Free Republic

On his Tuesday radio show, conservative talk show host Mark Levin said House majority whip Kevin McCarthy, who this weekend claimed Congress could soon pass a comprehensive immigration bill, has a political death wish. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m convinced the Republican leadership — particularly in the House — has a Republican death wish,” Levin said. “When you put these Mickey Mouse types in charge of the Republican Party in the House, what do you get, Mr. Producer? You get mice turds. And that’s what we have here: mice turds from the likes of [Rep.] Kevin McCarthy.” McCarthy had told CNN...

With more and more conservatives in the House rebelling against John Boehner’s increasingly questionable Speakership, Republican House leadership is now moving to quash in-house concerns by reaching across the aisle for support. [...] This is a declaration of war within the Republican ranks. And it should be deeply troubling to Republicans across the country, watching as the recently and controversially reminted House leadership continues to pursue the same political philosophy that led to a mini-rebellion in the House in January.

A House GOP source has confirmed to Breitbart News that House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy was the one who drafted the secret criteria list House Speaker John Boehner used in his purge of conservatives from House committees. The source, someone with inside knowledge of how Boehner conducted the purge, told Breitbart News that McCarthy crafted the list, which included a scorecard of where several conservative members stood on certain votes. According to the source, it’s unclear at this time whether McCarthy made the list of his own accord or if he did so at the request of somebody else in...

LOS ANGELES — This would seem a moment of great opportunity for California Republicans. The state has become a national symbol of fiscal turmoil and dysfunction, the Legislature is nearly as unpopular as Congress and Democrats control every branch of government. But instead, the state party — once a symbol of Republican hope and geographical reach and which gave the nation Ronald Reagan (and Richard M. Nixon) — is caught in a cycle of relentless decline, and appears in danger of shrinking to the rank of a minor party. “We are at a lower point than we’ve ever been,” said...

"The GOP is falling in line behind the all-but-inevitable nominee, but they're doing it with gritted teeth and a sense of obligation. Coming up with nice things to say about Mitt Romney is hard, even for his supporters. As Romney enters what seems to be the home stretch of the primary campaign, the Republican establishment is rallying around him. But the scene is less rah-rah than obligatory, with heavy sighs all around.........."

"Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, the No. 3 legislator in the U.S. House of Representatives’ Republican hierarchy, has endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for president. McCarthy, the majority whip, will serve as Romney’s statewide chairman..........."

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., has defeated fellow Republican Rep. Don Manzullo in the state's 16th District GOP congressional primary. The AP called the race for Kinzinger just after 11 p.m. Eastern time. With 85 percent of precincts reporting, Kinzinger led Manzullo 56 percent to 44 percent. The race between Kinzinger and Manzullo, forced because Illinois lost a congressional seat and state Democrats controlled the redistricting process, followed a common tea party-against-establishment trend in recent GOP primaries. But the script flipped here, with 10-term veteran Manzullo garnering the bulk of the tea party and movement conservative support while Kinzinger, a freshman,...

Speaker Boehner: House Has Now Passed More Than 20 Bipartisan Jobs Bills WASHINGTON, DC (Nov 3) House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) applauded the House for passing two more bipartisan jobs bills tonight: the Access to Capital for Job Creators Act (H.R. 2940), introduced by Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and the Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act (H.R. 2930), introduced by Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC). Boehner released the following statement: “The House has now passed more than 20 bipartisan jobs bills so far this year. The bills approved tonight will make it easier for small businesses and start-ups to access the...

House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) touted “common ground” measures to spur job creation in the GOP weekly address on Saturday. The California lawmaker – a former small business owner – took to the airwaves promoting several areas in which he says there is bipartisan agreement. “By finding ways to support small business and promote entrepreneurship, we can rev up our economy and grow the jobs we need," he said. "And this shouldn’t be an exercise of partisan gamesmanship or credit-claiming." Noting that the Congress approved three trade deals for the president’s signature last week, McCarthy says that there are...

A senior advisor to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is leaving his federal post to open a "super PAC" that can raise unlimited amounts from individuals and corporations to back conservative Republican candidates and causes. The move by John Murray, who served as Cantor's deputy chief of staff, is another indication that congressional leaders are looking to raise fund through super PACs, new, technically independent political organizations that were spawned as a result of a controversial Supreme Court decision in 2010. In an interview Wednesday, Murray confirmed that the new super PAC fundraising is intended to support efforts such as...

Well, it looks like there will be no debt ceiling hike enacted prior to August 2 at which point the money really does run out. From The Hill: "The No. 3 Republican in the House said Thursday night that he didn’t expect any surprises in the deficit debate over the weekend. “I do not see something springing this weekend,� Republican Whip Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. McCarthy pooh-poohed reports that the White House and Republican leadership are closing fast on a deal on the budget deficit and raising the debt ceiling. “There is no deal,� McCarthy...

"Why can you not get this deal?" That was the attitude of CNN's Candy Crowley on yesterday's State of the Union. She acted like if only the Republicans were "reasonable" and accepted some "revenue" enhancements, then a deficit deal could be cut. House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy set her straight on why the deal as presented was unacceptable. Oh, Candy tried and tried to make a deficit deal agreement seem reasonable but McCarthy kept knocking her assertions out of the ball park as you can see in the interview video below the fold. Candy led off by accusing House Speaker...

A top aide to House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy on Thursday suggested Republicans who have problems with the continuing resolution hitting the floor Thursday are committing a sin akin to Jane Fonda heading to Vietnam. In an email to chiefs of staff sent Thursday morning, Pete Meachum, McCarthy's director of member services, forwarded a link to a Weekly Standard post praising the continuing resolution. Those who are using opposition to the resolution to better position themselves are hurting the fight, he implied. "For the handwringers out there, buck up," Meachum wrote. "For those seeking other office please campaign at home,...

Some veteran Republican House members are pushing back against conservative deficit hawks who are pushing for endlessly deep spending cuts, saying the right wing of the party is creating unnecessary divisions for the GOP majority. While the 54 Republicans who voted against the most recent stopgap spending bill didn’t derail the legislation, some GOP lawmakers are becoming increasingly wary of a faction that rejects substantial spending cuts because they want deeper ones or the inclusion of divisive social policy riders. Many of the critics are close to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who struggles more each day to keep his majority...

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,...

On Friday, 92 Republicans, including House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, joined all of the Democrats to defeat an amendment offered up by Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn to ensure the GOP lived up to its “$100 billion in cuts” pledge. This was a failure of leadership, particularly by Eric Cantor. Blackburn’s amendment, by its own description, would have “reduce[d] spending by 5.5% in 8 non-securiy spending subsections of the bill and reduce[d] Legislative Branch appropriations by 11%.” In other words, just as Republicans pledged to bring spending down to 2008 levels, Congresswoman Blackburn’s amendment would have...

As heard on 630 WMAL Washington DC during RUSH's profit break. Majority Whip says he thinks it is a GREAT idea for everyone to sit together.

GOP Young Gun: 'Reagan Revolution' is over By Michael O'Brien - 12/10/10 10:47 AM ET The "Reagan Revolution" that spurred a GOP renaissance in Washington is dead, one of the party's new faces said Friday. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the incoming chairman of the House Budget Committee and one of the Republican "Young Guns," said that the movement sparked by President Reagan's election in 1980 fizzled out with Democrats' wins in the congressional elections of 2006. "The Reagan Revolution ended in 2006 when Pelosi took the gavel — definitely in 2008," Ryan said in a video interview with The Wall...

Call it being a team player. If you’re a Republican House candidate flush with cash and poised to win, you can score points with leadership if you donate to competitive races. That cred could lead to good committee assignments down the line. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) followed that model in 2006 and ended up with a prime spot in leadership. Now he’s advising candidates from South Carolina to Missouri to do the same, even suggesting which contenders are most in need of funds for new ads. In a great year for their party, some House Republican challengers are doing more...

Rep. Kevin McCarthy explains why the country is changing. Republican candidates are running for office because of the love of their country.

House Republicans have been relatively successful this week at presenting a united front around their “Pledge to America,” but only through a strategic outreach campaign to lawmakers, media and outside groups, that has managed to keep deep dissatisfaction over several key issues largely under wraps. Still, interviews with Republican aides reveal that many in the GOP caucus are unhappy that there was no earmark ban and no promise to pass a balanced budget amendment in the proposal, which was unveiled Thursday by House Minority Leader John Boehner. The inclusion of a health insurance provision considered to be mandate angered many...

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) announced today that Randy Demmer (MN-01) has reached 'Young Gun' status, the premiere level of its three-tiered Young Guns program. Founded in the 2007-2008 election cycle by Reps. Eric Cantor (R-VA), Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and Paul Ryan (R-WI), the Young Guns program is a member-driven organization dedicated to electing open-seat and challenger candidates nationwide. “I am honored to receive this recognition as an acknowledgement of the support that we have received from voters across Southern Minnesota,” Demmer said. “Throughout my campaign I have heard nothing but frustration with Tim Walz. His active support for...

Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan, and Kevin McCarthy, dropped by NR’s offices yesterday for a spirited, very enjoyable discussion. They were here to promote their new book, Young Guns: A New Generation of Conservative Leaders. We’ll have more from the conversation in a while, but wanted to highlight what McCarthy said about the “America Speaking Out� effort, which he leads and is creating the Contract-like document Republicans will unveil in a couple of weeks. It’s clearly going to be an incrementalist document focusing on opposition to basic Obama administration initiatives, on measures aimed at small business, on rolling back discretionary spending,...

'US actor Kevin McCarthy, best-known for his role in the 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers, has died aged 96. The veteran character actor died of pneumonia at Cape Cod Hospital in Massachusetts, the Washington Post reported. McCarthy appeared in more than 50 films and received an Oscar nomination for his role in 1951's Death of a Salesman. But he is best remembered as the doctor trying to save his friends from alien "pod people" in the sci-fi classic.'

Golden Globe-winning actor Kevin McCarthy, who played the doctor trying to save his neighbors in the sci-fi film Invasion of the Body Snatchers, has died. He was 96. McCarthy died Saturday, a Cape Cod Hospital spokesman told The Associated Press. The cause of death or any other details were not released. McCarthy's career began on the stage. His 1938 Broadway debut in Abe Lincoln in Illinois earned him membership in the Actors Studio. McCarthy was chosen to play Willy Loman's son, Biff, in the London production of Death of a Salesman, a role which McCarthy also played in the 1951...

Kevin McCarthy, the veteran stage and screen actor best known for his starring role as the panicked doctor who tried to warn the world about the alien "pod people" who were taking over in the 1956 science-fiction suspense classic "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," died Saturday. He was 96. McCarthy died of natural causes at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, Mass., said his daughter Lillah. During a career that spanned more than 70 years, beginning on stage in New York in the late 1930s, McCarthy played Biff Loman opposite Paul Muni's Willy in the 1949 London production of "Death of...

CANTOR WON'T Public Policy Polling might be a Democratic-centric firm, but that doesn't mean that Republicans can't use the data for their own interests. That's why staffers and outside supporters for Reps. Eric Cantor and Kevin McCarthy, who have a new book coming out shortly that criticizes past and current GOP leadership, were over the Labor Day holiday weekend sharing PPP's Ohio poll, which showed that only 28% of John Boehner's home-state voters supported a promotion for him to Speaker of the House should the GOP win a majority later this year. "Change doesn't have to be limited to tossing...

Calling themselves the Young Guns, three members of America's House of Representatives are about to publish a template for new era of Republican domination in Congress. With the economy failing to live up to President Barack Obama's hopes for a strong recovery - unemployment remains just below ten percent - Republicans are poised for major gains on Nov 2, when all of the House and a third of Senate seats is contested in midterm elections.

WASHINGTON — With visions of a Republican majority dancing in his head, California U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy is driving the back roads of America these days, looking for fresh faces to represent his party in 2010. "I believe this will be a wave election," McCarthy said. "This will be a national election." To regain control of the House of Representatives, Republicans must pick up 41 seats. If they win big in the House next year, it will be at least partly because the party put McCarthy in charge of its recruiting efforts. It's the latest high-profile assignment for McCarthy, who...

Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) held a town hall meeting in Bakersfield. He was asked why the Congress was allowing President Obama to create all the “Czars”. Just before he answered, there were shouts from the audience of “He’s a communist!” McCarthy smiled. He answered the question by saying he did not believe Obama had the right to appoint these “Czars” and give them powers that encroach on the “Checks and Balances” the Constitution requires. Video: Kevin McCarthy Comments on Obama’s Czars

A group thought by many to be devoid of tech-savvy compared to their Democratic counterparts is attempting to break that stereotype by using technology that a lot of people have incorporated in their daily lives. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told a group assembled at the Heritage Foundation’s Blogger’s Briefing on March 17 that he and House Minority Whip Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., are developing an application for the iPod Touch, a product of Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), that would be used to keep the entire House GOP on a unified message. “The one thing Cantor and I have done, we’re buying,...

Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, the No. 2 Republican in the House, has tapped California Rep. Kevin O. McCarthy as his top deputy, cementing an already fruitful partnership between two rising stars in the party. The selection gives Cantor a politically astute ally at the leadership table as he seeks to translate six years of potential into a real power base within the House GOP. The move, which will be announced Monday, also solidifies McCarthy as the next Eric Cantor. Many view this pair as the next face of the GOP in the House. They combined last year to help raise...

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, 43, a prolife freshman Republican from California, will chair the platform committee for the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., The Washington Times has learned today. Steven J. Duffield, former aide to conservative Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, will be the committee's executive director. In his first year in Congress, Mr. McCarthy had a 100 percent prolife voting record, according to the National Right to Life committee. Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has let it been known through associates that he will not work to "soften" — even behind the scenes — the...

Bakersfield Republican Kevin McCarthy is building party clout and recruiting GOP candidates. WASHINGTON -- When House Republicans launched an early advertising blitz last month targeting 18 House Democratic freshmen elected from Republican-leaning districts in November, behind the scenes was Rep. Kevin McCarthy.Not only was the campaign McCarthy's idea, the Bakersfield Republican freshman helped finance it, writing a $10,000 check out of his ample campaign surpluses from his easy 2006 race to succeed former Rep. Bill Thomas.Democrats blasted the attack ads as "desperate and misleading." But according to Republican leaders, the ad campaign was a huge success and has added immensely...

Kern County and the 32nd Assembly District will lose a lot of political clout with Kevin McCarthy's departure from the state Legislature. McCarthy is a seasoned political hand and a public policy expert who rose to be the Assembly's Republican leader. He gave Kern County a significant voice on regional and statewide issues. McCarthy is giving up his Assembly seat to run for the 22nd Congressional District, hoping to replace his former boss and longtime mentor, Bill Thomas, who is retiring. With Thomas' retirement, Kern County will lose political clout at the national level. As chairman of the House Ways...

Republican Rep. Bill Thomas, chairman of the influential House Ways and Means Committee, was set to announce Monday whether he would retire from Congress or seek a 15th term. Thomas, 64, scheduled a morning news conference in his hometown of Bakersfield, Calif., amid speculation that he would leave the House of Representatives. Because of House Republicans' self-imposed term limits for committee chairmen, the mercurial but brainy former college professor is serving his last year as head of the powerful committee that writes tax laws. GOP officials are working under the assumption that Thomas will retire, according to a Republican election...

A fight to replace Assembly Republican leader Kevin McCarthy is raging full force, with six candidates jockeying for position, burning up the phone lines and twisting arms. The dominoes are lined up: If Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Bakersfield, retires from Congress this year, McCarthy will announce that he's running for the seat held by his mentor. McCarthy will then launch his campaign and, in coming weeks, step aside as GOP Assembly chief. McCarthy would be replaced by Sacramento Assemblyman Roger Niello, a fast-rising neophyte, or by George Plescia of La Jolla, Rick Keene of Chico, Sharon Runner of Lancaster, Mimi Walters...

Conservative Republicans who are upset with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are heading to Bakersfield this weekend and are certain to vent their feelings. However, most experts say a full-blown conservative revolt against the GOP's only major candidate for the state's highest office is unlikely. The California Republican Assembly, which represents the conservative wing of the Republican Party, will gather at the DoubleTree Hotel starting Friday for its election-year nominating convention. CRA president Mike Spence was among conservatives who until recently were threatening to lead a movement to withdraw the Republican Party's endorsement of Schwarzenegger. However, that threat appears to have been...

SACRAMENTO -- When it comes to building new roads, schools, sewers and dams, Republicans in the state Assembly are marching to a different drummer than Democratic lawmakers and even GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Led by Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, Assembly Republicans have called for setting aside a small percentage of the state budget each year for a pay-as-you-go construction program. By contrast, Schwarzenegger and Democratic legislative leaders are proposing a series of bond issues to borrow the billions needed for a massive public works program. The highlight of Schwarzenegger's state of the state speech last month was a call for...

These aren't your father's Republicans. Paul Makarechian, 31, showed up in jeans to host an event with Assembly GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield. That was at Fashion Island's trendy Ozumo Japanese restaurant. Another of the group's events, this one featuring a congressman, was held at Costa Mesa's hip Sutra Lounge. One of the group's board members, land broker Craig Atkins, is spending much of the year surfing the world's best waves. Makarechian, the chairman, gleefully lists the spiky hair of one favored candidate as an attribute. The group, less Atkins, flew to Vegas this month for its board retreat,...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to turn over the drawing of legislative and congressional districts to a panel of retired judges could threaten some incumbents, but it won't necessarily produce a lot more competitive seats. If it does manage to increase the number of districts that either major party can win, it almost certainly will boost campaign spending by, and the political influence of, special interests the Republican governor frequently criticizes, according to research by experts in drawing district lines. Schwarzenegger has proposed creating more competitive districts as part of his package of plans to overhaul state government...