Free Republic

At the House Republican retreat in Cambridge, Md., Thursday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor called on GOP lawmakers to take a new approach to the nation’s economic anxieties. […] Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Cantor’s presentation was that it included a recognition that in the past Republicans have focused more on the nation’s employers than employees, have talked about small business owners and entrepreneurs to the exclusion of the far greater number of Americans who don’t own their own businesses. […] What was extraordinary about that portion of Cantor’s presentation was not that it was out of place—it was...

Why go over the falls with Dear Leader...? All you hear lately from serial political opportunists on the left is how the foolish Republicans are being 'torn apart' by an internecine 'civil war', how we're going to split into two parties, political wilderness, blah blah blah...  And although the GOP's RINO establishment puts up a somewhat unified front -offering empty platitudes on Leno, etc- they plainly hate the TEA Party (and the potential shrinking of their privilege it represents). In reality, these Vichy Republicans have already taken off the 'nice' mask, joining up with pasty shit-head Karl Rove and the US Chamber of Commerce in an...

The Republican and Democrat parties seem essentially to have merged.Here's a link to an article about Venezuelan politics by Daniel Duquenal. As far as I am aware, he is the only English language blogger still in Venezuela. In I am a Social Democrat, you are not, he wishes, we should all be, you can dream on, no way they are Daniel writes, for me, who has declared Social Democrat tendencies, European style, German actually, being a true Social Democrat means that workers and employees stick together to make the country advance. This has NEVER happened in Venezuela nor it is happening...

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the coauthor of the Senate immigration reform bill, praised House GOP leaders for issuing a set of immigration reform principles that reflect the Senate bill.“I think they’re fine,” he said. “I will support everything they’re doing and certainly will not take shots from the sidelines.” ADVERTISEMENT The AFL-CIO, another key member of the coalition pushing for comprehensive reform, said the House GOP principles fall short.AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka called the principles a “nonstarter” and “fool’s gold” because they would not offer a special path to citizenship for the nation’s estimated 11 million illegal immigrants.“It means they...

The good thing about anti-gun liberals in Washington is that they are pathologically incapable of keeping their mouths shut. And, this morning, shortly before 9:00, MSNBC commentator Dick Gregory announced that House Speaker John Boehner, the day before, had told a private meeting of reporters that he had been talking with Barack Obama “a lot” about pushing immigration reform. It’s pretty clear why Barack Obama wants a bill which would either legalize or grant citizenship to as many as 11.5 million people who, according to Latinos expressing their opinions in a Pew poll, would cast 88% of their votes for...

With control of the U.S. Senate up for grabs this November, a single seat may determine who has the majority. That’s why Republicans should find it disconcerting that two of their establishment lions have broken ranks and are backing Democratic candidates in competitive races. The latest apostate is former senator John Warner of Virginia, who announced this week he is backing incumbent Democratic senator Mark Warner for reelection. He is thus giving the back of his hand to former RNC chairman Ed Gillespie, a former George W. Bush adviser, who has a decent shot at winning and is no wild-eyed...

Yesterday, three Republican Senators—Tom Coburn (Okla.), Richard Burr (N.C.), and Orrin Hatch (Utah)—put forward a plan to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. They call it the Patient CARE Act, and my colleague Avik Roy says it is “the most credible plan yet” offered by the GOP. Except the Coburn-Burr-Hatch plan (read it here) amounts, among other things, to a big tax increase. The main way that it remains budget neutral is by making employer-provided health insurance plans, which are currently not taxed, partially taxable as income. In fact, this income replaces income that, under...

The House Republican leadership’s broad framework for overhauling the nation’s immigration laws will call this week for a path to legal status — but not citizenship — for many of the 11 million adult immigrants who are in the country illegally, according to aides who have seen the party’s statement of principles. For immigrants brought to the United States illegally as young children, the Republicans would offer a path to citizenship. -snip- House Republican leaders will circulate it at a three-day retreat for their members that begins Wednesday on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Several pro-immigration organizations that have been...

House GOP leaders are expected to push for legalizing millions of undocumented workers The controversial proposal is reigniting another identity crisis over the future of the GOP. Some on the right have begun to mobilize against House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, with hopes of quashing plans to introduce a series of bills. Leaders of the House of Representatives are expected to release the principles at their annual retreat later this week in Cambridge, Md. Those principles are likely to include tighter border security, an expanded guest-worker program, additional visas for high-tech workers and legalization for many of those people in...

We’ve just heard the third member of the House Republican leadership, California’s Kevin McCarthy acknowledge that he is a supporter of amnesty. Speaker John Boehner and his imp Eric Cantor have done so on a number of occasions over the past year. These people really seem to believe that they can kowtow to Chuck Schumer, Barack Obama and the Chamber of Commerce without suffering the consequences. Of course there will be consequences for them and their Democrat buddies but those consequences will be very different and it’s hard to believe they don’t know it. The time when we could say...

As House Republicans prepare to wrestle with their differences on immigration at an annual retreat next week, one GOP lawmaker from the Central Valley is signaling there may be movement on an issue that has split the party. At the same time, a high-profile group of bipartisan leaders met in Silicon Valley Thursday to unveil a report showing immigrants are key to a robust U.S. economy. The report by the Bipartisan Policy Center was released by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, both Republicans, and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development...

Election Day is almost nine months off. But right now Republicans seem almost certain to hold the House of Representatives and are likely to take the Senate. Which raises the inevitable question: How might the GOP seize defeat from the jaws of victory? Two occasions stand out, two obvious obstacles ahead that could lead to disastrous Republican stumbles... ...conservative activists should give up their fond hopes of a debt ceiling bonanza and more or less let the hike go through unscathed (they can still vote against it, of course)....conservatives...should aggressively advance freestanding legislative proposals, to repeal and delay parts of...

IÂ’ve looked for a transcript but canÂ’t find one so IÂ’m forced to rely on HuffPoÂ’s account of what he said. On the one hand, theyÂ’re a lefty news site, doubtless eager to put his quotes in the worst possible light. On the other hand, their reporter is Jon Ward, who used to work for the Daily Caller and is respected in the field. On the other other hand, the rhetoric sounds kind of Huck-ish, doesnÂ’t it? With some pols, you can look at a quote thatÂ’s attributed to them and say, nah, no way. With Huck, you never know...

ANSING, MI -- Michigan Republican National Committeeman Dave Agema has cancelled plans to attend this week's GOP meeting in Washington amidst growing calls for his resignation. "My liberal critics within the Republican Party have chosen to elevate this discussion to the RNC Meeting and make it a drawn out fight between liberals and conservatives within the party," Agema said in a statement provided to MLive. "For this reason, I have decided it is best for the party that I not attend the meeting this week and instead have sent a proxy who will vote how I want on the Rules."...

Many of us here have posted on this before, but like Cato warning against the persisting menace of ancient Carthage to Rome, it's important to keep this current threat constantly in mind, and act to protect our party and our movement. This is the threat of the worst of the traitorous RINOs especially in the Senate-- the ones who come from solidly Red States with no excuse for betraying the conservative movement, but who did so anyway and on the issue of mass immigration and amnesty, the most important of all. While there are many litmus tests to identify a...

If it were possible to actually speak to House Republican leader John Boehner I’d ask him a few questions. Since that’s not going to happen I’ll just do the conversation from my side and guess at the responses I’d get from Boehner. With apologies to whoever originated these questions, here goes. CiR: “Mister Boehner it’s being widely reported you and your caucus will accept a $50 million bribe from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to give illegal aliens amnesty so they can work for minimum wages at their factories, is that true?” Boehner: “Well that’s… well yes I guess that’s...

They John Boehner turning LEFTreportedly did this in order to keep the focus on Obamacare, which many Republicans believe is the key to success in the 2014 mid-term elections. However, Speaker Boehner (R-Ohio) and other key members of the House leadership now appear to be getting ready to switch the focus from Obamacare to immigration reform. According to the Wall Street Journal, Republican leadership in the House is ready to embrace legal status for millions of illegal aliens. This would seem to indicate that Republican leaders are ready and willing to give millions of illegal aliens amnesty from multiple job-related...

House Republicans are quietly discussing the option of not writing a budget in 2014, a maneuver that would free up time on the legislative calendar and protect GOP lawmakers from a potentially damaging vote in an election year. The idea of Republicans skipping this year’s budgetary process seems odd when considering the House GOP made history last year by attaching a policy rider called “No Budget, No Pay” to a debt-limit extension. That measure tied lawmakers’ salaries to budgets being written in both chambers and paved the way for a budget agreement between House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan and...

NASHVILLE (BP) -- Mike Huckabee says he won't be seeking the title of "America's pastor" if he decides to run for president in 2016. Instead, he would seek to be a servant leader who is both "salt and light" in today's culture. Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas who ran for president in 2008, said he won't make any political announcements until after the midterm elections. A busy speaker and the host of "Huckabee," the Fox News channel talk show, he said his concern for the nation's direction could be the deciding factor. "I just feel like our country is...

Conservative and Republican affiliated groups have started the 2014 assault against Democrats who support Obamacare. At the very same time, it is increasingly clear Republicans are laying the groundwork to abandon their opposition to Obamacare. The Business Roundtable, which has a great relationship with Republican Leaders, is now listing Obamacare as an entitlement worth preserving. Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former economic advisor to John McCain and who opposed passage of Obamacare, has started a think tank premised on keeping, but fixing, Obamacare. Holtz-Eakin has the ear of Republican leaders. In 2009, Mitch McConnell appointed him to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission....