Free Republic

What if conservatives in Congress conceded the Republican majority leader battle in order to win the larger leadership war? After Eric Cantor’s surprise primary defeat and his subsequent announcement that he would be resigning his leadership position at the end of July, many on the right urged someone with stellar conservative credentials, like Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling, to challenge Cantor’s heir apparent, California Rep. Kevin McCarthy, for the majority leader spot. But Hensarling opted not to run and McCarthy cruised to victory Thursday after a nominal challenge by Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador. Some conservative pundits who longed for someone like...

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) is all but assured of becoming the next House majority leader after a lawmaker considered to be a strong conservative challenger declined Thursday to run in the internal GOP race. The affable McCarthy, now the No. 3 Republican in the House, is by no means the top choice among tea party lawmakers who believe the current leadership is tied too closely to the party's establishment wing. But the path for his ascent to the No. 2 spot seemed to clear Thursday as the potential challenger, Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas, said he would not seek the...

In a speech that is almost certain to stoke speculation he is running for House speaker, Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling slammed Washington insiders and special interests during an address at the Heritage Foundation Tuesday. Less than two hours after the Heritage Foundation suffered one of its harshest congressional rebukes ever — more representatives broke from the advice of Heritage Action than ever before, with only four Republicans voting against a water resources bill — Hensarling came to Heritage’s Massachusetts Avenue offices to praise the foundation and condemn a boogeyman called Washington, D.C. The Texas Republican did nothing to allay...

All of the congressional Republicans with viable 2016 presidential ambitions voted against the bill enacted overnight to reopen the government and increase federal borrowing. So did two members of the Senate GOP leadership and three members of the party’s House leadership. The opponents also included a majority of the Republicans who are chairmen of House committees and most of the members of the House GOP caucus who aspire to election to the Senate next year. While the Democrats were unified in their support for the legislation, a review of Wednesday night’s back-to-back roll calls in Congress reveals just how divided...

Senate Republicans offered to give President Barack Obama the vote he's sought on a jobs bill Tuesday, but the Democratic leader, Sen. Harry Reid, objected. "The least we can do for the president is give him a chance to have a vote on his proposal now as he has requested on numerous occasions," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said. "The suggestion that Senate Republicans are not interested in voting on his jobs bill is not true." McConnell is no fan of Obama's jobs proposal, calling it a rehash of the president's 2009 stimulus package. Obama, meanwhile, is taking his appeal...

Speaker Boehner Announces Appointments to Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction Washington (Aug 10) House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) today announced his intent to appoint the following three lawmakers to represent House Republicans on the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction: House Republican Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) Speaker Boehner has tapped Chairman Hensarling to serve as a co-chair of the joint select committee. Boehner issued the following statement regarding the appointments of Chairmen Hensarling, Camp, and Upton: “Our debt and deficits...

Virginia Tea Party activists this weekend turned up the pressure on House Majority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) over the speed at which the GOP-led Congress is looking to cut spending.  Leaders of the Virginia Tea Party Patriot Federation issued a tough statement on Sunday, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, calling on Cantor to make deeper cuts to the budget at a faster pace. "We are extremely disappointed in Eric Cantor, but not surprised," Mark K. Lloyd, the group's chairman, said in a release. "The will of the American people was pretty clear in November — cut, cut, cut spending. Apparently,...

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann dropped out of the race for House Republican Conference chair on Wednesday night, ensuring that the GOP’s leadership elections will go on without any serious competition. In a statement sent to a handful of reporters Wednesday evening, the tea party favorite said that Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling has her “enthusiastic support for his candidacy” for the top messaging post in the GOP. kX

Here is video of GOP Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling destroying MSNBC's Chris Matthews on the discussion of President Obama's deficit spending and his proposed Federal Budget. It so frustrated Chris Matthews that he resorted to an old Democrat trick, as he tried to corner Hensarling into saying he wanted to "cut" Social Security Benefits in order to balance the budget. Matthews kept putting words in Hensarling's mouth, trying to take Hensarling's conviction that we must "reform" the way we plan to deal with Social Security for those now 55 and under, and assert that "reform" equals "cut." On the merits...

A Hensarling Sandwich at CPAC by Jillian Bandes Posted: 02/08/2008 After the booing of Sen. John McCain, CPAC attendees were attacked by pundits on the right and left for dividing the Republican Party on its choice of Presidential nominees. But if Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex), had been more of a featured item at CPAC, maybe some of that criticism could have been avoided. Hensarling’s speech came right after Romney’s withdrawal announcement, but his words of reassurance on the nominee issue briefly united the thinned and raucous crowd. “When our nominee is chosen, we will be there and we will enthusiastically...

Long-suppressed tensions among House Republicans burst into full public view yesterday when 29 conservatives voted against the rules for floor debate on a $91 billion emergency spending bill for the Iraq war and Gulf Coast recovery. The fate of the rule was never in doubt — Rep. John Murtha (Pa.) led 22 of his fellow Democrats in helping GOP leaders defeat the conservative rebellion — but the open infighting comes at a bad time for House Republicans, many of whom are increasingly worried about November’s midterm election. Despite its failure to alter the massive spending bill, which the House is...

On his first big vote since being elected majority leader, Rep. John Boehner (R.-Ohio) angered House conservatives by thwarting their attempt to offset with unused government funds the $91.8 billion that President Bush has requested for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and Hurricane Katrina recovery. Boehner avoided embarrassment when the GOP won the procedural vote, 218-200. But in the process, 29 conservative Republican Study Committee members bucked their party leadership, and according to several Capitol Hill aides who spoke to HUMAN EVENTS, those members are very much displeased with Boehner. (See who opposed the bill below.) “He cut off...

The Republican Study Committee released its budget for FY 2007 "Contract with America: Renewed" this morning amidst a crowd of supporters and reporters. Rep. Mike Pence (R.-Ind.), RSC chairman, and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R.-Texas), RSC Budget & Spending Task Force chairman were backed by 18 other members of the RSC as they publicly introduced the bill during a press conference. "The time has come to level with the American people -- we are not, as a nation, living within our means," Pence said. The budget proposed by Pence’s committee is based on the "Contract with America" budget passed in 1995...

RSC Balanced Budget Released Today (3/08/06) The RSC introduced a balanced budget based on the 1995 “Contract With America” at today's 11 am press conference. 2007 RSC Budget (word version) 2007 RSC Budget (pdf version) Click here for additional information.======================================================== Also on the RSC page reflecting their activities: Supplemental Appropriations Budget Requested (3/03/06) Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), on behalf of the RSC, sent this letter to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Josh Bolten, requesting a detailed accounting of how the supplemental appropriations already provided for the War on Terror and Gulf Coast hurricane relief have been spent.

Return of 'Contract with America'? GOP lawmakers offer alternative budget to restore 'dream' Posted: March 9, 20061:00 a.m. Eastern © 2006 WorldNetDaily.com Rep. New Gingrich announces "Contract with America" in 1994 Seeking to revive the once-heralded Republican "Contract with America," a group of GOP lawmakers is offering an alternative budget that allows American families "to keep more of their own money and spend it on their own priorities rather than Washington's." Yesterday, in front of the Canon House Office Building, 25 members of the Republican Study Committee, or RSC, presented a package they call "Contract with America: Renewed." "We believe it is...

To the American People: This year’s Republican Study Committee’s budget alternative is about freedom and opportunity. It is about allowing American families to keep more of their own money and spend it on their own priorities rather than Washington’s, a reality that can only be accomplished through less government, lower taxes, less federal spending, and economic prosperity. This budget therefore is about renewal and change. In 1994, Republicans across the country embraced a legislative platform of freedom and opportunity, of getting spending under control, reducing the tax burden, and shrinking the size of the federal government. The principles of this...

RSC TO RELEASE BALANCED BUDGET IN PRESS CONFERENCE TOMORROW House Conservatives’ Budget Based on 1995 “Contract With America” Budget Washington, D.C. – Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN), chairman of the House Republican Study Committee (RSC), and Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), chairman of the RSC’s Budget and Spending Taskforce, together with other RSC members will introduce a balanced budget based on the 1995 “Contract With America” budget tomorrow. This morning the New York Times profiled the upcoming RSC Budget in an article entitled “House Conservatives Prepare Austere Alternative Budget.” See article at: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/07/politics/07spend.html. WHO: Congressmen Pence, Hensarling and members of the House...

Tomorrow, conservatives in the House of Representatives, led by Mike Pence and Jeb Hensarling, will introduce a bold budget that is modeled after the fabled mid-90's Contract with America. The conservative alternative will be a challenge to Congressional leadership in that it goes well above and beyong savings sought by the President's budget. The budget will move beyond the current $75 billion in savings to nearly $700 billion. It significantly reduces the size and scope of three federal agencies: Departments of Education, Energy and Commerce. The NY Times reports: The authors of the proposal describe it as a sequel to...

Human Events is expected to name their 2005 Man of the Year some time next week and I thought we would take a look at some of the possible contenders who helped shape the past year.2005 was very much a nascent turning point for the conservative movement and with 2008 seemingly getting closer everyday we must finsih what was started in 2005.Almost all of the candidates for Man Of the Year were part of the beginning stages of a revitalized conservative movement that was begun in 05 but will have to be finished in later years. Henry Hyde After thirty...

RUSH: Try this headline in the Boston Globe today: "GOP Embracing its Maverick." I said, "Oh, is the GOP getting friendlier with McCain?" Then the subhead says, "Tough Race Makes Chafee an Asset." You know, this Specter experience is a mistake. Why do you keep repeating history here? "Senator Lincoln Chafee hopped out of the driver's seat of his beige Toyota Prius..." I was really hooked after that line. "Senator Lincoln Chafee hopped out of the driver's seat of his beige Toyota Prius, a car with a dent on the side and 'I am electric' blazoned across the back window,...