Free Republic

Politics and Policy Senator Reid Scores Early Victory as Opposition Leader But minority leader warns fellow Democrats against taking victory laps after homeland security win By Siobhan Hughes and Michael R. Crittenden WASHINGTON—Senate Democrats think they have had a good couple of weeks, including a win in a battle over immigration and homeland security funding, but their leader is warning members of his caucus against taking any victory laps. “We cannot be gloating,” Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) said he told his caucus at a closed-door meeting on Tuesday. “We have a lot of things we have to...

<p>Representative Peter Roskam is now chairman of the Ways and Means subcommittee whose jurisdiction includes oversight of the Internal Revenue Service, and hence of Lois Lerner’s legacy. He knows how interesting her career was before she, as head of the IRS exempt-organizations division, directed the suppression of conservative advocacy groups by delaying and denying them the tax-exempt status that was swiftly given to comparable liberal groups.</p>

Clink on the link for another blast from the past. The Marc Rich pardon was done by Clinton for a reason. The reason was 250 million dollars. Denise Rich plead the 5th in testimony because she was not given immunity. Pssst, mainstream media, now that you are paying a little more attention to Hillary, how about finally investigating this.

Scandal: The former secretary of state's use of a personal account to exclusively conduct government business and to protect her political future in violation of the law ought to disqualify her from the presidency. 'Witch hunts" sometimes find a witch, and those who dismissed the establishment of the House Benghazi Select Committee, chaired by Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., as just another witch hunt are eating their words. The existence of a personal account that Hillary Clinton used to conduct government business as secretary of state was discovered by the committee and reported by the New York Times. Clinton's use of...

Two top congressional chairmen demanded Wednesday that the IRS turn over all its emails that might have given private taxpayer information to the White House, after President Obama’s lawyer last week passed the buck to the tax agency, insisting they would be able to search for the emails. The IRS last year had claimed it didn’t have the technological ability to search for those emails, so Senate Finance Chairman Orrin G. Hatch and House Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan went to the White House for them. In letters last month White House lawyer W. Neil Eggleston declined, saying he...

‘We were never going to win’: House GOP caves on immigration Mar. 3, 2015 9:00am Pete Kasperowicz House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has told Republicans that he would call up and pass a “clean” Department of Homeland Security spending bill this week, and give up the fight to use that bill to defund President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration. The decision marks the end of a standoff that has lasted for several weeks — a standoff Republicans will lose to Democrats when the clean DHS bill passes.

WASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton exclusively used a personal email account to conduct government business as secretary of state, State Department officials said, and may have violated federal requirements that officials’ correspondence be retained as part of the agency’s record. Mrs. Clinton did not have a government email address during her four-year tenure at the State Department. Her aides took no actions to have her personal emails preserved on department servers at the time, as required by the Federal Records Act.

Eight months ago, Eric Cantor was forced out of office amid charges that he had lost touch with his Virginia constituents, derailing the political career of the man who was in line to be the first Jewish speaker of the House. Now he’s back.

According to the American Freedom Fighters, the latest body count associated with the Clintons’ has been updated. All of the people included in the list below have been connected with the Clintons in some form or another, as explained in the description provided. Not included were any deaths that could not be verified or connected to the Clinton scandals. All deaths are listed chronologically by date and current to the best of their knowledge as of January 2014. Susan Coleman: Rumors were circulating in Arkansas of an affair with Bill Clinton. She was found dead with a gunshot wound to...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Yellowhammer sources say the National Education Association (NEA), the national teachers’ union with which the Alabama Education Association (AEA) is affiliated, cleaned the AEA’s house late last night, ousting Executive Secretary Henry Mabry and revoking building access to former Associate Executive Secretary Joe Reed.

Frank Underwood of Netflix's "House of Cards" may seem like America's most corrupt politician. He will stop at nothing, not even murder, to advance his political career. But as a political scientist, I know that real-life corruption is much more commonplace -- and frankly more boring. Usually it's just a job offer. Remember Jack Abramoff, one of the best-connected lobbyists on Capitol Hill during the George W. Bush administration? In 2006, Abramoff was convicted on federal conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion charges. The scandal eventually led to the conviction of or plea bargains from 21 people, including White House officials,...

Is real investigative reporting something which just isn’t done in a modern Mississippi Burning, or do only certain politically desirable stories get the full treatment? I’m finished with giving the paid hacks the benefit of the doubt; it’s time to call them out. From the very beginning of the Jessica Chambers case, the bumbling backwater yokels and their shallow hand-lickers in the local showbiz media have collaborated, either willfully or not, to help perpetuate darkness where bright lights should be shining instead. Nobody in the regional press in and near Panola County has shown themselves to be even at least...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A grand jury returned an indictment of Sheldon Silver, the former New York State Assembly speaker, for federal corruption charges on Thursday, federal prosecutors said.

If one visits the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. and stops by the office of Congressman Alcee Hastings they will see hanging on the wall a framed document proclaiming Hastings to be an “Honorary Texan”. An honor that Hastings must be proud of otherwise why display such a document in his congressional office ? But during a recent congressional meeting Congressman Hastings commented that he thought all Texans were “crazy”. One would think that if Hastings thought that Texans were “crazy” then he certainly wouldn’t want to advertise the fact that he was an “Honorary Texan”, would one. In fact...

How in the world did NBC News let its biggest star and face of its division run around America for more than ten years telling stolen valor lies, lie-lies, whoppers, white lies, exaggerations, and — if you want to be charitable — embellishments. Brian Williams didn’t just spew bald-faced lies from David Letterman’s couch. He lied repeatedly on the air at NBC News and its affiliates. He lied to NBC News legend Tim Russert. Stories Williams’ shared with NBC’s own Tom Brokaw both on the air and at Columbia Journalism school are now disputed. Things told to other reporters don’t...

Media and potential opponents are scandalized that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is considering a run for president even though he didn’t graduate from college. But if Walker (who dropped out of Marquette University in his senior year) won in 2016, he would be joining an exalted group that includes the two presidents most frequently named as the favorites of the American people. Eleven presidents — exactly 25 percent — were not college graduates. Most prominent on that list are George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, who make up half of Mt. Rushmore’s foursome and are in the top three or top...

For months, concerns over what Gov. John Kitzhaber has called the "gray area" between his 47-year-old fiancee's private and professional lives haunted the longtime politician — through his 2010 election, his third term in office, his historic bid for a fourth term and the weeks since his January inauguration. Kitzhaber's problems came to a head Friday, when the former emergency room physician resigned from office, effective Feb. 18. His decision came after a week of political drama, which Secretary of State Kate Brown called "bizarre and unprecedented" and which has absorbed this normally quiet capital. Under the state constitution, Brown...

Illinois poverty on rise since 2010; four counties at greatest risk, says report Caitlin Wilson The number of Illinoisans living in poverty has risen steadily since 2010, with nearly 15 percent of residents living at or below the poverty line, a new report says, the highest mark since 1960. The Social Impact Research Center (SIRC) released a report detailing the statistics surrounding poverty in Illinois, finding that Illinois “has plenty of room for improvement” in comparison to other states when it comes to residents living in poverty, and that 14 of the state’s counties have more than 20,000 residents in...

<p>Gov. John Kitzhaber announced his resignation Friday, ending weeks of speculation about whether he could lead Oregon with the cloud of at least two investigations into possible ethical breaches hanging over his head.</p> <p>The embattled governor faces allegations that his fiancee used their relationship to win contracts for her consulting business and failed to report income on her taxes. The state’s two top legislative leaders and the state treasurer -- all Democrats, as is the 67-year-old governor -- had called on Kitzhaber on Thursday to resign. Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, fiancee provide new green energy scandal Caption Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, fiancee provide new green energy scandal Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, fiancee provide new green energy scandal Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, fiancee provide new green energy scandal After rumors swirl. Gov. Kitzhaber says he's not resigning After rumors swirl. Gov. Kitzhaber says he's not resigning Oregon governor insists he won't resign Oregon governor insists he won't resign Oregon sec. of state 'headed to the capitol to do some work' Oregon sec. of state 'headed to the capitol to do some work'</p>

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber is expected to resign Friday, perhaps in the early afternoon, multiple sources told KOIN 6 News. The decision came after intense debate among the governor and those close to him. These sources say Kitzhaber has wanted to pursue that course since the weekend but had been dissuaded by his fiancée, Cylvia Hayes, and his legal team.