Free Republic

Tim Cook: Apple Will Oppose Bills Like Indiana's 'Religious Freedom' Law Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook on Sunday broadened his criticism of a new law in Indiana, which opponents say could be used to discriminate against gay people, to other states that he says have similar laws. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law Thursday, sparking an outcry from those, including Cook, who say it could be used to protect businesses that refuse to serve gay people. The law's supporters say it will prevent the government from forcing business owners from providing services that go...

Late last summer, with midterms consuming the attention of the political class, a group of GOP activists spent two days in Des Moines trying to convince their fellow Republicans that change was coming to their party. With eyes on 2016, they attended the Iowa State Fair, talked with newspaper editorial boards, and even ventured onto conservative talk radio. To cap it off, on the last evening, supporters gathered at 801 Chophouse, the upscale watering hole of the city's political elite, as if to announce their movement had gone mainstream. That it couldn't be dismissed as fringe any longer. Their issue,...

Scott Walker and Jeb Bush were bound to collide sooner or later. It turned out to be sooner. As the son of a Baptist minister, and the son of the 41st president of the United States, these two were destined to be the odd couple of the 2016 election. Walker is running against the establishment and the Washington elites. Bush embodies both. Walker will need at least $100 million to compete in the GOP primary, and more if he makes it to the general. Most of the Republican donors who write those kinds of checks are on Bush’s speed dial....

PM Netanyahu at Cabinet: I just met US Senate Republican leader McConnell. Over the weekend I spoke with US Senate Democratic leader Reid. » I heard from both of them about strong and continuing bipartisan support for Israel and of course this is very important. » I expressed our concern over the agreement formulated with Iran in the nuclear talks, which appears to confirm all of our concerns and more» Even as meetings proceed on this dangerous agreement, Iran's proxies in Yemen are overrunning large sections of that country, » and are attempting to seize control of the strategic Bab-el-Mandeb...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) fired at Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), among others, calling their ideas “fiscally irresponsible and dangerous to the country” and “just as bad as the Democrats” after they voted to raise defense spending on Thursday without offsetting that with spending cuts to discretionary federal programs. Paul had introduced an amendment that would have raised defense spending, but offset that increase with cuts elsewhere, such as the Departments of Education, Energy and Commerce. That amendment competed with an amendment from Rubio that would have increased defense spending with no offsetting spending cuts—just a blanket...

Conservatives often find themselves at odds with the libertarian crowd. However, is that anger really warranted? As President Reagan once said, “If you analyze it, I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism.” True conservatives and libertarians, let’s not pretend there aren’t fakers on both side, all agree on the fundamentals: limited government, personal responsibility, and economic freedom. Neither group wants the government interfering in our daily lives and telling us what we can and cannot do. Now there may be slight disagreements on how that plays out in the policy arena, but we should not allow...

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., on Monday is expected to announce he's running for president. However well he ends up doing in the Republican primaries, one thing is for sure — the development is terrible news for Sen. Rand Paul's presidential ambitions. Whatever small chance Paul had in the 2016 presidential race was premised on his ability to reach beyond the core supporters of his father's, by articulating a message that appealed to a broader coalition of Republicans. The biggest opportunity Paul had for growth was with Tea Party voters who would be drawn to his limited government message. The biggest...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) argued for criminal justice reform at a historically black college in Maryland on Friday, in what has become a staple of his message to young voters and minorities ahead of a potential presidential run in 2016. Paul, who has frequently nodded to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s idea that there are “two Americas,” said in his speech at Bowie State University there’s one America where citizens are free to pursue their lives freely, and one where the federal government piles on with unnecessary laws, burdensome fines and regulations, and overly strict sentencing guidelines that contribute to keeping...

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa – An early Saturday morning political event on an unusually warm February day might not be the ideal conditions to draw a good crowd. However, 140 Marshall County Republicans packed into the Legends American Grill in Marshalltown to hear their new representative in Congress, Rod Blum, and likely presidential candidate Rand Paul. Most of Rod Blum’s brief remarks focused on his tangle with President Obama’s budget director, Shaun Donovan, last week on Capitol Hill. Iowa’s new First District representative also relayed his controversial first vote in Congress, supporting Daniel Webster over John Boehner for House speaker. Many in...

Rand Paul will formally declare his candidacy for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination with a five-state, five-day announcement tour next month, Republicans knowledgeable about the Kentucky senator’s plans told The Washington Times. Mr. Paul will make his announcement first in Louisville at noon on April 7, then head to New Hampshire on April 8, Charleston, S.C., on April 9, Iowa City on April 10 and Las Vegas on April 11. Traditionally, presidential candidates enter the race by declaring in their home state and then flying to at least two of the first four states that hold presidential preference contests the...

On Thursday, University of Kentucky men’s basketball coach John Calipari reacted to his team’s performance or lack thereof in his halftime interview during Kentucky’s game against Hampton, an inferior opponent.

Harris Media, based in Austin, Texas, masterminded the prime minister's digital campaign, though it denies doing so at the request of the U.S. Republican Party. The election victory of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has highlighted the role of political American strategists Vince Harris and Michael Duncan, who managed the Likud's digital campaign in the six weeks leading up to the election. Harris, 26, is considered the media wonder child of the Republican Party in the United States. His Austin, Texas-based company, Harris Media, masterminded the 2012 Senate campaign of Ted Cruz, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, and he is currently...

WASHINGTON — Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has begun an aggressive campaign to block President Obama’s climate change agenda in statehouses and courtrooms across the country, arenas far beyond Mr. McConnell’s official reach and authority. The campaign of Mr. McConnell, the Senate majority leader, is aimed at stopping a set of Environmental Protection Agency regulations requiring states to reduce carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants, the nation’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. Once enacted, the rules could shutter hundreds of coal-fired plants in what Mr. Obama has promoted as a transformation of the nation’s energy economy away from fossil...

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid thanked Sen. Rand Paul Wednesday for his medical advice about his ongoing recovery from the New Year’s Day accident that caused serious eye damage. The public expression of gratitude from Reid came on the Senate floor, while the Kentucky Republican and prospective presidential candidate was presiding over the chamber. The Nevada Democrat recalled for those watching the well-documented exercise accident that led to the significant facial and eye injuries that have forced Reid to don sunglasses often in the aftermath.

After two months in the majority, has Mitch McConnell finally hit a red line with Harry Reid? The confirmation of Loretta Lynch to replace Eric Holder as Attorney General has stalled for the last few weeks, and McConnell threatened to stall it indefinitely after Democrats blocked a human-trafficking bill. The Senate Majority Leader wants an end to Democratic obstructionism:CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, authored by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), has been stalled after Democrats accused Republicans of sneaking anti-abortion language into the bill. McConnell noted that Democrats on the Judiciary Committee...

A new state senator for this area was elected Tuesday in a special election that was decided by only 12 percent of the nearly 82,000 registered voters in eight counties. Republican Steve West of Millersburg won six of the eight counties to capture the remaining 20 months of the term. Democrat Kelly Caudill of Maysville won in Rowan and Mason counties but lost by a total of 866 votes in the special election. West will fill the Senate seat vacated by Walter Blevins.

The conservative Club For Growth released its annual scorecard for 2013 on Monday, bestowing two Republican U.S. senators — Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah — and four GOP congressmen with 100 percent ratings for their voting records “based on issues relating to limited government and economic growth.”The four congressmen with perfect ratings for 2013 are Republican Reps. Matt Salmon, Trent Franks and David Schweikert of Arizona and Tom McClintock of California. Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan got a 99 percent rating in 2013 “but because of rounding has a 100 percent LifeScore,” the group said.“2013 saw...

Iran Deal Secrets Revealed – by IranPosted By Kenneth R. Timmerman On March 13, 2015 @ 12:46 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | 1 Comment Much is being made of the letter signed by 45 U.S. Senators, all of them Republican, aimed at schooling Iranian leaders in the requirements of the U.S. Constitution.Secretary Kerry said his reaction was “utter disbelief” that the Senators would “go behind” the back of the administration during a delicate international negotiation. Some on the American Left called it “treason,” conveniently forgetting that some of their own (including Kerry, as a junior Senator) have met with enemy...

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WKYT) - The Franklin County Sheriff's Office made an arrest Wednesday after a large theft from the Wild Turkey distillery in Anderson County. Sheriff Pat Melton said the investigation was launched after receiving a text message on their tip line. Melton said this case is "one of the bigger ones we've worked" and it is "rapidly developing." Investigators have been working this case "for the last several days," Melton said. Gilbert Thomas Curtsinger, 45, was arrested at his home on St. Johns Road and booked Wednesday night at the Franklin County Regional Jail. When officers picked up Curtsinger,...

If two people are equally unable to give consent, but have sex anyway, should either be charged with a crime? It's a question that many college administrators wrestle with when drugs and alcohol are factors in sexual assault disputes. The verdict often seems to be that male students are uniquely responsible for ascertaining that their sexual partners are in a state of mind to consent, even when the female is the initiator and both are intoxicated.