Free Republic

Two junior conservatives blindsided Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Thursday by attempting to force a vote on an amendment that could derail the bipartisan Iran nuclear review bill. Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who is running for president, surprised McConnell by leapfrogging ahead of colleagues waiting for chances to get votes on their amendments. They used a procedural maneuver to force McConnell to schedule a vote on an amendment requiring Iran to recognize Israel’s right to exist as part of any nuclear deal. McConnell’s only way of avoiding the controversial amendment would be to file a...

Senators on Wednesday blocked a Republican push to tie Iran's support of terrorism to a final deal on the country's nuclear program. Senators voted 45-54 on the amendment from Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), which would have required President Obama to certify as part of a diplomatic deal that Iran hasn't carried out or directly supported an act of terror against the United States or a U.S. citizen. Republican Sens. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), Dan Coats (Ind.), Bob Corker (Tenn.), David Perdue (R-Ga.), Jeff Flake (Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Orrin Hatch (Utah) and John McCain (Ariz.) voted with Democrats against the amendment....

1. Ocho Ocho Ocho 50-1 2. Carpe Diem 8-1 3. Materiality 12-1 4. Tencendur 30-1 5. Danzig Moon 30-1 6. Mubtaahij 20-1 7. El Kabeir 30-1 8. Dortmund 3-1 9. Bolo 30-1 10. Firing Line 12-1 11. Sanford 30-1 12. International Star 20-1 13. Itsaknockout 30-1 14. Keen ice 50-1 15. Frosted 15-1 16. War Story 50-1 17. Mr. Z 50-1 18. American Pharoah 5-2 19. Upstart 15-1 20. Far Right 30-1

A Christian print shop owner who refused to print pro-LGBT T-shirts in 2012 has the constitutional right not to print messages that conflict with his Christian beliefs, a Kentucky court ruled on Monday. After Blaine Adamson, the managing owner of a Lexington print shop called Hands on Originals, refused to print T-shirts for Lexington's 2012 gay pride festival, he was found to be guilty of discrimination by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission last year, even though doing so would have violated his religious conviction. Additionally, the print shop was ordered to serve future requests from LGBT activists. The...

<p>Interesting, not because it’s a surprise that Ron Paul’s son feels this way — remember this? — but because this is a subject that every Republican in the field, Rand included, would probably prefer to avoid during the primaries.</p> <p>Or am I wrong about that? Could this be a smart play for Paul, especially given how it’ll make Jeb Bush squirm?</p>

Republican Sen. David Vitter’s bid to subpoena details about Congress’s treatment under Obamacare bitterly divided his own party Thursday, with five GOP senators balking at his attempt to force the D.C. health exchange to name who signed off on Capitol Hill’s use of the city’s insurance portal. Mr. Vitter, of Louisiana and chairman of the Small Business Committee, swiftly condemned his colleagues for voting with committee Democrats to reject his maneuver, 5 to 14. He said Congress’s arrangement with the city’s small-business exchange, or “SHOP,” provides lawmakers and staff with financial perks above and beyond what regular Obamacare customers can...

Kentucky authorities indicted nine people Tuesday on charges of spiriting away what one prosecutor called more bourbon whiskey than a person could drink in a lifetime. Prosecutors say the scheme led by rogue distillery workers lasted for years and involved tens of thousands of dollars' worth of whiskey but began to unravel when whiskey barrels were discovered behind a shed.

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 20, 2015 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Are you now, or were you ever, willing to attend a same-sex “wedding”? That seems to be the question lighting up the Republican presidential field, as GOP hopefuls who may one day have their finger on the nuclear button are asked the query over and over again.So far, the Republican hopefuls' answers are yes, no, I have (sort of), and...unclear.The media began by asking Florida's U.S. senator, Marco Rubio, if he would attend a homosexual 'wedding' ceremony, especially if he were invited by a relative or close friend.“If there’s somebody that I love...

If Ron Paul weren’t Ron Paul, I’d assume this denunciation was just a stunt orchestrated by him and Rand to put some foreign-policy distance between them before the primaries. Are you a mainstream conservative worried that President Rand would be too much like Ron in office? Well, here you go. Let your conscience be eased. The nation’s most famous isolationist thinks his boy’s a bit of a warmonger. But c’mon. With the possible exception of his vote for the Afghanistan AUMF in 2001, has Ron Paul ever endorsed a position that he didn’t sincerely hold? Of course he thinks the...

AUSTIN - Well, this could make for an awkward conversation at Thanksgiving dinner. Former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul on Saturday dismissed as a "joke" the demand by U.S. senators of his party that they must approve a potential agreement over the Middle East country's nuclear capabilities. "I strongly disagree with the motivation of that statement made by so many members of Congress, especially in the Senate," Paul said at a conference on liberty at the University of Texas at Austin, presumably referring to an open letter senators sent to Iranian officials describing any deal not approved by them as...

Sen. Rand Paul’s campaign for the presidency is not more than a few days old and already his mercurial father, former Rep. Ron Paul, himself a former presidential candidate, is starting to make trouble for his son. According to a Saturday story in the Houston Chronicle, the elder Paul called the famous letter that 47 Republican senators, including the younger Paul, sent to the Iranian mullahs “a joke.” The letter informed the Iranian leadership that any agreement that they reached with President Obama concerning Iran’s nuclear bomb program would not outlast the Obama presidency lacking congressional ratification.

AUSTIN ...Former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul on Saturday dismissed as a "joke" the demand by U.S. senators of his party that they must approve a potential agreement over the Middle East country's nuclear capabilities. "I strongly disagree with the motivation of that statement made by so many members of Congress, especially in the Senate," Paul said at a conference on liberty at the University of Texas at Austin, presumably referring to an open letter senators sent to Iranian officials describing any deal not approved by them as informal..... "They're out to stop peace," he said. "They're terrified that peace...

“The difference is purely in implementation. If you had a philosophical discussion on what the world should look like, there would be no difference.”(AUDIO-AT-LINK) Rand Paul’s brother says that when it comes to ideology, there’s “no difference” between his brother, the Kentucky senator and Republican presidential candidate, and his father, the former congressman and three-time presidential candidate. Ronnie Paul, the eldest son of the former congressman and sometimes-surrogate for his brother, was speaking with libertarian podcaster Israel Anderson. He said that both his brother and father held the same beliefs, there’s just a difference in the implementation of how to...

Kentucky State Police Post 9 responded to a call Monday evening about an intoxicated horse rider on U.S. 23. When they arrived, they found Michael Kimmel, 40, of Betsy Layne, matching the description. The arrest report, filed by Trooper J. Gabbard, says he was ordered to stop, but instead he ran down an embankment, fleeing on foot, wearing only a brown hat, jeans, and boots. During the search for the suspect, police say the found his clothing on the back porch of his own house.

On March 24th the YouTube channel “Model Pranksters” elected to upload the following video to their channel, and it becomes a prank gone horribly wrong. They apparently thought it would be a wise idea to travel to Kentucky, dress up as the murderer from the “Scream” movies, hide in the darkness, pop out with what appears to be a rifle, and point it at innocent people. Watch what happens when he chooses the wrong guy to scare, and then nearly wets himself. I wish I could say I laughed at that video while watching it, but I didn’t. Frankly I...

Republican Sen. Rand Paul split with senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio to vote for a healthcare bill Tuesday night that will add about half a trillion dollars to the national debt over the next several decades.Paul sided with the overwhelming majority of senators and representatives who voted for the bill, in a decision almost certain to come up in the primary race, where he is currently joined by Cruz and Rubio.The “doc-fix” bill solves a recurring problem in the way Medicare payments are made to doctors, extends a children’s health insurance program, and requires higher-income seniors to pay higher...

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....

Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky football players were involved in a pair of altercations on the same night in January, and video both was released on Tuesday. One video, shot by a security camera at an EKU dormitory, shows a man identified as Eastern Kentucky defensive lineman Patrick Graffree punching Kentucky quarterback Drew Barker from behind. Barker then falls across a desk and eventually gets to his feet.

Outrage is growing over a Kentucky judge who let a home invader who robbed a family at gunpoint off with probation after openly criticizing the victims for letting their child be afraid of black men because of the crime. Judge Olu Stevens of the Jefferson Circuit Court appeared even more offended by the victim impact statements offered by the family who was robbed than he was by the fact that a crime had been committed at all. Now, a movement is afoot to have the judge removed from office. According to the Louisville Courier-Journal, Jordan and Tommy Gray were held...

Talk about blaming the victims! Outrage is growing over a Kentucky judge who let a home invader who robbed a family at gunpoint off with probation after a openly criticizing the victims for letting their child be afraid of black men because of the crime. Judge Olu Stevens of the Jefferson Circuit Court appeared even more offended by the victim impact statements offered by the family who was robbed than he was by the fact that a crime had been committed at all.