Free Republic

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) on Monday described an editorial in the Lexington Herald-Leader equating those opposed to climate protections to slaveholders as a “depressing new low.” In an editorial last week, the Lexington Herald-Leader wrote that McConnell and others opposed to stricter environmental rules “will be regarded one day in the same way we think of 19th-century apologists for human slavery.” “How could economic interests bind them to the immortality of their position?” the paper asked then. The editorial said McConnell should listen to public opinion and drop his opposition to President Obama's greenhouse gas reduction plans. “The...

Jeb Bush on Friday in New Hampshire called for the U.S. "to work with the rest of the world to negotiate a way to reduce carbon emissions.” The remarks at a "Politics & Eggs" event brought praise from billionaire Tom Steyer's group NextGen Climate, which has spent millions in recent elections blasting Republicans on climate change. "Jeb Bush demonstrated leadership today on the issue of climate change—distancing himself from the other Republican presidential hopefuls and demonstrating why climate change doesn’t have to be a partisan issue," the group said in an email to reporters. "Today in New Hampshire, Bush expressed...

In 2012, Mitt Romney was the out-of-touch establishment Republican who sparked a right-wing primary backlash. A New Hampshire GOP event this weekend suggests the storyline could play out again with Jeb Bush. In New Hampshire this weekend, there was already the scent of it. Perhaps not overpowering yet, but unmistakable and very familiar. "I'm sick and tired of mushy, wishy-washy conservatives," one attendee of a Republican gathering for potential presidential candidates in New Hampshire told The Boston Herald. For good measure, she also made Saturday's headlines by suggesting that the still-awfully-far-away Republican presidential primary season would be a "coronation" because...

He's not officially a presidential candidate, but Jeb Bush seems to be raising money like one. The former Florida Governor will be in Seattle on Monday for a round table discussion. If you want to attend, you'll need to pay $12,500 or $25,000 per couple.

We’re still a year away from the first official votes being cast in the 2016 Republican presidential primary in my home state of Iowa. Yet some of my brethren seem willing to declare the contest over and award Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker the victory before he’s truly been vetted. How about we make a guy go through the job interview before we hire him based solely off his resume? Now, to be sure Walker has an attractive resume, which is why I have several kind things to say about him in my book Rules for Patriots: How Conservatives Can Win...

As Cliff Kincaid noted in a recent column, Only six of 54 Republican members of the Senate signed a pro-traditional marriage legal brief to the U.S. Supreme Court that was submitted on Friday. USA Today noted, “By contrast, 44 Democratic senators and 167 Democratic House members filed a brief last month urging the court to approve same-sex marriage. The brief included the full House and Senate [Democratic] leadership teams.” Who were these six Republicans who were actually willing to stand up for the documented Republican value of marriage? ◾Senator Ted Cruz of Texas ◾Senator Steve Daines of Montana ◾Senator James...

Loretta Lynch has found an unlikely ally — Jeb Bush. The Brooklyn US attorney, whose attorney general nomination has been stalled for months in the Republican-controlled Senate, is getting a helping hand from the former Florida governor and probable GOP presidential candidate. “I think that presidents have the right to pick their team,” Bush said while campaigning in New Hampshire Thursday.

The second day of the New Hampshire Republican Party’s “First in the Nation” leadership summit kicked off Saturday morning with a speech from MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, a former GOP congressman. As you might expect, the reception was lukewarm at first — especially when he tried to land a series of fratboy-ish jokes — but became much warmer when he talked actual policy and tried to stir the crowd into rallying around conservative principles for the 2016 election. But let’s run through his awkward jokes: Scarborough approached the stage to noticeably tepid applause (though, to be fair, this was the first...

President Barack Obama said on Friday that the deal he and the leaders of five other major powers are trying to cut with the Iranian regime headed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei is a “political agreement” and “not a formal treaty.”As such, he said, Congress should not ordinarily have authority to sign off on this kind of deal.Obama made the statement when discussing legislation sponsored by Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee and approved unanimously by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that would give Congress 60 days to review an Iran nuclear deal made by the administration. During that 60 days,...

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has joined Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid in calling for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to abandon his pre-election promise to fight President Obama’s executive amnesty by holding a vote to confirm U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch as Attorney General. “I think that presidents have the right to pick their team,” Bush said in New Hampshire at an event with about 95 voters and “a horde of media,” according to Time Magazine’s Zeke Miller. “The longer it takes to confirm her, the longer Eric Holder stays as Attorney General,” Bush said, echoing a talking point that...

Three months after they voted against John Boehner's third term as speaker, two Republicans have been removed from a key committee in retaliation for their dissent. The House Rules Committee announced on Tuesday that they have filled two positions temporarily vacated by Reps. Richard Nugent and Daniel Webster, who were taken off the panel after they joined 24 conservative Republicans in voting against Boehner in January. Reps. Bradley Byrne, R-Ala., and Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., will fill the positions, meaning that Webster and Nugent have been permanently ousted. The two lawmakers served on the Rules Committee in the 113th Congress, but...

Georgia middle schooler CJ Pearson is no fan of Hillary Clinton, and her pledge to be a “champion” for “everyday Americans” likely isn’t going to change his mind. “Hillary Clinton, I’m done with you,” the 12-year-old student declares in his latest viral video. “Why? Because you are one of the most narcissistic, power-hungry, self-absorbed politicians of this day. “You have no accomplishments to point out, except, oh, I was married to Bill Clinton.”

Government documents obtained by a top "Inside the Beltway" watchdog group and released on Thursday reveal that Internal Revenue Service's Lois Lerner was strongly urged by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Michigan, and Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, her assistance in attacking certain non-profit political groups. The organizations they selected for targeting by Lerner were part of the Tea Party and conservative movements. Newly released documents revealed that Sen. Levin (left) and Sen. McCain both urged the IRS to target conservative groups in the wake of the Citizens United decision. The group that investigates and exposes government corruption, Judicial Watch, released newly acquired...

We endorsed Chuck DeVore in the GOP California Senate primary over Carly Fiorina. We did so because of DeVore’s proven record of staunch conservatism — which he continues fighting for now, having just helped kill a California open-carry ban — but also because we didn’t really trust or know anything about Fiorina. Carly’s conservative record was thin to nonexistent, and there were many troubling signs that she held liberal views. From her praise of Jesse Jackson, to her playing the race and gender cards against DeVore, to her support for the Wall Street bailouts, to her qualified support for the...

As patriots on the front line for liberty, we need you to call out bad legislative behavior and poor leadership. A single Assemblyman in Nevada is holding the Convention of States resolution hostage. Believe it or not, the Constitution of Nevada actually requires Article V legislation like ours to be proposed and approved, yet because of his fear, Assemblyman Lynn Stewart is single-handedly stopping COS. The public support for Convention of States in Nevada is overwhelming. Support is running three to one on the Nevada Legislature’s website. Yet today, one Assemblyman stands in the way; Assemblyman Lynn Stewart. Here’s how...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Republican strategist and MSNBC political analyst Steve Schmidt gave Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul’s presidential run announcement speech a rave review, calling it “nearly flawless” and “incredibly sophisticated.” SCHMIDT: Look, I think this speech was very nearly flawless. It was a superb announcement speech for a president. You saw somebody who attached optimism to conservatism and saw someone articulate a big tent Republican message. When you look at these fiscal issues, including symbolically the foreign aid issues to countries like Pakistan… I think all of the issues he talked about have tremendous resonance in these early states. And let’s not...

The Senate Conservatives Fund (SCF) has launched an effort to defeat Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), bashing him for failing to uphold the principles of a “true conservative” just hours after he announced his intention to run for reelection. “There are few Republicans who have betrayed our conservative principles more than John McCain,” SCF President Ken Cuccinelli said in an email to supporters Tuesday of the party's 2008 nominee for president. “John McCain lost his way a long time ago and it's time to replace him with a strong conservative leader who will support and defend the Constitution.” Cuccinelli’s email links...

North Dakota’s Republican governor sent a memo to 17 government departments on Monday saying discrimination against anyone is unacceptable, just two hours before every Democrat in the Legislature delivered a letter calling on him to go further and issue an executive order prohibiting bias against gays and lesbians. Gov. Jack Dalrymple’s chief of staff sent the letter to all agency directors appointed by the governor. “This administration expects all cabinet agencies to hire employees and to maintain agency staff based on ability and performance,” Chief of Staff Ron Rauschenberger wrote. “Ours remains a policy of non-discrimination, including no discrimination based...

Does anyone know if Indiana or Arkansas have Gubernatorial recall options?

The greatly anticipated “fix” to the Indiana religious freedom law has been released by the Indiana legislative committee, and it is far worse than conservatives feared. According to law professor Mark Rienzi, the new fix will allow the state to prosecute Christians criminally for denying gay weddings their professional affirmation.Rienzi, of the Becket Fund and Catholic University School of Law and who was lead attorney in the Hobby Lobby Supreme Court case that upheld a claim under the federal religious freedom law, said this would “criminalize religious objectors.”