Free Republic

House ethics investigators have been scrutinizing the activities of more than 30 lawmakers and several aides in inquiries about issues including defense lobbying and corporate influence peddling, according to a confidential House ethics committee report prepared in July. The report appears to have been inadvertently placed on a publicly accessible computer network, and it was provided to The Washington Post by a source not connected to the congressional investigations. The committee said Thursday night that the document was released by a low-level staffer. The ethics committee is one of the most secretive panels in Congress, and its members and staff...

As political alliances go, few are more cemented in the public consciousness than the bond between the Republican Party and business. But, upon closer inspection, the GOP–big business relationship doesn't seem so cozy... --snip-- In the Senate, South Carolina's Jim DeMint accuses PhRMA, the D.C. lobbying powerhouse that represents the pharmaceutical industry, of a similar brand of self-serving deal-making. "PhRMA is infamous for sitting down and doing business. As long as they get their drugs sold, they'll support just about any policy." And sure enough, PhRMA reportedly cut a deal with the White House in which the organization promised to...

What should the Republican Party do in a special election, in a conservative district, at a time when the liberal policies of the Democrat administration are increasingly unpopular? Well, if you're the New York state GOP, you nominate a pro-abortion, pro-union, pro-ACORN Republican who supports almost every plank of the destructive, unpopular left-wing agenda that's destroying our nation. Better yet, the GOP is actively attacking the CONSERVATIVE choice, Doug Hoffman. This is how you spell self-destruction.

Look what Scozzafava’s favorite ACORN front group is up to now By Michelle Malkin  •  October 27, 2009 09:13 AM The Working Families Party, an ACORN front group whose ballot line Newt Gingrich-endorsed radical leftist Dede Scozzafava has embraced on multiple occasions, is up to no good again.The NYPost reports: The labor-backed Working Families Party has engaged in “an audacious scheme to violate the law” to help the party’s favored political candidates get elected, a sweeping new lawsuit charges.The first-of-its-kind suit says the WFP created a political outfit, Data and Field Services, that it is using to “circumvent state election and...

The Republican party has no national leaders. Its standing with voters is at an all-time low. It battens itself on an ideological purity that turns off the center and can’t appeal to an increasingly suburban and diverse electorate. If it is not fated to go the way of the Federalists or the Whigs, it is certainly a spent force. This is the rote obituary for the GOP that the Left can’t resist. It is all the more alluring for its elements of truth. A party that holds neither the presidency, the House, nor the Senate won’t be stacked with national...

The recent rash of endorsements in New York’s special election is putting Republican members of Congress between their conservative base and their party. The recent rash of endorsements in New York’s special election is putting Republican members of Congress in a tough spot between their conservative base and their party. Some are taking the chance to assert their ideological bona fides by backing Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman, while others are trying to score political points within their caucus by sticking with left-leaning Republican Dede Scozzafava. But for most, it’s a situation they’d rather avoid. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said...

When the former Speaker of the House endorsed "Dede" Scozzafava's campaign in New York's special congressional election in New York's 23rd congressional district, he did not only endorse the positions of Scozzafava, who is as radical as them come in Republican clothing, he has endorsed everything Scozzafava has surrounded herself with, whether or not he meant to. When Newt Gingrich endorsed Scozzafava, he endorsed some of the most radical positions one candidate could take in the United States of America, while I do not question Newt's Conservatism, I do question his wisdom and poor choice in judgement, as Mr.Gingrich is...

Vote in Our Poll: Would You Support Jim Demint for President if Nominated by the GOP in 2012?

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Former Louisiana Gov. Dave Treen, who became the state's first Republican governor since Reconstruction when he was elected in 1979 but lost a re-election bid to the flamboyant Democrat Edwin Edwards four years later, has died at age 81. Treen's son, David C. Treen Jr., said Treen died early Thursday of complications from a respiratory illness at East Jefferson General Hospital in a New Orleans suburb. Funeral arrangements were not complete.

"Perhaps more ominously for his ( Newt's )rapidly fading hopes for a 2012 Presidential bid, conservatives are beginning to question his integrity. His constant repetition of the false "she's locally selected" mantra seems as off message as Scozzafava's numerous well documented campaign missteps.""Either Newt Gingrich is lying, or someone misled him."But how can "the smartest guy in the room", with a reputation as a scholar and seeker of truth have been so easily misled about a set of facts that could be discerned with half an hour's worth of phone calls?"

New Jersey independent gubernatorial candidate Chris Daggett shows in an interview with Hugh Hewitt that he doesn't know what corruption is, but he at least doesn't recognize it when he sees it with Jon Corzine.

TRENTON, N.J. — The independent candidate running for governor in New Jersey says a Massachusetts Republican has urged him to quit the race. Chris Daggett says he’s received two phone calls and an e-mail from Christy Mihos, who warned that Daggett would be blamed if Republican Chris Christie loses a bid to unseat Democrat Jon Corzine.

This was supposed to be a one post affair. But after a round of posts by some co-bloggers (links here at Blue Collar Muse) and some attention from Hot Air, it was obvious that someone in David Smith's office had their panties very much in a wad. Perhaps we didn't fly under the radar because I emailed Smith's office a link to my post. Hey, I'm a giver. Maybe he's got someone trolling the blogs for him. (Taxpayer money? It's a legit question.) Whatever the case, this comment began showing up on almost all of the blog posts on the...

A brand-new organization calling itself Common Sense in America is up with a major television ad buy in the New York special election, praising Republican Dede Scozzafava as the “best choice for progressives.” At first glance, the group’s ad looks like it’s an endorsement of Scozzafava. But it’s a dirty trick engineered by Hoffman supporters, looking to render her unacceptable to many Republican voters by detailing her liberal position on gay marriage, support of President Obama’s stimulus and connections to labor. “On Tuesday, progressives have one candidate to vote for with pride: Dede Scozzafava,” the ad says. “Dede supports President...

AUSTIN, Texas — Former Vice President Dick Cheney will throw his support behind U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s campaign for Texas governor. Hutchison’s campaign confirmed today that Cheney will endorse the Texas Republican’s March primary challenge of Gov. Rick Perry at a fundraiser next month.

History shows the Yankees can't lose with Obama in White HouseThe Yankees are in the World Series and there's a Democrat in the White House. There can only be one outcome. You might think that the Bronx Bombers and the GOP go together like hot dogs and mustard. With their enormous payroll and glittering new stadium, money is never an object. They woo superstars with huge salaries and the luxury tax they pay for doing so helps subsidize the poorer teams. If ever there was a sports team that behaved like a stereotypical rich Republican, it's the Yankees. But that...

Luigi ZingalesAn Economic Agenda for the GOP Republicans need to be pro-market, not pro-business. Autumn 2009 For 30 years, the Republican Party dominated American political life, winning five of the seven presidential elections before 2008. But the GOP has taken its lumps of late, culminating in its loss of Congress in 2006 and the White House last November. As the party suffers not just from a leadership vacuum but from considerable internal division, its future direction is unclear. This much, however, is certain: as America struggles to emerge from a financial crisis, any renewal of the Right will require...

If her Evening News gig doesn't work out, maybe Katie Couric will seek work as a Republican strategerist . . . Couric dabbled in her possible new profession in her Notebook segment yesterday, offering some carefully considered advice to the GOP. According to Katie, Republicans should get the focus off Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin. They're nothing but "fringe" elements, "sideshows" that drive people out of the Republican Big Tent. View video here.

THE hard-fought battle be tween the left, the near-left and the right being waged in New York's 23rd Congressional District has attracted national attention because of its serious implications for scores of congressional races across the country next year. The stakes for national Democrats and Republicans are enormous. The three-way North Country contest is a referendum on President Obama's policies and on the GOP's willingness to back RINO (Republican In Name Only) candidates in traditionally moderate-to-conservative districts.

Right now, the Virginia House of Delegates has 53 Republicans, 2 independents who caucus with the GOP, 43 Democrats, and 2 vacant seats. I hear Republicans watching the state delegate races closely think they have 11 challengers currently within the margin of error or better. They're worried about one or two of their own incumbents. You can do the rest of the math.

It's the Democrats who won't tolerate a diversity of views. BY JIM DEMINT Sen. Arlen Specter's defection to the Democratic Party this week is no reason for Republicans to cheer. But his reason for leaving -- he faced an unwinnable primary election next year -- is no cause for soul searching. There is a question Republicans do need to ask: What is it that binds our party together? In the wake of two successive electoral defeats and the likelihood of a 60-vote Democrat majority in the Senate, what does it even mean to be a Republican today? Moderate Republicans are...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: In NY-23, Real Clear Politics: "Doug Hoffman, plus five."  Doug Hoffman may in fact win this with nowhere near the amount of money the two Democrats have.  I know there's a Democrat called a Republican, but we actually have two liberal Obama Democrats, one calling herself a Republican, and you've got the Reagan conservative Hoffman in there.  Tim Pawlenty threw in with him today, by the way, so you have Sarah Palin, Fred Thompson, Rick Santorum, who else?  (interruption)  Sue Collins endorsed -- so?  Is that a surprise?  That's going to sway a lot of votes.  Susan...

Talk-radio icon Rush Limbaugh says the Republican Party has a death wish – and is as dangerous to the United States as the Democrat Party and its czars. Limbaugh's comments came today as he was discussing the race for Congress in New York's 23rd district, where the GOP picked a liberal nominee to oppose a liberal Democrat, passing over a conservative candidate who wanted to represent the GOP, a candidate now pursuing the seat as a third-party candidate. "They have a death wish. The Republican Party has a death wish. Gallup: 40 percent of Americans now say they are conservative,...

GOP Candidate Scozzafava, Husband Have Ties to Union-Backed ACORN Front But on closer inspection, the bond isn't so strange. For one thing, Deidre "Dede" Scozzafava isn't a typical Republican. Despite her support for gun rights (she's received an endorsement from the National Rifle Association), she is a reliable supporter of Democratic initiatives. She supports cap-and-trade anti-global warming legislation, the $787 billion Obama stimulus plan, and state-sanctioned gay marriage. More to the point, she is a strong supporter of federal "card check" legislation that would force private-sector employers to recognize a union as the sole collective-bargaining agent if a union organizing...

This is why you lose elections. GOP officials: We won't abandon DedeThe National Republican Congressional Committee remains committed to embattled GOP nominee Dede Scozzafava in the upstate New York House special election, even as many of the party's top names throw their support to Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman. Two party officials tell POLITICO that the NRCC will continue to air TV ads propping up Scozzafava in the days leading up to the Nov. 3 contest and plans to keep up a near relentless barrage of press releases slamming Hoffman. Scozzafava, a state assemblywoman who supports gay marriage, abortion rights...

New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver isn’t commenting on a Republican who said the orthodox Jewish lawmaker might be an anti-Christ. Erie County Executive Chris Collins, who’s considering a run for governor, says he made the “poor joke” at a Republican dinner in Buffalo. He soon after issued an apology to Silver, the powerful Democrat from Manhattan, and called him directly. Collins was reportedly joking about the astrologer Nostradamus’ prediction the world would be visited by three anti-Christs. Collins said many believe the first were Napoleon and Adolf Hitler, and he was pretty sure the third is Silver.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is warning conservative activists

Pollster Patrick Murray says that the turnout model on a Suffolk University poll released this morning is based on a 93% turnout in a race where less than half of the state's registered voters will turn out. The poll, which included all twelve candidates for governor, has Gov. Jon Corzine leading Republican Christopher Christie 42%-33% among likely voters, with 7% for independent Christopher Daggett. "...Normally, likely voter models have little impact, as they tend to be only a couple of points different from the results for all registered voters. However, that is not the case in this election. The Monmouth...

In little more than a week, New York's 23rd congressional district has become Ground Zero in the battle for the soul of the Republican Party. What was previously an intense, yet relatively low-key struggle for the GOP's identity has exploded into a full-fledged civil war. Businessman Doug Hoffman took the Conservative Party line when state GOP county chairs nominated Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava to run for the seat made open by incumbent John McHugh's selection as Secretary of the Army. Hoffman believes Scozzafava to be too liberal for the district. In a New York Post op-ed, he declares: I’m a lifelong...

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is warning conservative activists that their support for a third-party candidate in a key upcoming New York special election is a “mistake.” In a video captured last week and posted on YouTube Friday, Gingrich told tea party organizer Lisa Miller at a book-signing event that conservatives are inadvertently hindering the cause by backing Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman over Dede Scozzafava, the Republican Party’s nominee. “I just think it is a mistake for the conservative movement to think splitting in the special election is a smart idea,” Gingrich said. “If we give that seat to...

For years, Tom Coburn’s lectures on spending have been met with aggressive resistance by fellow Republicans who defend their right to send money back to their home states. But at a closed-door meeting of GOP senators this month, a tirade by the Oklahoman about the hypocrisy of using deficits to decry Democratic health care plans while voting for pumped-up appropriations bills was seconded by several senators. If there was dissent in the room, no one voiced it. “I don’t know that there’s another side,” said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), who argues that Republican rhetoric on deficits is right but the...

That the GOP should somehow do whatever it takes to become more moderate, to build a bigger tent over those in the center and on the center-left, is exactly the wrong answer for the party and, more importantly, for the country which depends upon its traditional common sense, values and restraint. The Republican Party must instead patch the holes in the proverbial tent over those on the political right who have been left out in the rain since George W. Bush began his second term. Republicans must focus intently on the proper role of the federal government with regard to...

Newt Gingrich, once the leader of insurgent conservatism, seems annoyed that we conservatives cannot do the partisan math: NY 23 is a Republican district; the special election is to replace a Republican; if conservatives fail to fall in behind Scozzafava, then a Democrat will win the special election and Republicans will have one less procedural vote to stop Nancy Pelosi. The problem for conservatives is that other than being a Lincoln Chaffee, Jim Jeffords, or Arlen Specter "Republican," Scozzafava has very little in common with the philosophy of those whose votes she seeks. One of the reasons why Republicans are...

The feeble pulse of moderation in the Republican Party is in danger of flat-lining in the Nov. 3 Congressional election in upstate New York. Luminaries like Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich have taken opposing sides over whether the party dare tolerate the official Republican candidate in the 23rd district — Dede Scozzafava, a six-term assemblywoman whose record includes refreshing tinges of centrism. Ms. Scozzafava was nominated by local party leaders as eminently electable despite — or because of — her defense of women’s abortion rights and her tolerant views on same-sex marriage. She is already shunned by many more ideologically...

PRINCETON, NJ -- Conservatives continue to outnumber moderates and liberals in the American populace in 2009, confirming a finding that Gallup first noted in June. Forty percent of Americans describe their political views as conservative, 36% as moderate, and 20% as liberal. This marks a shift from 2005 through 2008, when moderates were tied with conservatives as the most prevalent group.

Conservatives do not always have obvious choices when deciding whether or not to support a RINO.  Who, today, thinks we would be worse off if John McCain were president?  Ideally, conservatives should have united early behind a solid candidate, but when the meetings of conservative Republicans I attended keep focusing on not nominating "Rudy McRomney," then it was hard to see who our best standard bearer should be.  The situation is entirely different in the 23rd Congressional District of New York in the special election which will decide on November 3, 2009 whether a liberal Republican or a conservative should...

When is this pathetic group going to wake up. This website http://www.gop.com/ is a disgrace. And they are going to compete with a computer savvy group like moveon.org? I know what I'm talking about here. I just completed a great site of my own. Granted gop.com is a beta version, but the retards should know you test the site off line before you 'show' it to the public. First the artwork reminds me of communist China - the overall design sucks. Nothing works - you have to sign up multiple times - the links don't work. Of course there is...

Who are the the DIABLOs (Democrats In All But Labels Only)? Who are the RINOs (Republicans In Name Only)? Unfortunately, the American Conservative Union's rankings are pretty useless. In search of being non-partisan and having an even spread of votes, they include many votes which are very lopsided, and so therefore Republicans can fake conservatism without upsetting their media masters and liberal donors. At the same time, a conservative who thinks that a bill is too liberal can get lumped in with all the liberals who thought the bill was too conservative. Combining these two factors, it's impossible to tell...

House Republican Leader John Boehner (Ohio) stressed Wednesday that both parties needed to work together to rein in the "reckless spending" that has brought federal deficit to its record high. In an op-ed published this morning in the USA Today, Boehner also responded to the editorial board's criticism that his party was without "credible conservative ideas for fixing" the country's burgeoning federal deficit and debt -- an argument, he said, that overlooked the many alternative plans his colleagues have offered to stabilize the economy and address such issues as climate change and healthcare reform. "As I've stated before, Republicans lost...

Link only, per FR posting rules

Let's just say, Palin didn't have the most loving relationship with her own party in Alaska. Yet she still ran as a Republican. This is why I doubt she will run as an Independent for 2012. She may, but she's been a thorn in the party's side before and still ran as an "R." Check out these articles, both from the Alaska Report (now hugely anti-Palin). The first one is about Palin's not-so-warm-and-fuzzy relationship with Rep. Don Young at the Alaska Republican Convention: The Republican party in Alaska also did everything they could to keep Palin from winning the GOP...

The GOP needs to shed its image as the "old white guy party," Jeb Bush said this week. Speaking at George Washington University, Bush said Republicans need to reach out to a more diverse group of voters. "You don't have to be a rocket scientist to realize that in order for a political party to be successful it has to reach out to everyone," Bush said, according to the GW Hatchet. "In politics, you never win when you say 'us and them.' We need a more welcoming message."

Big tent or 'blurring the lines'? Reagan words drive GOP debateBy Reid Wilson - 10/24/09 02:22 PM ET Ronald Reagan’s approach toward Democrats and centrists has become the latest flashpoint in a debate over the Republican Party’s future. Potential GOP presidential contenders are disputing the 40th president’s interpretation of courting those outside the party at a time when Republicans are sharply divided over New York special election primary for the 23rd District House seat. One group claims the best strategy is to broaden the base with varying viewpoints that might appeal to new voters, while the other warns against letting...

We can finally understand what Candidate Barack Obama meant by Hope and Change, because in nine short months, with the help of his teams in congress, he has totally destroyed Public Opinion of his Democratic party. Rasmussen regularly tracks voters opinion on 10 key issues including Health Care, Education, Social Security, Taxes, Economy, Abortion, Immigration, National Security, Iraq and Government Ethics. The latest version of this study shows that for the first time in recent history voters trust Republicans more than Democrats on all 10 key electoral issues, and the lead has grown to double-digit levels in half of them.

ALBANY -- Former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has endorsed a third-party candidate over the GOP-backed contender in New York's congressional special election, saying her own party has abandoned its core values. The former Alaska governor said Thursday she was backing Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman over Republican Assemblywoman Dierdre Scozzafava in the 23rd Congressional District race that includes Democrat Bill Owens. The off-season race to replace GOP former Rep. John McHugh, whom President Obama named as his Army secretary, has drawn national attention to a growing splinter between Republican moderates and conservatives who say they want the party to...

For the first time in some years, likely voters trust Republicans more than Democrats on all ten major issues in the Rasmussen survey. On five issues the Republican lead is double digits: Really, though, we could skip the other nine and just note that the Republicans lead 49-35 on the economy.

by Capitol Confidential Some items need little comment. The email below, from a reporter of the Key News in Florida, speaks volumes about the mainstream media’s outlook on the political issues of the day. It is hard to know where to begin in dissecting this e-mail. Our personal favorite is the sense that, because Obama’s policies are so “needed” by the country, we can’t possibly brook any dissent. Journalists have been laid-off across the country, because of the media’s broken business model. Surely, the Key News can recruit a less-biased reporter. We have reached out to Mr. Guerra for his...

This should be an exciting campaign season for the GOP. There is renewed energy in the Conservative movement and renewed interest in our founding documents and the first principles. I myself joined the local party after the recent election loss in 2008. I looked at the loss not as defeat but as opportunity to regain control of the Republican brand. However, I am finding it is a much more daunting task than I had imagined. It seems with all the cries of protest at Tea Parties and Town Halls, our voices are still not being heard. . . even by...

The Anti-Defamation League is up in arms over two South Carolina Republicans’ revival of an old stereotype. Peter Beinart asks: Is calling Jews thrifty really so offensive? This week, in an act of vicious anti-Semitism, Edwin O. Merwin Jr. and James S. Ulmer, chairmen of the Bamberg County and Orangeburg County, South Carolina, Republican parties, respectively, co-authored an op-ed in which they accused Jews of taking good care of their money. “Jews who are wealthy,” they wrote, “got that way not by watching dollars but instead by taking care of the pennies and the dollars taking care of themselves.” Then...

Just a heads up that it looks like Karl Rove is on GOP.com. Here's a link to his profile Karl Rove