Free Republic

CHAMPAIGN – Economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin said he's optimistic the United States can and will solve its problems. But the problems he outlined Thursday – many of them budgetary – are massive and daunting. Holtz-Eakin, director of the Congressional Budget Office from 2003 to 2005, advocated "ruthlessly pro-growth" policies during the annual Bazzani Lecture in Public Affairs on the University of Illinois campus. (snip) His recipe includes reforming Social Security by raising the retirement age for younger workers and putting Medicare and Medicaid "on a budget." Cuts must include defense, especially "legacy systems" that are no longer needed, he said. (snip)...

PHOENIX (AP) — John McCain and Sarah Palin are scheduled to campaign together in Arizona next week for the first time since they conceded the presidential election in Phoenix in 2008. Palin and McCain will be at a rally and picnic in Tucson on March 26, followed the next day by a rally in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa.

I received many emails regarding my column on the McCain v. Hayworth Senatorial race. One reply to which I devoted great solicitude was by a gentleman who wrote under the name “Reformer”. I found his pseudonym ironic because he is a John McCain supporter and we have seen more “reform” from McCain over the past decade than we can possibly afford. His comment prompted me to write another column because despite its banality, it is an expression that the McCain enablers will try to cultivate into a full-blown mantra if not quelled in its infancy. “Reformer” wrote “The Senate needs...

Backroom deals have marred the debate over health care reform and poisoned the public’s attitude toward the legislation, Sen. John McCain said Sunday. “Overwhelmingly, the American people are saying stop and start over,” McCain (R-Ariz.) said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “They don’t like these cynical deals.” (snip) McCain said he hoped last week’s health care summit at the Blair House could be “the basis for some good negotiations...” (snip) “Let’s start over,” McCain said, citing malpractice reform and allowing insurers to sell across state lines as reforms Republicans could support. “We want to sit down and have negotiations. We...

The dietary-supplement industry is fighting a bid by U.S. Sen. John McCain to force it to disclose ingredients and register with the Food and Drug Administration. The Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2010 would also strengthen recall authority of any dietary supplement the FDA finds to be hazardous. Opponents say subjecting manufacturers to increased reporting requirements could drive up prices and restrict the availability of vitamins and supplements. They contend the FDA is hostile to supplements because they don't go through the drug approval process - but that's an expensive process for natural substances that can't be patented. Tucson's Food...

Please help. I plan to keep this thread alive until McCain loses the primary. Let's NAIL THAT RINO! Please help scout for headlines to bring here. I will ping people here once a week with choice headlines and links. [Since it's the OPPOSITE of high volume, several have already signed on.] If you would like to be on this once-a-week ping list, please let me know. Any helpful links will be appreciated. "The most recent online scores from the American Conservative Union are from 2008. In that year, John McCain scored 63 and had a lifetime average of 81.43. ......

Arizona - John McCain has gone out of his way to earn the ire of conservatives and gun owners in his 20-plus years as a U.S. Senator from Arizona. Perhaps his crowning legislative achievement was so-called campaign finance reform, or the McCain-Feingold law. This law put the muzzle on organizations such as GOA, prohibiting any broadcast advertisements within 30 days of a primary election and 60 days of a general election that even mention the name of a candidate for federal office. Not surprisingly, there is frequently a flurry of activity in Congress in the months right before an election,...

When we conceived the RINO FREE AMERICA PROJECT ON FREE REPUBLIC, we envisioned Conservative activism that would send RINOs packing and replacing them with true Conservatives worthy of our support. NOW we need your help to defeat the biggest RINO of all. Many of us here on Free Republic have been cheering JD Hayworth on because John McCain is possibly the worst, (and most powerful,) RINO serving in the Senate today and he simply MUST be defeated lest he betray us again as he has so many times throughout his less than stellar tenure. While "the force" might be...

Presidential nominee in 2008 faces GOP primary fight. BY JOSEPH WEBER Former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, Arizona Republican, said in an interview Monday that his planned primary challenge to Sen. John McCain will portray the four-term incumbent as a not-so-conservative Republican who has "enabled" President Obama and his failed economic and security policies. "I'm giving Arizona Republicans a clear choice between a consistent, common-sense conservative . . . or someone who describes himself as a maverick but is a moderate," the outspoken Mr. Hayworth told The Washington Times' "America's Morning News" radio show. Mr. Hayworth, 51, quit his job Friday as...