Free Republic

Gas prices are the lowest they've been in five years — a welcome relief for many drivers. But now that fuel prices are falling, some lawmakers are talking in a serious way about raising the gas tax — Republican lawmakers. The debate is at an early stage, and it’s fair to say House conservatives will hate the idea. But a few powerful GOP senators are signaling they're open to the idea. Even House Speaker John Boehner, who personally opposes raising the gas tax, hasn't ruled it out. “Some Republicans in the Senate are speaking up,” says Todd Zwillich, The Takeaway's...

Last June in the run up to a primary he was so sure he would win, former Obama water boy Eric Cantor didn’t bother to campaign. He had told his liars about being a warrior against illegal aliens polluting America and decided to merely wait in Washington for word of his victory. That didn’t happen. He was crushed by a TEA party candidate. When he got his head handed to him Cantor was shocked and acted contrite. That was his act then; but now free to be his real self he is taking some very different positions. As a Wall...

A coalition of 23 leaders in the conservative movement today urged Speaker John Boehner not to punish Republicans who voted against him for the House’s top job.Boehner, who removed two of those dissenters from the powerful Rules Committee after the speaker vote, is now rethinking the decision, according to Politico. A total of 25 Republicans did not vote for Boehner.>>>> The 25 Republicans Who Did Not Vote for John Boehner“It is unacceptable and disappointing to see that some conservatives are already being punished by you and your leadership team for disagreements over policy and the direction of the conference. This...

After 25 Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives embarrassed Speaker John Boehner by voting against his re-election bid, the newly re-elected Boehner has begun to exact his revenge on those that opposed him. According to a Politico source, conservative House members Daniel Webster and Rich Nugent, both from Florida, will lose their spots on the highly coveted House Rules Committee.

ank-and-file Republicans are fuming at what they see as the heavy-handed tactics of Republican leaders, one day after a divisive vote that narrowly handed Speaker John Boehner the gavel for another term. Members who opposed Boehner on the floor are frustrated that two rebels have already been stripped of committee assignments, while the speaker's allies, angered by an embarrassingly close vote that played out on national television, warn darkly of more punishment to come. And some conservatives who backed Boehner complain that they are now facing a different kind of retribution—from the Right. (snip) Retribution is not being enacted simply...

"................McConnell took the Senate on the low road. He stood still at his desk, lips pursed, clearing his throat often, and reading a grim message. “Moment of great anxiety . . . lost faith in their government . . . no longer trust Washington . . . losing health plans after being told otherwise . . . rising medical costs . . . difficult just to get by . . . world filled with chaos . . . autocrats scoffing at a superpower that doesn’t seem to have a real plan.” “Confidence in the American dream has plunged,” McConnell said, pointing an index finger downward. “Anxiety about the type of country we leave to...

I think the vote for speaker demonstrates a clear need for having a well thought out process for choosing who is the leader concerning the house and senate and also a process that will remove the obvious blackmailing using campaign funds and committee assignments and committee chairmanships. Right now it is damned shame that is is ran almost like a Mafia family selecting it's leadership or union Boss "Card Check" election. Here is what needs to be done: Selecting the Speaker of the House, House Minority leader, Senate Majority/minority leader. 1. Once the House/Senate members are seated a member may...

“I’ve emphatically shared my disagreements with House Speaker John Boehner. As one of the leading conservative Members of this body, I opposed the $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill that did nothing to block President Obama’s unilateral amnesty order, I fought for tougher stances on out-of-control spending, government regulation and ObamaCare, and I refused to vote for a watered down NSA spying bill, amongst myriad other initiatives – most of which unilaterally were ignored by the Democrat-controlled Senate. But the 2014 elections just changed this equation. This is not a choice about who is the most conservative. It’s a choice about...

If you took the over on 19 votes, you won! There were 25 defectors on the Speaker, a number tantalizingly close to the 29 they needed. But then, that makes sense:

Updated, 1:10 p.m. | The 114th Congress is barely underway, but Randy Weber, R-Texas, says he’s already paying a price for making known his intentions to vote against another term in leadership for Speaker John A. Boehner. Weber, who is backing the long-shot speakership bid of fellow Texan Rep. Louie Gohmert over Boehner, has been removed as the lead sponsor of a nuclear energy bill expected to brought to the floor in the 114th. During a small meeting Tuesday of about 10 members of the Texas delegation to discuss the speaker’s race, Science, Space and Technology Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas,...

“Today is tomorrow; there are no more tomorrows,” I learned that express in the Marine Corps many years ago. It reminded us that some days bring us to decisive points in history. In terms of the future of the Republican Party “Today is tomorrow,” and what a small band of men and women do this morning will determine whether we as a nation can continue to have a true two Party political system or not. The stage for this crucial moment in history has been set by the fecklessness of the current Speaker John Boehner and his cohorts in leadership...

Boehner’s opposition grew Tuesday morning just a few hours before the vote... ...At least 12 House Democrats will be in Manhattan attending Mario Cuomo’s funeral Tuesday in Manhattan. Another “handful” of Democrats are already planning to skip the vote, and that number could grow much larger, according to Democratic insiders. But every Democrat who skips the speaker vote helps lower the threshold for Boehner to be reelected. Air travel is already slowed as well. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is holding aircraft at their destination until 10 a.m., and is experiencing delays of between 15 and 30 minutes for flights...

From 1910 to 1943, it was fairly common for some members of the Republican Party to vote for somebody for Speaker of the House other than the choice of the conference. Progressive Republicans initially joined with Democrats in rebellion against the autocratic Joe Cannon, and the habit stuck. And in every Speaker’s election during that time, up to 11 members would cast their votes for a person other than the two candidates put forward by the two major parties. ADVERTISEMENT That habit died in 1945, and from the close of World War II to the close of the Cold War,...

"....................All this tells a considerable amount about what passes for the unremarkable inside the Washington establishment. For Feehery spends his time continually attacking conservatives. There was this open letter attack on Rush Limbaugh in Politico in which he snarked:Congratulations! You have been selected by the Obama administration, the mainstream media and 20 million of your most passionate followers to be the new head of the Republican Party.As such, you are given all the rights and responsibilities that come with being a true political leader.Your mission is simple: Restore the Republican Party to its former greatness by single-handedly helping Republicans to...

A national poll of GOP voters supervised by Caddell Associates, Pat Caddell’s outfit, presented the following findings yesterday regarding tomorrow’s full House vote for the speaker position: Only a quarter of GOP voters think [John] Boehner and [Mitch] McConnell should remain Speaker and Majority Leader. Three-fifths want someone new rather than Speaker Boehner and almost half want someone new rather than Leader McConnell. As of now this finding has received scant media attention. It deserves more. The Daily Signal broke Caddell’s poll but somewhat buried that lede; Drudge linked the Daily Signal article halfway down his site. Otherwise, I see...

The supposedly routine reelection of House Speaker John Boehner is becoming a dramatic repeat of the GOP’s December split over immigration, where the party’s populist base was jammed by the business-backed leadership. By mid-Monday, at least 10 defectors said they will vote against Boehner for speaker. A new poll was released showing overwhelming opposition to GOP leaders funding President Barack Obama’s executive amnesty. And the House switchboard was jammed by Republicans who are urging their members to vote against Boehner. The Daily Caller was on hold for 25 minutes, but the switchboard operator did not answer the phone. Boehner needs...

John Boehner could lose the support of as many as 20 Republicans on his way to a near-certain reelection as House speaker, his allies concede — a political embarrassment for a GOP leader who narrowly survived a conservative rebellion two years ago. --snip-- Among other issues, the dissenters are angry at the speaker for crafting a yearlong, $1.1 trillion spending bill that didn’t directly target Obama’s use of executive action to loosen immigration enforcement. Boehner has argued that he’s fought to defang Obamacare, and he has promised a 2015 fight on immigration — but with Obama in the White House,...

Fox News contributor and Democratic pollster Pat Caddell told Breitbart News Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon that up to one-third of Republicans are ready to call it quits as members of the GOP. “The alienation among Republican voters is so high,” says Caddell, that conservatively “a quarter to one-third of the Republican party are hanging by a thread from bolting.” Caddell argues that GOP voters’ attitudes are “so anti-establishment,” and they give Republican leadership poor ratings. The revelation comes on the heels of polling data supervised by Caddell Associates and reported on Friday by Breitbart News that a stupefying 60%...

Former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said Monday that a GOP focus on highly politicized issues like ObamaCare and immigration in 2015 would be a “disservice to the American people.” He urged Republicans to act quickly on bipartisan policy initiatives like expanding charter schools, signing new trade deals or creating a permanent research and development tax credit. If they don’t, he warned the next race for the White House could be at stake. He added that the deep divide between Obama and the GOP on issues like healthcare, immigration, climate change and tax reform is “well known” and unlikely...

“Mitch McConnell has an unusual admonition for the new Republican majority as it takes over the Senate this week: Don’t be ‘scary.’”... Democrats are dubious of McConnell’s pledge to avert edge-of-the-cliff moments. They believe he will run into the same problems that have bedeviled House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) during the past four years — including the inability to corral rabble-rousers such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) to support an agenda that conservative critics will probably view as not bold enough in challenging Obama. Appeasing those far-right conservatives will lead to an agenda that Democrats hope to exploit in...