Free Republic

Approximately 30 conservative House Republicans are launching a new caucus designed to advance the needs of the people over the special interests and do everything possible to help Republicans keep their campaign promises on immigration, Obamacare and more. The House Freedom Caucus officially launched Monday night. Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, is one of the founding members. He said there are multiple reasons why the Freedom Caucus is needed, starting with the need to keep priorities straight in Washington. “We want a freedom agenda, an agenda that represents the people back home,” he said.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Monday that both Nevada and Tennessee have joined the Lone Star state's challenge of President Obama's executive amnesty, bringing the total number of states fighting Obama's unilateral immigration policies to 26. “Texas is proud to lead a coalition that now includes a majority of the United States standing up against the President’s rogue actions,” Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement. “The momentum against the President's lawlessness continues to build with Tennessee and Nevada joining the effort to protect our states from the economic and public safety implications of illegal amnesty. As President...

Lobbyist at March for Life: Anti-webcam abortions state legislation being finalized - Members - Mobile Adv BOISE — Right to Life of Idaho is finalizing state draft legislation that would ban “webcam abortions” in Idaho, a lobbyist for the anti-abortion group said Saturday. Co-sponsors of the nascent anti-abortion legislation at the Idaho Legislature include Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, and Sen. Sheryl Nuxoll, R-Cottonwood, said Right to Life of Idaho lobbyist Kerry Uhlenkott after an anti-abortion demonstration in downtown Boise on Saturday afternoon. “We’re just putting some final tweaks on the bill, and then we should be good to go for...

According to Naghmeh Abedini, she is set to meet with President Barack Obama during his visit to Boise following his State of the Union address. Abedini's husband has been imprisoned in Iran for more than two years. See more: Human rights plea to President Obama for Saeed Abidini She says Saeed was imprisoned in Iran for his Christian beliefs. "Actually, people don't understand that he didn't break the law," said Naghmeh. "According to Iran's own admission he didn't break the law. They encouraged Saeed to come back and build an orphanage. When they convicted him to eight years in prison...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Last Sunday, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, indicated that he expected a decision “fairly soon” on whether the Army will court martial Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for allegedly deserting his post in Afghanistan, or has cleared him, paving the way for separation from the service and back pay in excess of $200,000. Moreover, a decision to clear Bergdahl may well open the door for him to be designated a former prisoner of war, ensuring him substantial monthly pay, medical and educational benefits for the rest of his life. To those who have followed all angles...

Washington, DC – Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today issued a Secretarial Order calling for a comprehensive science-based strategy to address the more frequent and intense wildfires that are damaging vital sagebrush landscapes and productive rangelands, particularly in the Great Basin region of Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Oregon and California. The strategy will begin to be implemented during the 2015 fire season. Goals include reducing the size, severity and cost of rangeland fires, addressing the spread of cheatgrass and other invasive species, and positioning wildland fire management resources for more effective rangeland fire response. “Targeted action is urgently needed to...

U.S. wildlife officials will decide next year whether a wide-ranging Western bird species needs protections even though Congress has blocked such protections from taking effect, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said Wednesday. They could determine the greater sage grouse is heading toward possible extinction, but they would be unable to intervene under the Endangered Species Act. The bird’s fate instead remains largely in the hands of the 11 individual states where they are found. President Barack Obama signed a $1.1 trillion spending bill late Tuesday with a provision that barred money from being spent on rules to protect the chicken-sized bird...

A man shot and killed three people and injured a fourth in Moscow, Idaho on Saturday afternoon. Police identified the suspect as John Lee, 29, of Moscow. The deceased victims include Moscow businessman David Trail, 76, Arby's restaurant manager Belinda Niebuhr, 47, and the suspect's adoptive mother and Moscow Family Medicine Physician's Assistant Terri Grzebielski, 61. Also injured in the assault was Seattle resident Michael Chin, 39. Information developed by law enforcement indicates that Lee shot Grzebielski at her residence in the 400 block of Veatch Street in Moscow.

Utah passed a law in 2012 demanding the federal government give up about 31 million acres, about 50 percent of the state, by Dec. 31, 2014. ... Ivory and other supporters of the land transfer say the state’s legal claim lies in the Utah Enabling Act, which led to Utah’s statehood in 1896. .. If Utah pursues a lawsuit, the state attorney general’s office has warned lawmakers they need to avoid flawed theories or inconsistent arguments used by western states in the 1970s and 1980s during a similar push known as the Sagebrush Rebellion. ... Montana, Wyoming and Nevada have...

~~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....

HAYDEN, Idaho -- A 2-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his mother after he reached into her purse at a northern Idaho Wal-Mart and her concealed gun fired, authorities said Tuesday. Veronica J. Rutledge, 29, was shopping with her son and three other children, Kootenai County sheriff's spokesman Stu Miller said. Rutledge was from Blackfoot in southeastern Idaho, and her family had come to the area to visit relatives. She had a concealed weapons permit. Miller said the young boy was left in a shopping cart, reached into his mother's purse and grabbed a small-caliber handgun, which discharged one time....

The earthquake, confirmed by the U.S. Geological Survey, comes roughly two weeks after a 3.7-magnitude quake in the same area. Saturday's quake was recorded at 10:44 a.m. about four miles east of Challis. It was felt at least as far away as the Treasure Valley, about 120 miles directly southwest, and in western Montana according to reports on social media and in emails to the Statesman. Penny Shinderling, an employee at Lamb's Foodtown in Challis, told the Statesman that a couple of things fell off shelves in the store but otherwise the quake "just gave us a good shake." "There...

Idaho Gov. Butch Otter has filed a petition appealing the legalization of same-sex marriage in Idaho to the U.S. Supreme Court, saying the state’s case is the “ideal vehicle” to resolve the issue for the nation. “The time has come for this court to resolve a question of critical importance to the states, their citizens and especially their children: Whether the federal Constitution prohibits a state from maintaining the traditional understanding and definition of marriage as between a man and a woman,” Otter’s Washington, D.C. attorney, Gene Schaerr, wrote in the 41-page petition.

Veronica Rutledge and her husband loved everything about guns. They practiced at shooting ranges. They hunted. And both of them, relatives and friends say, had permits to carry concealed firearms. Veronica typically left her Blackfoot, Idaho, home with her gun nestled at her side. So on Christmas morning last week, her husband gave her a present he hoped would make her life more comfortable: a purse with a special pocket for a concealed weapon. The day after Christmas, she took her new gift with her on a trip with her husband and her 2-year-old son. They headed hundreds of miles...

HAYDEN, Idaho (AP) — A 2-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his mother after he reached into her purse at a northern Idaho Wal-Mart and her concealed gun fired, authorities said Tuesday. The 29-year-old woman was shopping with her son and three other children, Kootenai County sheriff's spokesman Stu Miller told The Associated Press. Her family had come to the area to visit relatives, he said. The woman, whose identity was not released, had a concealed weapons permit. Miller said the young boy was left in a shopping cart, reached into the victim's purse and grabbed a small-caliber handgun, which...

Representative Derek Kilmer (D-WA) called on Congressional leaders to reauthorize a program that provides key support to rural communities. Representatives Kilmer, Chris Stewart (R-UT), Jared Huffman (D-CA), and Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) led a letter urging the swift renewal of Secure Rural Schools (SRS) to help counties with national forests. Since national forest land cannot be taxed by counties or states, for more than 100 years the Forest Service has shared revenues from timber harvests on federal lands with the nearby communities. In the letter to House Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi the members pointed out that SRS...

Flathead, Lincoln counties could lose millions if Secure Rural Schools is not reauthorized. Congress recently passed a $1 trillion spending bill to keep the United States government in operation, but missing from that bill are the funds that many counties in Montana have come to rely on in their annual budgets. The budget bill dropped $330 million in funding from Secure Rural Schools, a federal program run through the U.S. Forest Service providing funding for counties and schools. Last year, Flathead County received just over $1.6 million in SRS funding; roughly $1,067,000 went toward the county’s road department, and the...

42nd Entry: December 23rd, 2014- Report on AUG radiation therapy and 5 years since diagnosis Well, I am very late entering this information and making this entry. In early August we traveled to MD Anderson in Houston for our annual pilgrimage and to accomplish three things. To conduct our annual check-up on my Chorodoma with Dr. Rhines and Gisella, his chief nurse practioner. To attend the Annually Brain and Spine Tumor conference held each year at MD Anderson, hear the presentations, and especially to see all of our friends there. To conduct the stereo-tactic radiation treatment that Dr. Rhines had...

The U.S. Army's report on Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will show he deserted, but not that he is a traitor, two military analysts familiar with the case told Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor." The report was completed in October, but has yet to be released to the public. Bergdahl walked away from his base in Afghanistan and was captured and held by the Taliban for five years.He was released earlier this year in a controversial trade for five Taliban leaders being held at the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, who said he played...

It's been six months since a prisoner swap led to the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. The Army's investigation into the circumstances under which the Hailey native left his Afghanistan base wrapped up in October, yet no new information has been released. Bergdahl's fellow soldiers say he deserted the base, which is a crime under military law. A military defense councilman speculated Wednesday that the delay could mean no charges will be filed. The question remains a mystery. What events led up to the disappearance of Bergdahl and his capture by the Taliban in 2009? He was held captive for...