Free Republic

he Supreme Court delivered a major victory on Monday to an anti-abortion group that sought to challenge an Ohio law that bans campaign statements deemed to be false. The justices, in a unanimous decision, ruled that the Susan B. Anthony List can go ahead with a lawsuit challenging the law as a violation of free-speech rights.

There's nothing quite like a politician scorned. When voters in Ohio's 1st Congressional District threw Democrat Steve Driehaus out of office after only one term, he did not bow out gracefully. No, he decided to get even. So he did what anyone does in today's culture: he sued somebody. Charging that its activities contributed to his defeat and thus to his "loss of livelihood," Driehaus is suing the Susan B. Anthony List, a group that supports pro-life candidates for Congress and which has been one of the leading and most effective organizations involved in the fight to cut off federal...

In a case that could test the bounds of free speech, a former Democratic congressman has been allowed to proceed with his lawsuit against a prominent pro-life group that he claims contributed to his election defeat by spreading falsehoods about his record on abortion issues. A federal judge in Ohio ruled Monday that former Rep. Steve Driehaus' defamation suit against the Susan B. Anthony List can go forward. The former Ohio congressman claims the group "disseminated lies" about him, effectively costing him his job -- as well as inflicting "reputational" and "economic" harm. The complaint stems from statements and advertisements...

Left-wing attempts to restrict free speech aren't new. Even before the Tucson shooting, a recently defeated Ohio congressman asked government to punish a pro-life group because he didn't like their ads criticizing his voting record. His position is such an offense to freedom that even the liberal American Civil Liberties Union weighed in on behalf of pro-lifers. The case arises from disputes over Obamacare. Steven L. Driehaus voted for the government takeover of health care as a member of the House of Representatives despite claiming to be pro-life. Influential pro-life groups - including the grassroots Susan B. Anthony List -...

Friday October 15, 2010 Setback: Ohio Election Board Rules against Pro-Life SBA List By Peter J. SmithCOLUMBUS, Ohio, October 15, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A major U.S. pro-life group received a serious setback Wednesday after the Ohio Elections Commission ruled that there was “probable cause” to believe that ads accusing a pro-life Democrat of voting for taxpayer-funded abortion in the new health care law were intentionally misleading.The Commission voted 2–1 to advance the case brought by U.S. Rep. Steven Driehaus (pronounced Dree-house) against the Susan B. Anthony List to the full panel.It is expected that all seven members of the...

After Representative Steve Driehaus (D-Ohio) voted for the Obama agenda at every turn, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has pulled their resources from the freshman Congressman's campaign saving its cash for the precious few seats it has a chance to hold. So Mr. Dreihaus has put out his own low cost web video claiming he was abandoned by the Democratic Party because he supported the Democratic Party.

Wednesday October 13, 2010 Dem Candidate Charges SBA List with Criminally Misleading Ads: NRLC Responds By Peter J. SmithWASHINGTON, D.C., October 13, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The National Right to Life Committee is stepping up to the plate to defend a national pro-life political action committee that has been charged by a pro-life Democrat with criminally misleading voters about his vote in favor of the national health care law sought by President Barack Obama.U.S. Rep. Steve Driehaus, the incumbent Democrat in Ohio’s 1st District, filed a criminal complaint with the Ohio Elections Commission against the Susan B. Anthony List (SBA...

Back in 1994, I wrote a column for U.S. News arguing that Republicans had a serious chance to capture a majority of seats in the House of Representatives. The article appeared on the newsstands on July 11, and was the first article I’m aware of that suggested that Democrats might lose the majority they had held for 40 years. My argument was based on a number of polls showing Democratic incumbents trailing Republican challengers. Usually House incumbents don’t trail challengers in polls at any point in the campaign, because they almost always start off better known. For an incumbent to...

THE BIGOTS My email program tried to warn me on a recent Sunday evening when I opened my latest message from the Democratic Party’s Organizing for America (OFA) group. But did I listen? Nooooo. Silly me. Thunderbird thought the whole thing was a scam. It was absolutely correct. The email invited me to attend an OFA gathering on Monday, April 12, in Cincinnati “to celebrate the historic passage of health insurance reform — and your role in making it happen.” So I went. What was supposed to be a “celebration” was marred first by an outrageous slander against the most...

The Seattle Times reported today on another horrible political attack. The Times claimed that liberal democrat Rep. Steve Driehaus had a rock thrown though his office window: Protesters have been demonstrating at Driehaus’ Ohio home, said Tim Mulvey, a spokesman for the anti-abortion Democrat who joined Stupak in voting for the health bill. A rock was thrown through the window of Driehaus’ Cincinnati office Sunday, and a death threat was phoned in to his Washington office a day later, Mulvey said. “It’s getting out of hand,” Mulvey said. As Glenn Reynolds noted… Rep. Driehaus’ office is in the Carew Tower...

CINCINNATI -- As health care reform takes a step forward, some members of Congress who voted yes, including local Congressman Steve Driehaus, are receiving threats. "We've had some threatening calls to the office. My wife won't let the kids answer the phone at home. Not that, you know, we've got a lot of thank you calls far more than we've got threats," Driehaus said Wednesday. However, the publication “The Whistleblower” published Driehaus' home address with a link that included directions. The publication is asking its readers to protest at the Congressman's home Sunday. When 9News went to Jim Schifrin's home,...

Cincinnati Tea Party meets downtown Cincinnati, to hold candlelight vigil and send a massage to U.S.Rep.Steve Driehaus-DWest Price Hill,to vote no on the Obama Insurance Bill. My final headcount was nearly 400, counting teenagers and children too.

Former U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot of Ohio has filed a federal statement of candidacy for the 2010 election, saying his unsuccessful re-election bid last November was partially sidelined by the candidacy of President Barack Obama. More »

FDL/SurveyUSA, 1/12-1/14, 600 likely voters, Margin of Sampling error ± 4.1% If there were an election for US House of Representatives today, and the only two candidates on the ballot were Democrat Steve Driehaus and Republican Steve Chabot, who would you vote for? Steve Driehaus (D) 39% Steve Chabot (R ) 56% Undecided 5% A new SurveyUSA poll sponsored by Firedoglake shows incumbent Democrat Steve Driehaus substantially behind former Republican Congressman Steve Chabot in Ohio’s 1st congressional district. If the election were held today, Chabot would beat Driehaus in a head-to-head match up, 56% to 39%. The 2010 election will...

The Nathanael Greene Lodge, Wesselman Road, Cincinnati (Dent), in Green Township, was the location of Town Hall featuring Democrat Congressman Steve Driehaus. About one hundred conservatives attended on a warm, sunny evening to add their opinions and views regarding the Obama Health Insurance Bill, and other political subjects. The event was peaceful. Once, when the Liberal / Democrats were yelling a chant ,"health care now", the conservative responded with a rousing "U S A, U S A, U S A,, much to the chagrin of the other side. One of the Democrat/ Liberal pro-Health Insurance people said, "We don't care...

Chabot is running for his 8th term, but the most recent poll data I can find shows Driehaus is up by 2 points. That’s within the margin of error and shows that this race is a dead heat. Now, to make things a bit more interesting, tonight’s debate may not be televised because a write-in candidate has complained that he was being left out. Although there is plenty in common with Chabot and Driehaus, there are many differences too. Chabot would have voted against the bailout, Driehaus would have voted for it. Chabot supports letting workers invest some of their...