Free Republic

Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Thursday he wishes he could stay in the Senate “'til I drop dead," even though he is not seeking reelection in November. "Well, I wish I could stay here 'til I drop dead, but I want to be remembered for my first 34 years, not my last six," Reid said in an interview with The Takeaway podcast . "I want everyone within the sound of my voice here today to understand what a joy it's been, an honor for me to serve in the Senate." The Nevada senator reflected on his unpopularity among some...

But now the deal is off. The Boston Globe is reporting that U.S.-based shoe manufacturer New Balance has come out hard against the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal. The odd thing, though, is that "the Boston company had gone quiet [on TPP] last year." Now, apparently, we know why: New Balance officials say one big reason is that they were told the Department of Defense would give them serious consideration for a contract to outfit recruits with athletic shoes. But no order has been placed, and New Balance officials say the Pentagon is intentionally delaying any purchase. New Balance is...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Multiple confidential sources inside of state government came forward to Yellowhammer this week with accusations that Alabama Governor Robert Bentley ordered a state helicopter to fly his wallet to him at the beach, after he accidentally left it behind in the wake of an argument with his then-wife. If true, the allegations call into question Gov. Bentley’s assertion that he did not misuse state resources during his affair with his then-senior advisor Rebekah Mason.

Islamic terrorists and droves of illegal immigrants—mainly youths—have slipped into the United States through Mexico recently, but the deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) insists the “the border is more secure now than it has been in many, many years.” This delusional assessment brings to mind when President Obama’s first DHS secretary, Janet Napolitano, repeatedly proclaimed the border is as secure as it’s ever been amid escalating drug-cartel violence that spilled into the U.S. and a crisis of narcotics and human smuggling in the region. Though the situation has only worsened, the administration continues to repeat the...

When the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) concludes its investigation of the Hillary Clinton private email server, the worst damage is not likely to come from the former secretary of state having classified information stored on a private server. Earlier this year the FBI probe expanded into possible violations of public corruption laws resulting from her role as secretary of state and her association with the Clinton Foundation."The agents are investigating the possible intersection of Clinton Foundation donations, the dispensation of State Department contracts, and whether regular processes were followed," an intelligence source told FOX News.The concern is that Clinton,...

Video at link: A former George W. Bush administration attorney general on Monday said Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton has no excuse for using a private email server while serving as secretary of State. “Hillary Clinton put classified information on a server that was not secure,” Michael Mukasey said on Fox Business Network . "She caused it to be put there. “Going further, if it’s information that relates to national defense, whether she acted with gross negligence is not a defense. In fact, that’s the standard under the law. That’s a felony.” President Obama on Sunday said Clinton had not...

JERSEY CITY -- A traffic stop near the Holland Tunnel yesterday evening lead to the recovery of a shotgun and nearly 200 rounds of ammunition, a police spokesman said. At about 6:30 p.m., a police officer saw a blue plastic drum in the back up a pickup truck that had just passed through the Holland Tunnel toll plaza. The officer stopped the vehicle driven by a Pennsylvanian man to make sure there were no hazardous materials in the drum, Port Authority spokesman Joe Pentangelo said. Police asked the driver Marlon Murphy, 45, of Easton, if there were any weapons in...

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is blasting the way the country chooses presidential party nominees as “corrupt” and “crooked” as he grapples with the potential of a brokered convention that he risks losing. Speaking to thousands packed in a frigid airport hangar in western New York on Sunday, Trump ripped the byzantine fight over delegates at the heart of his party’s nominating process. He argued anew that the person who wins the most votes in the primary process should automatically be the GOP nominee. “What they’re trying to do is subvert the movement with crooked shenanigans,” said Trump, comparing his...

Donald Trump used his first campaign rally in western New York to attack Sen. Ted Cruz for something the Texan happily boasts about: mastering party rules to elect his delegate slates to the Republican National Convention. “They’re trying to subvert the movement,” Trump said to thousands of voters crammed into a frigid airplane hangar Sunday. “They can’t do it with bodies, so they’re trying to subvert the movement with crooked shenanigans.” The Rochester rally was only Trump’s second in the 14-day New York campaign, and his first since Cruz swept Colorado’s 34 available delegates in a series of conventions. Trump’s...

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A statewide, month long initiative to put the clamps on a Senate bill is underway. Senate Bill 463 is aimed at redirecting highway money to the state general fund. This weekend, the Kansas Contractors Association is running ads targeting lawmakers to get them to just say no. It’s called Detour Greenlight and it’s pointed to 24 legislators they believe detour, or normally vote against protecting road and bridge funding. It also names some who they say are for strong spending on roads. “To redirect the little bit of sales tax that goes into the pot to...

Moments after announcing that Ted Cruz had swept all 34 delegate slots at the Colorado GOP convention Saturday, the state party tweeted: "We did it. #NeverTrump." Within minutes, the tweet had been deleted. Steve House, the Colorado GOP chairman, insisted his staff had nothing to do with the tweet and is now investigating. "There's no way we tweeted that," House said, although he acknowledged that the state party was responsible for deleting it. The last tweet was the result of unauthorized access to our account and in no way represents the opinion of the party. We are investigating. — The...

On this weekend’s broadcast of “Fox News Sunday,” President Barack Obama said his former Secretary of State and current Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton was careless in how she handled her emails, which is under investigation by the FBI. Obama said, “I continue to believe she has not jeopardized America’s national security. Now what I also said is that — and she’s acknowledged — that there’s a carelessness in terms of managing e-mails that she has owned. And she recognizes that. But I also think it is important to keep this in perspective. this is somebody who served her country...

ASR (@LeCombat) tweeted at 9:40 PM - 9 Apr 2016 : @risetoflyy @HouseCracka Yep & then tweeted this & then deleted. Corrupt @cologop https://t.co/A1RhMatYzn (http://twitter.com/LeCombat/status/719022322464600064?s=17)

Ted Cruz's delegate-hunting operation is running rings around Donald Trump's team, and he's making gains because of it. In North Dakota last weekend and Colorado this weekend, Cruz's team is out-hustling and outmanuevering Donald Trump, probably picking up a majority of unbound and "uncommitted" delegates in both states. Fox News: While Donald Trump still holds the delegate lead in the GOP presidential primary race, his Achilles heel has been a perceived weakness in his ground game. Seeking to capitalize on this, Cruz has outmaneuvered Trump lately in the behind-the-scenes battle for delegates in places that don't assign them through traditional...

Every election cycle, U.S. Congressman Thomas Massie said he is “extorted” by the Republican Party to pay $300,000 for his committee assignments. “I call it extortion, they call it assessments,” he said. These “assessments,” essentially dues to the Republican party, are fundraised through political action committees and lobbyists as a price to pay for committee positions, Massie told a crowd of about 25 during a recent coffee and pizza forum in Flatwoods. He told them, “I can’t go and do a fundraiser and raise $300,000 and stand up in front of people and tell them, ‘Well, you know what? It’s...

With the “outrageous lawbreaker” Cliven Bundy and four of his sons in custody, U.S. Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada took to the Senate floor Thursday to renew his push to preserve the scenic Gold Butte area northeast of Las Vegas. “Because of trouble caused by the Bundys and their pals, the federal employees tasked with safely guarding these antiquities, were prevented from doing their jobs,” he said. Reid also called attention in his speech to the armed takeover of a government wildlife refuge in Oregon earlier this year “by a dangerous group of militants” that included Bundy family members. Reid...

Self comment...

The big-money campaign finance system that Hillary Clinton has pledged to dismantle as president is what’s fueling her White House bid, according to a new investigation. The Democratic front-runner’s campaign behemoth is built on super PACs, secret cash and unlimited contributions — the very things she’s railed against on the campaign trail, according to the Center for Public Integrity. The center said its investigation found Clinton’s own election efforts “are largely immune from her reformist platform.”

If FBI Director James Comey feels no deadline pressure to wrap up the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s e-mail server, he should. “The urgency is to do it well and promptly. And ‘well’ comes first,” Comey told local law enforcement agents in Buffalo on Monday, according to the Niagara Gazette. “Well” is important. But so is “promptly,” and the FBI’s definition of that is unclear. The probe, underway for a year now, addresses a fundamental question: Did Clinton intentionally or recklessly forward classified information in a way that put the country at risk? Getting the answer sooner rather than later seems...

Wall St is pretty certain Hillary Clinton will be president Jeff Cox | @JeffCoxCNBCcom http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/06/wall-st-is-pretty-certain-who-will-be-president.html "While there's still plenty of time before the November election, markets are getting acclimated to the idea of a Clinton victory. Wall Street-related firms are Clinton's biggest contributor group, giving her just over $21 million of the total $159 million she has raised during her campaign, according to OpenSecrets." "An awful lot of investors view her as the devil they know as opposed to the devil they don't know," said Greg Valliere, chief global strategist at Horizon Investments and widely recognized as one of the...