Free Republic

In an effort to ingratiate themselves to their conservative constitutions, establishment Republicans offer combative and assertive rhetoric once the fight is already over, but retreat in fear whenever a consequential fight is underway. They are akin to the boxer who aggressively assails a punching bag in front of on-looking fans during practice, but draws back in fear upon entry in the ring with a real live opponent. The latest embodiment of the political paper tiger, or more aptly named, paper elephant, is Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO). In the spirit of ringing in the New Year with a set of resolutions,...

Just as the ink dried on our column praising Republican House leadership for proposing a solid bill defunding Obama’s amnesty, John Boehner has, once again, reminded us why we are all so leery of offering positive feedback on GOP leadership. Although he is giving conservatives what they want in the first round of legislation, with six weeks to go until the funding deadline for DHS, Boehner appears to have other tricks up his sleeve. When asked by a reporter during a press conference whether he would be open to passing a “clean” DHS funding bill (without defunding amnesty) before the...

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - Suspended California state Sen. Leland Yee could face a jury as early as June for charges of political corruption and conspiracy to import guns. At a scheduling conference on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said Yee will be tried along with his political consultant Keith Jackson, who also faces drug and murder-for-hire charges. Breyer said those charges will be tried separately, but lawyers for the defendants, including Yee's lawyer James Lassart, were not satisfied. "The firearms charges are going to be extremely prejudicial. The government has acquired 50 to 70 different firearms that, undoubtedly to...

"We knew we had problems when the returns from Los Angeles County started coming in." That's what Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin told me several days ago when we chatted by phone about her race for the state controller's office. Turns out LA County voter returns are still catching the eyes of political gurus throughout the state. To refresh, Swearengin, a Republican, lost to Betty Yee, a Democrat, in the Nov. 4 general election by a 54%-46% margin. Yee had 3,810,304 votes. Swearengin had 3,249,668 votes. That's a difference of 560,636 votes. Those numbers from the state's official Statement of Vote....

When former Republican Study Committee chairman and House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) came under fire for allegedly speaking to a white supremacist organization in 2002, he found himself short on friends among the influential conservative grassroots. Prominent conservatives like former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, RedState’s Erick Erickson, and radio host Mark Levin joined a number of moderate Republicans who initially demanded that the GOP House leadership jettison their troublesome member. When the controversy broke, some conservatives argued that Scalise’s racially questionable past would make it harder for the GOP to appeal to minority voters. Others, however, harbored a...

House Republican’s effort to defund President Obama’s executive amnesty is not about immigration as much as it is about reining in the executive branch, Speaker John Boehner argues. “We’re voting to block the president’s overreach,” Boehner told reporters on Tuesday, when asked about the potential impact on the Latino vote. “His executive overreach, which I believe is beyond his constitutional duty and frankly violates the Constitution itself. This is not about the issue of immigration. What it is is about the president acting lawlessly.” Wednesday the House is expected to vote on funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which...

Speaker John A. Boehner wouldn’t rule out Tuesday the possibility the House may have to pass a Department of Homeland Security funding bill that does not block President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration. That could dampen the enthusiasm of some hard-line conservatives in the House, who were practically ecstatic on Jan. 9 with an emerging GOP strategy to hold votes to defund the president’s executive action and a number of other immigration provisions. But on Tuesday, the speaker was noncommittal. “Our goal here is to fund the Department of Homeland Security,” the Ohio Republican said. “Our second goal is...

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz took a swipe at Mitt Romney on Monday, saying that Republicans’ path to the presidency doesn’t cut through “the mushy middle.”

Mitt Romney has stopped Jeb Bush from locking down a significant faction of deep-pocketed Republican donors and top presidential campaign staffers, for the moment. But money and talent won’t stay frozen for long. And multiple Republican insiders said Monday that Romney has a short window of time in which he has to make a decision about whether to mount a third run for the White House — or let the dream of the presidency go forever. One 2012 Romney aide said the former Massachusetts governor might need to make up his mind in the next week. Most people who spoke...

At the start of the last Congress, John Cornyn wrote an editorial titled “Partial Government Shutdown May Be Needed to Restore Fiscal Sanity.” He’s singing a different tune today. “I’ve evolved,” the Texas Republican and newly minted Senate majority whip said in an interview last week with CQ Roll Call. For starters, the memory of the 2013 shutdown over Obamacare instigated by his fellow Texas senator, Ted Cruz, remains fresh. “Part of wisdom is to learn from your experiences, and I think we learned the hard way that shutdowns are not well received by the American people,” Cornyn said. “And...

Boxer’s Senate seat is the GOP’s to lose. But you’d never know it reading the news coverage. Pundits have already awarded the seat to one of the many Democrats rumored to run. Ironic that early rumors had two Democrat billionaires as possible suitors. I wonder how that would go. Would they tone down the class warfare rhetoric? Or would they behave like the GOP and go to war with themselves? Either way, it would be good for Republicans whose statewide drought has continued unabated since as long as anyone can remember. It’s become common knowledge that Republicans can’t win because...

Republican leaders can only thwart the will of their base for so long without facing reprisal. After feeling an unprecedented backlash from their voters for passing the Cromnibus bill and reelecting John Boehner as Speaker, Republicans have now agreed to unite behind a conservative plan to fight Obama’s amnesty “comprehensively.” Rather than becoming isolated and marginalized, the members who led the fight against Speaker Boehner have inspired the rest of the conference to place him on a short leash. It appears to be working for now. As we noted last week, conservatives wanted to condition any funding for the Department...

The recession technically ended 5-1/2 years ago, but the public is only now — in the wake of falling gasoline prices and the GOP election victory last November — starting to believe it, the latest IBD/TIPP Poll shows. The January survey found that 59% say the economy is improving, up from just 45% two months ago. And while nearly half said the economy was still in a recession last summer, only 37% say that's the case today. More than a quarter (28%) believe the economy will improve over the next six months, which is up from 19% who thought so...

The media have two great loves in life: liberals, and conservative who "grow" and become liberals. Jeb Bush, who clearly falls in the latter category, was the subject of a fawning piece in the New York Times. The article starts with a big photo of Jeb doing charity work a month ago (that's big news now!) and talks about Jeb's "progression" from "headbanging" conservatism to a "more nuanced approach." Yes, Bush calls conservatism "headbanging," which tells you in just one word what he thinks of conservatism. Mr. Bush, 61, the former governor of Florida, insists that he will not contort...

If you beat them, join them. That appears to be John Boehner’s new motto. Even though 90 percent of the Republicans in the House voted to re-elect him speaker, John Boehner has decided to appease the 25 right-wing Republicans who voted for someone else. To the delight of the far right, Boehner has taken a hard line against immigrants including Dreamers. This may hurt the GOP’s chances in the 2016 election. Rather than punish those who opposed him, Boehner has sided with them by supporting an immigration plan that would block President Barack Obama's recent limits on deportations and undo...

Representative Steve King has compared illegal immigrants to livestock. He tried last week to overthrow House Speaker John Boehner for being too moderate. And he was quick to defend a colleague who spoke before a white supremacist group in 2002, saying, “Jesus dined with tax collectors and sinners.” King could also play an important role in choosing the 2016 Republican nominee. A politician who delights Tea Party activists, riles liberals, and infuriates the Republican establishment, King is gathering outsized influence in presidential politics as a gatekeeper in the first caucus state, Iowa, and with a following that is attracting even...

Is it a requirement for all Christians to vote? The question is not merely whether Christians should “dirty their hands” by participating in politics. Are Christians actually required to participate in politics? Can you be an obedient Christian without voting? I am starting to believe that nothing else can save the Republic. Everyone comments that we are a sharply-divided nation, with really no clear majority for either the Republican or Democrat Party. However, what if 10 million new voters showed up and voted Republican? The nation would no longer be 50-50. The balance would tilt sharply to the GOP Every...

Die-hard House conservatives, after bungling a coup against House Speaker John Boehner, now look like winners who are pushing their Republican caucus farther right. Rather than punish and isolate those who opposed him as leader, Boehner surprised many on Friday by embracing a major immigration plan that's more stringent and conservative than lawmakers had expected. It not only would block President Barack Obama's recent limits on deportations, but also undo earlier protections for immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. The House is pushing toward a vote Wednesday. As the rebellious hard-liners celebrated, mainstream Republicans said Boehner's decision probably...

Multiple news outlets are reporting that Mitt Romney told Republican donors he may pursue another presidential run at a meeting in New York. The Washington Post writes: Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, told Republican donors in New York on Friday that he is seriously considering a third presidential campaign in 2016, according to a source present at the meeting. Romney’s move, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, comes as former Florida governor Jeb Bush is swiftly snatching up major party donors and operatives as he prepares for an all-but-certain presidential campaign. The former Massachusetts governor held a...

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) says he’ll make up his mind by this summer on whether he intends to complete his term in the Senate or return to West Virginia and run for governor. “I’ll make a decision by this summer, end of the spring,” he told the Associated Press. Manchin, a centrist Democrat from a red state, has been vocal about his frustrations with gridlock on Capitol Hill and the leadership in his own party. His term expires in 2018, but he’s said he’d consider running for his old job as governor of West Virginia, a post he held from...