Free Republic

You’ll have to watch this to believe it. In a harsh criticism of House Republicans and think tanks critical of Rep. John Boehner’s plan to raise the debt limit, the 2008 Republican Presidential nominee, who chose Tea Party darling Sarah Palin for VP, said about this about a faction of his own party: Granted, Sen. McCain was quoting a Wall Street Journal opinion piece this morning when he recited this passage: “The Republican House that failed to raise the debt ceiling would somehow escape all blame. Then Democrats would have no choice but to pass a balanced-budget amendment and...

Sen. John McCain accused President Obama of using scare tactics by saying that he cannot guarantee older Americans will continue to receive their Social Security checks if there is no deal to raise the debt ceiling. “The president has now gone from the blame game to the scare game,” McCain said Tuesday in an interview on CNN’s “In The Arena.” “It's really, really unfortunate and it's demagoguery.” The Arizona Republican said he agrees with statements made on the Senate floor Tuesday by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who said “as long as this president is in the Oval Office, a...

The American people won’t accept tax increases as part of a debt ceiling increase compromise, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Sunday.

 In an interview on CNN's “State of the Union” with Candy Crowley McCain said even proposed increases on specific taxes was not something Republicans could agree to. "Well, I think that if we did those small things you're talking about it would have a very small impact but the principle of not raising taxes is something that we campaigned on last November and the results of the election was that the American people don't want their taxes raised and...

I was going to put on the gas mask and pull the lever for McCain this November but events of the past few days have led me not to vote for him. 1: McCain speaking at the racist, reconquista La Raza conference. 2: McCain still opposed to drilling in ANWR and comparing it to drilling in the Grand Canyon despite $4 + and climbing gas prices. Accoring to NRO Corner when asked about this he seemed peeved someone would have the audacity to ask him that question. 3: McCain giving veto power to coastal states on offshore drilling. The US...

Since when is Meghan McCain an expert?

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who over the past year made himself into the Senate's most rabid opponent of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, has softened his tone and now says he'll do anything he can to help repeal go smoothly.

Congress should take up work on comprehensive immigration reform once the U.S. borders are secure, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Wednesday. McCain, a longtime proponent of comprehensive reform who had tacked right in his race for reelection last year, said that an immigration deal could be an area of compromise between Republicans and Democrats. "Once we get the border secured — and we can get the border secured — I would look forward to working on comprehensive immigration reform," the 2008 Republican presidential nominee said on NBC's "Today" show. The Arizona senator had in the past favored legislation that would...

On June 20, 2002, the United States Supreme Court decreed, in the case of Atkins v. Virginia, that the mildly mentally retarded were categorically exempt from capital punishment, reasoning that fully functional adults of diminished mental capacity were as a matter of law not as culpable for their acts. Writing eloquently in dissent, Justice Scalia drew a sharp distinction between the severely mentally retarded (who are truly not responsible for their actions), and the merely stupid (the category into which Mr. Atkins undoubtedly fell). Scalia argued forcefully that, with respect to the merely stupid, at least sometimes they deserve to...

MEXICO CITY—Gunmen from a drug cartel appear to have massacred 72 migrants from Central and South America who were on their way to the U.S., a grisly event that marks the single biggest killing in Mexico's war on organized crime.

Former Massachusetts governor and 2008 presidential candidate Mitt Romney has announced that he will campaign for Senator John McCain (R - Ariz.) next week. According to McCain's campaign website, Romney will join the senator in Mesa, Arizona for a town hall meeting on Friday, June 4th. McCain, a four-term senator, is leading former Scottsdale Congressman J.D. Hayworth in a close race in the Republican primary in Arizona. The primary will be held in August. The announcement may come as a surprise, as during the 2008 presidential race Romney and McCain, both seeking the Republican nomination, appeared to be bitter rivals.

This weekend, dozens of Southern Californians plan to march in Washington for immigration reform, joining thousands of activists from around the country. Today, a different group of Southern Californians – members of the L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce – heard from a U.S. senator who took a lot of political heat for his efforts at immigration reform. The question arose at lunch during the Chamber’s annual lobbying trip to Washington. What did Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona think the U.S. should do about the “flood of immigrants” “running over” California? McCain cosponsored the last major immigration reform bill with...

Already challenged on the right by J.D. Hayworth, John McCain is about to get hit from the left today on health care with a barrage of robo-calls. The D-linked Americans United for Change are firing off about 250,000 calls starting today in Arizona, basically calling McCain a rich guy hypocrite. “Arizona Senator, John McCain is happy to let the government pay for his health care, but last December, John McCain voted against requiring that ordinary Americans be eligible to buy the same health insurance as Members of Congress,” the calls say. “Senator McCain may have seven houses and fly around...

<p>McCain Leads Big; If Hayworth Loses, He'll Back McCain Conservative talk-show host and former U.S. Rep. J.D. Hayworth launched a bid for John McCain's Senate seat that was seen as not only dangerous to McCain, but emblematic of a GOP election landscape....</p>

In 2000, Senator John McCain asked me to campaign on his behalf for president. I was honored to do so. I remember traveling to South Carolina to act as a one-man truth squad and doing countless television interviews for John. It was a tremendous experience and, as we all know, John came up short. But as always, he fought hard for what he thought was right. But the John McCain I supported for president in 2000 is not the same John McCain I’ve watched frustrate conservatives time and again as our senator. He still fights hard, all right, but too...

In the wake of a political setback for national health care legislation, Senator John McCain, the losing candidate in the last presidential election, advised his victorious 2008 adversary on Sunday that the way to get meaningful changes passed is to “start from the beginning” by meeting with Republicans. Mr. McCain, a Republican from Arizona, said on the CBS news program “Face the Nation” that President Obama should sit down with Republican leaders and begin adopting some of their ideas for improving the nation’s health care system such as overhauling medical malpractice lawsuits, allowing residents of one state to buy health...

The RNC chairman is indecisive and at times immature, but there is plenty to respect, including his call yesterday for Harry Reid to step down. Meghan McCain on why she hasn’t lost faith.What is going on with Michael Steele? In the last year, the Republican National Committee chairman has become one of the most confusing and controversial figures in politics. Last week brought yet another example of his troubles representing the party: an outburst during an interview in which he said his critics should “fire him or shut up.” It was alarmingly immature coming from someone who is supposed to...

Apparently there are still some posters on FR who are fast asleep. Wake up! Dammit! We are in the middle of a conservative rebellion! While you were sleeping we, along with millions of other freedom loving grassroots Americans have participated in hundreds of tea parties all across this great land and fully intend to keep it up until all of America is awake. We are fed up and mad as hell! We grassroots Americans are delivering a message to the ruling class: NO MORE!! No more big government! No more high taxes! No more government bailouts! No more government takeovers!...

The Republican National Committee is asking a federal court to restore the ability of national parties to raise unlimited amounts of money and to spend it to help elect state-level candidates. The case focuses on hotly contested governor’s races in New Jersey and Virginia. The 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign financing law (PL 107-155) does not allow national parties to give money directly to state candidates. The RNC wants to change that so it can expressly back the party nominee for governor, advertise and send out mailings on behalf of state or local Republican candidates and make get-out-the-vote calls. The law also...

I have had the distinct pleasure of serving with Senator John McCain for the last 12 years in the U.S. Senate. Yet just as important to me as our shared years of service is our common respect for the conservative principles that have guided us in representing our state. That is why the characterization of John McCain as something other than a common-sense conservative is disturbing to me. Senator McCain’s detractors overlook his actual voting record of supporting conservative values. During my time in the Senate with John McCain, we have cast the same vote nearly nine times out of...

If Hillary Clinton ends up running against John McCain for the presidency in 2008, the two might vaguely remember competing against each other once before. That would have been in the summer of 2004 in Estonia where, according to The New York Times, the margin of victory was not votes, but shots of vodka. The instigator of the after-dinner contest, the Times reported for its Saturday editions, was Clinton, D-N.Y. McCain, R-Ariz., readily agreed. Aides to McCain did not return messages seeking comment Friday. Philippe Reines, Clinton's spokesman, played coy. "What happens in Estonia stays in Estonia," he said Friday...