Free Republic

With President Obama again pushing immigration reform, Idaho Republican Rep. Raul Labrador says it would be foolish for House Republicans to pass immigration reform and bring it to a conference committee with the Senate-passed immigration bill. “You know that I believe in immigration reform, and you know that you and I have disagreed on this issue a little bit, but I will tell you I have always been — at least over the last few months — against a conference and now more than ever,” Labrador said Thursday on “The Laura Ingraham Show.” “And the reason is because I have...

SPIRIT LAKE, Idaho - Spirit Lake City Council Member James "Jimmy" Brown is facing two misdemeanor charges of Indecent Exposure and Battery. The Kootenai County Sheriff's office is investigating the alleged incident between Brown and Eric Vangemert, a Spirit Lake resident. Court documents accuse Brown of having a physical confrontation with Vangemert and exposing himself to Vangemert's wife and saying, "This is what a real man looks like".

Idaho GOP Rep. Raul Labrador was back in front of the TV cameras this morning, this time appearing on ABC's This Week With George Stephanopoulos. "We're four days away from reaching the debt ceiling. We gave the president an offer where we would extend the debt ceiling without any requirements ... and I don't see why the president is not accepting that or working with us," said Labrador. "I think it's been very difficult to work with [Obama]. He wouldn't even come to the table to negotiate." And Labrador wasted no time to bring the debate surrounding the federal government...

CNN's Anderson Cooper and Rep. Raul Labrador got into a heated debate Monday night on "Anderson Cooper 360" as Cooper pressed Labrador on why Republicans aren't allowing a vote on a "clean continuing resolution" to stop the budget impasse. "But why should we?" the Idaho Republican asked. "Because that's how things work," Cooper said. "Your job is to vote on things." "So when Nancy Pelosi was the speaker of the House you asked her to vote on things that the Republican Party wanted?" Labrador responded. "But all of a sudden, just because you don't like the fact that the Republicans...

Idaho Republican Rep. Mike Simpson was for chipping away at Obamacare during the continuing resolution fight before he was against it. On Tuesday, the GOP congressman told a Capitol Hill publication that he supports voting for a continuing resolution to stop the partial government shutdown — even without provisions defunding, delaying or stopping parts of President Barack Obama’s health care law. “I’d vote for a clean [continuing resolution] because I don’t think this is a strategy that works,” Simpson told Roll Call. “I think the strategy that works is on the debt ceiling.”

Enough with the terrorism references already. Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) excoriated House Republicans Wednesday evening, including fellow Californian Rep. Tom McClintock, for waging a ‘jihad’ against American citizens for voting to defund Obamacare in the opening rounds of the fight to extend government spending. The outrageous remark was in the context of a House debate over a Republican-backed ‘piecemeal’ measure to fund the National Park Service, among other programs — McClintock had expressed concerns about the effects of a government shutdown on addressing an ongoing wildfire in Yosemite National Park. “The gentleman from California came and said the towns around...

As the 2013 season of devastating wildfires continues to rage across the American West, the question of arson as a form of major terrorism is again being raised. Already this year, 35,440 reported fires have burned a total of 3.9 million acres, with a quarter-million acres scorched the iconic Yosemite National Park. Large blazes continue to burn in several states, with six alive in Idaho, five each in California and Montana, and one each in Alaska, Louisiana, Oregon, Texas and Washington. The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, says at this time last year, 45,278 fires had burned 7.9...

Attorney Bryan Smith earned the Club for Growth’s first major endorsement of the 2014 cycle, but he said he made the decision to challenge one of Speaker John A. Boehner’s top allies in Congress independently of the cash-flush, conservative group. ....... Smith is challenging eight-term Republican Rep. Mike Simpson for Idaho’s 2nd District. He got the Club for Growth’s attention after the group launched a campaign against several Republican incumbents, including Simpson, called “Primary My Congressman.” ....... So if Smith makes it to Congress, would he back Boehner in a leadership race? “We’re talking about an event that would take...

“Ruby Ridge” used to refer to a geographical location in the state of Idaho, but after an incident that took place there 10 years ago on Aug. 21, the phrase has come to refer to a scandalous series of events that opened the eyes of many people to the inner workings of the federal government, including the vaunted Federal Bureau of Investigation. Now that 10 years have passed, the feds will accelerate their ongoing effort to “move forward” and have the scandal declared “ancient history.” But the Ruby Ridge episode should not be soon forgotten.On August 21, 1992 a paramilitary...

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho -- A southeastern Idaho ranch lost 176 sheep as the animals ran in fear from two wolves that chased through a herd of about 2,400 animals south of Victor....

San Diego Sheriff's Department says 16-year-old Hannah Anderson found safe in Idaho. San Diego Sheriff Bill Gore said the suspect in the massive Amber Alert case was shot and killed. Hannah Anderson was successfully rescued and "appears to be in good shape," according to Gore. Check back for updates.

San Diego Sheriff's Department says 16-year-old Hannah Anderson found safe in Idaho. San Diego Sheriff Bill Gore said the suspect in the massive Amber Alert case was shot and killed.

Some of the GOP's most senior senators made it on the National Journal's list of "Top 10 lawmakers who could lose a primary next year." Minority leader Mitch McConnell, South Carolina's Lindsey Graham and Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi have been officially marked as "in danger" by the website, along with Idaho Republican Rep Mike Simpson and Democrat Brian Schatz from Hawaii. McConnell, the 71-year-old Senate stalwart who entered the chamber in 1985, faces tea partier Matt Bevin in the primary, with Alison Lundergan Grimes running as a Democrat. His campaign manager Jesse Benton has boasted "there is absolutely no risk...

SAN DIEGO (AP) - A car belonging to the suspect in the disappearance of a teenage girl in California has been found in Idaho, authorities said on Friday. San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore also said that horseback riders reported seeing two people matching the description of the suspect and girl in the Cascade area 70 miles northeast of Boise on Wednesday.

In South Carolina, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham has been attacked in television ads for his support of immigration reform. In Tennessee, GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander is ducking criticism from Tea Party groups that his overall voting record is too moderate. Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, faces angry conservatives in his state for not joining an effort by some in his party to block the federal budget unless it defunds Obamacare. For these Republicans, the only uniting factor is that the criticism is coming from their own party. The reasons they are under attack vary from one group to...

While those of us who see the injustice, ponder the outcome, reconstruct events in our head, and search for answers, the real problem is not the system it is the lack of integrity of those that we trust within the process. Humanity and Justice call for us to answer the question, how can a child be killed by someone we know was the aggressor and six jurors return with not guilty? Many people thought this was the worst thing that could have happened, but it was Sybrina Fulton’s words that brought sobriety to us, the worst thing that could have...

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...