Free Republic

Harold Simmons, a billionaire who helped finance the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth attack ads against Senator John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election and donated substantially to other conservative causes, died on Saturday in Dallas. He was 82. His death was confirmed by Greg Abbott, the Texas attorney general, in a statement. Mr. Simmons, who started out in business with a single drugstore in Dallas, became a buyout investor and made his fortune by buying stakes in major companies. This year, Forbes magazine estimated his net worth at $10 billion. He was one of the largest donors in the...

Twelve-year-old Jason Penate spent the holidays hanging close by his father. They picked out a Christmas tree and decorated the front window of their Gainesville, Va., home with candy canes, and Jason tried very hard not to think about whether his father would still be here in the new year. Jorge Penate, a Guatemalan national who came to the United States illegally in 1997, has a hearing scheduled Monday that will determine whether he can stay in the country. A drunken driving arrest two years ago launched deportation proceedings and cast his family’s future into uncertainty.Jason wrote a letter to...

Billionaire Harold Simmons died Saturday night at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, says wife Annette. He was 82. Annette Simmons tells our Alan Peppard that the East Texas native, who currently sits at No. 40 on Forbes’ list of the 400 wealthiest Americans, has been “very sick for the last two weeks,” and in Baylor’s intensive care unit for the last eight days. She did not reveal the specific cause of death. “He’s had a hard time,” said Annette of her husband, namesake of the foundation that has dispensed hundreds of millions to local organizations.

In his press conference on December 20th, President Obama urged the House of Representatives to support the Senate’s immigration bill, which passed 68-32 in late June. Among the concerns cited by Americans who oppose reform are that immigrants will take their jobs, drive down wages, increase criminal activity, burden the welfare system, and reshape the cultural dynamic of the country. These concerns are mostly ill-founded. The legitimate concerns have real solutions, and a more open immigration policy will be a net benefit for all Americans... Highlights from Article: - A 2013 study by the American Action Forum states that "immigration...

Even though Karl Rove's American Crossroads brand has been damaged after the group declared war against conservative candidates, the group will reportedly try to influence the 2014 midterm elections by bullying campaigns and creating groups that, on the surface, do not seem to be affiliated with them.

Karl Rove, the voice of the Republican donor class, is predicting that tea party-backed primary candidates will lose nearly all their primary fights against business-backed GOP politicians during 2014. “Every Republican senator and virtually every representative challenged in a primary as insufficiently conservative will win,” Rove wrote in a Dec. 26 blog post, an excerpt of which appeared in The Wall Street Journal. The op-ed listed his predictions about American politics in 2014. Rove’s business vs. tea party prediction is somewhat self-serving — he’s positioned himself as a leader of the GOP-affiliated donors and businesses who are facing criticism from...

<p>It's time to see how well I did with my predictions for 2013 and to offer a set of 2014 forecasts.</p> <p>I got 10 predictions for this year right. President Obama's job approval rating did drop—from 53% at year's start to 40% this week. There was a new administration scandal, the most significant being the IRS targeting of conservative groups. And ObamaCare's implementation was indeed "ragged and ugly" and "a continuing political advantage to Republicans" as forecast.</p>

Yes, the Republican National Committee WASHINGTON – Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus and RNC Co-Chairman Sharon Day released the following statement commemorating Kwanzaa: “I want to extend my best wishes to all who are celebrating Kwanzaa,” said Chairman Priebus. “For families coming together to mark the occasion, I hope it is a joyous time of celebration with loved ones–and a time of meaningful reflection ahead of the New Year.” “From December 26 through January 1, many families will take time to celebrate African culture and history. Kwanzaa is a wonderful opportunity for all of us to honor the...

Above: Bob Clark, director of classic "A Christmas Story",and his son were killed by a drunk illegal alien on 4/4/2007. by John HillFor many Americans, Christmas means something else besides faith, family, food (and presents). It means movies: It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol (pick one), Miracle on 34th Street. On Christmas I often watch a modern classic: A Christmas Story, the irreverent adaptation of Jean Shepherd's memoir of Christmas memories from childhood. Many of our readers also caught this extraordinary film (at least) once yesterday, as the cable network TBS shows it non-stop for 24 hours every year at Christmas....

Karl Rove and more than one hundred Republican donors sent a letter to Republican members of Congress on Tuesday, urging them to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill that would include, among other provisions, granting "legal status" to illegal aliens who meet certain criteria. Anticipating that lawmakers will face resistance to the bill when they go home for the August recess, the letter marks the escalation of a campaign in which Republican leaders and donors are pressuring House Republicans to act on an immigration reform bill. The letter begins: “We write to urge you to take action to fix our...

Political strategist Karl Rove congratulated himself on Wednesday for getting 10 predictions right for this year—and he forecast that Republicans will keep control of the House of Representatives and end up with as many as 51 seats in the Senate in next year’s congressional elections. For 2014, President Barack Obama’s “disapproval rating will end higher than this week’s 53 percent” in the Gallup poll, Rove said in an op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal. “Republicans will keep the House with a modest pickup of four to six seats. The GOP will most likely end up with 50 or 51...

A decade ago, Karl Rove was President George W. Bush's right-hand man and one of the most powerful political figures in America. And even after his fortunes briefly dipped at the end of the Bush era, Rove roared to life again, tapping into and fueling the Tea Party movement through his massive super PAC, American Crossroads. But today, with a GOP civil war raging between establishment types and upstart conservatives in the mold of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R), Rove's once-strong influence has begun to wane. An embodiment of the Bush-era Republicans who have fallen out of favor of late,...

Well, John ("Cornhole") Cornyn has wasted no time going after Steve Stockman. We knew Steve was vulnerable and this was going to come, but, who would have thought the attacks would come this early in the campaign. This article re: The FEC looking into Stockman's Campaign Contributions was, of all places, on the FRONT PAGE of the Beaumont (TX) Enterprise newspaper today. This will be a very nasty Primary; tighten your seat belts folks. http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/default/article/FEC-questions-excessive-donations-to-Stockman-5092723.php

An illegal alien suspected of causing a traffic accident and killing movie director Bob Clark, whose “A Christmas Story” has come alongside “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Miracle on 34th Street” as a perennial holiday must-watch, has been placed under an immigration hold by federal authorities. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency placed the hold on Hector Velazquez-Nava, 24, a Mexican national who was living in Los Angeles as an illegal immigrant, according to a report from Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee. Agency spokeswoman Virginia Kice said the hold means Valezquez-Nava, when his Los Angeles court proceedings...

Gov. Chris Christie today signed landmark legislation granting thousands of students who grew up in New Jersey but are in the country illegally the benefit of in-state tuition rates at all public colleges and universities. Christie's signature marks the end of a public tug-of-war over the measure, deemed the "Dream Act", which was pared down in its final days in order for Democrats to gain the governor's approval. Both sides hailed the compromise as a historic achievement. A spokesman for Christie, Colin Reed, said in a statement "the governor signed the legislation privately earlier today, and there will be a...

The attacks have begun. The Republican establishment in the U.S.A. has now actually started the shooting war in the 2014 primary elections they have been threatening against conservative candidates for Congress. “Hopefully we’ll go into eight to 10 races and beat the snot out of them,” said former Rep. Steve LaTourette of Ohio. His new political group, Defending Main Street, plans to raise $8 million to defeat tea-party candidates and elect moderate Republicans instead. “We’re going to be very aggressive and we’re going to get in their faces.” LaTourette was a close ally of moderate Republican Speaker John Boehner in...

A conservative nonprofit is launching a new ad touting Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) as partners in the fight against ObamaCare. The ad, from Kentucky Opportunity Coalition, is backed by a $382,000 buy and will run for a week across the state. “For Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, fighting ObamaCare isn’t about politics. It’s a fight for the Kentucky families who are losing their health coverage,” the ad says. It adds that the two are “working together to stop ObamaCare.” The spot could give McConnell some cover on his right flank, where he faces a challenge...

Both sides in the immigration debate are watching Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) closely after Thursday evening’s emphatic House vote in favor of a bipartisan budget deal. The calculus is clear in the minds of immigration reform advocates. They believe Boehner wants to get some kind of deal done on immigration, and any development that replenishes his political capital helps their cause. That Boehner’s budget victory came as he took on the outside conservative groups that have hampered his ability to lead his conference is an added plus. “Boehner’s power in the conference is going to be improved,” said Tamar Jacoby,...

House Speaker John Boehner is fed up with relentless criticism from outside conservative groups questioning his leadership and blasting a bipartisan budget proposal -- and he's not taking it anymore. "I don't care what they do," Boehner said when asked on Thursday whether his rhetorical flogging of these tea party backed groups over the past two days amounted to a directive for them to cool it. Boehner said on Wednesday that they were "misleading their followers." On Thursday, he escalated the rhetoric and effectively dismissed them. "Frankly, I just think that they've lost all credibility." The public dressing down made...

GOP senators have aggressively tried to keep their conservative base at bay to ensure there’s virtually no space on their right for a primary foe to emerge. That didn’t work so well. Republican primary challengers are lining up to take on sitting senators next year in eight of the 12 races involving sitting GOP senators, gunning for party leaders like Mitch McConnell in Kentucky, veterans like Thad Cochran in Mississippi and Pat Roberts in Kansas and deal-makers like Lindsey Graham in South Carolina. Texas Sen. John Cornyn became the latest target this week, when a fiercely conservative congressman, Steve Stockman,...