Free Republic

Sen. Lamar Alexander said Wednesday that someone ought to be fired over the online glitches surrounding the Affordable Care Act, whether it’s President Barack Obama, or someone else. “Somebody needs to be on the flagpole for this, and somebody ought to be fired. If the president’s not going to resign, he should fire somebody else,” Alexander said during Fox News’s “Happening Now.” Alexander (R-Tenn.) added that “the president first” is to blame, but wouldn’t say whether Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius should be fired. “Well, that’s up to be president. I think he should make that decision,” Alexander...

In a 2003 speech, then Speaker Denny Hastert (R-Ill.) discussed his House management guidelines that became known as “The Hastert Rule.” The rule calls for a leader not to send legislation to the House floor for a vote unless it has the support of the majority of the majority. On Wednesday, with just hours left to raise the debt ceiling or risk default, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio)–who has been holding fast to the Hastert Rule–has to decide whether to break it.

Senate Republicans met with President Obama for more than 90 minutes on Friday, as lawmakers search for a breakthrough agreement that could end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling. Like House Republicans the night before, the GOP senators departed the White House without speaking to reporters. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) tweeted shortly after the meeting that it was a "very good discussion." "Nothing obvious decided, but hope," he tweeted. "I'm surprised there may be progress."

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Wednesday said he would like to see a clean funding resolution pass the House to end the government shutdown. McCain expressed hesitancy at criticizing Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) or Republicans in the House but said he is trying to convince them to sit down and negotiate. “I would like to see that myself,” McCain said on CNN when asked if he would like to see the House take up the measure. “But also again I really am hesitant to pile on members of the House of Representatives.” “I try to keep in mind that many...

On Monday, former vice presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, suggesting that Republicans drop all Obamacare demands in their push for a deal on the debt ceiling and a continuing resolution to fund the government. Instead, he suggested that Republicans look for a bargain on entitlement reform, a pet project of his, as well as tax reform. “This isn't a grand bargain. For that, we need a complete rethinking of government's approach to helping the most vulnerable, and a complete rethinking of government's approach to health care. But right now, we need...

Republican Rep. Spencer Bachus, the longest-serving member of Alabama's House delegation, said Monday he will not seek re-election in 2014 after his current term. The 6th District congressman, who first made the announcement during a live interview on WBRC-TV, said he is too worried about problems like the national debt to resign, yet he also is frustrated by the climate in Washington

Ad Highlights Mitch McConnell’s Long Career Of Making Things Worse In Washington (Washington DC) As part of the ongoing “30 Years Is Too Long Campaign,” a new radio ad launched today highlights the disastrous record of failure and gridlock that Mitch McConnell has racked up in his 10,000 days as a U.S. Senator. Mitch McConnell has had 30 years to make things better in Washington, but instead it’s just gotten worse. After 10,000 days of Mitch McConnell in Washington, we’ve got $16 trillion in debt and he’s out of touch with Kentucky. The ad fights back against the latest misleading...

The House passed a short-term spending plan Friday morning that would continue funding government operations through mid-December and withhold funding for President Obama’s signature health-care law, the opening act in what promises to be a several-act drama over how to pay for government operations and raise the federal debt limit. -snip- Which Republican voted against the budget plan?: Rep. Scott Rigell (Va.)

On Tuesday, after John Boehner’s last gambit to pass a government-funding bill ran aground in the face of a Tea Party revolt, a reporter asked the House speaker if he had any idea what he’d do next. “No. Do you have an idea?” Boehner replied, according to Politico. “They’ll just shoot it down anyway.” Boehner’s dilemma -- finding a way to satisfy the right wing of his caucus that doesn’t involve shutting down the government -- isn’t new. The debate rages in Washington over whether he has an impossible job or whether he’s just terrible at it, but it doesn't...

With the Syrian crisis receding on Capitol Hill, Congress on Thursday plunged back into its bitter fiscal standoff as Speaker John A. Boehner appealed to the Obama administration and Democratic leaders to help him resolve divisions in the Republican ranks that could lead to a government shutdown by month’s end. In meetings with Democratic and Republican Congressional leaders on Thursday after a session with Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew on Wednesday, Mr. Boehner pleaded for a resumption of negotiations that could keep the government running and yield a deficit-reduction deal that would convince b>recalcitrant conservatives to raise the government’s borrowing...

JEFFERSON CITY • The Missouri House has failed to override Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of legislation that would cut state income taxes for the first time in nearly a century. The vote, which happened after more than an hour and a half of debate near the start of the state Legislature’s annual veto session today, signaled a key victory for Nixon, who has spent the summer advocating against the tax legislation, which he often characterized as poorly drafted. “This (legislation) is bad tax policy and bad public policy,” state Rep. Jill Schupp, a Creve Coeur Democrat who spoke out against...

The buzz in Washington continues over Republican Sen. Marco Rubio's assertion last week that if Congress stalls out on immigration reform, President Obama may legalize many of the 11 million illegal immigrants administratively. The Florida lawmaker told a radio station that Mr. Obama will be "tempted to issue an executive order like he did for the Dream Act kids a year ago, where he basically legalizes 11 million people by the sign of a pen." Then he added, "a year from now we could find ourselves with all 11 million people here legally under an executive order from the president."...

RACINE — On Thursday it was a panel discussion and before that it was a post-town hall rally. There were press conferences, forums in English and Spanish and demonstrations. On Saturday, the push for immigration reform manifested in a hot parking lot behind Lopez Bakery, 1667 Douglas Ave., where a handful of young activists gathered to spray-paint a poster. “Rep. Paul Ryan,” they wrote, “we want a vote on comprehensive immigration reform.” The city has become a hot spot for pro-immigration reform demonstrations, panels and more because Racine County is represented by Ryan, R-Wis., one of few congressional Republicans to...

Marco Rubio once looked like the Republican savior over immigration. Now, to some conservatives, he seems as trustworthy as a door-to-door salesman. From the right-wing talk-show hosts to local activists at town halls, many conservatives say they’re upset that Rubio’s talk and deeds conflict over comprehensive immigration reform. “The problem is he sold this based on talking points,” said Jason Hoyt, an Orlando tea party activist, summing up the discomfort many conservatives have with the Florida Republican senator. “He had four or five talking points, which sounded pretty good,” Hoyt said. “But then we saw the bill, and it was...

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) faced hecklers angry with his leadership on immigration reform at a Friday Tea Party summit in his home state. According to reports, Rubio was met with cries of "No amnesty!" as he gave an address during the opening session of the Americans for Prosperity's Defending the American Dream Summit in Orlando.

McCain has condemned threats by the likes of Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) Rand Paul (R-KY) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) to block any continuing resolution that funds Obamacare and risk a government shutdown. The senior Arizona senator said that many of the Republicans and conservatives who back the defunding effort weren't in Washington in the early 1990s when the GOP suffered a political backlash for a government shutdown. "It is a battle that's going to go on in the Republican Party and we're going to have to have a struggle and a conversation and an open and honest debate about the...

As recently as six months ago, Florida, a state with a poor record for producing presidential candidates, appeared to be striking gold at last. Former Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio were among the top three or four candidates, sometimes at the very top, in nearly every poll of Republicans on the 2016 presidential nomination. They had starring roles at the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa one year ago this week, with Rubio introducing nominee Mitt Romney. Today, things look different. -snip- Called a traitor and a “RINO,” or “Republican in name only,” over immigration reform by some...

Former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown told the Herald he is exploring a possible 2016 presidential bid today as he hit a well-worn stomping ground for Oval Office hopefuls – the Iowa State Fair. “I want to get an indication of whether there’s even an interest, in Massachusetts and throughout the country, if there’s room for a bi-partisan problem solver,” said Brown, who has been meeting with top republicans nationally and last week hosted a Fenway event for Republican National Committee members. Brown indicated he isn't close to deciding whether he will run. “It’s 2013 I think it’s premature, but I...

Against all logic, some prominent conservatives continue to promote the absurd proposition that right-wing candidates who fail to win over GOP voters in Republican primaries would magically succeed on November ballots. This assumption enables them to retain a naive faith in the claim that "true conservatives" who can't mobilize their own base to win nominations will somehow triumph in general elections by drawing support from moderates and liberals. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has most recently voiced this idea. "You know, if you look at the last 40 years, a consistent pattern emerges," Mr. Cruz observed in a July interview with...

Mitt Romney on Tuesday warned congressional Republicans against shutting down the government in an attempt to defund ObamaCare. “I badly want ObamaCare to go away, and stripping it of funds has appeal,” Romney said at a fundraiser in New Hampshire for the state’s Republican Party, according to prepared remarks. “But we need to exercise great care about any talk of shutting down government. What would come next when soldiers aren't paid, when seniors fear for their Medicare and Social Security, and when the FBI is off duty?” Speaking at the event in Wolfeboro, just miles from his summer vacation home,...