Free Republic

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz's argument that the Second Amendment provides the "ultimate check against government tyranny" is a bit too extreme for potential 2016 rival and fellow Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). "Well, we tried that once in South Carolina. I wouldn't go down that road again," Graham said, in an apparent reference to the Civil War. "I think an informed electorate is probably a better check than, you know, guns in the streets." Speaking to a few reporters near the Senate floor Thursday, Graham was answering questions from TPM about the Texas firebrand and presidential candidate's argument made in...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK) Sen. Lindsey Graham told Meet the Press host Chuck Todd that the Republican party needs to finally hang it up when it comes to keeping a proposal for a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in their party platform, but that he made it clear they're not going to let it go as a wedge issue any time soon. As long as they can keep the religious right whipped into a frenzy over whether their "liberties" are being violated by not being free to discriminate against a group of people they don't like, they're going to keep going after those...

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told Chuck Todd on NBC's "Meet the Press" that if the Republican party doesn't change its official position on same-sex marriage it will "hurt" the GOP in 2016. In 2012, the Republican platform read, "We reaffirm our support for a Constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman."

Two Republican senators running for president reintroduced a bill Wednesday that would effectively ban Internet poker and other forms of online gambling—legislation that has long been championed by casino magnate and GOP mega-donor Sheldon Adelson. Both Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio joined a handful of Republicans and one Democrat in reviving the Restoration of America's Wire Act, a measure that proponents say would "restore" the proper interpretation of a decades-old federal ban on some gambling operations by expanding it to include Internet gambling.

On Tuesday, after the entire Republican primary field - including Donald Trump and George Pataki - had taken a position on the Confederate flag, and after the Republican governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, had asked for its removal from the state capitol grounds, Chris Christie seemed to calculate that it was politically safe to do the same. The New Jersey governor said in a statement that Haley had "demonstrated what it means to be a leader" and that he commended her decision. ... Every Republican presidential candidate, including the not-yet announced ones, had said something, even if it was,...

“It is really sad that it took nine beautiful lives to make people wake up,” Perez says.The women of “The View” took a united stand Tuesday over the issue of the Confederate flag still being flown at the South Carolina state capitol building, despite last week’s Charleston church massacre. The panelists praised South Carolina Governor Nikki Hailey, the state’s Senator Lindsey Graham and Walmart corporation, for publicly calling for the flag to finally be retired. Rosie Perez was particularly vocal about the situation on the ABC daytime talker. “I think it is really sad that it took nine beautiful lives...

Don’t count Lindsey Graham among the Republican Presidential hopefuls who think that mass shooting in Charleston was about something other than race. He spoke out this weekend to address the murders, and his statement differs sharply from what some of his colleagues are saying. Unlike Rick Santorum and Jeb Bush, Lindsey Graham isn’t pretending the murders were about religion or insisting that we can’t tell yet what motivated the attack. Instead, Graham openly recognizes that this attack was racially motivated — and says that America has a long way to go in the racial relations department. “There can be no...

Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, the funding arm of the political network backed by the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, wants a lot more hard information from the crowded field of presidential contenders before deciding what to do with its considerable resources. The group is pressing every 2016 candidate to detail on the record their plans for economic growth, deficit reduction, entitlement reform, criminal justice and even foreign policy. The tax-exempt entity, a key node in a constellation of conservative entities that aims to spend $889 million before the next White House election, distributed a detailed survey Thursday to...

<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tensions are building inside and outside the white marble facade of the U.S. Supreme Court building as the nine justices prepare to issue major rulings on gay marriage and President Barack Obama's healthcare law by the end of the month.</p>

Why the senator’s brand of foreign policy is dangerous. The Republican Party is divided on foreign policy. There are “interventionists” like John McCain and Lindsey Graham who want America to more aggressively wage war—either directly or via proxies—in Iraq, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and beyond. And there are “isolationists” like Rand Paul who worry that if America tries to fix the world’s problems through the barrel of a gun, we’ll become a bankrupt empire rather than a prosperous republic. Then there’s Ted Cruz, who unites both factions by embodying the worst of each. Take Cruz’s position on ISIS. Like McCain...

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham blames 21-year-old Dylann Roof, the man who shot and killed nine African Americans praying in Charleston, for his actions, and the presidential hopeful doesn't want the Confederate flag to be used as an excuse. "We're not going to give this a guy an excuse about a book he might have read or a movie he watched or a song he listened to or a symbol out anywhere. It's him ... not the flag," the Republican senator told CNN's "New Day" Alisyn Camerota. When Graham was asked his thoughts regarding the Confederate flag, he said, "It...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) just happened to be scheduled to appear on The View Thursday morning. But because of the deadly mass shooting at a black church in his home state last night, he did not get the chance to talk much about his presidential campaign. Instead, Graham joined the hosts to talk about the possible motives of the shooter, who left nine people dead including the church’s pastor and former state senator Clementa C. Pinckney. Graham wanted to assure viewers that this act is not a “window into the soul” of South Carolina. “It’s not who we are, it’s...

Mitt Romney invited Obama political strategist David Axelrod to address a political gathering in Utah last week. The event was officially hosted by Romney and Solamere Capital, the investment firm whose executive committee he chairs, and was designed to introduce a host of GOP presidential contenders to wealthy donors. However, some notable names were apparently left off the guest list. They include announced candidates Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Ben Carson, Rick Santorum, and Mike Huckabee. Jeb Bush, who was invited, did not attend because he was in Europe. But three announced candidates—Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Carly Fiorina and Lindsay Graham—and...

The Republican field is crowded, which implies that primary voters have little information about where some of the candidates stand. That is particularly the case this season, with a few relatively unknown contenders who lack legislative experience or a long history of campaign contributions that would allow researchers to precisely identify where they stand on the liberal-to-conservative political dimension.However, one characteristic all candidates share is that they have active and popular Twitter accounts. And as I showed in an article published earlier this year in the journal Political Analysis — now freely available online as an Editors’ Choice article —...

Senator Cruz entirely understands the widespread suspicion of the President. Nobody has been more vocal in pointing out the President’s lawlessness or more passionate about fighting his usurpation of congressional authority. Senator Cruz would not and will not give President Obama one more inch of unrestricted power. There have been a lot of questions and concerns about the ongoing Pacific trade negotiations. Many of those concerns, fueled by the media, stem from confusion about Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Let’s unpack the issues one by one. What are TPA and TPP? TPA stands for Trade...

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — Govs. Scott Walker and Chris Christie said presidential rivals in the Senate don't do anything. Sen. Marco Rubio denounced "old ways" in an indirect slap at older contenders. Sen. Lindsey Graham said his party may be going down a "death spiral" if it doesn't embrace minority and younger voters. In fighting for attention Friday at a luxury mountainside donor retreat convened by 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney, several 2016 contenders let loose some elbows at each other. Most did not name names, but Christie did. "If you want to know how little they know," he...

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wants to give Americans a paid vacation, as part a "family values" agenda he outlined Thursday. Sanders, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, said he is introducing a bill, the Guaranteed Paid Vacation Act, that would give 10 days of paid vacation to every employee that had worked for an employer for at least one year. The legislation would apply to employers with at least 15 employees. "What family values are about is that at least for two weeks a year, people can come together under a relaxed environment and enjoy the family," Sanders...

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 11, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) -- The sponsor of the Senate's 20-week ban told LifeSiteNews that when it comes to laws about aborting children conceived from rape, "I'm going to leave that to the family, to the mother."GOP presidential candidate and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC, introduced the "Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act" shortly before a press conference on Thursday morning. During the conference, Graham referred to his desire to address saving late-term unborn children in a "fair way."LifeSiteNews asked Graham about this comment after the press conference, noting that his bill -- which bans abortions after 20 weeks'...

Presidential candidate Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., reintroduced legislation in the Senate Thursday that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy except in cases of rape and incest, a measure that passed the House of Representatives by a 242-184 vote last month. At a Capitol Hill news conference, Graham promised that the bill, titled the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, would be debated and voted on this year. "This legislation is groundbreaking yet simple at the same time. What I love most about this piece of legislation is how simple it is," Graham said. "Do you believe that at 20...

Former two-time Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is set to host six declared and potential GOP contenders at a Utah retreat next week. Mr. Romney, who considered a third run for president earlier this year but declined to run, will gather big GOP donors and other party bigwigs in Park City, Utah for his annual “E2 Summit.” The private event at a mountain resort kicks off with a dinner June 11 and wraps up with a luncheon on June 13, according to a copy of the invitation. Declared and potential Republican presidential contenders scheduled to speak include Sens. Marco Rubio...