Free Republic

Jeb Bush once called for building prisons and emphasizing “punishment over therapy” for juvenile offenders. Today, he supports reforming the criminal justice system, arguing that incarceration can harden low-level lawbreakers into career criminals. In the past, he stressed using deportation to rid the United States of unauthorized immigrants. These days, he describes crossing the border illegally as “an act of love” by migrant parents and supports a path to citizenship for those who have done so. He used to emphasize the rights of big landowners who felt cheated by environmental programs. Now, he is a champion of state-sponsored conservation, celebrated...

Die-hard House conservatives, after bungling a coup against House Speaker John Boehner, now look like winners who are pushing their Republican caucus farther right. Rather than punish and isolate those who opposed him as leader, Boehner surprised many on Friday by embracing a major immigration plan that's more stringent and conservative than lawmakers had expected. It not only would block President Barack Obama's recent limits on deportations, but also undo earlier protections for immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. The House is pushing toward a vote Wednesday. As the rebellious hard-liners celebrated, mainstream Republicans said Boehner's decision probably...

Who is Carly Fiorina? Well, for starters, she’s a hugely successful businesswoman who challenged Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) in 2010 -- and lost by double digits. She also once served as the CEO of Hewlett-Packard. Nonetheless, now that Sen. Boxer is calling it quits in 2016 -- and Republicans are over the moon -- is her former challenger maybe interested in the seat? Not at all. On the Hugh Hewitt Show Friday night, she confirmed widely reported rumors that she might have grander, and indeed more ambitious, plans:

48 second Video at link. (CNSNews.com) - House Speaker John Boehner (R.-Ohio) vowed today to fight “tooth and nail” against President Obama’s unilateral amnesty of up to five million illegal aliens—an amnesty the administration has been able to move forward with because Boehner’s House permitted funding of it. The 1,603-page omnibus spending bill that Boehner pushed through a lame-duck Republican-controlled House last month put no prohibition on Obama using government funds to implement the amnesty. That omnibus funded almost all the government through the end of this fiscal year on Sept. 30 and the Department of Homeland Security through Feb....

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Thursday he doesn't like being called "spineless" or a "squish" by critics, and he vowed to prove his mettle to lawmakers who bopposed his re-election earlier this week. Boehner was re-elected Speaker of the House on Tuesday even as 25 members of his own Republican party declined to support him, the biggest such intra-party rebellion against a speaker candidate since 1859. His detractors, many of them on the right wing of his party, say Boehner is too prone to compromise with Democrats. Boehner said that portrayal is false....

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) is defending his conservative bona fides after a failed attempt by conservatives to oust him from his speakership. “It does pain me to be described as spineless or a squish,” Boehner said to chuckles from reporters. “I tell you what pains me the most is when they describe me as ‘the establishment.’ Now I’m the most anti-establishment speaker we’ve ever had.” “Who was the guy who got rid of earmarks? Me,” he continued. “Who’s the guy who believes in regular order? Me. Who believes in allowing more members to participate in the process from both...

Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn said he hopes his GOP colleagues hold off on a vote to fully repeal Obamacare until after Republicans have shown they can govern. “I think it’s important that we demonstrate that we can be productive before we have the inevitable fight over repealing Obamacare,” the Texas Republican said in an interview with CQ Roll Call Wednesday. “We are going to have that vote. But my own preference would be we have it after we’ve been able to demonstrate that we can actually get some things done.”

The average age of a member of Congress is 58. That makes Elise Stefanik, the 30-year-old from the 21st district of New York, stick out like a flashing neon light. Stefanik is the youngest representative ever elected to serve on Capitol Hill, and she just happens to be a bold conservative. Stefanik’s conservative credentials are bona fide. She was brought up in a small business family, is staunchly pro-life and has pledged to help replace Obamacare with common sense proposals. These qualities, along with an upbeat attitude, helped her to achieve incredible success in the Empire State’s North Country. Before throwing her...

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said in an interview with CNN Wednesday that if the Supreme Court eventually rules that same-sex marriage is constitutional, Americans would have to abide by that ruling. "I wouldn't agree with their ruling, but that would be the law of the land that we would have to follow until it's somehow reversed — either by a future Supreme Court, or a U.S. constitutional amendment, which I don't think is realistic or foreseeable," he said. He said he expects the question "is ultimately going to find its way to the U.S. Supreme court," noting that many federal...

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s (R) administration is proposing more gun control in the form of “security requirements” for firearm retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers–and employees of the same–in the state. The proposals originated with the State Police and are the result of “several thefts and lapses in oversight…that led to at least one death” during the past 10 years.

Speaker of the House John Boehner acknowledged Wednesday that he punished two Republicans who opposed his re-election by stripping them of committee assignments. Reps. Daniel Webster and Richard Nugent, both Republicans, lost their seats on the House Rules Committee hours after voting for someone else for speaker on Tuesday. In total, 25 Republicans voted against Boehner. “Because of some of the activities on the floor,” Boehner explained in a Wednesday news conference, “two of our members weren’t put back on the committee immediately.” Referencing the vote, Boehner said he plans to talk to his members about how to unify as...

John Boehner is getting revenge. He secured his third term as speaker Tuesday afternoon, losing 25 votes on the House floor to three relatively unknown members of the House Republican Conference. But he’s already punishing those who betrayed him. First up: Florida Reps. Daniel Webster and Richard Nugent. The pair will be booted from their spots on the House Rules Committee, according to sources familiar with the decision. Webster ran against Boehner (R-Ohio) for speaker Tuesday, and Nugent supported his fellow Floridian. The Rules Committee is a panel appointed by the speaker, and it controls the flow of legislation to...

Not so much respect that the state should recognize their commitment as a legal marriage, he stresses, but respect nonetheless. “We live in a democracy, and regardless of our disagreements, we have to respect the rule of law,” Mr. Bush said in a statement. “I hope that we can show respect for the good people on all sides of the gay and lesbian marriage issue – including couples making lifetime commitments to each other who are seeking greater legal protections and those of us who believe marriage is a sacrament and want to safeguard religious liberty.”… Gay rights leaders said...

I’m glad there’s a moderate Democrat finally running for president. I just wish he were running on the Democratic ticket. Jeb Bush, a likely Republican presidential candidate, called for “respect” of same-sex marriages on Monday as his home state of Florida began allowing gays to wed following a court ruling. Bush, a former governor of Florida, said in a statement that even those like him who oppose same-sex marriage must “respect the rule of law” now that the state’s ban on gay marriages has been ruled unconstitutional. Do you know what else is the law of the land? ObamaCare. So...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Paul. Great to have you, sir. Thank you for waiting and hello. CALLER: Yeah, great to speak with you, too, Rush. Most Republicans agree that Boehner has to go. He not only voted for the cromnibus that funded Obama's illegal activities until next October, he also negotiated behind closed doors and then threw it on the clerk's desk 48 hours before the vote so nobody else had a chance to see what was in it. So he's disgraced himself. He's got to go. The question is who should replace him.And two men...

An analysis of Boehner’s current investment holdings includes a number of stocks benefiting from Obamacare in a total portfolio estimated at between $3.5 and $5 million in current market value. Boehner’s Obamacare-related investments trace back to 2009, when the Obama administration was pushing the Affordable Health Care Act through Congress. Boehner has consistently maintained his investments are held in a blind trust and that he does not personally make investment decisions in his own investment portfolio. But few experienced congressional critics believe Boehner and other members of Congress are unaware of their investment holdings, because public disclosure requirements demand yearly...

Congress: With polls showing most GOP voters in opposition to the Speaker's budget deal and saying they would "probably" or "definitely" prefer a new leader, a Tea Party favorite fires a shot heard around the political world. In 2010, House Speaker John Boehner loved the Tea Party. The grass-roots movement, which arose in opposition to manifestations of big government such as ObamaCare and unlimited taxation and regulation, put the GOP back in control of the House of Representatives and made Boehner Speaker. But by December 2013, Boehner loved the Tea Party and other conservative groups not so much. They had...

“Mitch McConnell has an unusual admonition for the new Republican majority as it takes over the Senate this week: Don’t be ‘scary.’”... Democrats are dubious of McConnell’s pledge to avert edge-of-the-cliff moments. They believe he will run into the same problems that have bedeviled House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) during the past four years — including the inability to corral rabble-rousers such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) to support an agenda that conservative critics will probably view as not bold enough in challenging Obama. Appeasing those far-right conservatives will lead to an agenda that Democrats hope to exploit in...

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — The action taken by a New York City police officer against Eric Garner is "clear," writes U.S. Rep. Justin Amash on Wednesday. Clearly excessive force against #EricGarner. I pray that peace and justice will prevail. The incident was captured on video, showing Garner talking with police as they suspected him of selling tax-free cigarettes. The 43-year-old man then is overcome by officers who take him down to the sidewalk. Garner cried out, "I can't breathe," several times before becoming motionless.

Ron and Rand Paul have complained about being wrongly dubbed “isolationists” even though that name arguably fits whatever passes for their foreign policy.Now Rand Paul has decided that opponents of bailing out the Castro regime are isolationists. All this proves is that Rand Paul doesn’t know what an isolationist is.“I think a policy of isolationism toward Cuba is misplaced and hasn’t worked,” Paul writes in Time Magazine.Isolationism is a policy that the United States would adopt toward the larger world. An embargo on an enemy state in response to its actions against the United States is not isolationism.Rand Paul is...