Free Republic

House Speaker Paul Ryan on Thursday reacted to the Democratic sit-in on the floor of the House of Representatives over gun control by saying: “I don’t think this should be a very proud moment for democracy or the people who staged these stunts.” In his weekly press conference at the Capitol, Ryan said: “This is the people’s house. This is Congress, the House of Representatives, the oldest democracy in the world, and they’re descending it into chaos.”

Breaking news by Stu Varney. Supreme Court was tied 4 to 4, so the lower court decision stands against Obama's Immigration plan.

Even as Congress seems to be moving closer to a resolution on funding a means to stop the spread of the Zika virus, the Obama administration is demanding more immediate action. Yet, some critics say it is the administration, including President Barack Obama and Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, that have failed to act strongly and is allocating disproportionate resources internationally when about 2,000 Zika cases have been reported in the United States. More than half of the diagnosed cases have been in the territory of Puerto Rico, but also a significant number in Florida, New York, and...

Rebellious Democrats shut down the House’s legislative work on Wednesday, staging a sit-in on the House floor and refusing to leave until they secured a vote on gun control measures before lawmakers’ weeklong break. Exasperated Republicans were forced to recess while cutting off cameras that showed the protest. But in an unprecedented step, C-SPAN used live video feeds from one lawmaker’s Periscope account and another’s Facebook page to transmit words and images from the House. Nearly 100 Democrats led by Georgia Rep. John Lewis demanded a vote on measures to expand background checks and block gun purchases by some suspected...

More than two dozen House Democrats staged a "sit-in" on the House floor Wednesday in protest of GOP leadership's refusal to allow a vote on a gun control measure following the Orlando massacre. Led by Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), the civil rights icon, and more than 40 Democrats walked into the chamber just before noon and pledged to “occupy” the House floor until GOP leadership allowed a vote. Democrats have tried numerous times over the past week to force a vote on a so-called "no fly, no buy" bill, which would bar terror suspects on the “no-fly" list from purchasing...

A jury has convicted veteran U.S. Congressman Chaka Fattah in a racketeering case that largely centered on various efforts to repay an illegal $1 million campaign loan. Fattah was found guilty of all 22 counts against him, including racketeering, fraud and money laundering. His lawyers had argued that schemes were engineered without Fattah's knowledge by two political consultants who pleaded guilty in the case. Fattah's jovial and calm demeanor didn't change much as the verdict was read....

"Leaked Memo Teaches Clinton Staffers How To Break Campaign Finance Laws And Get Away with it" A leaked 2015 memo appears to give Hillary Clinton staffers advice on how to solicit large-sum donations from Super PACs without breaking campaign finance law restricting that behavior.

President Obama has endorsed former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who held office as a Republican but switched parties after losing the 2010 Senate race, in a bid to pick off a GOP-held congressional seat. "Gov. Charlie Crist has always put people above politics — and we need more of that in Washington," Obama said in a statement released by the Crist campaign. "I know he'll bring the people's voice to Congress, and I've got his back." The Democratic National Committee confirmed the endorsement to the Washington Examiner.

The spark for this squib is the failure of western governments to protect the persons and property of their citizens from politically or religiously motivated criminals. Among just a few of the outrages: • Swedish elementary school children recently beseeched their principal to protect them from islamic students. • Closer to home, the mayor of San Jose California directed his police force and firefighters to stand idly by as paid Leftists assaulted Trump rally attendees: • Last year, the mayor of Baltimore so much as encouraged rioters to destroy property. What gives? Is this why societies create governments? John Locke...

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's closed-door meeting Tuesday with 900 top evangelical and social conservative leaders will be a time of questions and answers on issues such as the Supreme Court, sanctity of life and religious freedom, according to an organizer, who said a similar meeting is being discussed also with Trump's rival Hillary Clinton. "Of the more than 50,000 questions that came in, many of them focused on those three issues. Others focused on issues related to leadership, national security, and faith," Johnnie Moore, the spokesperson for My Faith Votes, a non-partisan organization focused on engaging the 25...

Northeast dairy farmers who have been strapped for months by low milk prices say a voluntary insurance program that was supposed to be a safety net isn’t helping. The margin protection program provides financial assistance to enrolled farmers when the gap between the price of milk and national average feed costs falls below the coverage levels picked by individual farmers. […] Farmers say the margin protection program is not based on Northeast farmers’ feed costs but on the national average feed cost, which is less. The chairman of the National Milk Producers Federation testified in Washington last month that the...

After Donald Trump clinched the GOP presidential nomination, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan was not satisfied. He spent weeks withholding his official endorsement, while preaching the need for “unity.” After meeting with Trump a number of times, Ryan gave a very lukewarm endorsement of the businessman turned politician in his hometown newspaper. In an editorial for the Janesville Gazette, Ryan wrote that Trump would be able to work with Congress to “help improve people’s lives.” Soon thereafter, Ryan was stabbing Trump in the back, doing the bidding of the liberal media and Hillary Clinton. In fact, Ryan is being...

In a break from previous votes on the issue, the House on Thursday rejected two GOP proposals to prevent the Obama administration from enlisting young illegal immigrants to serve in the military. Lawmakers voted down two measures offered by immigration hard-liners Reps. Steve King (R-Iowa) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) that would have prohibited the use of federal money to enlist young illegal immigrants who have been granted work permits under President Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. More than 30 Republicans with more centrist views on immigration joined all Democrats in opposing the two amendments offered to a...

At a Fort Pierce home owned by members of the Mateen family, Seddique Mateen — father of the Orlando massacre shooter Omar Mateen — said Omar's wife Noor Salman is "no longer here" and that she was no longer in the area. He would not say where she had gone.

As I warned you in a previous alert, Rep. Paul Ryan is pro-amnesty (giving the franchise to millions of anti-gun voters), and he has a record of compromising gun rights. For example, Ryan voted for the Thompson-King amendment last year — an anti-gun amendment that would add an additional $19.5 million to pay states to turn in more names to the federal gun-ban (NICS) list. More names into the NICS system? You mean like adding more law-abiding veterans and senior citizens? These Americans have done nothing wrong, other than choosing to live in a country that wants to strip them...

Houston prosecutors have dropped one of two charges faced by pro-life investigator David Daleiden, stemming from his investigation of Planned Parenthood. County Court at Law Judge Diane Bull threw out a misdemeanor count of trafficking in human organs. “Judge Diane Bull’s swift dismissal of the bogus charge against CMP founder David Daleiden of trafficking human organs is the latest confirmation that the indictments from a runaway grand jury in Houston were a politically motivated sham all along,” the Center for Medical Progress said in a statement. “The dismissal of the first indictmen [on Monday] sends a strong message to Planned...

As if the 2016 cycle couldn’t get any uglier, a nasty war of words broke out Friday when Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid accused a Republican senator of “praying” for President Obama’s death. ADVERTISEMENT The allegations followed Georgia Sen. David Perdue’s remarks Friday to a Faith and Freedom Coalition conference in Washington. “We are called to pray for our country, for our leaders, and yes, even our president,” Perdue said. “I think we should pray for Barack Obama.” He added, “We need to be very specific about how we pray. We should pray like Psalms 109:8 says. It says, 'Let...

Lest anyone jump to an erroneous conclusion, I’ll participate in the upcoming presidential election process and vote for Trump. Since Hillary is the sum of every corrupt quality, every character flaw that cannot be allowed in the Oval Office, nothing will keep me from supporting the opponent of this vile traitor. As a registered Republican I receive regular emails from GOP candidates standing for election to Florida’s second congressional district. The candidates appear to be honest men and women of conservative bent who oppose all things Obama. Ditto for the eventual Republican senatorial nominee. Anyone who promises to do his...

Toxic chemicals used in everyday products such as household cleaners, clothing and furniture have been linked to serious illnesses, including cancer, infertility, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease. Under current law, only a small fraction of chemicals used in these products have been reviewed for safety. A bill that Congress sent President Barack Obama on Tuesday would set new safety standards for asbestos and other dangerous chemicals, including formaldehyde, styrene and BPA, that have gone unregulated for decades. The bill would update the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act to require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to evaluate new and existing chemicals against...

California is on the brink of becoming the first state in the nation to offer illegal immigrants the chance to buy insurance on an ObamaCare exchange — testing what’s being described as a "loophole" in the law. The Affordable Care Act technically bars illegal immigrants from the insurance exchanges. But the California bill, which last week passed the state legislature and was sent to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk, would allow the state to apply for a federal waiver to open its exchange — Covered California — to undocumented residents.