Free Republic

It’s probably true that Republicans won’t be able to force Planned Parenthood to shut down its human organ harvesting business. Not this year. Maybe not any year. And it is probably true that Republicans won’t be able to stop the flow of over $500 million to the abortion conglomerate. At least not until the GOP builds a veto/filibuster-proof majority and wins the presidency. So, not soon. Maybe never. And it’s undoubtedly true that flailing, pointing at shiny objects, and creating unrealistic expectations is counterproductive in the long run. But here are some other things that are also true. No...

We have met the enemy and it is us: we have become too tired to be effective and hence are becoming indifferent. The charade on Capitol Hill continues, and not only about the nuke "deal" with Iran. Will the carnival end before it's too late, or will Obama continue to win?The House speaker is elected by all House members, not just those of the majority party. He need not be a member of the House. Boehner having resigned because a serious medical condition often reduces him to tears, one group of Democrats nominated Debbie Wasserman-Schultz to replace him. However, due to her...

A leftover from yesterday. Riddle me this: If he agrees with Cruz et al. that Obama hasn’t complied with the Corker bill by submitting the secret side deals with Iran to Congress, why are he and McConnell proceeding with any votes this week? Why not stand on that point? E.g., “The Corker bill says Congress has 60 days to vote once the president submits the full agreement. He hasn’t, so we won’t.” Force that issue before the public. Voting on the deal anyway when you’re claiming that objection is like running a play in football and then asking for...

US District Court Judge Rosemary M. Collyer ruled Wednesday against the Obama administration's motion to dismiss the case. Collyer said House Republicans do have the standing to pursue their challenge, which argues that the Obama administration violated the US Constitution by spending money on the law that had not been appropriated by Congress.

2.6k1776 During today’s Congressional hearing over Planned Parenthood’s sale of aborted babies and their body parts, pro-life advocate Melissa Ohden, an abortion survivor, told Congress that Planned Parenthood would have killed her if given the chance. The LifeNews writer said there are many other abortion survivors like her who are speaking up against abortion. Today was the first hearing in Congress’ multi-committee investigation of the Planned Parenthood abortion business after a series of nine videos exposed how it is potentially illegally selling aborted babies and profiting from the sales. “I’m here today to share my story to not only highlight...

The US Congress will return to Capitol Hill this week after the August recess and Labor Day holiday. They will immediately have to take up a monumental foreign policy issue that will present immense challenges for the free world: The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iranian nuclear deal. Last week, U.S. Senator from Maryland Barbara Mikulski became the coveted 34th vote that sealed President Obama’s veto. Due to the U.S. Senate not treating the JCPOA as a treaty - as the Constitution outlines - President Obama only needed to attain one third in order to...

It’s rare for people to celebrate getting 41 percent of anything. If you score 41 percent on a test, you get an F. If you win 41 percent of the vote in a two-person race, you lose. If your tax rate is 41 percent, you’re likely to feel ripped off. In the matter of his Iran deal, resident Obama and his team have spent two months working relentlessly to secure 41 percent — and now they’re claiming an enormous victory even though by any other standards what they’ve achieved is nothing but a feat of unconstitutional trickery. ... Under the...

In what is hardly a show of strength, some allies of House Speaker are signalling that this could be Boehner’s last term as Speaker and that he will relinquish the gavel in January 2017. This story is being spread as Boehner is facing a series of hard legislative battles plus an virutally guaranteed attempt to remove him from his position. Via POLITICO: Figures in his close-knit circle of allies are starting to privately wonder whether he can survive an all-but-certain floor vote this fall to remain speaker of the House. And, for the first time, many top aides and lawmakers...

Politico ran a piece this morning asserting “Boehner’s future as speaker in doubt.”“The Republican leader faces a grueling next few months, and even allies believe this will be his last term atop the GOP conference,” is the article’s subhead.Could we be seeing the last of John Boehner?With anti-establishment fervor at all-time high (see: presidential candidate Donald Trump’s ascension in the polls), it’s no surprise Boehner is standing on fragile ground with the speaker’s gavel. Grassroots Republicans are sick of the GOP’s “failure theater” and superficial efforts to push an agenda supported by center-right voters while choosing to push the...

For one conservative lawmaker, Congress’s upcoming debate on funding the government and stripping Planned Parenthood of federal dollars could play a significant role in whether a challenge to House Speaker John Boehner is mounted.In an interview with The Daily Signal, Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., warned that Boehner’s, R-Ohio, future as the party leader could be jeopardized depending on how he handles both a continuing resolution funding the government and whether Planned Parenthood is permanently stripped of its federal funding.“I voted against the speaker last time, and so I think on this motion, it’ll come down to leadership’s actions with respect...

Opinions are sometimes right, and sometimes wrong. But they aren't law. In the early days of our government, Supreme Court opinions were so insignificant that Congress didn't bother preserving them. Opinions were left to individuals to keep track of, and were not congressionally-funded into official records until 1874, almost a century after our independence. Before Congress stepped in, Court records were printed and kept under copyright by private citizens and reporters, who sold them for profit. Opinions of the Court were kept "loosey-goosey" for decades, and not preserved with certified integrity. Actual statute was held officially and carefully, in order...

A little-noticed lawsuit brought by a Maryland man challenging the state's contorted congressional districts will be heard this fall by the Supreme Court — where it has the potential to open a new line of constitutional attack for opponents of gerrymandering. Stephen M. Shapiro, a former federal worker from Bethesda, argues that the political map drawn by state Democrats after the 2010 census violated the First Amendment rights of Republicans by placing them in districts in which they were in the minority, marginalizing them based solely on their political views. The issue before the Supreme Court is whether a lower...

"It’s not too late for the Senate to stop the President’s dangerous Iran deal from becoming U.S. law. Here’s how to follow the Constitution." ConstitutionUPDATED: It’s late, but not too late, for the Senate to stop President Obama’s dangerous Iran deal from becoming U.S. law and putting the American people and our Arab and Israeli allies in grave danger jeopardy from an Iranian nuclear weapons program. We need to urge the Senate leadership immediately to: Declare that the President has not fulfilled the terms of Corker-Cardin. Declare the President’s Iran deal a foreign treaty, as per the Constitution. Hold a...

Hey GOP establishment, how about, for once, you cause your opponents pain instead your allies? You’ve managed to win back both houses of Congress – by which I mean we conservatives won them back for you – and since then you’ve accomplished exactly nothing. President Fail is handing the mullahs the Bomb, Obamacare remains a thing, and Planned Parenthood is still dismembering babies on our dime. The president has a bully pulpit and you’re satisfied with the legislative branch being a weenie pulpit. But the creaky Boehner and McConnell machine can choose to succeed at something other than failure. It...

When someone challenges the Speaker of the House (by a technical procedure known as declaring the office of the speakership "vacant"), usually the leadership holds what is basically a vote of confidence immediately to show that a majority of the members still support the Speaker. Otherwise it raises doubts about whether the Speaker still has the support of the majority of the members. But that's not what happened when Rep. Mark Meadows declared the office of the speaker vacant in late July in protest against the accomodationist policies of Speaker John Boehner. The House didn't hold any kind of vote...

Boehner could actually be in trouble. It is because several forces are coming together at the right time that would make vote to Vacate The Chair a reality in order to get several things done the Boehner and McConnell oppose. One is defunding Planned Parenthood. In light of the videos released, vote Boehner out and someone in that is favorable to the defunding. http://www.govexec.com/oversight/2015/09/plot-against-planned-parenthood-and-john-boehner/120071/

The review process under the Corker law never began — by the law’s own terms. To undermine President Obama’s atrocious Iran deal despite the Republican-controlled Congress’s irresponsible Corker legislation, it will be necessary to follow, of all things, the Corker legislation. On Wednesday, Barbara Mikulski became the 34th Senate Democrat to announce support for the deal, which lends aid and comfort to a regime that continues to call for “Death to America.” Under the Corker Roadmap to Catastrophe, Mikulski’s assent ostensibly puts President Obama over the top. After all, the legislation sponsored by Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker...

Traitors in Government It is time to take a look at both sides of the aisle. Political corruption is at an all time high, and it’s dismissed by the media. It starts at the top with Obama who has pushed an anti-American agenda, and forced the United States towards Third World status. The Cloward-Piven strategy is working to perfection combined with the Saul Alinsky tactics now being used by both sides, The citizens of this once great country are confused, tense and coming to a point where our national pride is seriously at stake. It is my opinion that our...

A House committee will hold its first hearing next week investigating Planned Parenthood’s sale of aborted babies and their body parts. This is the first hearing in Congress’ multi-committee investigation of the abortion business after a series of nine videos exposed how it is potentially illegally selling aborted babies and profiting from the sales. On Wednesday, September 9, 2015, at 10:30 a.m., the House Judiciary Committee will hold its first hearing in a series of hearings titled, “Planned Parenthood Exposed: Examining the Horrific Abortion Practices at the Nation’s Largest Abortion Provider.” The hearings will examine the abortion practices of Planned...