Free Republic

Democratic Assemblymember Jim Cooper, who represents the 9th District — which includes parts of Sacramento and San Joaquin counties — was found with a loaded pistol last week, Transportation Security Administration officials confirmed to Politico. Cooper, a former sheriff’s deputy, told the political news outlet he was legally able to possess a firearm in an airport. His office also said that the pistol was in his bag by accident. TSA regulations forbid the possession of a loaded firearm in checked or carry-on baggage but permit carrying a firearm and ammunition separately in checked baggage. Politico also notes that “a retired...

Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee on Sunday signed a new congressional map into law that carves up a Nashville-based Democratic district three ways in order to expand his party’s advantage. The new lines give Republicans a distinct advantage in eight of nine congressional districts, and they already forced Democratic Rep. Jim Cooper to retire after his Nashville seat moved from one that President Joe Biden won by 24 points to one that former President Donald Trump won by 11. “Despite my strength at the polls, I could not stop the General Assembly from dismembering Nashville,” Cooper said in a statement...

Fox News host Tucker Carlson's criticism of the Biden administration's handling of the crisis in Ukraine has pushed a Democratic lawmaker to ask an intelligence briefer to dig up dirt on the top-ranked cable news program in an effort to find out if the show is tied to Russia. Tennessee Rep. Jim Cooper, 65, asked the question during a closed-door briefing in Congress on Wednesday, Carlson revealed on his show Friday. 'We are not tied to Russia, of course,' Carlson said. 'It's a cable television program. He knows that. But that is not the point.'

Democratic Rep. Jim Cooper of Tennessee said Tuesday that he will retire after more than 30 years in elected office, declaring there was “no way” for him to retain his seat under a new congressional map drawn up by state Republicans. Cooper is the 29th Democrat to announce he won't seek reelection to the chamber in the fall. Now in his 16th term, he is also one of the longest-serving House Democrats to retire ahead of a challenging midterm election year for the party. His announcement comes just a day after Tennessee’s GOP-controlled General Assembly approved a new congressional map...

The environmental lobby has tried to turn climate change into a social justice issue even though its anticarbon policies disproportionately harm the poor. Honest Democrats are starting to admit this, as we saw in this week’s stunning revolt in the California legislature. Jerry Brown doesn’t have much to show for his second turn in Sacramento, and of late he has focused his legacy attention on reducing carbon emissions. The Governor hailed California as a model of green virtue at the Vatican this summer and had hoped to flaunt sweeping new anticarbon regulations at the U.N’s climate-change summit in Paris this...

November 13, 2013, 02:39 pm House Dems about to 'go crazy' By Mike Lillis and Justin Sink House Democrats on Wednesday expressed increasing frustration at the Obama administration’s inability to improve the rollout of ObamaCare. Democrats said they’re worried about "being dragged into this non-stop cycle" of bad news about the ObamaCare rollout, rather than celebrating the successes of the law they helped to pass, a Democratic aide said. "They're voicing those frustrations with the administration," the aide said following a Democratic Caucus meeting where administration officials got an earful from exasperated lawmakers. ADVERTISEMENT With the House vote just two...

Democrats in House of Reps. joined J Street in supporting Obama administration's attempt to force Israel into making painful concessions Seventy-four Democrats in the House of Representatives have joined the dovish J Street organization in supporting the Obama administration's attempt to force Israel into making painful concessions to the Palestinian Authority. “In our view, support for a two-state resolution is inseparable from such support for Israel, its special relationship with the United States, and its very survival as a democratic homeland for the Jewish people,” the letter said. Seven Jewish members signed the letter, including Reps. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), John...

Blue Dog Democrat Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) said that most Americans do not understand that federal entitlements are not “bank account” programs that hold their money, adding that Social Security is not even a legal guarantee -- "Legally, they're not even promises." Cooper, asked about potential reforms to Medicare and Medicaid, said that the core problem was that the public does not understand the true nature of entitlements. “Many Americans don’t really realize that Medicare is a government program,” Cooper said at a press conference with fellow Blue Dogs on Wednesday.

House Democrats passed the 2,032-page Pelosicare bill on a near party-line vote Saturday night 220-215 (roll call here). The only Republican voting in favor of the measure was New Orleans-based Joseph Cao who has long ago proven to be a tax and spend (and spend and spend) liberal. After a week of intense arm twisting, threats and promises from party leaders, more than half of the 52 so-called conservative Blue Dog Democrats voted in favor of the over $1.3 trillion measure. These are the 28 Blue Dogs voting in favor of Pelosicare (who apparently fear the wrath of House Speaker...

Democratic Rep. Jim Cooper (Tenn.) vented to Air America about the way Speaker Nancy Pelosi was treating members who wanted to do things like read the bills being voted on. It wasn't pretty. Cooper, one of the 11 Democrats to vote against the House version of the stimulus bill, said he landed in hot water with Pelosi because he cared what was in the bill. "I got in terrible trouble with our leadership because they don’t care what’s in the bill, they just want it pass and they want it to be unanimous," he said. "They don’t mind the partisan...

Thank you for contacting me about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. President Obama gets high marks for trying to bring change to Washington, but Congress isn't living up to its end of the bargain. In the face of millions of lost jobs and an economy that continues to shut down, the House passed a bill loaded with pet projects that won't provide the jobs Americans need. Let me be clear: our economy needs immediate stimulus. That's why I called for Congress to pass President Obama's plan to cut regressive payroll taxes, invest in the nation's infrastructure and extend social...

I’m not a Hillary-hater. She’s been an outstanding senator. She hung tough on Iraq through the dark days of 2005. In this campaign, she has soldiered on bravely even though she has most of the elected Democrats, news media and the educated class rooting against her. But there are certain moments when her dark side emerges and threatens to undo the good she is trying to achieve. Her campaign tactics before the South Carolina primary were one such moment. Another, deeper in her past, involved Jim Cooper, a Democratic congressman from Tennessee. Cooper is one of the most thoughtful, cordial...

The political recriminations from the cliffhanger passage of the Central American Free Trade Agreement last week are even worse than we thought. Nancy Pelosi, the House Minority Leader, is contemplating revenge against the 15 Democrats who had the nerve to vote for hemispheric growth and progress. The San Francisco Democrat called a caucus gripe session in the wake of last Wednesday's vote, and an article in the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call suggested that Democrats who voted yes may lose their favorite committee assignments. Our John Fund reports on OpinionJournal.com that Democratic leaders are especially mad at two Black Caucus...