Free Republic

Just in case you’ve missed it, there has been a lot of debate recently about reforming our nation’s health care system. The president and his allies in Congress have told us they have just the ticket to fix our problems: a plan that creates a new federal government insurance company and pays for it by raising taxes on just about everyone and cutting nearly $500 billion from Medicare. Their plan takes an unsustainable mountain of government debt, bureaucracy and spending, then bulldozes a new mountain of bureaucracy and debt right on top of it. But for all of the mind-boggling...

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) is putting Capitol Hill on a "Code Red" alert Tuesday in an effort to stop the Senate's health care reform legislation. In a release from his office Monday, DeMint announced he will speak at what is being billed as an "emergency rally" coordinated by several groups, including the American Conservative Union and the Susan B. Anthony List. "The event has 'tea party' trimmings and plenty of muscle, including grass-roots support from six states," according to the GOP senator's Web site.

During an interview with Bloomberg's Al Hunt, South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint said he would find it troublesome if the country elected an openly gay president. "It would be bothersome to me personally because I consider it immoral," DeMint said during the interview. When the issue of gay marriage came up, DeMint did not hold back from denouncing the notion. "Marriage is a religious institution. The federal government has no business redefining what it is. Governments should not be in the business of promoting a behavior that's proven to be destructive to our society." These comments are not surprising coming...

Demint v Obama?

US Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) has begun to make a name for himself in national politics. Not content to pursue his own hard-line conservative course in the Senate, he has begun to encourage the election of Republicans of similar outlook across the nation. DeMint has his own political action committee, the Senate Conservatives Fund, which is frequently at odds with the choices -- stated or assumed -- of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the GOP’s official body for electing members of the upper chamber. In Florida's 2010 GOP Senate primary, DeMint endorsed conservative underdog Marco Rubio, a former speaker of...

The broadcasting entertainers Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, while influential with conservatives, Republican strategists explain, aren’t officeholders or political decision makers. Jim DeMint is.The Republican senator from South Carolina is a force moving the party to the right on big issues. He is actively endorsing conservative insurgents over established party candidates from Florida to California. He’s a favorite of the grass-roots “tea party” brigade and Fox News. His growing appeal is such that party insiders even talk about him as a potential presidential candidate.Some conservatives are nuanced: libertarian conservatives, compassionate conservatives, neo-conservatives; not the 58-year-old Mr. DeMint. He goes right...

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) inched his way further into the 2010 Senate races Thursday, endorsing a member of the Texas Railroad Commission for the seat that might be vacated by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-Texas.) in her run for governor. In the blistering cold with the Capitol as a backdrop, DeMint threw his weight and the weight of his Senate Conservatives Fund behind Michael Williams, an African-American who served in both the Reagan and first Bush administrations. Williams said he’s looking to come to Washington to “stop the slouch toward European-style socialism.” DeMint said he’s looking to pull the Republican...

Senator Jim DeMint is urging the Republican establishment to tack further to the right. That's because he believes the leadership has swung too far to the left. In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network's David Brody, DeMint (R-SC) said his party deserves a better slate of candidates than the ones put forward to run against the Democrats "I need some new Republicans, people who believe in constitutional government, a balanced budget and liberty and so I’m out across the country recruiting new Republicans who I think if they get here will not only challenge the institutions of government but...

Hey Tea Party participants. Listen up. Senator Jim DeMint says it's time for, "some new republicans" to be elected to serve in the Senate. DeMint spoke to The Brody File about what he wants to see happen in 2010. The junior Senator from South Carolina is a MAJOR player in the Tea Party movement due to the fact that he has been aggressively backing conservative type candidates against Republican establishment figures. For example, he's backing Marco Rubio in Florida against Charlie Crist and Chuck DeVote in California instead of Carly Fiorina.

Conservative South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint (R) will endorse Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams' Senate candidacy later today, a move designed to thin the GOP field running to replace Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R). "Democrats are trying to catch Republicans flat-footed and pick off the Texas Senate seat," said a source close to DeMint who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about strategic matters. "This endorsement will signal its time for conservatives and independents to rally behind Michael." The seat is not formally vacant yet as Hutchison has delayed her planned resignation until after her March 2 primary fight against...

I hadn't given much hope that any Senator would have the intestinal fortitude to ask Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke any tough questions during his confirmation hearings before the Senate Banking Committee. Bernanke, who succeeded Alan Greenspan, was originally appointed by George W. Bush, and was recently reappointed to a second term by President Barack Obama. I'm happy to see that Senator Jim DeMint courageously carved Bernanke up while still being a perfect Southern gentleman (see video below from hearings).

Here is a list of 2012 candidates. Generally, I am dwelling on the negatives as this is what is going to limit them in their ability to win but will mention any unique positives. Please share your thoughts on these or any other potential candidates. Romney - Romneycare is an albatross. He is a Mormon which impacts appeal. Is popular in Michigan due to his father. Sometimes comes across like a used car salesman. Is probably more conservative than his record and gets a bad rap due to his need to make compromises to get elected in The People's Republic....

Senator pledges to hold nomination until the Senate votes on the Fed Audit WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina), chairman of the Senate Steering Committee, announced this morning that he will oppose the nomination of Ben Bernanke to serve a second term as the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. Senator DeMint made the announcement after Bernanke's confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee, and pledged to object to floor consideration of the nomination until the Senate votes on S. 604, the Federal Reserve Sunshine Act of 2009. "Ben Bernanke is an intelligent and well-intended public...

COLUMBIA. – South Carolina junior Senator Jim DeMint announced Thursday he will oppose the nomination of Ben Bernanke to serve a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve. DeMint said he would also block consideration of the nomination on the Senate floor until lawmakers vote on their version of a House bill introduced by Texas Congressman Ron Paul that would require an audit of the Federal Reserve. The House bill has more than 300 co-sponsors. The Senate version of the legislation sponsored by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has more than 30 co-sponsors and would allow the Government Accountability Office...

Republicans Pay Tribute at ‘Tea Party’ Movie Premiere Members of Congress Mingle With Activists at D.C. Film Debut By David Weigel 12/3/09 10:08 AM Presenters at the premiere of "Tea Party: The Documentary Film" Wednesday in Washington (Photo: David Weigel) Getting into Wednesday’s Washington, D.C., premiere of “Tea Party: The Documentary Film” meant walking through a steady rain into the Ronald Reagan building, a sprawling downtown trade and convention center where the economic conservative group FreedomWorks, which helped organize a number of Tea Party protests, had rented a foyer and a sizable auditorium. The stars of the film relaxed and...

Republican Senator Jim DeMint, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, said on Thursday he would oppose Ben Bernanke's nomination for a second term as Federal Reserve Chairman. "Americans want a new Fed chairman who is willing to provide transparency into the Fed's actions, who is willing to accept responsibility for the Fed's mistakes, and who is willing to support true monetary reform that guarantees the soundness of our money," DeMint said in a statement.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a darling of the Tea Party crowd, credited that movement with blocking Democratic health care reform efforts and predicted the conservative activists behind the movement could ultimately thwart the passage of that bill and others.. "The only reason we don't have national health care right now is you - is the people outside of Washington," DeMint told a gathering of Tea Party activists gathered Wednesday night in Washington for the premiere of a documentary about the movement. "I think we do have a shot at stopping this thing," he said of the health care reform bill...

My colleague Kenneth Vogel writes in from tonight's gathering of tea party activists in Washington for the premiere of a documentary about the movement: After seeing Rep. Joe Wilson raise more than $1 million in the days following his "You lie!" outburst during President Obama's September address to Congress, Sen. Jim DeMint, a fellow South Carolina Republican, said he wished he'd been the one who lashed out. Though Wilson apologized for the comment, he was pilloried by the left and lionized by Republican activists in the so-called Tea Party movement. DeMint – who himself raised hackles on the left and...

WASHINGTON — South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint is using his rising national profile among conservative activists to support and bankroll Republican Senate candidates around the country, some of them underdogs challenging GOP establishment favorites.....

What can you say? How often does the United States stake out a clear, unequivocal position on a major foreign policy event and then, over the course of a few months, slowly walkback from their original position to come around and embrace exactly the opposite point of view? This is the Obama administration in all its amateurish glory. When Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was invited to leave back in June, the administration took the same side as the thugs and dictators of the world, calling it a "military coup" even though the Honduran Supreme Court had ruled the action legal...

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), who is up for re-election in 2010 and is heavily favored to win, has made an interesting admission: That he's not thinking about South Carolina when he votes in the Senate, but about larger conservative principles. From The State: DeMint, 58, makes no bones that he's more focused on advancing conservative goals nationwide than on pursuing the parochial interests of his state. "All of you all over the country - please remember that Senate seats are not about a particular state," DeMint told more than 4,000 listeners on the recent conference call. "They're about our country....

Sen. Jim DeMint has locked a "hold" on President Obama's pick to head the Transportation Security Administration over concerns the nominee would undermine safety by allowing airport security screeners to unionize, the latest in a series of appointments stymied by Republican objections that are increasingly frustrating the Senate's Democratic majority. The South Carolina Republican single-handedly put the brakes on the nomination with a "hold" - an informal practice by which a senator can keep a nomination or legislation from going to the Senate floor. It is virtually the only weapon left in the minority's arsenal to affect the chamber's business...

CHARLESTON, S.C. — When Senator Lindsey Graham joined forces last month with Senator John Kerry on a compromise to the climate change legislation known as cap and trade, it was the last straw for the Charleston County Republican Party. The latest on President Obama, his administration and other news from Washington and around the nation. Join the discussion. The county party, which has traditionally been considered moderate, voted by a wide margin to censure Mr. Graham in harsh terms. Their grievance list was long: it cited the senator for calling opponents of immigration law change “bigots,” holding the Republican Party...

@JimDeMint Some senators who voted for this healthcare takeover may have made a career-ending decision tonight 11/21 8:42 - http://twitter.com/JimDeMint/status/5934166425 @edhenrycnn Pay attention to Sen liberals: Bernie Sanders warns while he voted to advance debate, "my vote for the final bill is by no means guaranteed" 11/21 8:45 P.M. - http://twitter.com/edhenrycnn/status/5934229760 @PrestonCNN Voinovich didn't vote tonight, but he said in a statement Friday that he would not vote in favor of the motion to proceed. 11/ 21 8:30 P.M. - http://twitter.com/PrestonCNN/status/5933871353 @markknoller WH hails tonight's senate vote. Spokesman Robert Gibbs says Pres. Obama is "gratified." 11/21 8:30 - http://twitter.com/markknoller/status/5933839697 @kathrynlopez...

Could Illinois Senate candidate Patrick Hughes be the next insurgent Republican candidate to get the backing of Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.)? Hughes is slated for his second meeting with DeMint on Thursday (the two also met in September), and DeMint’s Senate Conservative Fund website is currently polling visitors on whom they support in Hughes’s primary with Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.). DeMint has backed former Rep. Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania, Marco Rubio in Florida and Chuck DeVore in California, all in the face of establishment favorites. Toomey, of course, soon assumed that mantle when Sen. Arlen Specter switch to the Democratic...

Read the Bill: Senate Version of ObamaCare Now Online Late Wednesday night, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) released his own version of a health care bill that if passed will raise taxes, increase premiums, cut Medicare and lead to health care rationing. It's imperative that freedom-loving Americans everywhere raise their voices in opposition to this bill. It truly represents a government takeover of health care. To be better informed for the battle ahead, read the entire bill (or at least skim over its 2,074 pages) here.

For nearly a century the Federal Reserve has operated in the shadows, away from the prying eyes of Congress, journalists and the American people. Created in 1913, the Fed was given enormous responsibility to protect the value of our currency. Yet in the last 96 years the U.S. dollar has lost more than 95% of its purchasing power. The Fed's unprecedented actions over the past year in attempting to stabilize the financial system have now forced it into the spotlight, and caused millions of people around the country to question the opacity of the Fed's financial transactions. While the Fed...

“Let’s be clear: Any senator who votes to proceed to this bill is voting for a government takeover of health care. Senators who hide behind procedure and claim they just want to allow for debate are not being honest, they are trying to deceive their voters while helping to pass this terrible bill that will make health care more expensive."

Sen. Jim DeMint, South Carolina Republican, said in an interview that New Yorkers are being forced by the Obama administration to host the trials for terrorists suspected of planning the Sept. 11 attacks that killed thousands in lower Manhattan. "They're having this pushed down their throats," the conservative lawmaker told The Washington Times' "American Morning News" radio show Monday. He also said President Obama's decision to bring self-proclaimed September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four accomplices to New York from the Guantanamo Bay detention center is another case of the president "doing a lot of things to look good"...

In a victory for democracy in Honduras and common sense in foreign affairs, the Administration has backed off its insistence that Zelaya be returned to power: Sen. Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican known for his efforts to block influence domestic immigration and health-care issues, has scored a foreign-policy coup by helping to compel the Obama administration to shift its stance on strife-ridden Honduras. After demanding for months that deposed Honduran President Mel Zelaya be restored to power, senior State Department officials now say they'll accept the outcome of Nov. 29 elections in the Central American country even if Zelaya...

Sen. Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican known for his efforts to block influence domestic immigration and health-care issues, has scored a foreign-policy coup by helping to compel the Obama administration to shift its stance on strife-ridden Honduras. After demanding for months that deposed Honduran President Mel Zelaya be restored to power, senior State Department officials now say they'll accept the outcome of Nov. 29 elections in the Central American country even if Zelaya doesn't reclaim his post. "We support the elections process there," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Thursday. "We have provided technical assistance. ... These elections will...

WASHINGTON - An outspoken critic of the Obama administration's handling of the crisis in Honduras dropped his opposition to two State Department nominees late Thursday, saying the administration has reversed course. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., said on the Senate floor that he'd spoken with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who told him that the administration would recognize the election Nov. 29 in Honduras "regardless of whether former President Manuel Zelaya is returned to office." "I am happy to report the Obama administration has finally reversed its misguided Honduran policy and will fully recognize the Nov. 29 elections," DeMint said, noting...

Over the past few months, I have been testing the waters with numerous articles advocating Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) as a possible candidate for the Republican nomination to be our Presidential candidate in under three years. The response from readers of this blog, and folks who ran upon the articles that I had written, has been amazing. I have received at least three emails asking me what can I do? How can we start a draft Senator DeMint for President 2012 organization? Will this lead into a Nation-wide third party movement? Not to mention numerous comments in support of...

Carly Fiorina (R) on Thursday announced the endorsements of eight Republican senators for her just-launched California Senate campaign. After primary opponent Chuck DeVore annonced the backing of Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) this week, Fiorina fought back with Sens. Tom Coburn (Okla.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Jon Kyl (Ariz.), John McCain (Ariz.), Mitch McConnell (Ky.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Olympia Snowe (Maine).

We are proud to endorse Chuck DeVore for U.S. Senate in California. Chuck DeVore is a proven, tested conservative who is gaining momentum. He’s the kind of leader we can count on to stand up for common sense conservative principles in the United States Senate. The Senate Conservatives Fund recently conducted an online poll of our members to see which candidate in California they supported. With 2,688 total votes cast, Chuck DeVore was the clear winner with 90% of the vote. We’ve examined DeVore’s record and interviewed him in person. We are confident that Chuck DeVore is ready to come...

The morning after Republicans lost an upstate New York House seat, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) warned that conservative activists will bring destruction to the Republican Party if they drive out moderate candidates across the country. “To those people who are pursuing purity, you’ll become a club not a party,” Graham told POLITICO in the Capitol Wednesday. “Those people who are trying to embrace conservatism in a thoughtful way that fits the region and the state and the district are going to do well. Conservativism is an asset. Blind ideology is not.” Graham, who has sparred with his party’s right wing...

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) endorsed conservative California State Assemblyman Chuck DeVore (R) Tuesday, once again going against the wishes of his party. The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) has made no endorsement in the California Senate race, but party leaders favor former Hewlett-Packard executive Carly Fiorina (R), a wealthy centrist whom many believe could give Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) a strong challenge. Later this month, Fiorina will be the guest of honor at a Washington fundraiser featuring Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and three others,...

"You know the thing I think that makes us different from other people around the world, is I think Americans still have a strong streak of independence. And an even stronger streak of independence from government. And attempts to control things by government, tend to nettle Americans, and to draw resistance. And the liberals and democrats continue to think that the desire for security, and for comfort, and for assurance – all the things that you’re supposed to get from a socialistic system, that those factors are going to outweigh those streaks of independence and self reliance. And I think...

The chairmen of the House and Senate foreign relations committees—Representative Howard Berman (D-Calif) and Senator John Kerry (D-Mass), respectively—are demanding the librarians at the Law Library of Congress to suppress a report on the Honduran crisis. The problem with the report is that it concludes that the removal of former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was carried out in accordance with that country’s constitution. “This report directly contradicts the President’s position on this crisis,” Berman pointed out. “It creates an air of confusion regarding US policy on this matter. On matters of foreign policy, this nation must speak with one voice...

WASHINGTON -- The chairmen of the House and Senate foreign relations committees are asking the Law Library of Congress to retract a report on the military-backed coup in Honduras that they charge is flawed and “has contributed to the political crisis that still wracks” the country. The request, by Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. and Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., has sparked cries of censorship from Republicans who say the Democrats don't like what the August report said: that the government of Honduras had the authority to remove President Manuel Zelaya from office. Zelaya has been holed up at the Brazilian embassy...

Vote in Our Poll: Would You Support Jim Demint for President if Nominated by the GOP in 2012?

Three Republican lawmakers on Wednesday endorsed Doug Hoffman's third-party campaign for the special House election in New York -- a slap in the face to the party's leadership and the current top brass at the National Republican Congressional Committee. Endorsing Hoffman in the 23rd District contest were Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Reps. Dana Rohrabacher of California and Tom Cole of Oklahoma, who also served as NRCC chairman from 2006 to 2008. The party's preferred candidate is GOP nominee Dede Scozzafava. Hoffman's name will appear on the upstate ballots as the Conservative Party nominee. The nods from the three...

Senior congressional Democrats want a report on the ouster of Honduran president Manuel Zelaya to be retracted. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) made the demand in a letter dated Tuesday to James Billington, the Librarian of Congress. They asked the Law Library of Congress to withdraw and correct the August 2009 report titled “Honduras: Constitutional Issues.” “The report, which has contributed to the political crisis that still wracks Honduras, contains factual errors and is based on a flawed legal analysis that has been refuted by experts from the United States, the Organization of American States, and...

It's the Democrats who won't tolerate a diversity of views. BY JIM DEMINT Sen. Arlen Specter's defection to the Democratic Party this week is no reason for Republicans to cheer. But his reason for leaving -- he faced an unwinnable primary election next year -- is no cause for soul searching. There is a question Republicans do need to ask: What is it that binds our party together? In the wake of two successive electoral defeats and the likelihood of a 60-vote Democrat majority in the Senate, what does it even mean to be a Republican today? Moderate Republicans are...

WASHINGTON -- The national debate among Republicans over their party's future is nowhere sharper than in South Carolina, where Sens. Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint pursue distinctly different visions for restoring GOP primacy at the polls. Graham and DeMint, who profess to be friends and live within an hour's drive of each other in the conservative Upstate, prescribe conflicting cures for the Republican ailments that led to sweeping defeats in the last two national elections. Graham, a Seneca Republican elected to his second term last year, says the party must stop alienating young people and Hispanics and start promoting pragmatic,...

A "hate crimes" plan that opponents have warned will be used to crack down on Christian speech, even the reading of the Bible, is poised to be signed by President Obama, a longtime proponent of the plan to give homosexuals and those with other alternative lifestyles special protections not provided other classes of citizens. The Senate approved the "hate crimes" plan 68-29 today after Democrats strategically attached it to a "must-pass" $680 billion defense appropriations plan. Most Republicans, although normally strong supporters of the U.S. military, opposed the plan. "The inclusion of the controversial language of the hate crimes legislation,...

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) will appear as the special guest at a fundraiser next week to benefit South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint's 2010 re-election, according to a copy of the invitation obtained by the Fix. The event, which will be held on Monday in Charleston at the home of Sheila and Bill Prezzano, features a number of power players in Palmetto State politics including money men Dick Coen, Bill Hewitt and O.L. Thompson as well as former Gov. Jim Edwards, former Rep. Tommy Hartnett and Republican National Committeewoman Cindy Costa. Hosts for the event are expected to donate...

Two Republican county chairmen in South Carolina wrote an op-ed in support of one of our greatest Senators, Senator Jim DeMint. In their op-ed, they innocently used the argument of the frugality purportedly displayed by some Jews as a role model for sound economic policy. Their choice of words was open to misinterpretation, but their well meaning and intentions were not. Democrats pounced on one line in the op-ed and even a great Jewish conservative organization, afraid of what this would do to Republican recruitment, wrongly chastised the writers. To be fair, the organization stated that the intentions behind the...

VANITY TO MY BLOG...The children in the White House declare war on Fox news. Paying homage to a great wrestler, an update on the new Czar of Pickles, the quip of the week, gays and game shows, slutty Halloween costumes, a great video, a new prize for Obama, and a serious lament about the situation in Honduras. All in this weeks THOUGHTS.

n Honduras the Obama administration seeks the restoration to power of a lawfully deposed Chavista thug. Among other things, in pursuit of this objective, the administration has cut off aid and yanked visas from Honduran officials who supported the thug Manuel Zelaya's removal. These officials (reportedly include) the fifteen justices of the Honduran Supreme Court and Jose Alfredo Saavedra, president of the Honduran Congress. According to (Mary Anastasia O'Grady:) "The lesson, presumably, is that judges in small foreign nations are required to accept America's interpretation of their own laws." O'Grady rightly observed: "The upshot is that the U.S. is trying...