Free Republic

Former President Bill Clinton was furious when a pro-Hillary Clinton group spoke out during New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) “Bridgegate” scandal, according to a new excerpt from the paperback version of HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton being released this week. The episode recounted by authors Amie Parnes of The Hill and Jonathan Allen of Bloomberg News highlights the former president’s continued presence as a powerful force in Hillary Clinton’s political circle. ADVERTISEMENT It also emphasizes a significant danger for Hillary Clinton: that differences and competitions among those close to her could torpedo her expected 2016...

ESSEX COUNTY — Facing a contingent of concerned parents, a growing number of school districts across the state are moving to create official opt-out policies for students who will not be taking the PARCC exam, a new state test that will be administered for the first time next month. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers test, which is based on the Common Core education standards and is administered entirely on computers, has sparked harsh criticisms from some skeptical parents and teachers. The complaints have led to an "opt-out" movement across the state, in which parents are...

Gordon Van Gilder, a 72-year-old retired schoolteacher in New Jersey, faces a 10-year prison sentence for possessing an unloaded 18th-century flintlock pistol in his car. Mr. Van Gilder, a collector of 18th-century memorabilia, said he had the gun unloaded and wrapped in a cloth in the glove compartment of his vehicle when he was pulled over in November by a Cumberland County sheriff’s deputy for a minor traffic violation, according to a video posted last week by NRA News. After consenting to a search of his vehicle, Mr. Van Gilder said he alerted the deputy of the pistol in his...

Michael Bloomberg representatives have asked the Aspen Institute not to distribute footage of his recent appearance in Aspen, where the three-term New York City mayor made pointed comments concerning minorities and gun control. Appearing before nearly 400 people in Aspen on Feb. 5, the billionaire founder of Bloomberg L.P. argued that in order to save lives, police should seize guns from male minorities between ages 15 and 25.

The concept behind the massive solar project sounded simple enough: borrow $88 million to install panels on public buildings in Morris, Somerset and Sussex counties and then sell excess electricity, using the revenues to pay off the debt. The concept was called the "Morris model," held up nationally as an example of how to produce renewable energy through public-private partnerships. It was the second project of its kind and the previous one was hailed as a success. But now, nearly four years later, taxpayers could be on the hook for tens of millions of dollars the counties owe bondholders, after...

The debut edition of our leader board of the Republicans most likely to win the presidential nomination, based on what we know now, shows the field may not be as big as most people think. 1) JEB BUSH (age 62, to Hillary’s 67): He’s got money, momentum, Florida, big ideas. His surprise, early signal that he’s running is THE PLAY OF THE CAMPAIGN so far — pushing OUT Mitt and perhaps Christie by freezing or stealing their money and talent. Jeb will be first Republican to $100 million by a mile. Now, watch for the use of overwhelming force to...

James Fields, 26, hid 10 bags of heroin, 49 packages of crack cocaine and one suspected bag of cocaine in his buttocks, Hoboken police said. Detectives had initially arrested Fields at 10:11 p.m. on Friday for trespassing on Hoboken Housing Authority Property, police said. While sitting in the back of a cop car, Fields allegedly shifted suspiciously in his seat. He continued to squirm at headquarters, so detectives asked him if he had anything in his pants, police said.

When a 72-year-old retired school teacher faces a 10 year felony sentence (a likely life sentence) for possession of an unloaded 18th century flintlock pistol, one knows immediately that we can only be talking about a handful of states in which such a travesty can happen. In this case, not surprisingly, it’s the “Garden State” of New Jersey. Gordon Van Gilder, who taught in the New Jersey school system for 34 years, is a collector of 18th century memorabilia. He acquired a genuine antique flintlock pistol from that era, and had it unloaded and wrapped in a cloth in his...

Senator Ted Cruz, the boat-rocking limited government constitutional conservative Senator from Texas, provided another one of his patented cross examinations of a smoke-blowing government official at a recent Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Cruz, the son of legal immigrants from Cuba, asked Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano about border security measures – the so-called “triggers” – contained in the “Gang of Eight's” immigration bill. Specifically, Senator Cruz asked, “If there are no objective metrics, if it is simply the subjective assessment of a host of factors, how can we have any confidence that the border will be secured and that any...

WASHINGTON—Highway funding, tax reform and tire registration were the big issues tire dealers, repair shop owners and association officials discussed with Capitol Hill staffers during the Tire Industry Association’s Federal Lobby Day on Feb. 5. Approximately 55 representatives of the tire retailing and auto repair industries participated in the event, which began with speeches from current and former members of Congress and progressed to one-on-one meetings with key staff persons in the offices of several top Washington lawmakers. With the Highway Trust Fund set to run out of money in May, passage of a multi-year transportation funding bill was the...

There were more than 2,300 homes and condos in the foreclosure process last month. That is up 104 percent from December. Statewide that increase is 109 percent from January 2014. The jump in foreclosures comes as the Phoenix housing market tries to shake off a slow 2014 where low demand for homes and tough mortgage qualifications stymied sales. Foreclosure activity was also up in states such as Ohio, New Jersey, Maryland and California and metropolitan areas such as St. Louis, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The worst cities for foreclosures include Atlantic City, Las Vegas and eight Florida markets including...

Imagine a Fox News host making an unflattering remark about some aspect of Hillary Clinton's appearance. Now imagine the MSM going into 24/7 outrage mode. But on tonight's Hardball, Chris Matthews casually referred to Chris Christie as "the fat guy from New Jersey." And in walking back the crack, Matthews actually compounded his mistake. Rather than acknowledging that it's simply wrong to insult someone for his obesity, Matthews instead observed that he shouldn't call Christie a fat guy, because "he's losing weight." So fat cracks are fine if the target is actually fat? View the video here.

Judge Says Gay 'Conversion Therapy' Claims Can Be Consumer Fraud Mary Pat Gallagher, New Jersey Law Journal February 10, 2015 It is a violation of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act to describe homosexuality as abnormal or a mental illness in advertising or to sell services to convert a person's sexual orientation, a New Jersey judge ruled Feb. 10, in a decision believed to be the first of its kind in the U.S

New Jersey teens, Matt Molinari and Eric Schnepf, were hoping to make a few bucks shoveling snow in their neighborhood. But police ruined their plans when they told the teens they needed a permit to promote their services.

On Wednesday night, several dozen people with the means to attend an event so pricey its invitation doesn’t list an expected contribution will gather in the Park Avenue apartment of Henry and Marie-Josée Kravis to meet Jeb Bush and add to the quickly filling coffers of Right to Rise, the PAC set up to aid Mr. Bush’s presidential ambitions. The affair will be co-chaired by Mr. Kravis’ colleagues at KKR, including Ken Mehlman, who managed George W. Bush’s 2004 campaign and later became chairman of the Republican National Committee. This is the second event Mr. Kravis, a coveted GOP donor...

State legislators around the country have introduced more than 200 bills aiming to nullify regulations and laws coming out of Washington, D.C., as they look to rein in the federal government. The legislative onslaught, which includes bills targeting federal restrictions on firearms, experimental treatments and hemp, reflects growing discord between the states and Washington, state officials say. “You have a choice,” said Kentucky state Rep. Diane St. Onge (R). “To sit back and not do anything or say anything and let overregulation continue — or you have the alternative choice to speak up about it and say, ‘We know what...

WEST DES MOINES — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie told an Iowa crowd last night he will bring blunt, straight talk to fill a leadership void in Washington and give the country hope again if he decides to seek the Republican Party’s 2016 presidential nomination. “Leadership matters,” Christie told about 100 Republicans who turned out for a Dallas County fundraiser at a suburban hotel to hear the New Jersey governor who made his third Iowa appearance within a month and his 13th trip overall. He met privately with Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds before attending the...

TRENTON - A bill sponsored by two Hudson County legislators that would help convicted felons reintegrate into society upon their release from prison has been approved by the State Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee. The bill (A-3602), which is sponsored by Assemblymen Raj Mukherji and Charles Mainor, D-Jersey City, and Thomas Giblin, D-Clifton, would establish a certificate of rehabilitation to remove barriers that prevent people with criminal records who have a history of substance abuse from securing employment, professional licenses and housing. "For many who have been incarcerated, the lifelong stigma of having a criminal record is compounded by...

New Jersey has its first confirmed case of measles this year, health officials announced Friday night. The state Department of Health, working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said a 1-year-old baby in Jersey City did have measles, as suspected. The baby's case was publicly revealed Thursday. The baby's case, however, cannot at this time be linked to the nationwide measles outbreak centered around Disneyland in California, the state Department of Health said.

A New Jersey high school senior has won her case to keep "one nation under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, defeating atheist attacks that sought to strike the language from the pledge. Samantha Jones, a senior at Highland Regional High School, declared victory Friday in protecting what she has described as the right of her fellow students to continue reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in its entirety. After hearing the teen and her family's case, a state judge dismiss the latest efforts by the American Humanist Association to remove "under God" from the Pledge. The legal battle first began...