Free Republic

The top republicans in Congress have tapped pro-life Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa to deliver the GOP response to pro-abortion President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address next week. “Sen. Ernst brings a unique perspective to the Senate. She is a mother, a soldier and an independent leader who serves in Washington because Americans voted for change in the last election, and Joni understands that middle-class Americans want Congress to get back to work and that they want Washington to get refocused on their concerns, instead of those of the political class,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in...

HERSHEY, Pa. — Republican congressional leaders announced Thursday that they had picked one of their newly elected members, Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, to deliver the party’s response to President Obama’s State of the Union address next week... Mr. McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner, Ohio Republican, made the announcement at the House and Senate Republican policy retreat... The selection of Mrs. Ernst ruffled environmentalists, who oppose her views on climate change... Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jan/15/joni-ernst-deliver-gop-response-state-union/#ixzz3OvyXcXjD Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

... CoOportunity Health has failed. The Affordable Care Act set aside funding for health care co-ops, to enable the organizations to compete in places where there aren’t many insurers. CoOportunity Health was the second largest co-op in the country in terms of membership, and one of the largest in terms of the federal funding it received. But then CoOportunity hit a kind of perfect storm, says Peter Damiano, director of the University of Iowa’s public policy center. First, the co-op had to pay a lot more medical bills than those in charge expected. “CoOportunity Health’s pool of people was larger...

The 2012 Republican nominee for president holds a leads a broad field of GOP potential contenders in the Townhall/Gravis poll conducted Jan. 5-7 among 404 registered Republican voters queried. Note: the polls were conducted using IVR technology and weighted by historical voting demographics. Former Massachusetts governor W. Mitt Romney has never left the hearts and minds of Republican voters and he will hold the dominant position in the race for the 2016 presidential nomination until the other candidates spin up their own campaigns, said Doug Kaplan, the managing partner of Gravis Marketing, a Florida-based pollster and call center that executed...

Democratic vulnerabilities appear to be limited to just two states. Former Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Michael Bennet’s re-election in Colorado is rated as Leans Democratic. His home-state colleague, Democrat Mark Udall, was defeated in November. And Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid can expect a tough race in Nevada if he seeks re-election. His race is also rated Leans Democratic, as Republicans search for a challenger. ... Four of the nine seats Democrats lost in 2014 were listed as Tossups nearly two years before the election. In January 2013, Alaska, Montana and North Carolina were rated as Leans Democratic, and...

Representative Steve King has compared illegal immigrants to livestock. He tried last week to overthrow House Speaker John Boehner for being too moderate. And he was quick to defend a colleague who spoke before a white supremacist group in 2002, saying, “Jesus dined with tax collectors and sinners.” King could also play an important role in choosing the 2016 Republican nominee. A politician who delights Tea Party activists, riles liberals, and infuriates the Republican establishment, King is gathering outsized influence in presidential politics as a gatekeeper in the first caucus state, Iowa, and with a following that is attracting even...

Link only due to copyright issues: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2015/01/10/straw-poll-predictions/21576395/

The fiscal impact of the ethanol mandate is huge — Michaels estimated it totals “billions, easily” in direct and indirect money — but it has come under attack by liberals as well as conservatives and appears to have lost some of its clout on Capitol Hill. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency — which administers the Renewable Fuel Standard — is considering a cut to the amount of ethanol blended into the nation’s gasoline supply. ... a growing number of environmentalists want the ethanol requirement eliminated, too. ... In 2007, Congress passed and President George W. Bush signed into law...

The Republican National Committee has caved. Despite widespread criticism of the Ames Straw Poll, a first-in-the-nation contest in which Republican candidates vie for bragging rights associated with a victory, the GOP determined that the poll could go forward again in 2016. There were reservations. The Republican National Committee has been concerned about the straw poll’s increasing failure to reflect the ultimate preferences of Iowa’s Republican voters (which, for that matter, often fail to reflect the preferences of Republican voters nationally). In 2011, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) emerged from Ames victorious. In 2007, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney took the top...

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will speak at the Iowa Freedom Summit at the end of January hosted by Rep. Steve King (R-IA) and Citizens United, Breitbart News has learned exclusively. “Governor Walker looks forward to sharing the story of Wisconsin’s successful reforms and common sense message with grassroots conservatives,” Walker’s spokesman Tom Evenson told Breitbart News. Citizens United president David Bossie added that he’s thrilled Walker will join the already impressive lineup of speakers. “Congressman Steve King and I are thrilled Governor Scott Walker, a leading conservative voice, plans to attend the Iowa Freedom Summit,” Bossie said. “The Iowa Caucus...

~~snip~~ Voting against Boehner (10) Gohmert* Yoho* Rep. Steve King (Iowa) Rep. Jim Bridenstine (Okla.)* Rep. Dave Brat (Va.) (freshman) Rep. Walter Jones (N.C.)* Rep. Gary Palmer (Ala.) (freshman) Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.)* Rep. Paul Gosar (Ariz.) Rep. Marlin Stutzman (Ind.) Said prior to 2014 election that they would vote against Boehner (2) Rep. Jody Hice (Ga.) (freshman) Rep. John Ratfliffe (Tex.) (freshman) Voted against Boehner in 2013/haven't weighed in (2) Rep. Steve Pearce (N.M.) (spokesman says he's "undecided") Rep. Justin Amash (Mich.) Voted against Boehner in 2013/will support him (3) Rep. Mick Mulvaney (S.C.) Rep. Raul Labrador (Idaho) Rep....

Conservative momentum to oust John Boehner from his position as speaker of the House continued to build through the weekend, with two alternatives emerging and a major national conservative group joining the effort. On Sunday night, Iowa Rep. Steve King became the latest to express opposition to Boehner for speaker in an op-ed published on Breitbart.com. He outlined a litany of complaints with the Speaker, arguing Boehner hasn't done enough to oppose President Barack Obama's signature health care law or the President's executive action on immigration and pointing to passage of the recent government funding bill, which tackled neither, as...

This week, Members elected to the 114th Congress will rise, place their left hand on the Bible, raise their right hand and state, “I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.” This oath does not say,...

Gannett paper, link only: Bobby Jindal to meet Tuesday with Iowa pastors

A flock of 2016 presidential hopefuls will be attending a major GOP event in Iowa this month co-sponsored by anti-immigrant gadfly Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa). Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who has made outreach to minorities part of his appeal, won’t go. His office says there is a scheduling conflict. Former Florida governor Jeb Bush also begged off. What to make of all this? (SNIP) He is no David Duke, but his distasteful and flamboyant attacks on illegal immigrants are well known. (SNIP) New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie headlined a fundraiser for King and reportedly announced, “I will be a supporter...

Everything from tigers to taxes and wine to willingness is covered by new laws taking effect in the new year. A New York law bans tiger selfies starting in February. They've been increasingly used by young men as social media profile photos. No photos with lions or other big cats either. Wine gets a boost in the Bay State. Out-of-state wineries can ship bottles directly to consumers in Massachusetts. California is trying to end any question over whether no really means yes.

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), who has pushed comprehensive amnesty legislation as a “Gang of Eight” member, is trying to advance the notion that a Republican cannot win the White House without supporting comprehensive amnesty legislation. He even suggested that pro-amnesty 2016 Republican presidential candidates former Florida Governor like Jeb Bush ignore voters in Iowa (home of conservative stalwart Rep. Steve King) and entirely skip the first-in-the-nation nominating caucuses to avoid having his pro-amnesty views scrutinized. In an interview with the Daily Beast, Flake reportedly called Iowa’s first-in-the-nation status on the presidential primary calendar “one of the very unfortunate parts of...

President Obama challenged illegal immigration hardliner, Congressman Steve King, the Republican from Iowa, in an interview with National Public Radio. “Steve King and I fundamentally disagree on immigration,” he said, bringing up the Iowa congressman, unprompted by the host. “If your view is that immigrants are either fundamentally bad to the country or that we actually have the option of deporting 11 million immigrants, regardless of the disruptions, regardless of the cost, and that that is who we are as Americans, I reject that,” he said.

Rep. Steve King has summoned the potential field of 2016 Republican presidential candidates to Iowa next month for his Freedom Summit, and they are jumping at the opportunity — underscoring the conservative firebrand’s political pull and marking the event as the first major gathering of the next campaign for the White House. Mr. King told The Washington Times that the Jan. 24 gathering in Des Moines will give the kinds of activists who turn out for Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses a look at their options and will give the candidates an early reality check. (SNIP) Though Mr. Santorum achieved victory without...

One group of potential candidates for president probably won't be shuffling off to Iowa, New Hampshire or other early campaign spots in the new year. They'll be hunkered down in statehouses across the Midwest, pushing bills through their legislatures. Few outside their home states will notice, but these governors and their policies could wind up in the national campaign picture. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, Mike Pence of Indiana, Rick Snyder of Michigan and John Kasich of Ohio were all elected after Republicans began taking political control of the middle of the country back in 2010. Since then, they have offered...