Free Republic

The inside story of how House Speaker Mike Johnson was flip-flopped on Ukraine aid starts with his top policy adviser, a former lobbyist whose clients include a number of major companies who have issued corporate statements indicating some kind of interest in the war. The Speaker intends to set up a Saturday evening vote in the House of Representatives on the plan that completely abandons border security and instead pushes to funnel tens of billions of more U.S. tax dollars to foreign countries like Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. In a string of recent betrayals by the Speaker–the recent government funding...

Few may realize the important role that think tanks play as places where world leaders come to share ideas, discuss world problems, and seek solutions to the issues their countries face. For example, The Heritage Foundation not only works with our own government here in the U.S., but with leaders and thinkers from around the world. Recent visitors to Heritage include El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, EU Ambassador Stavros Lambrinidis, and ministers and ambassadors from nations large and small. New U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is...

The power struggle at the Heritage Foundation could upend Republican politics and put millions of dollars at DC's most influential think tank on the line. By Mollie Hemingway There are two narratives being spun about the current turmoil at the Heritage Foundation. Last week, Politico reported that the non-profit conservative foundation’s board planned to permanently oust former Sen. Jim DeMint, who was appointed president of the organization in 2013.The narrative Politico offers, supported by quotes from a single anonymous board member, is that Heritage is in disarray as a result of DeMint’s decisions since taking over several years ago. DeMint...

An influential political action group in Washington, Heritage Action for America, all but endorsed the presidential candidacy of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz on Monday, with the release of an analysis of the platforms of the top 12 candidates for the Republican nomination.Cruz has been consistently in the middle of the pack in early polling, typically gathering only a fraction of the support currently being lavished on frontrunners Donald Trump and Ben Carson. However, with backing from well-funded Super PACs, the Texas senator has the ability to assert himself in the race in the event that one or both of the...

The hard-line conservative arm of the Heritage Foundation has tough criticism for much of the 2016 field, but high praise for the Texas senator. Many of the lines in the scorecard appear destined for future attack ads.Jeb Bush, for instance, is accused of having "kowtowed to the state's environmental lobby" in Florida. Chris Christie "has shown favoritism toward well-connected real estate developers." Rand Paul's "views at times veer outside the conservative mainstream." And Donald Trump backs "massive tariffs that would damage the American economy."Cruz, by contrast, manages to emerge with barely a blemish, only softly worded critiques of his adopting...

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas received positive marks in a report from the conservative advocacy group Heritage Action for America on Monday, receiving praise on items ranging from limited government to national security.In the group’s inaugural Presidential Platform Review, Mr. Cruz receives praise across the board in the areas of growth, opportunity, civil society, limited government, favoritism and national security.The influential group also wrote in the report that Mr. Cruz has been willing to pay a political price for taking on government favoritism, pointing to his opposition to the Export-Import bank in the recent fight over the bank.The group had...

The Talk Shows August 2nd, 2015 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Gov. John Kasich, R-Ohio, Republican presidential candidate; former Gov. Rick Perry, R- Texas, Republican presidential candidate; Michael Needham, CEO, Heritage Action for America super PAC.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz; Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus; Dr. Ben Carson, retired neurosurgeon, Republican presidential candidate.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Donald Trump, Republican presidential candidate; former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., Republican presidential candidate; Steven Law, president and CEO, American Crossroads super PACTHIS WEEK (ABC): Donald Trump, Republican...

Think Republicans have been making fools of themselves? Blame Michael Needham. Link only to a very interesting article. Consider the source.

It took a tea party insurrection that disabled the federal government and wrecked the Republican brand, but after months of handwringing, establishment Republicans are preparing to attack ultra-conservative ideologues across red America. From Alabama to Alaska, the center-right, business-oriented wing of the Republican Party is gearing up for a series of skirmishes that it hopes can prevent the 2014 mid-term election from turning into another missed opportunity. But this will not be a coordinated operation. It will be messy, ugly, and prone to backfiring. And if the comeback succeeds, it will be in fits and starts, most likely culminating in...

After last evening's vote to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling, groups on the right were already criticizing Republicans who voted for the bipartisan compromise as traitors and threatening to work against their re-election. But longtime GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch said on MSNBC's "Daily Rundown" Thursday that those groups -- particularly a surging and newly controversial Heritage Action -- were risking their credibility by attacking Republicans and fueling primary challengers. -snip- Hatch, who himself survived a primary challenge from the right in 2012, had both empathy and praise for Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in leading the deal, possibly...

The 31-year-old Stanford business grad explains how he outmaneuvered GOP leaders and why he thinks House Republicans can defund ObamaCare. 'I really believe we are in a great position right now," says Michael Needham, the 31-year-old president of Heritage Action, the lobbying arm of the nation's largest conservative think tank. By "we" he means the Republican Party and the conservative movement; their "great position" refers to the potential to win the political battle over the government shutdown. Though Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is the public face of the high-risk strategy to "defund" ObamaCare, the masterminds behind it are a new...

October 11, 2013Michael Needham: The Strategist Behind the Shutdown By STEPHEN MOORE "I really believe we are in a great position right now," says Michael Needham, the 31-year-old president of Heritage Action, the lobbying arm of the nation's largest conservative think tank. By "we" he means the Republican Party and the conservative movement; their "great position" refers to the potential to win the political battle over the government shutdown. Though Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is the public face of the high-risk strategy to "defund" ObamaCare, the masterminds behind it are a new generation of young conservatives, chief among them Mr....

Shortly after President Obama started his second term, a loose-knit coalition of conservative activists led by former Attorney General Edwin Meese III gathered in the capital to plot strategy. Their push to repeal Mr. Obama’s health care law was going nowhere, and they desperately needed a new plan. Out of that session, held one morning in a location the members insist on keeping secret, came a little-noticed “blueprint to defunding Obamacare,” signed by Mr. Meese and leaders of more than three dozen conservative groups. It articulated a take-no-prisoners legislative strategy that had long percolated in conservative circles: that Republicans could...

House Leadership Crashes Into Outside Hurdles On Bills GOP's Toughest Critics Are Inside The Party, Outside The Houseby Tamara KeithApril 28, 2013 5:12 AM This week, the House was set to vote on a bill modifying the president's health care law. It was a Republican bill, supported by the leadership, but it ran into trouble, and it was pulled from the floor before the scheduled vote.It's an example of the kind of obstacles Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, faces in getting legislation through the House. In a number of recent cases, his problem hasn't been the Democrats as much as members...

    Heritage Action for America, the conservative advocacy group that has played an influential role in the ongoing spending debate in Washington, has unveiled its latest scorecard for every member of Congress. Here’s how the group describes its ratings system:  With each vote cast in Congress, freedom either advances or recedes. Heritage Action’s new legislative scorecard allows Americans to see whether their Members of Congress are fighting for freedom, opportunity, prosperity, and civil society. The scorecard is comprehensive, covering the full spectrum of conservatism, and includes legislative action on issues both large and small.Heritage Action’s legislative scorecard isn’t graded...

Some veteran Republican House members are pushing back against conservative deficit hawks who are pushing for endlessly deep spending cuts, saying the right wing of the party is creating unnecessary divisions for the GOP majority. While the 54 Republicans who voted against the most recent stopgap spending bill didn’t derail the legislation, some GOP lawmakers are becoming increasingly wary of a faction that rejects substantial spending cuts because they want deeper ones or the inclusion of divisive social policy riders. Many of the critics are close to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who struggles more each day to keep his majority...