Free Republic

The “most expensive election in history.” Our democracy is being “bought and sold.” This election, “debased by money, shames us all.” These are some of the recent expressions of outrage about what the Center for Responsive Politicsestimates to have been $3.67 billion spent for federal offices during the 2014 midterms. Two days before the election on “Face the Nation,” CBS’s Bob Schieffer asked viewers to name one item whose costs have gone up as much over time as campaigns. That’s easy. While campaign spending soared to $3.67 billion this year from $1.6 billion in 1998, federal government spending rose 5%...

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Friday challenging Iowa’s tough policies that bar felons from voting, seeking to restore the right to thousands of former offenders before the 2016 presidential election. The case aims to end confusion over rules that followed a 2011 policy change by Gov. Terry Branstad and a criminal investigation into people who improperly voted. Iowa is among three states where felons cannot vote after completing their sentences unless their rights are restored by the governor. “The widespread denial of voting rights on the basis of a felony conviction is the single biggest denial of...

California Democratic Rep. Scott Peters has defeated (homosexual)Republican challenger Carl DeMaio in one of the most competitive House races in the country. The Associated Press called the race Friday night, nearly 72 hours after polls closed in the San Diego-area district. Peters, who trailed DeMaio in early returns, currently leads the Republican by 4,491 votes, 51.2 percent to 48.8 percent.

The Republicans did not have a national campaign except to send back Obama's words to haunt him. It was a nationally silent campaign and whoever came up with it was a genius. As long as the Republican spoke out about any national issue, the Lamestream Media would speak out against it. Whether it was abortion, healthcare, racial bating; it did not matter, the media would take the side of the Democratic party. By avoiding speaking on these issues and focusing like a laser on Obama's misstatements and obvious mistakes (Ebola and ISIL), they avoided the Democrats and the Lamestream Media's...

Yesterday, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals struck a reverberating blow on behalf of natural marriage and the Constitution by upholding bans on sodomy-based marriages in its jurisdiction.It is impossible to overestimate the importance of this ruling.It means, for one thing, that the issue is now on the fast track to the Supreme Court. If the Court accepts a marriage case by January, a decision will almost certainly be issued by next June.From a constitutional standpoint, the 6th Circuit’s ruling is a model of sound jurisprudence. The ruling observes that the Supreme Court has already settled the question of the...

On the heels to two so-so jobs reports—one from the government, one from ADP-- the spotlight remains firmly on the non-jobs recovery that Obama and the Democrats were successfully able to cover up for six years. The government reported jobs growth of 214,000 jobs for the month of October this week. While the number is okay, it is nowhere near what is needed to heal the wounds to the labor market.As our own Peter Morici observed:The official jobless rate is 5.8 percent, down from its recession peak of 10 percent, but that has been mostly accomplished by encouraging prime working-aged...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)On his Wednesday radio show, conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh emphatically stated that it was not the job of newly elected Republican majority in both chambers of Congress to govern, work together, find common ground or compromise. Instead, Limbaugh told his audience the message was clear, which was the American people wanted Congress to stop President Barack Obama. On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Friday, host Joe Scarborough and Bloomberg Politics John Heilemann dismissed that suggestion from Limbaugh and warned Republicans not to follow that advice. “If you listen to talk radio and some of the right-wing, the far right...

Now that two of the last three Democratic presidencies have been emphatically judged to have been failures, the world’s oldest political party — the primary architect of this nation’s administrative state — has some thinking to do. The accumulating evidence that the Democratic Party is an exhausted volcano includes its fixation with stale ideas, such as the supreme importance of a 23rd increase in the minimum wage. Can this party be so blinkered by the modest success of the third recent presidency, Bill Clinton’s, that it will sleepwalk into the next election behind Hillary Clinton? In 2016, she will have...

We all know the Republican midterm landslide was largely a repudiation of President Obama’s policies and his handling of the job of chief executive. And of course, we don’t know who will succeed him in 2016. But buried deep inside Tuesday’s exit polls is a series of numbers on presidential contenders that will blow your mind. It’s completely different from most anything you’ve seen in the newspapers, the Internet or on TV. Get this. Here’s a stunning question and answer from Edison Research, which interviewed 18,000 voters around the country as they left the polls on Nov. 4: Do you...

Polls opened at 6 a.m. from Enfield to Greenwich to Guilford to Goshen. There were reports of problems at some polls in Hartford, where election workers were missing voter lists, according to Av Harris, spokesman for Secretary of State Denise W. Merrill. The lists were missing from at least a few of some two dozen voting places in the capital city; they should have been prepared and ready to go ahead of time, he said. "I don't know how many polling places were affected," he said. Having the voter lists ready "really, really must be done before the election," Harris...

Didn't see a live thread.....so here you go.

Senator McConnell holds presser in Louisville

Although it feels like it was a long time coming, the Democrats have finally gotten their just deserts, and I must admit that it is a guilty pleasure to witness their meltdown. I always knew that their lies would one day backfire on them. I have gotten the most pleasure from witnessing my liberal co-workers (whom I have been fighting with on a daily basis for over a year) completely come unglued when I walked by their desk and showed them the U.S. House map that showed all of the seats (a sea of red) that Republicans won. It was...

It's 21:16 hours and Faifax county, VA has only reported 37.2% of its votes. Petersburg County, VA 25%...Arlington 25%. This is how its done folks. They're just waiting to get the number they need to steal the Senate election in VA!

Bob Beckel admits Democrats cheat! He said live on Fox News last night "they always held back votes in Fairfax County, Virginia"

Radio reporting Gillespie going to throw in towel. Do we know which precinct in Fairfax turned in the final votes that put Warner over the top? Seems pretty suspicious, when Gillespie was ahead right up to that point, then Fairfax turns in just enough for a Warner "win".

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) hopes to confirm 50 of President Obama’s nominees and move an omnibus spending bill in a last hurrah before Democrats give up power in the Senate. The nominees are part of a packed lame-duck schedule that Reid is furiously planning, and that will be a topic at Friday’s White House lunch meeting between Obama and congressional leaders. Reid also wants to move a package of expiring tax provisions, the annual Defense Department authorization bill and an extension of a tax moratorium on Internet purchases in the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. That will be...

Republican candidates were heavily favored over their Democratic opponents among full-time workers and most college-educated Americans, a CNN exit poll shows. During the midterm elections Tuesday, CNN asked voters leaving the voting booth a series of questions, including, “Do you work full-time for pay?” About 60 percent responded that they did work full-time for pay. Of those, 54 percent said they had voted for a Republican, while 44 percent stated they voted for a Democrat. Another two percent reported voting for “other” candidates. Of the 40 percent who said they did not work full-time for pay, 48 percent said they...

In the 2014 midterm elections, the Republican Party enlarged its majority in the U.S. House of Representatives with continued strong support from white evangelicals and people who attend religious services regularly. In addition, the GOP appears to have made inroads among some religious constituencies that traditionally have not been as supportive of Republican candidates.

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: This is John in Mount Clemens, Michigan. Hey, John, are you still there? CALLER: I am, Rush, and I'm humbled that you're talking about my call before I even get on the air. RUSH: Well, you know, most hosts would have stolen your idea, never mentioned you, and had the screener hang up on you and nobody would have ever known you existed, but I have more integrity than that. CALLER: That's what separates you from the pack. RUSH: I think your thinking on this is simplistically brilliant. It's one of those things I wish I would...