Free Republic

In our federal system, states should be able to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Friday joined an amicus brief on behalf of 57 members of Congress in support of the right of states to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. The brief was filed in four cases that the Supreme Court will jointly hear on April 28, 2015, in which same-sex couples challenge the marriage laws of Ohio, Tennessee, Michigan, and Kentucky, all of which were upheld by the U.S....

Forty-seven Senate Republicans are signaling in an open letter to Iran and the White House that a deal over Tehran’s nuclear program will be at risk once President Obama leaves office. “It has come to our attention while observing your nuclear negotiations with our government that you may not fully understand our constitutional system,” the senators wrote in the letter, which was first reported by Bloomberg. “Thus, we are writing to bring to your attention two features of our Constitution — the power to make binding international agreements and the different character of federal offices — which you should seriously...

According to Sen. Jim Inhofe, there may be enough Democratic votes to override President Barack Obama’s expected veto of legislation to authorize construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. The Oklahoma Republican said that Democrats who survived their party's big defeat in the midterm elections want to keep their distance from the president — so much so that many of them would vote to override a possible veto on the pipeline. "After the beating the Democrats took, keep in mind we have another election coming up in 2016," Inhofe told WMAL Radio on Thursday, The Washington Free Beacon reported. "There are...

In handing Republicans control of the Senate on Tuesday, Americans effectively voted for the party's hostile plans against President Barack Obama’s environmental legacy. Their votes also put the Senate's environment and climate policy into the hands of the worst science-denier in national politics: Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, who is almost certainly the next chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Inhofe claimed in 2003 that global warming might help humanity. “It's also important to question whether global warming is even a problem for human existence. Thus far no one has seriously demonstrated any scientific proof that increased global...

On Tuesday night, Republicans won big: They picked up governorships in blue states like Maryland, Massachusetts, and Illinois, and they held House seats in competitive districts with embarrassing incumbents like Michael Grimm of New York, who physically threatened a reporter and is under indictment for tax evasion. But their biggest win by far was taking control of the U.S. Senate. As of this writing, Republicans had already secured 52 Senate seats, thanks to knocking off Democratic incumbents or replacing retiring Democrats in Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Montana, North Carolina, South Dakota, and West Virginia. Another GOP pick up is probable in...

Here is an exclusive and detailed account of the UCLA Hammer Museum event featuring hokey stick inventor Michael Mann.This event was notable even before this report for: UCLA taking away Michael Mann’s false Nobel prize; andWeather Channel Founder John Coleman’s letter to UCLA denouncing warmism and demanding equal time for skeptics. Report on Octber 23, 2014 UCLA Hammer Museum Event “Tackling Climate Change Nationally and Globally” By Michael Greer (@thetalentscout) October 24, 2014Last night I went to the Hammer Museum to hear Michael Mann of Penn State and Brenda Ekwurzel of the Union of Concerned Scientists speak about global warming....

A bipartisan group of senators from across the political spectrum—from Elizabeth Warren and Patrick J. Leahy to Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio—wants President Barack Obama to speak out and act to support Hong Kong’s democracy movement.They don’t specify exactly what they want Obama to do—they say “demonstrable, meaningful steps”—but note that a 1992 law “authorizes you to suspend trade and economic provisions should Beijing not provide sufficient autonomy for Hong Kong.”Leahy, the Vermont Democrat who is president pro tempore and Judiciary chairman, leads the letter with Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Rubio.“The people of Hong Kong have sent a strong...

Russia from supplying some 30 helicopters to Afghanistan's air force. The Pentagon has a $553.8 million contract with Russian arms supplier Rosoboronexport to provide the Mi-17 transport helicopters to Afghan forces. U.S. forces are currently training the Afghan air force on the aircraft. However, there are bipartisan proposals in both the House and Senate to curtail that contract, with lawmakers arguing that continuing the contract benefits Russia even as it takes aggressive moves in Ukraine. During a hearing on the nomination of top military officials, Inhofe questioned Army Gen. John Campbell, the president's pick for U.S. and NATO commander in...

Nashville, TN – Today, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham introduced the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The legislation currently has 33 cosponsors – but Senator Alexander is not one of them. Conservative Senate candidate Joe Carr called on Senator Alexander to change his stance and add himself as a co-sponsor. “I’m strongly pro-life and believe it’s imperative the Senate pass this important piece of legislation. When Senator Graham announced his co-sponsors and Senator Alexander’s name was missing, I was disappointed. I am hoping Senator Alexander will change his stance and add himself as a co-sponsor. This legislation is too...

Sen. Jim Inhofe underwent emergency heart surgery in Tulsa on Friday after a routine test showed extreme blockage in five arteries. Inhofe had quadruple bypass surgery and was hospitalized at St. John Medical Center. The Tulsa Republican said in an interview from the hospital Monday he felt great and was expecting to go home Tuesday. He said he'd return to Washington as soon as possible. Inhofe, 78, said he has never had any kind of heart trouble and hadn't felt any symptoms of the blocked arteries. The senator said he had a virtual colonoscopy last week. After a doctor looked...

Four high-ranking Republican lawmakers criticized the Obama administration on Friday for three failed tests of the country's missile-defense system, saying budget cuts and neglect are to blame. Sens. James Inhofe, R-Okla., and Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., along with Reps. Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif., and Mike Rogers, R-Ala., sent Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel a letter faulting President Obama for allegedly gambling with national security by cutting funding to the program. They claim this hampered the ability to conduct vital tests needed to make sure the "ground-based midcourse defense system" (GMD) worked properly and conduct regular maintenance. The last successful GMD intercept test...

The Senate on Wednesday rejected a Republican bid to turn the federal food stamp program over to the states. The current program, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, is administered by the Agriculture Department and federal dollars are unlimited as long as recipients qualify. The program cost $78 billion last year, more than double the price in 2008. A proposal by Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., to a wide-ranging farm bill would have converted the program into grants to states, which could decide how to use the money, with certain restrictions. The Senate rejected the amendment 60-36. …

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., said that Hillary Clinton showed a “forceful attitude” not usually heard from women when she blew up in January’s Senate hearings on Benghazi, in response to repeated questions about the State Department’s initial claims that the attacks were the result of protests. “I think that she has gotten by with that type of a forceful attitude, something that’s not normally accustomed — that you don’t hear from women as much as you do men. And she came out so forcefully, and you could tell that it was orchestrated at the time that she said it,” Inhofe...

The top-ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee said President Barack Obama could possibly be impeached over what happened in Benghazi. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) said in a radio interview Thursday that “of all the great cover-ups in history” — including the Pentagon papers, Iran-Contra and Watergate — Benghazi “is going to go down as most serious, most egregious cover-up in American history.” “We may be starting to use the I-word before too long,” Inhofe said on the Las Vegas-based “Rusty Humphries Show.” “The I-word meaning impeachment?” Humphries asked. “Yeah,” Inhofe confirmed. When Humphries questioned the likelihood of impeachment,...

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) suggested that President Obama could be impeached over what he alleged was a White House cover-up after last year’s attack in Benghazi, Libya. Inhofe, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in an interview Thursday with “The Rusty Humphries Show” that impeachment would become an issue soon over the “greatest cover-up in American history.” “People may be starting to use the I-word before too long,” Inhofe said. “The I-word meaning impeachment?” Humphries asked. “Yeah,” Inhofe responded. “Of all the great cover-ups in history — the Pentagon papers, Iran-Contra, Watergate, all the rest of...

Senate votes on climate change and the Keystone XL oil pipeline laid bare divisions among Democrats — and underscored why the White House, not Congress, will be where the critical climate decisions reside in President Obama’s second term.Several votes during the freewheeling debate over a nonbinding budget plan provided a political barometer of where the chamber, including vulnerable Democrats, stand on the topics. Advocates of the proposed pipeline scored a symbolic victory Friday when 62 lawmakers voted for an amendment backing the project to bring oil from Canadian tar sands projects to Gulf Coast refineries. Seventeen Democrats supported Sen....

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) on Sunday threatened to filibuster former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.)'s nomination for Defense secretary, if necessary to prevent his confirmation. “I want a 60-vote margin and you don’t have to filibuster to get that,” said Inhofe in an interview on Fox News. “I would threaten to cause a 60-vote margin. If it took a filibuster, I’d do it that way.” Inhofe, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that requiring 60 votes to confirm nominees was common and dismissed suggestions that GOP colleagues would be reluctant to back him. Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/policy-and-strategy/282153-sen-inhofe-threatens-filibuster-of-hagel#ixzz2KYLsXDEC Follow...

Rick Perry will pick up a conservative endorsement from Capitol Hill, according to a report today from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Senator James Inhofe told a Chamber of Commerce audience at the Tulsa Press Club that he plans on making good to a promise he made Rick Perry a year ago to be the first to endorse him for President: “I called Rick Perry a year ago and told him, ‘If you’re running for president, I’ll be the first to endorse you,’” Inhofe said at a State Chamber of Commerce breakfast at the Tulsa Press Club.“I’m going to be that person on...

Newly released Federal Aviation Administration documents and audiotapes shed a scary new light on a bizarre incident late last year during which U.S. Senator James Inhofe landed his Cessna on a closed runway at a south Texas airport, scattering construction workers who ran for their lives as the politician’s plane hopscotched over them and six vehicles.

New calculations applied to a U.S. Senate report reveal the Environmental Protection Agency's plan to combat global warming through regulation of greenhouse gases would theoretically take over $700 trillion, seven times the world's gross production, to drop the earth's temperature only 1 degree Celsius. The report released last year by Sen. James Ihnofe, R-Okla., then-ranking minority member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, quotes the EPA's own stats and experts to break down the numbers, including one researcher who called the Obama administration's plan "absurd." Citing a study by the EPA's Dr. Linda M. Chappell and various...