Free Republic

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said Tuesday that he cannot support Sen. Kelly Ayotte's (R-N.H.) bill to repeal $6 billion in cuts to military pensions because of the way it offsets the costs. Levin initially told reporters Tuesday that he would back Ayotte's bill, providing a big boost to the effort to reverse the military retiree cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) reduction included in the last month’s budget deal. But a Levin aide said that the Armed Services chairman endorsed Ayotte's bill before realizing that it restored the cuts by preventing illegal immigrants from claiming a child tax credit....

The conservative group Ending Spending may have premiered the ad that nationalizes the 2014 midterm elections around Obamacare. The 30-second killer ad was produced by Republican media consultant Larry McCarthy and goes after Jeanne Shaheen, the first-term Democratic Senator from New Hampshire who is likely to face former GOP Senator Scott Brown next year. The ad begins with footage of Shaheen on the Senate floor echoing President Obama by saying, “if you like your insurance you can keep it.” An overlay graphic points out that Obama was given the “Lie of the Year” award from a fact-checking group for that...

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., announced Tuesday that she will be introducing legislation to roll back provisions in the pending budget deal that would cut military retirement benefits by reducing cost-of-living adjustments. Shaheen, who is up for re-election in 2014, said that the plan would be paid for by closing “select corporate tax loopholes,” even though Republicans resisted doing so in the budget agreement that has yet to pass the Senate. “This bipartisan budget agreement will create economic certainty for small businesses, help promote job creation, and protect our country from another government shutdown but like I’ve said before, it’s not...

Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander (R) Montana Senator Max Baucus (D) Alaska Senator Mark Begich (D) Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss (R) Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran (R) Maine Senator Susan Collins (R) Texas Senator John Cornyn (R) Massachusetts Senator William "Mo" Cowan (D) Illinois Senator Dick Durbin (D) Wyoming Senator Mike Enzi (R) Minnesota Senator Al Franken (DFL) South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham (R) North Carolina Senator Kay Hagan (D) Iowa Senator Tom Harkin (D) Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe (R) Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns (R) South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson (D) Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu (D) Michigan Senator Carl Levin (D) Kentucky...

Senate Democrats vented their frustrations over the faulty rollout of the Affordable Care Act in a meeting Thursday with White House chief of staff Denis McDonough and other senior officials. “There’s a lot of frustration, everywhere,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said after the meeting. McDonough tried to assure angry senators he is personally taking charge of the disparate federal offices in charge of implementing the massive law, which has been plagued by technical errors. “He gave us the impression that he’s taking charge of the different elements and cracking the whip. He said to let him know if we had...

With President Obama speaking about his new federal health care law in Maryland Thursday, Republicans plan to hit vulnerable Democratic senators for supporting a government spending bill that included funding for Obamacare. The National Republican Senatorial Committee plans to blast Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La.; Kay Hagan, D-N.C.; Mark Pryor, D-Ark., Mark Begich, D-Alaska; and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., for opposing a Republican effort to defund Obamacare in a new government funding bill. All are expected to vote later this week to strip the defunding provision from the bill. "This weekend we will see the Republican Party stand with the American people...

On his radio show on Thursday night, conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt lobbied National Review columnist and occassional fill-in host for Rush Limbaugh to make a run for a New Hampshire U.S. Senate seat against the current incumbent, Democrat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. Hewitt on Friday had announced the launch of SteynforSenate.com, where one can sign a petition to encourage him to run as well as be notified how to contribute to his campaign in the event he does run. But in his regular appearance on Thursday, Steyn expressed his disappointment in the lack of the quality of candidates considering...

The party has an outside chance of winning the five or six seats it needs to retake control, but needs to find top-tier recruits in several states and is running out of time to do so. ....Here are five states where the party needs to land strong candidates to broaden the battleground and have a hope of winning back the Senate. Michigan Iowa Montana Arkansas New Hampshire

Scandal: Senate Democrats, including supporters of the Disclose Act, provided the names of groups they wanted targeted in a taxpayer-funded witch hunt overseen by an IRS employee and Obama campaign donor. Using the Citizens United case as a pretext, retiring Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., on July 27, 2012, wrote IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman to investigate 12 conservative groups he accused of violating their tax-exempt status and engaging in coordinated political activity. The groups Levin asked to be targeted for special scrutiny were Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies, Priorities U.S.A., Americans Elect, American Action Network, Americans for Prosperity, American Future Fund, Americans...

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) sent out a fundraising email on behalf of Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) after former Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) suggested he might run for Senate in New Hampshire. "If he enters this race, Jeanne will immediately become the top target of Karl Rove and the Tea Party Super PACs," Gillibrand wrote in the fundraising email sent out on Friday. "Jeanne needs our help now to prepare for the attacks from Brown and his allies. They’ve launched a 'Granitebomb' campaign to fight back." Less than 24 hours earlier Brown was asked about a possible campaign in New Hampshire....

Stopping veteran Dem retirements is top priority for Reid, SchumerBy Alexander Bolton - 11/25/12 06:00 AM ET One of the highest immediate political priorities for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Democratic political guru Charles Schumer (N.Y.) is to persuade veteran colleagues not to retire in 2014. Democratic sources identify four senators as most likely to retire: Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). Another possible veteran retirement is Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.), who has yet to announce his decision. But Democratic aides expect him to run...

The vid speaks for itself. Talk amongst each other!

Former Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen made her long-anticipated announcement Friday that she is running for the U.S. Senate. "We have major problems facing this country, and there is an urgent need for real change in Washington," Shaheen said in a statement to supporters. "We’ve proven in New Hampshire that we can work together to get things done. I want to take that common-sense approach to Washington and help get this country moving in the right direction," she said. If she beats the three other Democrats already running for the nomination, Shaheen is expected to face first-term Republican Sen. John Sununu,...

N o one doubts that Sen. John Sununu has a fight on his hands when he runs for re-election next year. But if former governor Jeanne Shaheen decides to challenge Sununu to a rematch, a new poll shows he could face a rout. A new Monitor poll has Shaheen, a Democrat, handily beating Sununu, a Republican, 56 percent to 34 percent. But paired against any of the Democrats currently in the race to unseat him, Sununu wins, holding a 46 percent share while the challengers' support ranges from 24 to 32 percent. "It's whether Shaheen wants to make him a...

If John Kerry becomes President he will find himself on the horns of a dilemma - which close friend to ditch when he chooses a new Secretary of State. According to today's Washington Post, Kerry would pick his national security team within a few weeks after winning the White House and two of his closest friends, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) or Richard Holbrooke reportedly want the job of running the State Department.

George Soros is an exacting  taskmaster. In return for his money, he demands productivity. What he requires of employees and business associates in the investment world, Soros also demands from the political operatives he funds. “Mr. Soros isn't just writing checks and watching,” notes Wall Street Journalreporter Jeanne Cummings. “He is also imposing a business model on the notoriously unruly world of politics. He demands objective evidence of progress, and assigned an aide to monitor the groups he supports. He studies private polls to track the impact of an anti-Bush advertising campaign, and he is delivering his money in installments,...

IT WAS LITTLE surprise that Jeanne Shaheen signed on with John Kerry’s presidential campaign. The question now is, what does this mean for Kerry? There’s no doubt that Jeanne Shaheen is an excellent campaign manager. Both in and outside of New Hampshire, Shaheen may prove effective at generating some additional support for Kerry. How much support remains to be seen. Every week it seems that more and more Democrats in New Hampshire are being caught in Howard Dean’s gravitational pull. Though polls show that undecided New Hampshire Democrats lean more toward Kerry than Dean, Kerry continues to fall behind Dean...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 — State polls showing that more than half a dozen Senate seats were still within either party's grasp prompted Republicans and Democrats today to intensify their feverish campaigns for control of the chamber. Seeking to influence the truly undecided voters — and to make sure those who have made up their minds go to the polls — both parties marshaled volunteers to ring doorbells and hand out leaflets. They also paraded big-name politicians and star-quality supporters before the cameras and drowned out commercials for consumer goods with advertisements extolling their candidates and assailing their opponents. Politicians and...

Also: a Shaheen internal poll released tonight showed Shaheen with a small lead. The poll conducted by Alan J. Quinlan of Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner Research, Inc. on October 15-16, 2002 among 500 likely November voters showed Shaheen leading Sununu 45%-43%. americanresearchgroup.comAmerican Research Group, Inc.814 Elm Street  Manchester, NH 03101603/624-4081  603/627-1746-FAX The New Hampshire Poll October 17, 2002 Republicans Continue to Hold Leads in New Hampshire as US Senate Race Tightens Republicans John Sununu, Craig Benson, Jeb Bradley, and Charles Bass continue to hold their respective leads over Democrats Jeanne Shaheen, Mark Fernald, Martha Fuller Clark, and Katrina Swett with only the race...

Keough plans to help Sununu get elected By STEPHEN SEITZ Sunday News Correspondent DUBLIN — Whither Bruce Keough? The Dublin businessman and former Republican candidate for governor came within 4,300 votes of beating Craig Benson for the nomination, despite Benson’s record spending. Keough’s strength in the contest has led many to wonder what he plans to do next. “Get John E. Sununu elected to the U.S. Senate,” Keough, 46, said Friday. “In fact, he has asked me to chair the fund-raiser with President Bush on Oct. 5 when he comes to Manchester.” Keough said he met Sununu at the Republican...