Free Republic

Ten years ago, the media in Louisville, Ky., could have gotten away with reporting this weekend’s events this way: A group of 10 “roving teens got into a fight with two girls … then it happened a few more times over two hours.” But now, less than 24 hours after a mob of 30 black people roamed through the city’s downtown Saturday, beating, laughing, destroying property, sending three seriously hurt people to the hospital and walking away laughing, outraged citizens in Louisville are asking two questions: Why is black mob violence such a problem? And when is local media going...

A duo of conservative candidates will descend on Kentucky to appear with Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) challenger, Matt Bevin, just two months out from his primary. Mississippi state Sen. Chris McDaniel, Sen. Thad Cochran’s (R-Miss.) primary challenger, and California Republican House candidate Igor Birman, running for Rep. Ami Bera’s (D) seat, will both appear at FreePAC Kentucky, a conservative event FreedomWorks is hosting in Louisville on April 5. The group has endorsed all three candidates. Glenn Beck and FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe will also appear at the event. According to a release, it will bring together grassroots activists from across...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said he takes some credit for President Obama’s decision to end the National Security Agency’s metadata collection program. In an interview after Obama announced the change on Tuesday, Paul was asked on “Fox and Friends" if it would make him happy for phone companies, not the government, to retain the metadata. “Well, you know, I don't want to take all the credit for ending this, but I think our lawsuit had something to do with bringing the president to the table,” Paul said. ADVERTISEMENT In February, Paul filed a lawsuit against Obama and the leaders of...

I read the following (italicized) from the New York Young Republican Club this afternoon on another Thread here on Free Republic. Ron Paul is proud of his friendship with the late Murray Rothbard, an economist of the “Austrian” school.... Paul and Rothbard shared an affinity for sound money (i.e., gold) and a disdain for the Federal Reserve System.... Rothbard, among conservatives, is mostly known for two things: 1) His authoring of a hate piece against Ronald Reagan, entitled “Ronald Reagan: Warmonger,” published in 1983, in which he roundly criticized Reagan’s policies for fighting the Cold War in South America (specifically...

WASHINGTON (TheBlaze/AP) — Conservative radio host Mark Levin exploded on Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other GOP leaders on Monday for refusing to stand against “extraneous” funding for the International Monetary Fund currently included in a Ukraine aid bill. He accused McConnell of undermining House Republicans in the fight to pass a “clean” bill that only includes the $1 billion in loan guarantees to Ukraine and other U.S. sanctions of Russia. “[McConnell] delivered more than half of the Republican conference into the hands of Harry Reid and the Democrats, enabling them to gain leverage over the GOP-controlled House and pass...

March 24, 2014 Boehner Spokesman Calls Reid’s GOP/Crimea Comments ‘Unhinged’ STEPHEN KRUISER Somebody had to say it. “The Senate Majority Leader sounds completely unhinged,” Boehner spokesman Michael Steel told Business Insider in an email. “The House has acted, and is continuing to act, in a reasonable and responsible way to give the White House the tools it needs to hold President Putin accountable.”Every time Reid opens his mouth something remarkably ignorant comes out of it. Nancy Pelosi may be devious and an awful person, but she’s not stupid (she does dumb it down for the cameras, I believe). Reid, however,...

A spokesman for Republican House Speaker John Boehner called Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid "unhinged" on Monday, after Reid charged Republicans may have had a helping hand in emboldening Russia to annex Crimea. "Since a few Republicans blocked these important sanctions last work period, Russian lawmakers voted to annex Crimea and Russian forces have taken over Ukrainian military bases," Reid said on the Senate floor Monday. "It's impossible to know whether events would have unfolded differently if the United States had responded to Russian aggression with a strong, unified voice." Reid was referring to the stalling of a Ukraine aid...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday that Republicans may have helped Russia annex Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in a surprisingly sharp attack ahead of a test vote on a bill authorizing more U.S. sanctions on Russia and $1 billion in loan guarantees to Ukraine. […] Reid’s charge comes despite widespread support among Republicans and Democrats in Congress for providing Ukraine with much-needed economic assistance and hitting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government with sanctions. …

As we begin debate on this aid and sanctions package, I also hope that Republicans who stopped action on this legislation prior to the break have considered how their obstruction affects United States’ national security.” “In light of such clear-cut Russian aggression against Ukraine, it’s difficult to believe Republicans blocked this package at all. But it’s almost unimaginable why they blocked it – to protect the anonymity of their own big-money donors. ““Democrats fought hard four years ago to pass this landmark expansion of quality, affordable health care. And we will fight just as hard to make this law work...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell co-sponsored bipartisan legislation today to assist Kentuckians with disabilities and parents who have children with disabilities by creating a tax-deferred savings account to be used for education, housing, transportation, employment support, and other qualified disability-related expenses. The Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act of 2013, creates a tax-deferred savings account (529 plan) for individuals and families to help pay disability-related expenses without jeopardizing access to their federal and state disability benefits. Previously, Senator McConnell led a bipartisan effort to enact legislation to offer federal tax relief for college savings plans...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D–Nev.) is facing a revolt among Republicans for adding controversial language to an aid package for Ukraine.The Senate is expected to vote on the Ukraine measure next week. The controversial provisions, which have support of the Obama administration and liberals from both parties, would increase U.S. financial support to the International Monetary Fund.A growing number of Republicans warn that attaching the IMF language would reduce U.S. power while expanding Russia’s influence on the global stage in the wake of its annexation of Crimea.>>> Q&A: Why Do Conservatives Oppose the IMF Reform Package?Yesterday, Sen. Ted Cruz...

Mississippi Senate candidate Chris McDaniel is heading to Kentucky to lend his support to fellow insurgent GOP primary challenger Matt Bevin -- or so it would appear. McDaniel, a state senator, is hoping to oust Sen. Thad Cochran in Mississippi's June 3 Republican primary. But on April 5, McDaniel plans to take a brief detour from the campaign trail in the Magnolia State and travel to Louisville, Ky., to speak at “FreePAC Kentucky.” The event, sponsored by FreedomWorks, is a political rally being staged to boost Bevin, the wealthy businessman running against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in Kentucky's May...

A top campaign advisor to Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Democratic challenger to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in Kentucky, scoffed at the notion McConnell is "invincible" in a new memo set to be released Friday.... after The New York Times published a lengthy analysis of the unprecedented nature of a potential McConnell loss. The memo delves into the details of why the Grimes campaign believes McConnell is more vulnerable than ever. First, McConnell is devoting precious time and energy to a challenge from the right in Republican Matt Bevin, with the primary on May 20. Hurst also argues Grimes has...

(CNSNews.com) – Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), a potential presidential contender in 2016, said the Republican Party needs a “big tent” that embraces centuries-old “American values” to succeed, adding that the GOP “should continue to defend life and that we should continue to defend traditional marriage.”Cruz made his remarks during a Mar. 18 interview with the Des Moines Register, where he was asked about Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who recently said that for the Republican Party to grow and recruit more young people, it needed to “agree to disagree on social issues,” specifically homosexual “marriage.” Cruz was asked whether he agreed...

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has a nearly 40-point lead over his primary challenger, Matt Bevin, in a new Republican survey of the Kentucky Senate GOP primary. The survey, conducted by Public Opinion Strategies for the pro-McConnell group Kentuckians for Strong Leadership, gives McConnell 61 percent support to Bevin’s 23 percent support. That’s an increase in support from an early-February independent survey of the race, which showed McConnell ahead by only 26 points. But it’s actually a decrease from the last GOP survey of the race, conducted by Wenzel Strategies at the start of February, which gave him a 42-point lead....

Latin America, long considered off-limits for Russian military outposts because of its proximity to Washington, is rapidly becoming the latest region targeted for Moscow’s expanding reach. As the Kremlin was secretly planning its invasion of Ukraine in late February, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced Moscow’s plan to establish a permanent military presence in Latin America, including naval visits to ports in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. Russia is also asking those countries to allow long-range bombers to refuel at their air bases.

Two things happened over the weekend in the race for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. 1. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul led the field in a national poll conducted by CNN/ORC International. 2. Paul won the straw poll at the Northeast Republican Leadership Conference. 3. Those two events come just a week after Paul cruised to another 2016 straw poll victory at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Add those things up and it's quite clear that Paul is the candidate of the moment on the Republican side. There's no one -- not even Ted Cruz or Jeb Bush -- who has...

I just found out some information today that enlightened me as to why Rand Paul has endorsed Mitch McConnell. McConnell's Campaign Manger, Jesse Benton, is part of the Paul family. He is married to Ron Paul's grand daughter and Rand Paul's niece. I wonder if Mitch hiring Rand's nephew-in-law was part of the deal for Rand's endorsement? This is what Benton told the Huffington Post: "I believe in Senator McConnell and am 100 percent committed to his re-election. Being selected to lead his campaign is one of the great honors of my life and I look forward to victory in...

In an insane abuse of power, the news editor for LEO Weekly, Joe Sonka, had the police called on him, and was threatened with arrest because Mitch McConnell was afraid that he would ask questions at a press conference. According to the Courier-Journal: The campaign called on the Louisville Metro Police to make sure that Sonka, who has been critical of McConnell in the past, from entering the conference room at the Hilton Garden Inn, on Crittenden Drive, where the event was held. … Sonka said he was originally told that he couldn’t attend because there was limited space in...

MURRAY, Ky. (AP) - Texas Gov. Rick Perry threw his support behind U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell on Saturday, telling 300 fellow Republicans that the minority leader will win re-election. McConnell finds himself in a GOP primary fight with wealthy businessman Matt Bevin, who attended the event but wasn’t allowed to speak. “I love the number six,” Perry told the crowd at the Lincoln Reagan Dinner of West Kentucky. “Sam Houston was 6 foot 6 inches tall. And Mitch McConnell is going to be in his sixth term as United States senator.” Organizers said the dinner was supposed to unite the...