Free Republic

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. fired back at Texas Senator Ted Cruz for remarks he made over the weekend about his borough. During a speech in Dallas Saturday, Cruz said he was tired of northern senators like Charles Schumer lecturing him on border security. He then added, "I understand that Manhattan is very concerned with their security with the Bronx, but it's a little bit different on 2,000 miles of the Rio Grande." Diaz Jr. responded, "This is unbecoming of him as a U.S. Senator, you know, who wants to be President of the United States—which, last I checked,...

Democrats made a mistake by passing President Barack Obama’s health-care law in 2010 instead of focusing more directly on helping the middle class, third- ranking U.S. Senate Democrat Charles Schumer said today. “Unfortunately, Democrats blew the opportunity the American people gave them” in electing Obama and a Democratic Congress in 2008 amid a recession, Schumer of New York said in a speech in Washington. “We took their mandate and put all our focus on the wrong problem -- health care reform.” Schumer said Democrats should have addressed issues aiding the middle class to build confidence among voters before turning to...

Well, yet another Clinton White House expose has hit the stands, and this one not only further betrays their disingenuous and calculating nature, but makes clear that Hillary had powerful enemies within the Democratic party long before the Obama wing ever raised it's (horned) head... One person described as not keen on the idea of Clinton joining the Senate is Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), who was so fearful of being up-staged he coached Rep. Rick Lazio (R-LI), Clinton’s eventual Republican opponent, on his 2000 campaign, according to Lazio. “I thought he was generally . . . he was supportive,” Lazio said of Schumer....

New York Officials Argue for Flexibility with Gun Law Violators… As Long as They're on the City's PayrollSome of New York's most strident gun control advocates have rushed to the defense of an unwitting traveler who was arrested at an airport for a technical violation of a draconian gun law. Has a new era of sanity arrived in the Big Apple? Not really. This defendant happens to be an NYPD officer who is alleged to have violated India's strict firearm regulations. On March 10th, NYPD Officer Manny Encarnacion was arrested when officials at the airport in New Delhi discovered three...

(Reuters) - The U.S. Senate passed legislation on Monday seeking to bar Iran's proposed U.N. ambassador, Hamid Abutalebi, from entering the United States. The legislation, introduced by Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz, would prevent "known terrorists" from entering the United States to serve as U.N. ambassadors. The Democratic-controlled Senate passed the measure by a voice vote. The possibility that Abutalebi may have played a role in the 1979-1981 hostage crisis has outraged some of the U.S. Embassy workers held by the Iranians for 444 days. Several lawmakers had said they were infuriated that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani would make such...

Schumer at AIPAC 2014NY Senator Charles Schumer railed Monday against the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, saying that the movement is a modern form of anti-Semitism. “It is very suspicious that those who boycott Israel don’t want to boycott anywhere else in the world,” Sen. Schumer told AIPAC. “I believe that those who call for boycotts of Israel without calling for boycotts of other neighboring nations are practicing, whether they know it or not, whether they admit it or not, a modern form of what we call anti-Semitism.” “The word that describes all of these acts is a very simple one:...

Free Speech: The IRS scandal is not only not over but is getting worse, with a call by New York's senior senator for the already-politicized agency to use its power to tax to destroy the conservative grass-roots movement. Arguing that the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision allowed Tea Party groups to "funnel millions of undisclosed dollars into campaigns with ads that distort the truth and attack government," Charles Schumer wants the IRS and other government agencies to take on the Tea Party through their administrative powers. "It is clear that we will not pass anything legislatively as long as...

Senate Democrats vented their frustrations over the faulty rollout of the Affordable Care Act in a meeting Thursday with White House chief of staff Denis McDonough and other senior officials. “There’s a lot of frustration, everywhere,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said after the meeting. McDonough tried to assure angry senators he is personally taking charge of the disparate federal offices in charge of implementing the massive law, which has been plagued by technical errors. “He gave us the impression that he’s taking charge of the different elements and cracking the whip. He said to let him know if we had...

The White House and the Senate are working to squeeze House Republicans into accepting a bipartisan compromise from the upper chamber to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling. Any emerging deal, however, will leave ObamaCare largely intact, angering conservatives who have demanded defunding or delaying President Obama’s signature achievement. House Republicans are fuming over the prospect that Senate Democrats and Republicans are working on a plan to jam them with a last-minute deal they would have to accept or risk triggering a federal default. “They are trying to jam us with the Senate and we are not going...

<p>Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., had heard enough on Friday. Once again a fellow senator, this time Democrat Charles Schumer of New York, accused him on the chamber floor of wanting to shut down the federal government.</p> <p>The freshman senator from Texas delivered a brisk defense.</p>

“We’d like to move them both together,” said Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), the third-ranking Democratic leader. “I think having them together is a good thing because who wants to go through this again. “The hopes is maybe once the Tea Party has realized it’s not getting its way on shutting down the government that they won’t try the same stunt on debt ceiling,” he said. Democratic leaders dismissed House Republican efforts to pass piecemeal funding bills to reopen the government.

According to Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev, it's apparently Ted Cruz's fault that he gave CNN's Dana Bash the answer he did regarding children with cancer, going by audio posted Wednesday at Real Clear Politics. Politico's Dylan Byers, in the meantime, was busy covering for the Senate Majority Leader by trying to make people believe that Reid didn't say what he said, Newsbusters' Tom Blumer reported. Bash asked why Reid did not support a GOP measure that would help children with cancer. "But if you can help one child who has cancer, why wouldn’t you do it?" she asked, according to...

Looks that way, according to the Washington Post. As the Senate prepares to begin debate next week on the biggest gun-control bill in nearly two decades, the gun rights lobby and its Senate allies are working on a series of amendments that could have the opposite effect — loosening many of the restrictions that exist in current law. Most worrisome to those who advocate new gun limits is an expected amendment that would achieve one of the National Rifle Association’s biggest goals: a “national reciprocity” arrangement, in which a gun owner who receives a permit to carry a concealed weapon...

Stopping veteran Dem retirements is top priority for Reid, SchumerBy Alexander Bolton - 11/25/12 06:00 AM ET One of the highest immediate political priorities for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Democratic political guru Charles Schumer (N.Y.) is to persuade veteran colleagues not to retire in 2014. Democratic sources identify four senators as most likely to retire: Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). Another possible veteran retirement is Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.), who has yet to announce his decision. But Democratic aides expect him to run...

Senator Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Sunday that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is "in a pickle" arguing against the president's health care bill because he passed a similar version in Massachusetts. "He prescribed this. This was his bill," Schumer said on "Face the Nation." He noted Republicans "have ads saying it's a tax increase. Are they going to say, 'Mitt Romney had the biggest tax increase in Massachusetts?'" "Mitt Romney is in a total pickle here," Schumer said, arguing that the Republican Party is in a tough position: As polls suggest the economy is the top priority of voters, he...

You remember U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., don’t you? He was the guy who said “the American people don’t care” about the wasteful, pork-barrel spending habits of Congress. He was also the guy who called a flight attendant the “B-word” because she asked him to turn off his cellphone prior to a flight. He was also the guy who told the state of New Jersey how it should spend its own highway funds, much to the displeasure of that state’s very outspoken GOP governor, Chris Christie. Schumer is at it again. This time, he set his sights on Facebook co-founder...

GOP money floods battlegrounds, threatens Dems' hold on SenateBy Alexander Bolton - 05/01/12 05:00 AM ET Third-party groups allied with the Republican Party have vastly outspent Democratic incumbents and their backers in Senate battlegrounds. The disparity in advertising firepower threatens Democratic control of the Senate and could have an impact on the presidential race as well. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a first-term Democrat from Ohio, has been the primary target of outside groups, which have outspent his allies by a ratio of 10-1 this election cycle. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Crossroads GPS and 60Plus Association have funded the bulk of...

A top Democrat in the Senate took a rare direct shot at GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney on Tuesday, arguing that Romney's past support of health care reform means the issue is "off the table" during the fall elections. Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, the Democratic Conference vice chairman and former head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, blasted Romney during an outdoor press conference near the Supreme Court. The court is spending this week reviewing the constitutionality of the 2010 health care reform law that is President Barack Obama's signature domestic achievement. Schumer said Romney's support of a...

Reid’s floor maneuvers leave some Senate Democrats frustratedBy Alexander Bolton - 02/07/12 05:15 AM ET Some Democrats are grumbling over how Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has run the floor this year. The frustration is felt mostly among junior lawmakers, who want more of a role in decision-making and have yet to resign themselves to the traditional pace of the Senate, where seniority rules and lawmakers often have to wait years to have significant influence. They say Reid’s style leaves them feeling out of the loop. Colleagues have second-guessed Reid’s decision to greenlight a deal with Republicans on the...

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Monday said Senate Democrats are done negotiating with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). "Trying to negotiate with Speaker Boehner is like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall," Schumer said on MSNBC. The Senate passed a two-month extension of the backed payroll tax cut legislation in a 89-10 vote on Saturday morning. The House was expected to pass the proposal until Boehner voiced the rejection by House Republicans on Sunday. Boehner said on CBS's "Face the Nation" that legislating tax policy two months at a time is "kicking the can down the road." Schumer expressed...