Free Republic

RUSH: CNN ran a report last night on the Situation Room -- we have a montage of this report -- claiming that I am the one who stopped the bailout and if the president wants this thing, he needs to call me. The correspondent here is Elaine Quijano, and she is speaking to their Republican consultant here in the piece, John Feehery: RUSH ARCHIVE: Screw the market. Okay, I'll take that back, not screw the market, but let me tell you something. When the government fails to pass a socialism bill and the market goes south, let it go south....

RUSH: I've gotta check the transcripts of the first half hour of this program today. There's a story that's just been posted by Politico and also at CBS News on their website. The headline to this story is: "House GOP Mocked by Rush." Now, as far as I remember, I said, "God bless the House Republicans," today. "House GOP Mocked by Rush." For those of you in the House GOP -- those of you on The Hill listening, those of you who know people on the Hill -- I did not mock the House GOP today. I got on conservative...

RUSH: I want to dedicate today's Dow Jones Industrial Average, it's at about 269, up at the moment, to the Republicans in the House of Representatives for their boldness yesterday. Greetings, ladies and gentlemen, Rush Limbaugh, the Excellence in Broadcasting Network, and three hours of broadcast excellence, as you have come to know, love, and expect, straight ahead for the next three hours. Telephone number, 800-282-2882. The e-mail address, ElRushbo@eibnet.com. I was going to say, I can't believe how wrong everybody's getting this. Then I have to stop and think, yes, I can believe how wrong everybody's getting this, because...

Just saw a clip where Pelosi, stated that the House GOP is being unpatriotic, basically for the House GOP for standing up for American taxpayers.

RUSH: Here are a couple sound bites from John Boehner and Roy Blunt, the Republican leaders, at a little press conference when they came out of a meeting of their conference. Boehner first. BOEHNER: I don't know what games were being played at the White House yesterday. They gang up on Boehner. But if they thought they were rolling me, they were kidding themselves. RUSH: I know exactly what happened, and so does he. He's respecting the request not to talk about it but he was the focus of this. Look, Boehner shows up along with the Democrats -- Barney...

RUSH: All righty, so Barack Obama, "call me if you need me," went to the gym this morning, took a quick shower, got in his airplane, headed for Mississippi, told the reporters he's been in constant contact, he'll stay in contact, he'll be available if he's needed. McCain, about a half an hour ago, said, (paraphrasing) "Okay I'm going to go down to Oxford, I'm going to do the debate, and I'll come back here to Washington, DC, to continue to work on this over the weekend." Greetings, my friends, Rush Limbaugh, the EIB Network, it's Friday. JOHNNY DONOVAN: Live...

In the first two advertisements of their kind, Republicans seeking an advantage in a Mississippi special election are invoking Barack Obama in arguing that a Democratic Congressional candidate is too liberal for his district. That flies in the face of what has been conventional wisdom for months among national Democratic strategists who have not publicly taken sides in the presidential contest; many privately express more hope in Obama's potential coattails than in rival Hillary Clinton's. But while Hillary Clinton and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have made appearances in Republican advertisements before, the GOP is now taking on Obama, reflecting both...

WASHINGTON — Dennis Hastert's walk off the political stage may be a footnote in history but it also marks the end of a career that is notable for its leadership as the longest-Republican House speakership ever during a tumultuous era in Washington horse-trading. Nearly lost in the buzz of recent scandal and resignation, Hastert's expected departure is the culmination of a bad year for House Republicans, who lost the majority in the 2006 midterm elections and whose prospects remain unclear following the unexpected death of Ohio Rep. Paul Gillmor this week and retirement decisions by an array of former party...

In a just concluded House GOP Conference voted 114 to 23 to reject the Senate's Amnesty Bill. Pelosi has now signaled that the House will start fresh on the Amnesty Bill and will not just embrace the Senate version. It looks like, in fact, the House will . . . dare we say it . . . have committee hearings on the bill.

WASHINGTON - It was 2004 and Democrats were into their 10th year as the minority party in the House when they proposed a bill of rights to ensure their participation in the democratic process. The GOP ignored them. Now Republicans, newly demoted to the minority, say they are the ones suffering abuse despite repeated Democratic promises that theirs would be a more open, democratic and inclusive rule. "It seems," said Republican leader John Boehner (news, bio, voting record), R-Ohio, "over the last three weeks that the more we reach out and offer our hand of bipartisanship, (the more) it is...

It took 48 hours of loose nukes in the control of bad hair kooks to get the electorate refocused on the stakes in November's elections.  But even before North Korea reminded the electorate of the wonders of Clinton-Albright era diplomacy, even as "The Path to 9/11" and The Looming Tower had done, the Foley effect had begun to dissipate as the reality of the choice before the country broke through even the MSM's fascination with the destruction of the Republicans because of the notorious IMs.Now Santorum in Pennsylvania, DeWine in Ohio, and Corker in Tennessee have showed strong momentum to match...

WASHINGTON - House Republicans are crafting new bills to crack down on illegal immigrants, nailing the coffin shut for now on broader legislation that would give many illegal immigrants legal status. If the bills are approved, Republicans can go into midterm elections Nov. 7 saying they took action on illegal immigration. At the same time, they can appease conservatives who oppose giving illegal immigrants a chance at citizenship, which some have called amnesty. "Our borders are a sieve and we are at war and we certainly need to act like we are at war. We need to close our borders,"...

As many as 24 Democratic-allied outside interest groups have launched attacks or waged other political activity in 82 congressional districts represented by House Republicans, according to data compiled the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). The breadth of this mobilization against House Republican candidates appears to surpass by far any similar effort being waged against Democratic House candidates or Senate candidates. The data show how much Democrats are benefiting from the work of outside allies and how energized labor, environmental and liberal advocacy groups are about the prospect of taking back the House. The research also reveals why many House Republicans...

House Republicans signaled a coming clash with the Senate over the future of military tribunals yesterday when Armed Service Committee members indicated they were inclined to give the Bush administration largely what it wants in the conduct of terrorism trials. The tone at the first House hearing since the Supreme Court tossed out President Bush's tribunals last month was markedly different from Tuesday's Senate hearing, where lawmakers from both parties said they wanted to make significant changes to the White House's plans. "This could be easy," said Rep. Candice S. Miller (R-Mich.), who proudly announced she has neither a law...

WASHINGTON -- With Democrats plotting to make the minimum wage a major issue in this fall's congressional races, House Republican leaders are conceding that they may have to yield to pressure for an increase to the federal standard, which has been frozen for nearly a decade. Faced with elections that could cost them control of Congress, John A. Boehner, the House majority leader, acknowledged Thursday that Republican leaders are likely to reverse course and hold a vote on a proposed minimum wage increase. Though Boehner said it was a ``cynical ploy" for Democrats to make it a campaign centerpiece, polls...

WASHINGTON - House Republicans intend to hold votes this summer and fall touching on abortion, guns, religion and other priority issues for social conservatives, part of an attempt to improve the party's prospects in the midterm elections. The "American Values Agenda" also includes a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage — which already has failed in the Senate — a prohibition on human cloning and possibly votes on several popular tax cuts. "Radical courts have attempted to gut our religious freedom and redefine the value system on which America was built. We hope to restore some of those basic...

MONROEVILLE, PA.--With the war in Iraq, $3-a-gallon gas, and Jack Abramoff dogging Washington Republicans, it might seem a good bet for an ambitious Democrat like Chad Kluko to give up a six-figure salary and campaign for a seat in the House of Representatives. After all, he was a top executive at Verizon Wireless, started his own technology company, and makes a convincing case for bringing the lessons he's learned from business to bear on government. But Kluko was hardly the Democratic Party's first choice to run in Pennsylvania's 18th District, which fans out east and west from southern Pittsburgh. He...

May 1, 2006--Democrats enjoy a 10-point advantage on the Generic Congressional Ballot early in the 2006 campaign season. A Rasmussen Reports national opinion survey of 1,000 Likely Voters found that 46% would vote for the Democrat in their district if the election were held today. Just 36% would vote for the Republican (see crosstabs).The survey also asked about a hypothetical match-up between candidates with opposing views on the immigration debate--"One candidate favors building a barrier along the Mexican border and forcing illegal aliens to leave the United States. The other candidate favors expanding the ways that foreign workers can legally...

 Title and link only.

Richard Morin, The Washington Post's polling director, had an interesting piece in yesterday's edition. Morin argues that, in states Bush carried in 2004, his job approval numbers have slid so much that we can no longer really think of many of them as "red".Writes Morin, "States that were once reliably red are turning pink. Some are no longer red but a sort of powder blue. In fact, a solid majority of residents in states that President Bush carried in 2004 now disapprove of the job he is doing as president. Views of the GOP have also soured in those Republican...

Will Democrats win control of the House in November? It's a question lots of people have been asking in Washington and around the country these days. It seems possible, certainly. Democrats only have to make a net gain of 15 seats to win a majority. But it's also true that, with the single and large exception of 1994, neither party has made a net gain of more than 10 House seats over the last 20 years.I think there are two plausible hypotheses about how House elections work. If Hypothesis One applies, Democrats have a good chance at gaining a majority....

AS HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER, Tom DeLay had a crisp and clear style. He coupled an agenda with an unwillingness to compromise and an iron resolve to produce narrow victories based entirely on Republican votes. At the moment, his successor, John Boehner, is working on a mission statement--an official vision--for House Republicans. The comparison is not meant to belittle Boehner, but to point out where Republicans now find themselves.Times have changed. DeLay is gone and Republicans, both at the White House and in Congress, are struggling just to figure out what their agenda is. So far, they're sure of only two...

WASHINGTON - House Republicans pushed a resolution Tuesday commending the Capitol police force for professionalism after a confrontation between an officer and Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney. "I don't think it's fair to attack the Capitol Police and I think it's time that we show our support for them," said Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., a sponsor of the measure. Ignoring a police officer's order to stop or hitting one "is never OK," McHenry said of the incident, which has exacerbated partisan tensions in the House. Last week, McKinney had an argument with a uniformed police officer as she sought to enter...

With the announcement of Bill Thomas’s retirement, many have begun to take closer notice of the number of open seats in 2006 – and how they seem to favor the Democrats. Most political observers have recognized that the number of open seats is a critical factor in the partisan composition of the House, and that this year the Republicans must defend more than the Democrats. However, few have correctly surmised that the Democrats enjoy little-to-no real advantage because of open seats.All political scientists agree that open seats are a key method of party changes in the House of Representatives. Only...

With the election of John Boehner as House majority leader, Republicans have, in effect, taken over the House of Representatives for a second time. And not a moment too soon. After over 10 years in the majority, House Republicans had lost their way, too focused on parochial pork over public policy. More than anything, Rep. Boehner's success represents the intent of Republican members of the House to repair their credentials as reformers with the American people. His victory was made possible because he was able to find common purpose with John Shadegg, Jeff Flake, Mike Pence and the rest of...

HOUSTON, Texas - The House of Representatives gets ready to elect a new house majority leader today. There is an opening because Tom DeLay resigned a few weeks ago, due to his legal problems. CBNNews spoke with DeLay and his wife Christine, who are speaking out against what they see as injustice. In the dizzying world of politically charged Washington, D.C., the truth can be hard to find. Everyone here has an opinion, and spin is a daily game. For DeLay, to use a laundry analogy, he is right in the middle of the spin cycle and his critics --...

WASHINGTON -- There is no doubt Rep. John Boehner of Ohio is quietly enlisting support from fellow House Republicans to elect him as majority leader in January. The question is whether Rep. Tom Reynolds of New York also is campaigning to be majority whip.Reports of a Boehner-Reynolds ticket have circulated in Washington, but Reynolds vigorously denies it. If he does run for whip, Reynolds would be accused of cutting and running from his duties as House Republican campaign chairman because of the difficult 2006 midterm election ahead.A special election in January would mean House Republicans have given up on Tom...

ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON -- House Republican leaders scuttled a vote Thursday on a $51 billion budget-cut package in the face of a revolt by lawmakers over scaling back Medicaid, food stamp and student loan programs. The development was a major setback for the GOP on Capitol Hill and for President Bush, who has made cuts to benefit programs a central pillar in his budget plan. The decision by GOP leaders came despite a big concession to moderates Wednesday, when the leaders dropped provisions to open the Arctic National Refuge to oil and gas exploration, as well as a plan allowing...

House Republican leaders have moved from balking at big cuts in Medicaid and other programs to embracing them, driven by pent-up anger from fiscal conservatives concerned about runaway spending and the leadership's own weakening hold on power. Beginning this week, the House GOP lawmakers will take steps to cut as much as $50 billion from the fiscal 2006 budget for health care for the poor, food stamps and farm supports, as well as considering across-the-board cuts in other programs. Only last month, then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) and other GOP leaders quashed demands within their party for budget cuts...

Washington, DC, Mar. 23 (UPI) -- House GOP leaders seeking one last chance to intervene in the case of a brain damaged Florida women filed a brief with the Supreme Court Wednesday. The Roll Call newspaper reported that following Wednesday's rebuff of the efforts of Terri Schiavo's parents to have her feeding tube reinserted and case reviewed, Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois, Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas, and others filed a brief with the court similar to one filed with Atlanta's 11th Circuit prior to their ruling in the case. The move comes after GOP lawmakers made the extraordinary...

<p>WASHINGTON - The House voted Wednesday to permanently end taxes on inherited estates, rejecting a Democratic effort to retain the tax for the country's wealthiest families.</p> <p>"What we're talking about here is fairness to families," said House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill. "They ought to have the comfort and relief to pass that business on to the next generation, to their children and to their grandchildren."</p>

WASHINGTON - House and Senate Republicans moved Tuesday toward striking a deal that would let the two chambers pass a compromise 2004 budget this week but settle their differences over the size of a tax cut later, aides said. Under the proposal — which still needed sign-offs from many lawmakers and on which some final decisions remained — the budget would let the more conservative House write a tax bill later this year with a deeper tax cut than the more moderate Senate has approved. The two chambers would then have to agree to a common figure before the tax...

<p>WASHINGTON - The House is moving swiftly to enact energy legislation, hoping to revive a proposal for oil drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge and, in a boon to farmers, expand the use of ethanol as a gasoline additive.</p> <p>Both provisions were included Wednesday as separate committees crafted key parts of the energy legislation. Lawmakers said they expected an energy bill to be voted on by the full House, possibly as early as next week.</p>

House Speaker Dennis Hastert is both wrestling against history and fighting for his political life as he tries to win a third term at the helm of Congress' lower chamber. The 60-year-old former history teacher from Yorkville is well aware that history is against him. Since the throes of the Civil War, the president's party has lost House seats in every first mid-term election except for 1934. And Hastert, a Republican like President Bush, holds only a six-seat majority, leaving little margin for error heading into the Nov. 5 mid-term election. He's also aware of another trend: when a speaker...

<p>Congressional Republicans are creating a political operation designed specifically to register and turn out Republican voters to protect their majority in the House in November's elections.</p> <p>In the past such efforts have been led by the Republican National Committee, but this year House Republican leaders are implementing their own push, which they call STOMP — the Strategic Taskforce for the Organization and Mobilization of People — to work with the RNC and state parties to turn out voters.</p>