Free Republic

Pointing to the effects of "horrible" super-PACs, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Sunday said America needs to come up with a solution to keep big money out of politics. "Well, I think you need it, because I think PACs are a horrible thing," Trump said on CNN's "State of the Union" when asked if he would pursue campaign finance reform. The billionaire businessman, who said he is self-financing his campaign, said the wall separating super-PACs and candidates running for public office is illusory. "First of all, everyone's dealing with their PAC. You know, it's supposed to be like this...

How will we win an LGBT civil rights bill if we can’t even talk to Ted Cruz? The latest shaming and shunning LGBT morality play involves Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass —two rich gay hotel owners known mostly to the LGBT donor class—who co-hosted a dinner at their swanky Central Park penthouse last month for Tea Party darling Ted Cruz, the anti-gay senator from Texas and Republican presidential candidate. It was not a fundraiser, nor an endorsement, Weiderpass later insisted, but an opportunity to have a “dialogue” with one of the nation’s most powerful politicians about a range of issues,...

Openly gay New York hotelier Mati Weiderpass penned an op-ed this week, lashing out at "gay extremists" for protests surrounding a discussion he hosted with presidential hopeful Ted Cruz in late April. Weiderpass and longtime gay business partner Ian Reisner are owners of the OUT NYC Hotel and 80 percent of the commercial property in New York's Fire Island Pines, among other properties patronized by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. The two ignited large-scale backlash last month when they played hosts to a "fireside chat" with notoriously anti-gay presidential hopeful Sen. Ted Cruz in front of about...

This NYT story, an obvious attempt at a gotcha that’ll damage Cruz among his base, will do more damage to the two businessmen within their own circle of allies, I suspect. It’s one thing for Ted Cruz, social conservative, to socialize with gay friends. It’s another for gays to socialize with — gasp — Ted Cruz, social conservative. During the gathering, according to two attendees, Mr. Cruz said he would have no problem if one of his daughters was gay. He did not mention his opposition to same-sex marriage, saying only that marriage is an issue that should be...

New York City-based gay businessman Ian Reisner recently hosted a “fireside chat” with Sen. Ted Cruz in Manhattan. You read that correctly: a successful LGBT community member invited one of the most notoriously anti-LGBT politicians in the U.S. to his home. His business partner, Mati Weiderpass, even posted a photo of the two together on Facebook (seen above). Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass are called “pioneers in the gay hospitality industry” by The New York Times. The piece talks about how “opposition to President Obama,” the single best president on LGBT issues, was a focal point of the evening in...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Ted Cruz, along with most of the other Republican presidential candidates, actual and potential, appeared at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Summit on Saturday. He decried what he sees as “liberal fascism” that has ensured "there is no room for Christians in today's Democratic Party." Ironically, some people who support LGBT rights are busily making Cruz’s case, albeit inadvertently. Indeed, recently, Hillary Clinton, still the likely Democratic presidential nominee despite the play for pay scandal that is consuming her campaign, recently gave Cruz a boost. As a way of illustration, a recent article in the Daily Beast by Jay Michaelson...

The LGBT community is threatening boycotts and canceling benefits. The hidden reason is the GOP’s Israel strategy.If you’ve ever been to Fire Island Pines, one of the leading gay utopias on the planet, you know that there isn’t much to do. There’s only one commercial center with a couple of stores, a bar, and a hotel. And yet, in less than 24 hours, over 4,000 people have said they’re going to boycott it. The reason? It’s owned by Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass, the self-described “prominent NYC hotel owners” who recently hosted a “fireside chat” with Republican presidential candidate Ted...