Free Republic

Heading into the GOP primary for U.S. Congress, New Hampshire state representative Marilinda Garcia has been racking up endorsements by influential Republicans and conservatives. But the most significant, and symbolic, show of support will be on display on Sunday, when U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, will be in New Hampshire to stomp for her. The primary, to be held on Tuesday, will determine who runs against the Democratic incumbent, U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster, in November. “I’m proud to support Marilinda Garcia,” Cruz said in a statement that was released by Garcia’s campaign, “because she is the candidate who will fight...

In light of recent mass shootings – primarily in so-called ‘gun-free zones’ – that have left dozens dead and even more injured, Americans have become increasingly divided regarding how such tragedies might be avoided in the future.While some have concluded that stricter gun control laws would keep citizens safe by limiting legal access to firearms, plenty of others recognize that a well-armed populace can act as a deterrent to would-be violent criminals. As federal authorities consider imposing legislation that would make the ownership of certain weapons illegal, local law enforcement officials are speaking out against such proposals. One such voice is...

I think this is actually worse than when they looked the other way at him waging war unilaterally in Libya. That was lazy and cowardly too, but you could understand where the cowardice was coming from, at least. Libya was politically risky. There were good arguments that we had no vital interests there and that knocking out Qaddafi would lead to something even worse, up to and including a civil war between jihadis and other Libyans (which turned out to be true); there were also good arguments that a slaughter was in the offing if the west didn’t intervene to...

Yesterday the White House announced its plan to offer free motor vehicles to welfare recipients, after congress passed the bill in a narrow vote. The program, initiated by President Barrack Obama, is very similar to what is now widely known to the public as “The Obama Phone,” where welfare recipients can get free cell phone service through a subsidized program. Some are even already referring to the free vehicle program as “The Obama Car.”

House Republicans are laying groundwork to capitalize on widespread discontent with President Obama's handling of ISIS, scheduling a series of hearings and meetings aimed at drafting a plan to defeat the jihadist group. While the Republican Conference has no authority over military operations or nearly enough influence with the Obama White House to shape its counterterrorism strategy, lawmakers' intent is to force the president's hand after spending weeks during recess hearing from constituents who are worried the United States is not doing enough against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. That could include legislation within the next few weeks,...

[SNIP] "......Imagine if you would a prayer breakfast in Washington attended by the leadership of the GOP — Messrs. Boehner, McConnell, Priebus, and their associates. They drop to their knees, bow their heads, and invoke divine intercession in the country’s troubled affairs, and in the party’s parlous condition. Would it be too much to ask Him to deliver unto them a mass political movement, self-financed and benignly led, God-fearing and well-mannered, almost all of whose members believed in the literal version of the Republican platform and almost none of whose members wanted anything from the federal government but constitutional restraint?...

Speaker John A. Boehner outlined the September legislative agenda in a Wednesday afternoon conference call with House Republican lawmakers, describing a scheduled 12-day session that will be “brief, but busy.” The most pressing item on the agenda is a short-term spending bill to avert a government shutdown on Sept. 30, but Boehner also spoke strongly and at length, according to a read-out from a source on the call, in favor of using the remaining legislative days before the November elections to draw “a very stark contrast between ourselves and the Democrats who run Washington.” The Republican-led House, Boehner said, “is...

Tepid fundraising, underperforming candidates and a lousy party brand are threatening to deprive House Republicans of the sweeping 2014 gains that some top party officials have been predicting this year. POLITICO interviewed more than a dozen top strategists from both parties about their outlook for the House in the midterms, and their assessment was nearly unanimous: Republicans are on track to expand their majority by only five or six seats, or roughly half their goal. The conversations covered everything from advertising strategies to fundraising to polling. A small gain would again leave Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) largely beholden to the...

One year. Yet still President No Strategy is flummoxed. So flummoxed that he simply flees to the fairway. It gets worse:

SNIP Chobani yogurt, which is based in the upstate town of Norwich, has planted branded refrigerators filled with its Greek yogurt in the DC offices of New York Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and Rep. Richard Hanna.

Washington - President Barack Obama formally notified the U.S. Congress on Monday that he had authorized air strikes and humanitarian airdrops over the weekend in the Iraqi Shi’ite town of Amerli where Islamic State militants had trapped the civilian population. Iraqi security forces backed by Shi´ite militias on Sunday broke the two-month siege of Amerli and entered the northern town after the U.S. military carried out air strikes on militant positions and delivered emergency supplies to residents there. Obama said in a letter to congressional leaders he was notifying Congress of his decision under the long-standing War Powers Resolution,

In both volumes, Loudon has proved himself to be among the foremost experts in the world investigating and reporting the penetration of communists, socialists and the current group of “progressives” affiliated with Democratic Party politics who portray themselves as liberals. In his 2011 book, Loudon presented documented evidence that Barack Obama’s rise in politics was not an accident, but a conscious, decade-long effort by the radical left to promote a candidate with African roots. Obama, he said, was packaged as an engaging and seemingly harmless Trojan Horse radical, sent to Chicago to refine his skills running for office as a...

<p>So I asked the next five Americanists I ran into and received a bit more confirmation: three gave solid endorsements of the speaker, one gave a lukewarm endorsement and one was much less enthusiastic.</p> <p>I figure it’s worth reporting because I don’t think this largely positive view among political scientists is reflected in the speaker's image in the media, where he comes off as ineffective, not particularly good at the job, and probably doomed.</p>

Unlike most American presidents, Barack Obama took his inaugural oath of office twice, the latter affirmation serving as a private belt-and-braces remedy to a verbal mistake, the former as the usual public spectacle. Four years later, he repeated the trick, promising fealty first during an exclusive White House ceremony, and then, a day later, before the nation at large. Thus did our 44th president bring to a remarkable four the number of times that he had solemnly sworn to faithfully execute the Office, and, to the best of his ability, to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United...

Extortion: Radical Democrat activist groups stand to collect millions from Attorney General Eric Holder's record $17 billion deal to settle alleged mortgage abuse charges against Bank of America. Buried in the fine print of the deal, which includes $7 billion in soft-dollar consumer relief, are a raft of political payoffs to Obama constituency groups. In effect, the government has ordered the nation's largest bank to create a massive slush fund for Democrat special interests.

President Obama is weighing a big-time executive action on immigration that has both Democrats and Republicans anxious. He's also pursuing a major international climate-change agreement without ratification by Congress. And it's not yet clear whether the White House will seek congressional authorization for military action in Syria that appears increasingly likely. Yes, we are finally entering into what could be a very big debate about executive authority -- and with the 2014 election just weeks away. ThIS (sic) debate was supposed to happen when House Republicans sued Obama over his having delayed a portion of Obamacare unilaterally. But if he...

On Tuesday, the Sheboygan Press reported that according to two veteran GOP consultants that talk radio and campaign cash were to blame for State Senator Joe Leibham’s narrow defeat in the 6th Congressional District Republican primary. Jason Smathers, the author of the article, said: “But with two other state legislators running to his right, those advantages disappeared. Leibham played defense most of the race. He was blasted in attack ads and press releases and lost to his main opponents in all but two counties – Manitowoc and his home of Sheboygan.” Smathers interviewed veteran GOP consultant Mark Graul of Arena...

President Barack Obama faces a familiar question as he contemplates airstrikes in Syria: Should Congress have a say in his decision? […] This time around, the White House is suggesting it may not be necessary to get a sign-off from Congress. …

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is working to forge a sweeping international climate change agreement to compel nations to cut their planet-warming fossil fuel emissions, but without ratification from Congress. In preparation for this agreement, to be signed at a United Nations summit meeting in 2015 in Paris, the negotiators are meeting with diplomats from other countries to broker a deal to commit some of the world’s largest economies to enact laws to reduce their carbon pollution. But under the Constitution, a president may enter into a legally binding treaty only if it is approved by a two-thirds majority of...

The American public is frustrated with Congress. There is a constant stream of bickering between the two parties and two chambers, while the country falls deeper into debt to the tune of $1.3 billion per day. Congressional approval ratings are an abysmal 13 percent. To top it all off, Congress is in the middle of a five-week recess. Followed by their return on September 8, where they are only expected to be in session for 15 days before they adjourn and head home to try and get re-elected. With such little action from our lawmakers and so much of their...