Free Republic

After the Pennsylvania special election for a U.S. House seat earlier this month that ended with a Democratic victory, I warned that Republicans must start developing a countervailing wave to ensure Democrats do not take control of the House in the November elections. To do this, Republicans nationwide – even those in “safe” seats and those who are not up for re-election – must not get comfortable playing defense. All of them must be prepared to go on offense. This does not mean simply attacking Democrats. It means setting goals in Congress and aggressively fighting to achieve them.

It is time for Republicans nationwide to wake up to the very real threat of a Democratic-controlled House of Representatives led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, the current House minority leader. This wake-up call is also for President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. Neither they, nor any other Republican, should underestimate how disastrous it would be for their policies and for the country to have a left-wing Democratic majority in the House. Under Speaker Pelosi, there would be two years of investigations, fights over spending (to reduce defense and increase liberal dependency programs), efforts to undo President Trump’s deregulation...

The successful launch of SpaceX’s Falcon powerful new rocket Tuesday ... was a tremendous step toward reasserting American leadership in space. The Falcon Heavy is the most powerful rocket launched in the U.S. since the Apollo missions – and the most powerful commercial rocket ever made. It can carry nearly 64 metric tons (141,000 pounds) into orbit. This is more than double the payload of the next-biggest rocket currently in operation. For perspective, SpaceX says this is, “a mass greater than a 737 jetliner loaded with passengers, crew, luggage, and fuel.” SpaceX owner Elon Musk also said the rocket system...

House GOP majority in 2018 there are bold things we have to do. I’m going to draw a very deliberate distinction. Just so you understand this isn’t just some theory -- get candidate Trump’s speech at Gettysburg in October of 2016, the president’s inaugural address last year, and the State of the Union you just watched Tuesday. Take those three and read carefully what President Trump says. He is describing an American party that reaches out to every American, that makes the case that America is an idea worth fighting for. He suggests that we have a model for success:...

January 20 is the first anniversary of President Trump’s inauguration. I have known nine presidents, beginning with President Richard Nixon. Of those nine presidents, the only one who was as effective as President Trump in his first year was President Ronald Reagan. That judgment may surprise a lot of people because the opposition in the news media and among the left-wing “resistance” has been so strong and one-sided that they have consistently misrepresented and maligned President Trump and his administration. This effort has produced a distorted, minimized view of what has been accomplished by this remarkably energetic and controversial Commander...

In his first year as president, imagine this friend nominated a conservative to the Supreme Court and got him approved, aggressively cut regulations, established a National Security Strategy that has been widely praised, and successfully helped pass the largest tax cut in more than three decades for the American people. Imagine as a result of all this, small business confidence, CEO confidence, and consumer confidence are through the roof, which has helped drive the stock market to a record high. Now, consider how you would react if someone tried to convince you to ignore this track record and suggest that...

There could be no greater contrast in leadership on the world stage and in interpreting reality than President Obama’s “lead from behind” model in Iran versus President Trump’s “lead from the front” model. When the Iranian people demonstrated against the nation’s dictatorship in 2009, President Obama was weak and quiet. He was so interested in getting a nuclear arms deal with the dictatorship that he did not want to irritate Iran’s leaders In all fairness, the Obama administration was an accurate reflection of the dominant academic elite theory of the world. In the view of the left, appeasement is always...

Analysts, historians and scholars will look back on this week as the moment the Trump administration became truly historic. The publication of the National Security Strategy report on Monday, followed by the passage of the largest change to the tax code in 31 years, guarantees that President Trump's first year in office will be seen as a remarkable success. These are two very big achievements, and without the right leadership, focus, and determination both could have easily failed. The hostile and bitter news media have been – and continue to be – relentless in their mission to mislead the American...

Newt calls on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to investigate the FBI’s handling of the Clinton investigation. It's time for the Attorney General to do his job. He needs to set up a Clinton investigation and a FBI-Justice Dept investigation. There's no excuse for not launching these investigations. http://bit.ly/2jXVanB

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Fox News Radio host Todd Starnes tied the controversy over President Trump’s call to a Gold Star widow to NFL protests over racial injustice and what Gingrich claimed is the “truly anti-American” nature of much of the left. In a conversation with Gingrich on his radio program, Starnes called criticism of Trump’s comments to Myeshia Johnson an “ugly attempt by the media to take a swipe at the president.” “There’s a bloc of people, unfortunately, who hate Trump so deeply that they spend all day every day trying to find some way to smear...

As the controversy over athletes boycotting the National Anthem continues, I would like to share some historical perspective. “The Star-Spangled Banner” became part of our sports traditions for a good reason: It brought people together in times of grave national turmoil. For this reason alone, it is a tradition worth respecting. According to MLB.com, “The Star-Spangled Banner” was first performed at a baseball game on May 15, 1862. Given baseball’s lengthy history in America, this is likely the first time it was played at a major U.S. sporting event. The timing was significant. In 1862, the nation was embroiled in...

Republican congressmen, Mark Meadows chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, played down reports… “Nobody does policy better than Ryan, but we do have to transition” to the place where action follows on. There is one obvious replacement for Ryan,… former Speaker Newt Gingrich, who does not hold office, as a possible replacement. Speakers do not have to be congressmen. // Snipp // House Freedom Caucus, played down reports that he wanted to oust Ryan.

Several influential House conservatives are privately plotting ways to use the legislative calendar this fall to push their hard-line agenda — including quiet discussions about possibly mounting a leadership challenge to House Speaker Paul D. Ryan. The group has gone so far as to float the idea of recruiting former House speaker Newt Gingrich or former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum as potential replacements for Ryan (R-Wis.) should there be a rebellion. The Constitution does not require that an elected member of the House serve as speaker. While the chances that a non-House member could mount a credible threat to Ryan...

Just days after former White House chief advisor met with key Freedom Caucus members, they are now unleashing a fury of anger and criticism at House Speaker Paul Ryan for his failure and advancing the Republican legislative agenda. Steve Bannon reportedly met with House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C. on Sunday where they discussed their fall agenda and battle strategy. Their main goal is SHUTTING DOWN the RINOs in Congress who refuse to support Trump’s conservative agenda, including Paul Ryan. The three caucus members who met with Ryan, Reps. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), and Scott Perry...

Three Freedom Caucus leaders brought warning to House Speaker Paul Ryan on Wednesday as former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has been speaking with GOP lawmakers, according to a new report from the Washington Post. Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, Rep. Jim Jordan and Rep. Scott Perry met with Ryan on Wednesday according to two sources that spoke with the Post. The report noted Meadows’ longtime close relationship with Bannon. The lawmakers voiced the importance of seeing leadership set conservative policies in place and warned that their continued support may depend on it. The Post added that Bannon has...

Several influential House conservatives are privately plotting ways to use the legislative calendar this fall to push their hard-line agenda — including quiet discussions about possibly mounting a leadership challenge to House Speaker Paul D. Ryan. The group has gone so far as to float the idea of recruiting former House speaker Newt Gingrich or former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum as potential replacements for Ryan (R-Wis.) should there be a rebellion. The Constitution does not require that an elected member of the House serve as speaker. While the chances that a non-House member could mount a credible threat to Ryan...

Steve Bannon, former White House chief strategist, and Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., have begun to examine potential replacements for House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. in the event conservatives attempt to oust him from his leadership role, according to a report Wednesday. Meadows was a leading figure in the push to remove former Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, back in 2015. Shortly after this effort, Boehner stepped down.

According to the elite media, President Trump is a negative, dangerous, unpredictable leader who is getting more and more unpopular. The most recent average of polls has President Trump at 39 percent approval. One news analyst wrote that Trump is turning us from a 50-50 country to a 60-40 country, with the new majority consolidating against the president. In their eagerness to declare the Trump presidency a failure, the elite media is failing to inform us of two things. First, President Reagan had a similar period during his first term when his approval rating fell to 35 percent -- even...

The elite news media loves it when Republicans attack Republicans. The leftwing reporters, editors, producers, television personalities, and analysts all find it exciting to watch Republicans try to damage each other. If a moderate Republican attacks a traditional, more conservative Republican, the former is often lionized as a heroic figure for putting citizenship above partisanship.

Former Speaker of the House and longtime Trump supporter Newt Gingrich is seriously worried about the future of Donald Trump’s presidency. Gingrich, who has consistently been one of Trump’s most optimistic supporters, said Friday morning that Trump is more isolated than he realizes and needs to make “serious changes” if he’s going to have a stable presidency. “I think he’s in a position right now where he’s much more isolated than he realizes,” Gingrich said in an interview with Fox News’ Bill Hemmer. “On the Hill, he has far more people willing to sit to one side and not help...