. The bill was titled the “Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007.” Key features...