Free Republic

Longtime Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders will jump into the 2016 fray tomorrow, presenting the first official challenge to Hillary Clinton from her left. Liberal activists have been quite anxious for such a challenger, though the one they wanted was a bit younger and female. A self-described socialist in the style of the European democratic socialists, Sanders will bring fresh, innovative ideas to the table, like: Corporations are bad and have too much influence on our giant, ineffective, unaccountable government, so let’s make government bigger to fix the problem and also take a lot more money from the rich. They’re...

"When you have an efficient government, you have a dictatorship." Red or Blue?

“We must be ready to employ trickery, deceit, law-breaking, withholding and concealing truth…We can and we must write in a language which sows among the masses hatred, scorn, and the like towards those who disagree with us”, wrote Vladimir Lenin. The basis of Lenin’s statement is very much alive today within the Democrat party as they relentlessly attack and sow hatred towards cultural, moral, and religious institutions that conservatives hold dear. “This is the basis of the great cultural war we’re undergoing…. We are two countries now. We are two countries morally, culturally, socially, and theologically. Cultural wars do not...

The left is winning, but for the left winning is indistinguishable from dying. The West didn’t defeat Communism; it held it at bay long enough for it to defeat itself. The Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China crushed Communism more decisively than Goldwater could have ever dreamed of.

Democratic state lawmakers on Thursday shot down a proposal that would have required all California state legislators to get their health insurance from Covered California, the benefits exchange set up to implement Obamacare in the state. The Assembly Rules Committee split along party lines, with seven Democrats opposing AB 1109 and three Republicans in support of the bill by Assemblyman Scott Wilk. The measure would have forced lawmakers to give up the taxpayer-subsidized health plans provided by the Legislature and individually sign up for Covered California. Wilk introduced the measure after hearing complaints from several constituents about difficulties in signing...

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley is thinking about running for president on the Democratic ticket by appealing to Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren's populist fans. Warren is a very bright former Harvard law professor. So it is interesting that O'Malley thinks the best way to reach out to her fans is to say remarkably stupid things. Steve Inskeep, host of NPR's "Morning Edition," recently interviewed O'Malley, asking him to respond to something GOP presidential contender Sen. Marco Rubio had said. Inskeep: "[Rubio] argues that an active government actually keeps people frozen at their economic status because if you are well off,...

It is hardly a new concept. The very same Democrat Party used these tactics over 50 years ago in my home state of Mississippi. The primary enforcers of Party doctrine in those days was the Ku Klux Klan. The victims were Black Americans who wanted nothing more than to exercise their First Amendment rights, and to participate in the political process and vote. In turn, they were subjected to harassment, intimidation, and much, much worse. It didn’t end with a kumbaya moment of clarity on the part of the Democrats-In-Charge. No, it ended with the exposure of the criminal activity,...

Despite repeated claims to the contrary, Mayor de Blasio is positioning himself to be the leftist “progressive” alternative to Wall Street-friendly Hillary Rodham Clinton as the Democratic candidate for president, a national party operative told The Post. De Blasio’s hope, the operative said, is a “draft de Blasio’’ movement will develop among progressive activists over the next several months that will lead to the mayor being able to defeat Clinton in the primary elections next year in much the same way leftist Sen. George McGovern successfully challenged the initially front-running establishment Democratic candidate, Sen. Edmund Muskie, more than 40 years...

Lexus liberals ignore how their climate change agenda hurts the less fortunateBarack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Warren and the whole gang of Democratic leaders claim that one of their highest priorities is to lift up the middle class and reduce the income gap between rich and poor.That goal collides with what they admit is their very highest priority: stopping climate change. Their agenda is driven by the millionaire and billionaire Democratic donors who make the party possible. But the agenda also involves making energy, home heating, transportation and just about everything else less efficient and more expensive to the middle...

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2015/03/17/democrat-jim-webb-hires-aide-rania-batrice/24890241/Gannet publication. Link only.

Chris Christie can be Hillary Clinton’s running mate. They’re both liberals, they’re both clueless, they’re both egocentrics. And they’re both wrong. We’ll talk about Hillary another day. Today’s subject is Christie. Specifically, his announced intent to “take on” entitlements. He rightly points out that entitlements consume some 70 percent of the federal budget and are a fiscal and social cancer that is destroying America. Entitlements – the “rights” of the welfare state – oblige the taxpayer to fund a limitless number of people receiving a limitless number of dollars over a limitless series of programs. Entitlements are automatic theft, redistribution...

Now that Hillary Rodham Clinton has announced her second attempt at becoming Our President, we should consider the implications of her support -- and the lack of accountability that she has come to expect. And we should definitely consider the consequences of her becoming Chief Executive. At least one person associated with her has died under questionable circumstances. She has gleefully and repeatedly participated in attacking the much-younger women who dared to open their mouths about her husband using his position of authority to manipulate them into servicing him sexually. She has used insider trading to enrich herself while at...

Wednesday on PBS “NewsHour,” Secretary of State John Kerry articulated the administration’s new position on Sen. Bob Corker’s (R-TN) bill demanding Congress get a vote on the merits of President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, in light of prominent Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) supporting the bill this week. Making it clear the bill can not “interfere” with the president’s deal, Kerry said “if it’s changed and adjusted and reflects the respect for the Constitution and the president’s prerogatives,” then Congress can vote.

Hillary Clinton used to be pretty popular. When she was sworn in as secretary of State in 2009, Clinton boasted a favorable/unfavorable rating of 57 percent-34 percent. Her numbers stayed relatively steady during her tenure at the State Department. But ever since Clinton quit her job in 2013 and started preparing for a second White House run (the first was a failure), her popularity has declined significantly. According to a recent survey from Public Policy Polling, Clinton’s favorable/unfavorable rating is currently underwater:

She sat in the back of the courtroom, wearing oversize black sunglasses, watching as the former Democratic congressional aide was sentenced for slipping a sedative into her drink and then raping her. It was the summer of 2010, and she had just arrived in Washington as a student intern. When they met, she believed Donny Ray Williams Jr., the longtime aide and former staff director for a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee, could help her find a job with Congress. But instead, she later told authorities, Williams drugged and assaulted her.

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees -- the country’s largest trade union for public employees -- gave more than $65 million last year to politicians, lobbyists and activist groups, according to 2014 federal reports obtained by Watchdog.org. AFSCME is funded by roughly 1.4 million members and mandatory fees taken from 125,255 nonmembers. Critics argue AFSCME gets its revenue from taxpayers so its donations are essentially indirect support for Democratic politicians, political activist groups and bigger government. AFSCME’s 2014 report to the Labor Department showed $64,585,115 in Political Activities and Lobbying spending. The union also reported more than $1...

In her defense,  has already issued a public apology for her ill-advised tourist photo snapped at the East Village disaster site last week... It hadn't gone-over even even with her own FB friends, even less so when the (public) Instagram snap made the NY Post. After all, two victims' bodies were still buried in the rubble while she stood there grinning like an idiot (flashing a peace/V-for-victory/gang sign... ?) One commenter described the stunt as 'disgusting beyond words'. Yeah, she wasn't the only one to do it-- but this is a woman who surely should have known better- after all,...

A selfie-obsessed tourist apologized Sunday for posting an online pic of herself grinning at the site of the deadly East Village inferno. After The Post exposed her with a front-page story headlined “Village Idiots,” Christina Freundlich said she was “deeply sorry for my careless and distasteful post.” “It was inconsiderate to those hurt in the crash and to the city of New York,” she said in an e-mail to The Des Moines Register. “What happened last week in the East Village is not to be taken lightly and I regret my course of action.” Freundlich, who worked on both of...

The widow of Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) is preparing for the upcoming opening of the institute named after her late husband. Vicki Kennedy invited “Fox News Sunday” to the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate in Boston days before President Obama visits to formally open it to the public. “He loved public service,” Vicki Kennedy said. “He believed in making a difference. And he wanted to inspire new generations to feel the same way.”

Lawmakers gasp when black Dem Rep accuses colleague’s 18-month-old of being racist Proving that the race card has no bounds a Democrat Indiana lawmaker has accused an 18-month-old of being a racist. While debating the controversial “Religious Freedom Bill” recently signed into law by Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, Rep. Vanessa Summers said the toddler, who is the son of her colleague Republican Judson McMillin was afraid of her because she’s black. “He looked at me like I was a monster and turned around and cried,” she said. “And I told him you need to introduce your child to some people...