Free Republic

When the conversation about achieving budget savings within the Pentagon started gaining momentum about a year ago, there was no disagreement on the value of identifying efficiencies and redirecting dollars to modernization and development - where funding is needed most. The annual defense budget is by no means exempt from the spending debate, but Congress and the administration must exercise a certain degree of caution when agreeing to any cuts without first considering their implication. The renewed focus on finding budget savings and efficiencies is necessary and long overdue. For defense, the budget is not sacrosanct. It can be cut...

The repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy may hit a road block in Congress next week. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-California, is drafting a bill that would change how - and possibly if - the repeal is implemented. The repeal law passed in December requires the president, defense secretary and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to certify that the military is ready for the change. Hunter's bill would require the four service chiefs to also sign off on the policy change. At a December hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Army, Marine Corps and...

A member of the House Armed Services Committee plans to introduce legislation next week designed to put the brakes on repeal of the military’s ban on openly gay troops. The measure by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) would add the four military service chiefs to the list of those who must sign off on repealing the policy before it can be officially scrapped. Hunter, an Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran, is concerned that the bill passed in December repealing the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy “excluded the service chiefs from the certification process,” said one congressional aide. The repeal bill, signed...

Three San Diego-area U.S. congressmen have re-entered the Mount Soledad cross fray with a bill that would allow religious symbols to be a part of military monuments. On Wednesday Rep. Duncan Hunter of Alpine introduced the War Memorial Protection Act in response to the federal Ninth Circuit Court’s Jan. 4 ruling, declaring the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial unconstitutional. Joining Hunter as co-sponsors are Congressmen Brian Bilbray of Solana Beach and Darrell Issa of Vista. A cross was first erected atop Mt. Soledad in 1913. It wasn’t until the cross was rebuilt after a 1952 storm that it became a war...

LA JOLLA — Two San Diego County congressmen wrote a letter Thursday urging the Obama administration to “vigorously defend” the Mount Soledad war memorial in La Jolla in the wake of a court ruling that said the giant cross there is unconstitutional. The letter was signed by Republican Reps. Brian Bilbray of Solana Beach and Duncan Hunter of R-Alpine. It was sent to Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. On Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the latest ruling in the 20-year battle over the presence of the Latin...

Folks, please welcome back former Congressman Duncan L. Hunter to Free Republic. It has been three years since he last joined us for a live interview. Back then, he was in the midst of vying for the GOP nomination for the presidency. The GOP instead turned to a moderate in 2008, and as easily predicted, the Marxist is now in the Oval Office . Though he is not contemplating another run right now, at just 62 years of age, and being of a restless nature when it comes to promoting conservatism, he is not sitting quietly in retirement either. Aside...

When: Wednesday Jan 5. Time: 12:00 noon PDT (3:00 pm Eastern) You may recall, last time he was scheduled to come on live before Christmas, FR had some technical difficulties. This is the re-scheduled live cyber-interview event. Mr. Hunter will talk about his book, politics and answer some follow up questions you post. It'll be fun and informative, as it was last time he came by FR to say hello.

Duncan Hunter: His [Mitt Romney] company Bane Capital, is partnering with a Chinese company, a Chinese defense contractor, called the Wah-Way corporation, which helped Saddam Hussein set up his air defenses against American pilots, and Bane Capital is partnering with that outlawed Chinese defense contractor to buy an American defense contractor. You may know about that proposed deal, it's right now before the commitee on foreign investment... Duncan Hunter: I think its a security problem, and I think it is a real disservice to the two and a half million Americans. I think Mitt Romney is a no go for...

Over the last couple months I have been bringing books, two sackfuls at a time to Maxwell’s House Of Books in exchange for store credit. So far, my schlepping of about 70 books has yielded a credit of $38. Yesterday I gobbled up twenty of it so I could own a copy of Duncan L. Hunter‘s new book, Victory In Iraq: How America Won. Why? Because that’s a great title and because Hunter was going to be in La Mesa, at Maxwell’s signing copies. The photo above shows Hunter signing my actual book. After he signed it we chatted for...

I’m posting the interview I had been planning to excerpt from for a lead-in to today’s canceled “live FR cyber-interview” with former Congressman Hunter. Due to technical difficulties at the site this morning, we’ll have Hunter re-scheduled for sometime after Christmas. But he had a lot to say while we talked the other day as he drove a lonely stretch of freeway late at night in Texas, returning from a hunt. AJM: Hello Congressman. Let me ask a few questions about the book. When you come onto FR live, we obviously want to emphasis the book a little. And I’ll...

Actually, I think it's Obama's Net Neutrality scheme already being implemented that is to blame. FR has been slower than a Brett Favre 40 yard Dash. Between FR's doldrums and Hunter's typing skills, it will be a better use of an hour of the former Congressman's time (and our time) when JR finally beats back the special agents in the Matrix. We'll reschedule for another day, post-Navidad. He did say to tell JimRob and the Freeper faithful to have a 'MERRY AND BLESSED CHRISTMAS and thanks for what your do for the country' (I'll post an interview we did prepping...

Folks, please welcome back former Congressman Duncan L. Hunter to Free Republic tomorrow (Wednesday, Dec 22) at 9:30 am PDT. It has been three long years since he last joined us for an interview. Back then, he was in the midst of vying for the GOP nomination for the presidency. Though he was and remains a rock-ribbed conservative, the GOP money and the voters chose the path of moderation, as personified in John McCain. And we know how that turned out. This time, Hunter will not be in the running, but at just 62 years of age, and being of...

Washington DC – Immediately following a Department of Defense briefing for members of the House Armed Services Committee on the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” report released today, Congressman Duncan Hunter, a Marine combat veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, reiterated his opposition to overturning current policy. “If anything, the survey results make a compelling case for keeping current policy in place and avoiding any type of distraction for our nation’s military and its combat mission,” said Congressman Hunter. “When breaking down the specifics, more respondents answered unfavorably or remain uncertain about a policy change than those who favor...

Retired Congressman Duncan Hunter released this statement today regarding this weekend’s critical votes in the United States Senate: The so-called DREAM Act does one thing – and that is it disserves the men and woman of our Border Patrol and our other border control agencies. It increases the magnet for illegal immigration into the United States. It is one more way of saying that if you get past the immigration officers, and you violate our laws and come into the United States, and you cut into the line in front of the people who are patiently waiting, you will be...

Citing the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy governing homosexuals in the military, Senator Barbara "Don't call me Ma'am" Boxer (D-CA) recently compared the United States to Iran, North Korea, and Pakistan.According to an article at Fox News, the recently re-elected Senator from California said: “We now stand -- with this rule -- with countries like Iran, North Korea and Pakistan in banning gays and lesbians from military service ... Now our brave young men and women fight alongside allies like Australia, the United Kingdom and others who allow gays and lesbians to serve openly," she said. "Let's not stand with...

Since Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) is apparently going to explore the possibility of running for president in 2008, I thought I'd dig up some of his roll call votes. Like most Republicans, he's strong on tax cuts, but he's been part of the big government spending spree of the last 6 years. He also has a protectionist streak in him. Here are some of the more troubling votes: NO on NAFTA YES on No Child Left Behind YES on Sarbanes-Oxley YES on the 2003 Medicare Drug Benefit NO on CAFTA YES on 2005 Highway Bill YES on the 527 bill...

As many of you know, Duncan Hunter was one of only 32 Republicans who voted in favor of the automaker bailout. Even 20 Democrats voted against it. While some folks may be surprised by that, it's actually fairly consistent with Hunter's overall track record on federal spending: "Given many, many chances to restrain the size and scope of the federal behemoth, Duncan Hunter all-too-often went the other direction." "Case in point : Duncan Hunter's 2007 Club for Growth rating was 26%." "He did receive an 82% rating from Citizens Against Government Waste in 2003, but the rest of the years,...

I need an Advil... [...] Maybe Huck promised him a Cabinet position. Nothing else makes sense.

8:30am Duncan Hunter, Author, “Victory in Iraq: How America Won” (Eastern Time)

WASHINGTON -- After researching the Iraq war in depth for the last few years, former House Armed Services Chairman Duncan Hunter has a simple message for the American public: We won. Hunter, an Army veteran and a California Republican who served in the House of Representatives for 28 years, is releasing his book, “Victory in Iraq: How America Won,” later this month. The goal, he said, is to highlight the heroics of troops who served in the combat zone (the book includes interviews with more than 100 Silver Star recipients) but also to “set the record straight” on the legacy...