Free Republic

According to Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev, it's apparently Ted Cruz's fault that he gave CNN's Dana Bash the answer he did regarding children with cancer, going by audio posted Wednesday at Real Clear Politics. Politico's Dylan Byers, in the meantime, was busy covering for the Senate Majority Leader by trying to make people believe that Reid didn't say what he said, Newsbusters' Tom Blumer reported. Bash asked why Reid did not support a GOP measure that would help children with cancer. "But if you can help one child who has cancer, why wouldn’t you do it?" she asked, according to...

The Associated Press is standing by its report that Sen. Rand Paul intended to back a path to citizenship in his speech Tuesday to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, despite the fact that he did not do so, and despite claims from advisers that the AP's story is wrong. ... The AP obtained an advance copy of Sen. Paul’s remarks on Monday and reported that he would be "endorsing a pathway to citizenship for the nation's 11 million illegal immigrants." That report led to headlines across news outlets ranging from Fox News to The Washington Post to the Huffington Post...

Washington’s shutdown blame game is already in full force – and the government isn’t even closed yet.

Some health reform opponents claim the Obama administration is giving members of Congress and their staffs special treatment under the Affordable Care Act. The claim, which a number of media stories have repeated uncritically, is simply false: Although they will be required to enroll in health plans offered within the new health-insurance exchanges established under the law, members of Congress and their staffs will not receive extra financial help to pay for their medical care.Critics are angry because the administration has confirmed that members of Congress and their staffs can continue to receive employer contributions to cover part of...

House Republicans will vote to pass a one-year delay of Obamacare in exchange for funding the government, a plan that drastically increases the chances of a government shutdown this Tuesday. The decision was announced by the GOP leadership in a closed meeting Saturday afternoon, according to sources present. Republicans will also pass a bill to fund U.S. troops if the government shuts down, according to GOP lawmakers. The House’s funding measure will keep the government open until mid December. This puts Senate Democrats and the White House at loggerheads with House Republicans, a standoff that could lead to the first...

To imitate the inimitable James Taranto: HA HA HA HA. Politico has cleared MSNBC host Alex Wagner of any conflict of interest stemming from her impending marriage to Sam Kaas, the Executive Director of First Lady Michelle Obama's "Let’s Move!" initiative. According to Politico's Dylan Byers [emphasis added], "We won't call this a conflict of interest because who doesn't love a man who can cook, and really, the White House Chef and Let's Move! role is arguably rather apolitical. Many a White House chef has served multiple administrations from either side of the spectrum." Uh, yeah, but Kaas is a...

The Obamacare that consumers will finally be able to sign up for next week is a long way from the health plan President Barack Obama first pitched to the nation. Millions of low-income Americans won’t receive coverage. Many workers at small businesses won’t get a choice of insurance plans right away. Large employers won’t need to provide insurance for another year. Far more states than expected won’t run their own insurance marketplaces. And a growing number of workers won’t get to keep their employer-provided coverage.

Sarah Palin wants to switch the national conversation back to death panels and to “bomb Obamacare.” The former governor of Alaska and vice presidential candidate posted a new video from SarahPAC, her PAC, to her YouTube, Twitter and Facebook accounts on Monday called “Just Sayin.’” The two-minute video cycles through clips of the media talking about Palin’s warning of “death panels” in Obamacare, starting with criticism before transitioning to clips that Palin was right all along.

The whip count on Syria has become like the war itself: No one in Washington wants to own it alone. While most top congressional leaders have vowed to back President Barack Obama in seeking authority to launch missile strikes, there’s little evidence that they can — or even want to — help him round up the rank-and file-Republicans he’ll need to win a vote in the House. Speaker John Boehner’s spokesman said that he “expects the White House to provide answers to members’ questions and take the lead on any whipping effort.” Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), whose aides and...

President Barack Obama faces a clear uphill battle in swaying skeptical lawmakers of the merits of military action in Syria, as top officials were dispatched to Capitol Hill Sunday to make the administration’s case. For example, Senate Democratic aides are drafting new language for an authorization of military force in Syria, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said Sunday. The administration’s proposal is too open-ended — a complaint many lawmakers have — Leahy said after leaving the classified briefing. The current version wouldn’t garner his support, but he indicated that a more tightly written draft might. “I know it’s going to be...

In his Saturday Playbook email, Politico’s Mike Allen defended GOP establishment Senators like Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Lamar Alexander and others facing Tea Party challengers as up against nothing more than an “expensive headache” they will defeat. Allen, a denizen of D.C. political establishment, highlighted two news stories to make his point: One from the New York Times, and the other from the Associated Press. The New York Times’ Jennifer Steinhauser reported with Jonathan Weisman on the front page of the Gray Lady on Saturday that “[d]espite their careful efforts, some of the best-known and most influential Republicans...

In her column, Dowd quoted de Blasio's wife Chirlane McCray as saying that mayoral challenger Christine Quinn was "not accessible ... She's not the kind of person I feel I can go up to and talk to about issues like taking care of children at a young age and paid sick leave." Quinn used this slight to accuse the de Blasio campaign of faulting her for being a childless lesbian. In fact, audio of the full quote, which was subsequently released by de Blasio's campaign, shows that McCray's marks may have been far more tame. The Times has since issued...

Of all the arguments advanced in favor of amnesty for illegal aliens, perhaps the most outrageous came from Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) during a radio interview on Tuesday.  Outrage should not be exclusively directed at Rubio, because what he said is very possibly true.  And outrage should not be limited to the immigration issue, because what Rubio said will prove true of many other issues as well.  This is call-to-arms, fife-and-drum stuff.  The question is whether there are enough American patriots left to hear the music, and answer.Rubio warned that if a comprehensive immigration bill is not passed by Republicans,...

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s lobbying outfit has launched a $350,000 ad buy to defend House Budget Committee chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) amid his push for comprehensive immigration reform. Politico reports that Zuckerberg’s FWD.us-run group, Americans for a Conservative Direction, has bought up $350,000 worth of television ad airtime targeted at Ryan’s district. "The spot from the FWD.us affiliate begins with a picture of Ryan and says, ‘Amnesty? Not a chance,’ and goes on to say the House budget chairman is looking at a ‘conservative solution’ to the issue of immigration,” Politico wrote on Thursday. “It then focuses on more...

Politico’s Dylan Byers, in a piece for his buddies in the MSM, declares that conservative criticism of the mainstream media is overblown. Byers writes: So often conservative media, like conservative media criticism, can't be taken seriously because it overplays its hand. Like someone who shouts "thief!" the second his keys go missing, much of the conservative echo-chamber has a hyper-aggressive penchant to see conspiracy where they'd do better to see questions in need of answers. As a general rule -- albeit with plenty of exceptions -- there is a guilty-until-proven-innocent approach among those who fashion themselves as "anti-MSM," which can...

The lame-stream media obviously views Sarah Palin as a threat and is reporting with glee that 77 percent of Alaskans believe that Sarah Palin should not run for President in 2016; but, in typical fashion, the media is ignoring key data in the poll by the far-left Public Policy Polling (PPP) company that indicates that bias was built into the poll and that conservatives and Republicans are responding well to the idea of a Palin run... Leading the anti-Palin charge is the left-wing Politico which is reporting: "Despite it being her home state, only 18 percent of Alaskans think Palin...

Many freshman Democrats in the House are defying Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and not voting with the party on key issues. They told Politico they are there to represent their constituents and not make big points with House leadership. Dan Maffei (D-NY) has voted less with his party than any other freshman Democrat. He voted with Republicans to delay the mandates in Obamacare for one year. Fourteen of his colleagues joined him and Pelosi accused them of undermining her. Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Shultz (D-FL) took to the House floor to attack the defectors, but Maffei does not regret his actions:...

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Thursday that he sides with Sens. Rand Paul and Ted Cruz because they are not afraid to ask important questions, and it is disheartening to watch establishment Republicans like Gov. Chris Christie "grow hysterical." "I consistently have been on the side of having the courage that Rand Paul and Ted Cruz have and I think it's sad to watch the establishment grow hysterical, but frankly they're hysterical because they have no answers," Gingrich said while appearing on "The Laura Ingraham Show," Politico reports. Gingrich was on Ingraham's show to offer his opinion on the...

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s chief of staff is stepping down from his position to focus exclusively on the GOP leader’s reelection campaign and the national Republican effort to take back the majority next year. The move, Republicans say, is a reflection of the growing belief — and concern — that 2014 could be the last opportunity in years for the GOP to recapture the Senate after blowing their chance at the majority in the past two election cycles. So McConnell is moving a key aide out of his official Washington office to work entirely on campaign politics. Continue Reading...

Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh may be setting up shop at new radio stations in the near future. According to a report on Politico.com, Cumulus Media is planning on dropping both talk show hosts at the end of the year. If Cumulus goes through with their plans, that means the nation’s top two conservative radio personalities would be removed from more than 40 stations. The company declined comment to the political website. "Cumulus is not in a position to comment about negotiations with talent under contract, no matter what the rumor of the day might be," a rep said. Sources...