Free Republic

The GOP divide over the role of outside groups is heating up in the Senate, just days, after Speaker John Boehner railed that conservative organizations had “lost all credibility.” Several prominent GOP senators on Tuesday echoed Boehner’s (R-Ohio) frustration with those organizations, agreeing that outfits like Heritage Action and the Senate Conservatives Fund were out only for themselves and are hurting Republican efforts to take over both chambers of Congress. “I’ve said for a long time that there are some outside groups who do what they do solely to raise money,” said Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.). “I’m glad that people...

Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) primary opponent suggested that he would use the debt-ceiling fight this spring as leverage to defund ObamaCare. In an interview with The Hill, Republican Matt Bevin (Ky.) reiterated his disappointment with congressional GOP leaders, especially their condemnation of outside conservative groups, and said he was “strongly, strongly in favor of doing anything possible” to repeal the healthcare law. ADVERTISEMENT That should include refusing to raise the debt ceiling, he said. “I do not think we should increase the debt ceiling without significant concessions, and if one of them is the repeal of ObamaCare, then terrific,” Bevin...

The latest poll from Kentucky, conducted by Public Policy Polling, completely countermands the conventional wisdom that McConnell is a shoo-in to win the primary. In addition, the poll shows that McConnell is indeed the weaker candidate to go up against Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes in the general election. Here are some of the highlights: •Senator McConnell is leading conservative Matt Bevin 53 to 26 percent in the primary. Previously, McConnell has led by 39 and 47 points; now he is only up 27 points. A strong majority, 61%, still have no opinion of Bevin. It is quite clear that as...

Maybe you’ve heard about the “bullet fee” that was supposedly charged to the families of prisoners executed by gunfire. The fee, which is almost certainly an urban legend, has been attributed at various times to Bolshevik revolutionaries and the governments of Iran and China. But even if the bullet fee is mythical, there is a very real price to be paid when a society becomes intoxicated by gunplay. What price have we paid for the bullets fired at Newtown and in the year since that tragedy? The financial estimates only scratch the surface.

After the 9/11 attacks, the public was told al Qaeda acted alone, with no state sponsors. But the White House never let it see an entire section of Congress’ investigative report on 9/11 dealing with “specific sources of foreign support” for the 19 hijackers, 15 of whom were Saudi nationals. It was kept secret and remains so today. President Bush inexplicably censored 28 full pages of the 800-page report. Text isn’t just blacked-out here and there in this critical-yet-missing middle section. The pages are completely blank, except for dotted lines where an estimated 7,200 words once stood (this story by...

In a new fundraising email, the Senate Conservatives Fund (SCF) said House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) is targeting conservatives in the same way that the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative organizations seeking tax-exempt status. "What these leaders are doing to conservatives is no different from what the IRS got caught doing to them this summer," Senate Conservatives Fund executive director Matt Hoskins wrote in the email sent to supporters on Monday. "They're using their power to discriminate against people they see as a political threat." The fundraising email on Monday follows Boehner strongly criticizing conservative outside groups for urging lawmakers...

At a rival protest in Kiev this weekend, impoverished workers from eastern Ukraine turned out to show their support for the government and stronger ties with Moscow even as the pro-EU crowd grew ever more jubilant. They were poor. Their clothes looked cheap and worn, their faces tired; their feelings were hurt. A group of workers and miners from Kirovsk, an industrial town in eastern Ukraine, were among thousands of protesters walking on Sunday morning towards the anti-Euro rally in Kiev’s Mariinsky park, to demonstrate their support for Ukraine’s president, Victor Yanukovych, and for friendship with Russia. Two parts of...

After the 9/11 attacks, the public was told al Qaeda acted alone, with no state sponsors. But the White House never let it see an entire section of Congress’ investigative report on 9/11 dealing with “specific sources of foreign support” for the 19 hijackers, 15 of whom were Saudi nationals. It was kept secret and remains so today. President Bush inexplicably censored 28 full pages of the 800-page report. Text isn’t just blacked-out here and there in this critical-yet-missing middle section. The pages are completely blank, except for dotted lines where an estimated 7,200 words once stood (this story by...

Tea party activists are pushing back hard against Speaker John Boehner for attacking conservative groups that are opposed to bipartisan budget legislation approved this week by the House, claiming he has “declared war on the Tea Party” with his blunt criticism. In a fundraising email to supporters, Tea Party Patriots referred to the Ohio Republican as a “ruling class politician” who only pretends to be a conservative while remaining a “tax-and-spend liberal,” The Hill reported Friday. The group, which supported efforts to defund the Affordable Care Act, accused Boehner of passing a “back-room budget deal which increases discretionary spending, does...

Former Arkansas Governor and Fox News Channel host Mike Huckabee weighed in on the escalating feud between establishment Republican politicians and conservative activist groups on Saturday. Asked for his thoughts on House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) admonition of the idealized purism advocated by some outside groups, Huckabee sympathized with Boehner saying that governing is more difficult than activism and “politics is not theology.” Huckabee began by saying that Boehner was not scolding the tea party movement but conservative groups that capitalize on that movement. He added that some of those groups appear to have an “all or nothing mindset” and...

Democrats are gleefully using House Speaker John Boehner's own words in an effort to garner donations for mid-term elections next year. 21st Century Democrats, which bills itself as "building a progressive majority from the grassroots up since 1985," uses Boehner's proverbial public spanking of tea party opponents of the Congressional budget proposal to take back control of the House. "Even Speaker Boehner can't hide his disdain for the outside conservative tea party groups," the email reads.

2012 Libertarian Party presidential nominee and chairman of the Our America Initiative, Gary Johnson announced yesterday the formation of a 527 Super PAC called Our America PAC. The new Super PAC has the goal of supporting and ultimately getting into elective public office, principled candidates committed to smaller government, fiscal conservatism and individual liberty... Yesterday, Johnson said of the new Super PAC, “From the realities of government-run healthcare setting in to the continuing disclosures of the breadth of NSA’s domestic spying, more Americans than ever are ready to take a serious look at candidates who offer real alternatives to business-as-usual....

Despite the fact that the Ryan-Murray budget deal passed with overwhelming support from House Republicans, surprisingly, it hangs in the balance in the Senate. Much of the robust showing in the House was a result of Congressman Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) strong influence on budgetary issues. However, in the Senate, many of its members are facing tough primary challenges, and they are looking beyond the personalities. Even some of the most moderate Republican members like Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Bob Corker (R-TN) have announced their opposition to this deal. After all, the House-passed bill will repeal hard-fought spending cuts and...

AUSTIN, Texas, December 13, 2013 — In the few days since Congressman Steve Stockman (R-TX) declared his intent to challenge Senator John Cornyn for his Texas Senate seat, there has been a frenzy of attack articles from the left in Texas and in the national media. Stockman’s name is apparently like chum before sharks for leftist commentators and this latest move has them totally unhinged. Stockman’s great offense? He’s a conservative with a sense of humor. Apparently it is absolutely unforgivable to mock the president and the administration. Stockman’s transgressions in this area make him the target of the righteous...

Conservative radio talk show host Glenn Beck took to the airwaves to lambaste the Republican leadership in Congress, calling House Speaker John Boehner "worthless," and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell a "liar." Speaking Thursday on the Mark Levin radio show, Beck lashed out against the GOP establishment leaders, referring to them as "big government progressives." "I think John Boehner is one of the prime examples of worthless, worthless Republicans. All these people saying, 'Hey, the Republicans aren't so bad.' No. I think they actually might be worse, because they claim to be something that they're not," Beck said. Levin labeled...

That’s when the events of the video above occurred – a guy identified as a Google employee starts yelling and screaming at the protesters, and then walks off in a huff. It’s a masterful performance! But it turned out to be completely false after sharp-eyed social media users identified the man as Max Alper, a Union organizer from Oakland.

Two weeks ago, the liberal Center for Media and Democracy kicked off a national campaign to reveal the identities of anonymous contributors to conservative groups in an effort to unseat the GOP governor here. Now the group may have to answer embarrassing questions about its own finances. A Watchdog.org review of financial documents reveals the Madison-based CMD, which bills itself as a journalism organization, received $520,000 in 2011 from the Schwab Charitable Fund. That’s 60 percent of the $864,740 CMD received that year. CMD lists no donors on its tax returns, but its website identifies numerous financial backers without any...

If you have Obama rent-a-mob demonstrators in your area today, here's your sign. Print it out. Show up. Spend money. Fight back.

DETROIT, MI -- More than 200 protesters waved signs, bounced and shouted chants passionately in unison outside a McDonald's on and other nearby fast food restaurants on Seven Mile near the Lodge Freeway in Detroit Thursday. Their demands: A $15 per hour minimum wage for fast food employees. "Hold the pickles, hold the fries, make our wages super-sized," "We fired up, can't take it no more," and "What do we want? $15. When do we want it? Now," were among the chants.

Dozens of people gathered outside Dunkin Donuts and McDonald's locations Downtown on Thursday morning to protest low wages as part of a national campaign energizing fast-food workers. Carrying placards and shouting slogans such as “No justice, no doughnuts,” about 75 people rallied in front of the Dunkin Donuts in Market Square and the nearby McDonald's on Stanwix Street. The actions are part of push by labor unions, worker advocacy groups and Democrats to raise the federal minimum wage of $7.25. President Obama says he would back a minimum wage of $10.10 an hour, and on Wednesday addressed income equality in...