Free Republic

Maxine Waters — the fiery liberal from Los Angeles known for calling House Republican leadership “demons” and threatening to nationalize oil companies — has gone from the scourge of Big Business to a sympathetic ally for corporate America. It’s no accident. Waters is executing this transformation by seizing on the growing divide between conservative Republicans and Big Business and leveraging her position as the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, where in the coming weeks she will play a role in the battles over extending a terrorism insurance program and the Export-Import Bank. A large part of her...

Recently, a friend lamented that the liberal left is destroying America, but I disagreed. The left is consistent and transparent in its belief that big government, higher taxes and more regulation serve the greater good. The right espouses a limited government platform of lower taxes, less spending and less regulation, which frees capital resulting in innovation and job creation. But do Georgia Republicans practice what they preach Georgia’s fiscal year 2014 results illustrate the reality vs. the rhetoric. Our revenue jumped $879 million over fiscal year 2013; but $473 million of this increase resulted from the new way cars are...

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is working to forge a sweeping international climate change agreement to compel nations to cut their planet-warming fossil fuel emissions, but without ratification from Congress. In preparation for this agreement, to be signed at a United Nations summit meeting in 2015 in Paris, the negotiators are meeting with diplomats from other countries to broker a deal to commit some of the world’s largest economies to enact laws to reduce their carbon pollution. But under the Constitution, a president may enter into a legally binding treaty only if it is approved by a two-thirds majority of...

This is not an article, but rather a summary of what is now showing on the main page of Electoral-Vote.com, an election poll tracking site. I've been visiting electoral-vote.com for years, and have found that the closer we get to an election, the more accurate their map gets. Recently, and for a long time, they have had Democrats poised to keep control of the Senate, 55 to 45. However, in recent days it has shifted clearly toward the Republicans. Electoral-Vote.com is now showing the Republicans likely taking control of the Senate. Dems 48, GOP 51, Ties 1 Electoral-Vote.com makes its...

The unsinkable Charles B. Rangel appeared on C-SPAN over the weekend. Why unsinkable? Well, the House of Representatives censured the New York Democrat in 2010 by a vote of 333 to 79 (when the body was still majority Democrat) for violating 11 ethics rules and "bringing discredit to the House." The New York Times called it a "staggering fall" for the senior Democrat. But fall-schmall, he's since been reelected and will retire at his leisure. While chatting with Brian Lamb, Rangel dropped a few falsehoods as casually as cigar ash. This isn't to pick on Rangel. He's just illustrative. His...

Fox News recently had a political story noting that in several close Senate races in red states, Libertarian candidates might keep the Republican nominee from winning seats held by Democrats today. In the last three election cycles, liberal Democrats in Senate races have won races with less than half the vote, and with the majority of the vote going to the Republican nominee and candidates more conservative than that nominee. In 2008, Mark Begich won in Alaska with 47.8% of the vote, while Republican Ted Stevens earned 46.6% and Bob Bird of the Alaska Independence Party, endorsed by Ron Paul,...

In an obvious attempt to help the Democrats preserve their Senate majority, the “reporters” of the legacy news media have been hard at work promoting a new Obamacare meme. The Los Angeles Times assisted in the launch of this propaganda campaign early this month with a piece titled, “Obamacare loses some of its campaign punch for Republicans.” The evidence provided by the article’s authors in support of this claim consists primarily of a July study involving GOP advertising: “The percentage of broadcast television ads focused on Obamacare dipped in the spring, according to a study conducted by Kantar Media/CMAG.” This...

If there’s one thing that will generate bipartisan consensus on the Hill, it’s that the United States needs to get serious about confronting the Islamic State (ISIS) militarily. The National Journal recently posted a piece by James Kitfield, a senior fellow at Center for the Study of the Presidency & Congress, argued that it’s time the U.S. declares war on the Islamic State–and have a debate on the U.S. interests at stake: Washington is overdue for a serious debate about what U.S. national interests are threatened by the Iraq crisis. … Most importantly, ISIS today represents a direct and growing threat...

There is a lot of anger in Ferguson, Missouri, and much of it understandable. But there is also a lot of spectacle and drama. "Ferguson" has become a rallying cry for hucksters, a ratings point for the media, and a point of argument for friends on social media. What Ferguson really is, is a deeply wounded city in Missouri. Its citizens are divided; its trust in authority is collapsed; it has one less 18-year-old and an injured policeman. There are no winners in Ferguson, just a lot of tears and heartache. Most Americans tend to trust and support their police....

HARTFORD - A broad coalition of environmental, economic, regional and construction groups urged Connecticut's gubernatorial candidates Tuesday to conduct a debate focused on transportation issues, and to consider higher taxes and tolls to pay for the state's dire transportation needs. The activists put out a four-point program they said the state's next governor must consider, and expressed concern about the possibility that massive federal funding for highways and mass transit might dry up in the next few years. The coalition's key issues are: •Making certain that state revenue that is supposed to be devoted to transportation - such as gas...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is simply living in an alternate universe. While yelling into the clouds over the Koch Brothers’ evil plot to destroy America, he said today that Democrats “are doing really well in Montana.” And is optimistic that they'll maintain control of the Senate (via the Hill): Reid predicted Democrats would lose a seat in South Dakota, but was optimistic about Montana despite Sen. John Walsh's (D-Mt.) recent decision to drop out of the race after a plagiarism scandal. We are doing really well in Montana," Reid told reporters on Monday. … If the election were held today, we'd...

For years, we’ve read a lot of stories about “anti-establishment” Republicans “attacking” their “mainstream” opponents. But the mainstream media narrative rarely runs in the opposite direction. House Leadership GOP Elections The coordinated ruling class surge against constitutional conservatives who don’t know their place gained force last week with both serious and farcical attacks on its presidential contenders. Rand Paul got the viral video treatment for a gotcha moment at an Iowa fundraiser for Congressman Steve King (R-IA)–a compliment of sorts for the senator regarded by many as “Democrat’s Enemy #1.” Senator Paul’s offense is his ability to draw some of...

Many social conservatives say they feel politically isolated as the country seems to be hurtling to the left, with marijuana now legal in Colorado and gay marriage gaining ground across the nation. They feel out of place in a GOP increasingly dominated by tea party activists and libertarians who prefer to focus on taxes and the role of government and often disagree with social conservatives on drugs or gay rights.

I’m a Democrat. I’ve been a Democrat my entire life. I used to utter those two sentences with pride and would shout them from the highest rooftops. Now, I’m almost embarrassed to say those words. I almost can’t articulate my political affiliation in public (or on the radio) without immediately offering an apology and an explanation. How did I get here? I’ve been asking myself that question a lot lately. The more I ask it, the more I come to the realization that I haven’t changed all that much. Sure, I’m a little older … OK, a lot older. I...

The past few years have shown us that our political system is operating like a well-oiled machine, assuming that machine's primary purpose is to function horribly while producing nothing of value.. Stubbornness and disagreement have been raised to art forms, and the American people have made it clear they rate Congress only slightly more favorably than "scorpions in pants." The president isn't viewed much better, with an approval rating hovering around a dismal 40 percent. There's ample blame to go around — leftward, rightward, centerward (which isn't a word, but should be) — but a new poll homes in on...

An electrifying midterm rallying cry on a slow summer news day. Boehner, incidentally, isn’t one of the crappy-asses, she says. She doesn’t name names there, but she’s been known to diverge from grassroots conservatives in these matters before.What would happen, though, if Boehner turned around and made a deal with Harry Reid on amnesty in September? One of the goals of Obama’s looming power grab over legalization is to scare Republican leaders with the thought that Latino voters will be so grateful, they’ll break even harder for Democrats in 2016. The only countermeasure, Dems would have you believe, is...

Recess is in full force in Washington, D.C., as national lawmakers vacation around the country, but both political parties are fighting intense political battles on the ground in states nationwide as several statehouses are up for grabs in what’s shaping up to be a landslide pro-GOP election year. “Republicans, who had appeared to hit a high-water mark in control of statehouses in recent years, are seeking to pick off another half-dozen chambers this year, taking advantage of President Obama’s persistent unpopularity, anxiety about the economy, and a history of anemic turnout among Democrats in nonpresidential election years,” the New York...

The decision by Sen. John Walsh (D-Mont.) not to seek election in November in the wake of a plagiarism scandal is the latest piece of good news for Republicans as they strive to take control of the Senate in less than three months. Walsh’s departure from the race came in the same week that two Republican senators — Pat Roberts in Kansas and Lamar Alexander in Tennessee — defeated tea party challengers in primary fights, ensuring that every GOP senator seeking reelection would be the party’s nominee. These past seven days typified the fates of the two parties this election...

Conservatives are literally praying that the Texas senator will be the 2016 nominee. The rest of the Republican Party isn't so sure. FORT WORTH, Texas—After finishing his speech, Ted Cruz announced he would take questions from the audience. But instead of asking him anything, they just wanted to tell the Republican senator how great he was. "When I look at you, I can imagine you would be just like one of the founding fathers of this country," one woman said from the microphone stand in the middle of the hotel ballroom. "Honor to you, Ted Cruz," said the next. "We...

The Tea Party didn’t knock off any incumbent GOP senators this year in primaries, but last night it proved just how riled up voters are against the Washington establishment. Tennessee senator Lamar Alexander won re-nomination last night with just 49.7 percent of the vote. His main opponent, state representative Joe Carr won 41 percent despite an erratic campaign and being ignored by the major national tea-party groups. Alexander was able to convince just enough conservatives to back him with his rallying cry: “I’m not in the shut-down-the-government crowd, I’m in the taking-over-the-government crowd.” Alexander becomes the third GOP senator in...