Free Republic

U.S.A. -(Ammoland.com)- Large, powerful, political organizations such as the National Rifle Association (NRA) are seldom transparent or without internal struggles. The internal struggles at the NRA have been enlarged to engulf Christopher W. Cox, head of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA). Christopher Cox has been suspended from his position at the head of the NRAILA.

House Dem: Climate change bigger health threat than AIDS, malaria By Andrew Restuccia - 04/06/11 12:25 PM ET Just hours before a vote Wednesday on a GOP plan to block Environmental Protection Agency climate regulations, Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) called climate change a bigger public health threat than AIDS, malaria and pandemic flu. Capps and several other liberal Democrats spoke out Wednesday morning in opposition to the legislation, authored by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.). The lawmakers, who were joined by officials from the American Lung Association and the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the Upton...

An interesting glimpse at Paul Ryan’s wife, from the Washington Post: Janna Ryan, wife of Republican vice presidential pick Rep. Paul Ryan, is the poster girl for Generation X women who wanted to have it all.Ryan, 43, like many of her 40-something peers, is a stay-at-home mother with an impressive resume. She prefers her husband’s hometown, Janesville, Wis., to Washington and remains out of the political limelight.But Janna Christine Little Ryan hails from Oklahoma, a state known for its Will Rogers’s common-sense ideals mixed with a smidgen of Wild West attitude.She grew up Madill, Okla., in the southern part of...

The House approved a rule governing debate for the Republicans' Repeal of Obamacare Act on Tuesday. Members voted 240-182 in favor of the rule, which sets up five hours of debate that will take place Tuesday and Wednesday. Democrats strongly oppose the bill, a sentiment reflected in the rule vote. Only four Democrats supported the rule, and every voting Republicans favored it. Democrats voting for the rule were Reps. Dan Boren (Okla.), Larry Kissell (N.C.), Mike McIntyre (N.C.) and Mike Ross (Ark.). The vote came after a debate that seemed to raise the question of why five hours of debate...

Rep. Dan Boren, the only Democrat in Oklahoma's seven-person congressional delegation, will not run for re-election in 2012, leaving open a seat that spans much of eastern Oklahoma. Boren, 37, plans to make an official announcement at 2 p.m. Tuesday in his hometown of Muskogee. He has served in the U.S. House since 2005. His predecessor in the 2nd District seat, Democrat Brad Carson, said Tuesday that he plans to run for the seat. Carson, 44, of Claremore, is now a business and law professor at the University of Tulsa. Carson gave up the House seat in 2004 to run...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Dan Boren, Oklahoma's only Democrat in Congress, predicts his party will lose seats in elections later this year. "If we have a tight majority one way or another, that puts me in the driver's seat,'' the three-term lawmaker said. "In the 112th (Congress), I probably will have the most influence I have ever had, no matter who has the majority.''

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Dan Boren, Oklahoma's only Democrat in Congress, predicts his party will lose seats in elections later this year. While such a statement falls in the category of conventional wisdom that historically has the party in power losing congressional seats in mid-term elections, Boren parts company with others within his own party by suggesting such a setback would be a "good thing for Oklahoma and for me.'' "If we have a tight majority one way or another, that puts me in the driver's seat,'' the three-term lawmaker said. "In the 112th (Congress), I probably will have the...

U.S. Rep. Dan Boren said Congress should use the power of the purse to push the Obama administration to remove so-called czars that do not go through a confirmation process. Boren joined others in criticizing the growing trend to name czars to lead efforts in specific areas. Such officials do not go through oversight hearings or a confirmation vote in the Senate. Boren referred to them as unelected bureaucrats who do not answer to lawmakers. Even though such czars do not go through a confirmation process, Boren cited the “authority’’ that came along with the congressional control over the power...

POINT OF VIEW Guns in national parks In 1999, a woman and two teenagers visiting Yosemite National Park were brutally murdered at gunpoint. That same year, park ranger Steve Makuakane-Jarrell, a father of three, was shot to death in Hawaii’s Honokohau-National Historical Park. These are just two of the many tragic crimes that have claimed the lives of innocent national park visitors since the possession of loaded weapons was banned in the national parks. How have law-abiding Americans been stripped of their Second Amendment right to bear arms and left unable to protect themselves and their families in national parks...

Oklahoma City (AP) - Democratic Rep. Dan Boren of Oklahoma said Tuesday Barack Obama is "the most liberal senator" in Congress and he has no intention of endorsing him for the White House. ... Boren, the lone Democrat in Oklahoma's congressional delegate, said that while Obama has talked about working with Republicans, "unfortunately, his record does not reflect working in a bipartisan fashion."