Free Republic

This morning on radio, Glenn gave some hints from an important phone call he received before going on the air. While Glenn was unable to release any of the details about who called or exactly what it was about, he did share a snippet of content concerning the GOP. Courtesy of Glenn, we do know that there were “big names involved” and Glenn was “encouraged by who it came from.”Glenn did provide some of the message from the mystery caller, saying“Just please tell Glenn to continue to put the heat on. Because the party is split. And half of...

Yesterday’s Senate vote on the confirmation of Loretta Lynch, President Obama’s nominee to succeed Attorney General Eric Holder, was a classic example of why talk among conservatives of forming a third party alternative to the establishment Republican Party will not die. Not only did the usual jelly-backed Senate Republicans vote to confirm Lynch, they were led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, whose job is, ostensibly, to be the leader of the conservative opposition to Obama and his lawless progressive agenda. In moving the Lynch nomination McConnell broke a pre-election promise that no attorney general nominee would be considered in...

After weeks of waiting for Loretta Lynch's confirmation vote, Harry Reid is tired of waiting. With five Republicans already supporting her, the Democratic leader is planning to bypass Mitch McConnell next week and use a series of procedural measures to force their hands. But already two of the Republicans supporting Lynch say they're not having it. Although Sens. Jeff Flake and Lindsey Graham plan to vote for Lynch to be the next attorney general, they say they have no interested in delivering a slap-in-the-face to their majority leader, McConnell, who has said he plans to bring up the nomination later...

In our federal system, states should be able to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Friday joined an amicus brief on behalf of 57 members of Congress in support of the right of states to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. The brief was filed in four cases that the Supreme Court will jointly hear on April 28, 2015, in which same-sex couples challenge the marriage laws of Ohio, Tennessee, Michigan, and Kentucky, all of which were upheld by the U.S....

I really want to like Rand Paul, but he keeps saying things that give me pause. I like that he wants to fight the GOP establishment. I like that he wants to roll back big government. And I like that he wants to expand the base to include more young people and minorities. (There are some very worrisome things he’s said about foreign policy, but we’ll put that aside, as those views seem to be “evolving.”) I didn’t listen to his Louisville campaign announcement speech yesterday, but Paul Mirengoff of Powerline did, and he noticed something that has really got...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) is the only major Republican likely 2016 presidential candidate who hasn't weighed in on the controversy over Indiana's "religious freedom" law that erupted this week — and his explanation for avoiding the issue is questionable.

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and a delegation of senior committee leaders were in Saudi Arabia’s capital on Tuesday to continue a series of visits with key allies in the Middle East. In meetings with Saudi Interior Minister Mohammad bin Naif and Saudi Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman, lawmakers expressed appreciation for the historic partnership between the two countries. Talks focused on our efforts to address the threats posed by ISIL and Iran’s rising influence in the region. Saudi Arabia is leading a coalition of Arab states in a campaign against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen....

Juan Williams: Boehner’s Trip to Israel is RacistPosted By Daniel Greenfield On March 31, 2015 @ 1:03 am In The Point | No Comments “Something something racist.” A Democratic argument from 2008 to 2016.Juan Williams is back and he wants you to know that Boehner’s trip to Israel is racist. Also all trips are racist. And all planes. Especially white planes. The real issue here is the way Boehner is recklessly sowing division along party lines on Israel. He is also — intentionally or not — heightening the silent but simmering racial tensions that increasingly divide Americans on the subject.The...

KUWAIT CITY, KUWAIT – During a visit to Iraq on Monday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and senior lawmakers met with the country’s leaders and our ambassador and commanders on the ground to assess efforts to defeat ISIL and combat Iran’s rising influence. In Baghdad, the delegation met with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Speaker of the Council of Representatives of Iraq Salim al-Jabouri. Lawmakers also met with U.S. Ambassador Stuart Jones and Lt. General James L. Terry, commander, Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve. Similar to the delegation’s visit to Jordan, discussions in Baghdad focused on Iran’s rising...

As Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tex) announced last week that he was running for president, his Virginia audience cheered. He dropped applause line after applause line on some 10,000 students at Liberty University, which bills itself as the largest Christian university in the world. Cruz riffed, unimaginatively, on an “imagine” theme, asking the young audience to “imagine a president” who would repeal Obamacare and perform other feats. There was applause throughout. But one line prompted the students to erupt into a roaring, 30-second, standing ovation: “Instead of a president who boycotts Prime Minister Netanyahu, imagine a president who stands unapologetically with...

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) traveled to Baghdad on Monday, where he met Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to discuss the political and security situation there, according to the prime minister's office. In another meeting with Speaker Salim al-Jabouri, Boehner affirmed support for Iraq's democratic system and discussed the shared U.S. determination to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), according to a parliamentary statement provided to The Hill by a local journalist. The Speaker's visit with a congressional delegation comes as local forces, including Iranian-backed Shiite militias, work to retake the city of Tikrit, about 100 miles northwest...

Amman - His Majesty King Abdullah II, on Monday, received a delegation of US senators, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The meeting reviewed ways to strengthen Jordan-US relations in various fields, and the latest regional and international developments. His Majesty the King expressed his appreciation for the United States' efforts to support Jordan in dealing with various challenges facing the region, and the aid that the US provided to the Kingdom, which helps Jordan implement its comprehensive and development plans and programs. The meeting tackled the latest developments in the Middle East, particularly endeavors to combat the threat...

His Majesty King Abdullah II received on Sunday, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, John Boehner, and his accompanying delegation to discuss Middle East issues. The meeting, which was attended by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah and His Royal Highness Prince Faisal Bin Al Hussein, dealt with Jordanian-US ties and ways to enhance these, especially in political and economic fields, in addition to regional and international developments, top of which are efforts to combat terrorism and extremist ideology and achieve peace in the region. The King said efforts should be ramped up to fend off the threat of...

As Secretary of State John Kerry and his P5+1 counterparts sought to finalize the political outlines of a comprehensive agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Sunday stood alongside the talks’ most vocal critic, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and reiterated that Congress must approve any deal.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with with US Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.

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...

It might be fun to poke fun at Texas Senator and GOP Presidential candidate Ted Cruz for signing up for Obamacare but he is far from alone. As a matter of fact some other top GOP candidates for the 2016 Republican nomination are right there with Cruz. In fact almost every member of the House and the Senate who have voted over 50 times to repeal Obamacare are enrolled in the plan. It is important to be clear there is no such thing as being “on Obamacare.” It’s not an insurance plan, or a single program like Medicare or Social...

The Obama administration is “on the cusp of entering into a very bad deal with one of the worst regimes in the world that would allow them to continue to have their nuclear infrastructure,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told CNN’s “State of the Union” with Dana Bash on Sunday. But McConnell disagreed with those, including President Obama, who say the failure to reach a deal with Iran could lead to military action later: “That’s not the choice. The choice is between this deal and tougher sanctions,” McConnell said. …

Let's get this out of the way now: As far as big deals coming out of Washington, this year is already junked. With the midterm elections in view for jittery lawmakers, chances for a breakthrough on an immigration overhaul, a rewrite of the tax code, or a major jobs package have all but vanished. (Take a bow, partisans.) But we could wake up Nov. 5 with a very different political order. President Obama, at that point, would still have two years in the Oval Office to seal his legacy. Certainly the President himself will help shape that future. Beyond that,...

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...