Free Republic

The Club for Growth’s political action committee announced Wednesday that it will support Rep. Mike Simpson’s (R-Idaho) 2014 primary opponent, attorney Bryan Smith. The conservative PAC is openly soliciting suggestions for which GOP lawmakers it should target in primaries. Smith represents its first crowd-sourced endorsement. Simpson has a lifetime 58 percent score on the Club for Growth’s scorecard — ranking among the most moderate Republicans in the House. But he comes from one of the most conservative districts in the country — one that went 64 percent for Mitt Romney last year.

Have you ever wished that errant journalists could get their noses rubbed in their own absurdities and outright falsehoods like puppy dogs who make a mess? Well, if you had been watching Meet The Press today then you would have seen Congressman Raul Labrador of Idaho do just that to the New York Times house "conservative" David Brooks who was slapped down not once but twice.  As you can see in this video and below the fold, Brooks didn't learn his lesson after being slapped down by Labrador for uttering absurdities about the Senate immigration bill. Labrador was forced to...

An inspirational painting that referenced a Bible verse has been removed from a dining hall at Mountain Home Air Force Base after an anti-religion group filed a complaint. The painting featured a medieval crusader and referenced Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

U.S. officials charged an Uzbek citizen in Idaho with providing bomb-making knowledge and other support to an Islamist militant group, knowing that it would be used in an attack, authorities said on Thursday. Fazliddin Kurbanov, 30, a national of Uzbekistan living legally in Idaho, was arrested in Boise and faces a three-count grand jury indictment in Idaho and a single-count indictment in Utah, prosecutors said. They said Kurbanov provided information and money to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which the United States has designated as a foreign terrorist organization. The group supports establishing strict Islamic rule in Uzbekistan. Authorities said...

Idaho Professor To Hunt Bigfoot With Drones Jeff Meldrum, an anthropologist at Idaho State University, is spending $200,000 to scan the Cascades with drones. The unmanned aircraft will use thermal imaging equipment to peer through thick forest in search of Sasquatch. "We're simply asking a biological question: Is there a species of primate behind the legend of Sasquatch?" he said. Other professors in the field have called any questions about Bigfoot a “waste of time.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — An Idaho man charged with attempting to assassinate President Barack Obama by shooting at the White House practiced with his weapon for six months and may have been upset about the country’s marijuana policy, prosecutors said in a newly filed court document. Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez is currently awaiting trial for the 2011 shooting, which didn’t injure anyone but left more than five bullet marks on the executive mansion. Prosecutors filed a 14-page court document Tuesday that adds additional detail about Ortega-Hernandez, who allegedly shot at the White House the night of Nov. 11 while the president and...

During a hearing into the constitutionality of voter identification laws enacted across the country, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) tore into claims by the Department of Justice that those laws were racially discriminatory. In the space of five minutes, Gowdy knocked down the claims, one by one, that a voter ID law passed in South Carolina in 2011 discriminated against African-Americans or was dissimilar to laws the Justice Department had cleared in a variety of other states. Gowdy began by noting that, when the Palmetto State’s voter identification law was passed, a third of the state’s congressional delegation were African-American; former...

Local Fox affiliate KMTV is reporting that the First Daughters, Sasha and Malia Obama, are vacationing on the ski slopes of Sun Valley, Idaho. Earlier this week, Breitbart News broke the news that the First Daughters were on a spring break trip in the Bahamas, with Secret Service protection in tow, despite staff shortages that the White House cited in closing tours to the public. The cross-continental trip for the First Daughters represents an epic tour. The KMTV news report cited photo evidence that the First Daughters were on the ski slopes, but noted that it was "unclear" whether First...

Fears have been raised over the mysterious disappearance of around 30 dogs in southern Idaho after a missing German shepherd was found with its head crushed in a suspected ritual killing. Animal control officials raised the alarm after dogs of various sizes, breeds and ages mysteriously began to vanish. 'The dogs seem to vanish into thin air,' said Debbie Blackwood, director of the animal shelter in Twin Falls, Idaho. Officials say some 30 dogs have gone missing in recent months in Twin Falls and nearby communities in an agricultural region in south-central Idaho known as the Magic Valley. A man...

New Jersey’s governor has branded them “political thugs.” A former federal education official has likened them to terrorists. Less vilified in Kansas than some other parts of the country, those teachers unions still find their clout under attack in the Legislature. The battle over teachers unions has marched its way across the country. Ohio. Michigan. Wisconsin. Idaho. And now it’s in Kansas, greeted by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and his conservative allies in the Legislature. Lawmakers are moving to undercut the tenuous power of teachers unions by barring them from using voluntary paycheck deductions for politics. And they’re going after...

A federal judge has struck down an Idaho law prohibiting abortions after 20 weeks, ruling that the so-called fetal pain law violates U.S. Supreme Court prohibitions against unduly impeding a woman’s ability to seek an abortion before her fetus is able to live outside the womb. U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill in Boise declared the 2011 law -- similar to limits adopted in at least seven other states -- to be unconstitutional in a ruling that took the Idaho Legislature to task for acting against the advice of its own attorney general. “The Idaho Legislature’s enactment of the [fetal...

An Idaho Republican made waves on Twitter this week, tweeting that forcing insurance companies to participate in healthcare exchanges is like marching Jews off to death camps during the Holocaust. In a series of messages that began Jan. 22 and continued until Wednesday, state Sen. Sheryl Nuxol said that the Affordable Care Act amounts to "tombs" for insurance companies. "Much like the Jews boarding the trains to concentration camps, private insurers are used by the feds to put the system in place because the federal government has no way to set up the exchange. Several years from now, the federal...

It’s not just an out-of-control IRS or EPA. And it’s not merely the punitive demands and restraints of the new federal healthcare law. American enterprise is being stifled and squelched by state and local governments, in ways that most Americans don’t even see. With increasing propensity, elected officials nationwide are at times suffocating private businesses with regulations, and at other times competing directly against them – and it happens among both Democrats and Republicans. A striking reminder of this emerged last week, when it was reported that Democrat San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee was contemplating some sort of “ban” on...

Sheriffs have risen up all over our great nation to stand up against the unconstitutional gun control measures being taken. The following is a list of sheriffs and state sheriff’s associations from all over our great nation who have vowed to uphold and defend the Constitution against Obama’s unlawful gun control measures. I applaud these public servants for their courage and conviction. I would encourage other Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers to add their voices to the growing numbers of faithful protectors of our freedom. List of State Sheriff’s Associations 1. Utah Sheriff’s Association List of County Sheriffs 1. Sheriff...

Legislators deal with ‘panic’ over gun laws Idaho lawmakers are getting an earful from constituents, and leadership is working to consolidate proposals. BY DAN POPKEY dpopkey@idahostatesman.com   © 2013 Idaho Statesman In one of the most Second Amendment-friendly legislatures in America, the pressure to respond to the Connecticut school massacre and President Barack Obama’s gun control ideas has prompted a flurry of behind-the-scenes action. Compounding the interest is the largest freshman class in Idaho history — a group eager to address constituent concerns. To manage the flow of legislation, House Speaker Scott Bedke has informally assigned a point person, Republican...

FRANKFORT — An Eastern Kentucky sheriff said Saturday that he will not enforce any new gun control laws that he considers unconstitutional. Asked whether such a stance makes him more a judge than a law-enforcement official, Jackson County Sheriff Denny Peyman said he has "a team of attorneys to step up with me if necessary to be sure the Second Amendment is upheld." "I consider this a moral obligation," he said. Peyman, who has been sheriff of Jackson County for two years and is a member of the National Rifle Association, is garnering national attention and support from gun rights...

"My office will not comply with any federal actions which violate the United States Constitution or the Kentucky Constitution which I swore to uphold," Jackson County Sheriff Denny Peyman said. FRANKFORT -- An Eastern Kentucky sheriff said Saturday that he will not enforce any new gun control laws that he considers unconstitutional. Asked whether such a stance makes him more a judge than a law-enforcement official, Jackson County Sheriff Denny Peyman said he has "a team of attorneys to step up with me if necessary to be sure the Second Amendment is upheld." "I consider this a moral obligation," he...

KOOTENAI COUNTY, Idaho -- Two people were hurt after trying to start a fire using exploding target material Friday afternoon. The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office said the men had spent the day in an area commonly referred to as the Hayden Creek shooting pit, when they decided to start a fire using some of their leftover exploding material as an accelerant. When one of them came close to the fire with the materials in a bag, the materials exploded, severally injuring the man’s hand. Another man suffered lower body injuries. Deputies said the men drove themselves to a convenience store...

Idaho Republican Rep. Raul Labrador said on Sunday that he’s “not really sure” Democrats want to avoid going over the fiscal cliff, and that they’re like “bank robbers” who want to raise taxes on everyone. … “They have tried to get us (Republicans) to fight against each other on taxes when—I’m not really sure that they don’t want to go over the fiscal cliff,” he said. “They want to expand the growth of government. They need more revenues. You know, Democrats are like bank robbers. You don’t have the money in the 2 percent—the money is in the 100 percent....

REXBURG, Idaho (AP) — About 100 workers have lost their jobs after an eastern Idaho call center in Rexburg closed. The Standard Journal reports that the Opinionology Market Research Call Center closed on Wednesday. Opinionology and Survey Sampling International merged last year...