Free Republic

Allies of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush say his chances of running for president in 2016 are becoming a more likely possibility now than ever before. According to Politico, Bush is laying the groundwork for a bid with private prep work on key international issues and visits to top Senate races across the country to campaign.

After a long, unapologetic effort to defeat Tea Party candidates in GOP primaries, the Washington establishment will likely need Tea Party voters in November to help swing several tight Senate races and win control of the upper chamber. The National Republican Senatorial Committee on Friday dismissed the notion that party voters are not united behind their candidates. “Can you point to a race … ? It’s a false narrative,” Kevin Broughton, spokesman for the Tea Party Patriots singled out a few races, particularly in Kansas and Mississippi, but suggested his troops will rally for the general election. Broughton said they...

President Obama thumped Mitt Romney in the 2012 election, but now their political standings seem reversed. During a summer in which Democratic candidates are keeping their distance from an unpopular president, Romney is emerging as one of the Republican Party’s most in-demand campaign surrogates. Over three days in mid-August, Romney will campaign for GOP Senate and gubernatorial candidates in West Virginia, North Carolina and Arkansas, aides said. In September, he is planning visits to the presidential swing states of Colorado and Virginia. Romney is filling up his October schedule, as well. Senate hopefuls in Iowa and New Hampshire are eager...

... Jeb Bush’s positions on two issues, in my view, make him formidable against a Democratic presidential candidate in 2016: education reform and immigration policy. ...

(music swells) Hello. I'm Laz. (images of beaches, mountains, grain fields) I'd like to help build a better America. I want us to become great again. (short video of eagle landing on a rock outcropping, with camera closing in on the head until it fills frame) That is why I am asking for your vote for Admin Moderator for Free Republic this November. Remember, your vote makes a difference. We need more Tea-Party representatives, and I hope to be your choice. (eagle head fades to flapping American flag) Vote for Lazamataz for Admin Moderator this November. I would be honored...

President George W. Bush said his younger brother Jeb Bush would make a “great president,” as speculation builds that the Republican former governor of Florida might mount a run for the White House in 2016. Jeb Bush, a favorite of the Republican establishment, has maintained a high public profile in recent weeks, appearing at GOP fundraising events and weighing in on debates over immigration and education policy. He has publicly backed at least two GOP candidates in 2014 races, including his recent endorsement of California gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari. “I hope Jeb runs,” the former president said during an interview...

Last week, a 72-year-old New Canaan man faced vehicular manslaughter charges for allegedly striking and killing a motorcyclist last fall. In Darien, an 89-year-old man turned himself in after allegedly hitting and severely injuring 15-year-old pedestrian on Hoyt Street. He claimed he didn't know he hit anything until he saw the accident reported in the paper the next day. And on Friday an 85-year-old man sustained minor injuries after rolling his car over on West Avenue in Darien. For years, lawmakers, senior advocates and the children of elderly parents have debated the need for retesting older drivers. Now that seniors...

There is a rule in American politics: Hope and optimism nearly always defeat fear and pessimism. The Republican Party faces a long-term challenge in presidential elections because it is defining itself as a gloomy enclave, a collection of pessimists who fear what our country is becoming and where it is going. The party’s hope deficit helps explain why there’s a boomlet for Jeb Bush, a man who dares to use the word “love” in a paragraph about illegal immigrants. The flurry doesn’t mean that the former Florida governor is even running for president, let alone that he can win. But...

The United States and Canada are far more integrated than most people think. In fact, a merger between the two countries isn't just desirable—it's inevitable. We share more than just the world's longest border. We share the same values, lifestyles and aspirations. Our societies and economies are becoming similar in significant ways.

Support for a Bush candidacy is building far beyond Florida. At a gathering of prominent conservatives in Las Vegas last weekend — where presidential hopefuls kissed the ring of billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson — Bush was among those who puckered up. And the donors liked what they saw. "GOP elite hoping to lure Jeb Bush," trumpeted the headline at the top of the Washington Post's Sunday-morning paper. Some see Bush as the party's best hope. Others see weaknesses ripe for exploitation. I think both sides are right. Right now, Florida's 43rd governor towers above most of the other Republicans...

Sen. Ted Cruz is calling for the Obama administration to place missile installations in Eastern Europe in the wake of Russia’s moves in Ukraine. The Washington Post reports the Texas Republican made the comments during an interview Monday. "Beyond sanctions and aid to Ukraine, the most important thing we could be doing right now, with respect to Russia, is installing anti-ballistic missiles in Eastern Europe," Cruz said. "Appeasement has not worked. After more than five years of being unwilling to stand up to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and Russian aggression, it is time for the United States to honor our...

An 84-year-old nun was sentenced to nearly three years in prison for breaking into a US nuclear weapons complex and defacing a bunker holding bomb-grade uranium, a demonstration that exposed serious security flaws. Two other activists who broke into the facility with Megan Rice were sentenced to more than five years in prison yesterday, in part because they had much longer criminal histories of mostly non-violent civil disobedience... ...On July 28, 2012, the three activists cut through three fences before reaching a 548 million dollar (£328 million) storage bunker... ...They hung banners, strung crime-scene tape and hammered off a small...

District 64 in North TX needs to dump Myra Crownover for a "real conservative Republican!" Ms. Crownover makes Susan Collins look conservative!

Amendment 14 - Citizenship Rights 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. I say NO. The illegal mothers are not subject to the jurisdiction of the...

It is common for all of us to have to struggle as to the great mystery of God’s providence and will. If it is not our own struggle then we must often commiserate with others who are in distress. One person is losing her young daughter to cancer, a friend is struggling to find work, still another has a husband who is drinking. Some will say to me, “I’ve been praying, Father. Nothing seems to happen.” I am not always sure what to say and God doesn’t often explain why we must suffer, or why he delays, or why he...

As our members of Congress head home to enjoy the holiday recess and start of the New Year, I look back at all the progress we’ve made on immigration in 2013 — building a nationwide coalition of leaders who carry a bible, wear a badge or own a business — and I look forward to what 2014 holds in store for reform. Wide acknowledgement from Republican House leadership — and support among Republican constituents — shows that immigration reform is definitely not a “dead” issue, but one with great opportunity in 2014. Every member of the House leadership team has...

OK KIDS LET'S PLAY DOCTOR!

...We are coming on 25 years of Pete Rose's banishment... Pete Rose played baseball with an intensity and love that might be unmatched in the game's history. He cracked more hits and reached base more times than anyone ever. He represented a way to play baseball that inspired millions of people. Then, he gambled on games, breaking one of baseball's most cherished rules. Rose is 72 years old now, and I think it's time to let him back into the game. I don't think anyone should ask him to apologize again or come any cleaner than he has. I don't...

Is it just me, or does anyone else out there wonder why the mainstream media is gushing over Gov. Chris Christie? The Washington Post got all wee-weed up over his decisive win in New Jersey last week. The New York Times planted a big kiss on his chubby tookus. The networks in Manhattan all ran a variation of “Boy, this guy is really something, huh?” (snip) In coronating the rotund governor as the next sure-fire GOP presidential nominee in 2016, none of the mainstream media pointed out his stances on issues that they no doubt hate: Mr. Christie vetoed a...

Who do you trust to run the US Federal Government? The Democrats have chosen to over-spend our money without a budget for 5 years. The Democrats have chosen to not Impeach Obama in spite of his Dereliction of Duty as CIC during and after the Benghazi Massacre. The Democrats have chosen to approve of spying on those they do not trust which is all of the American People, and all of the people in Germany, France and Spain. Who among us can trust the Democrat politicians who obviously do not trust any of us legal citizens?