Free Republic

New Jersey lawmakers investigating the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal held a former Port Authority executive in contempt today for refusing to answer questions about his role in the controversy. After losing a bid to quash a subpoena, former Port Authority executive David Wildstein invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 20 times at a state assembly hearing, refusing to answer any questions related to the political payback scheme. Providing only his name and the town where he lives, Wildstein remained silent about even the most innocuous of questions, including where he worked and whether a message with his name...

Neighbors described the 91-year-old Fort Lee woman who lay unconscious as lane closures at the George Washington Bridge delayed first responders from attending to her as a private, as a religious person. A letter from the borough's EMS coordinator to the mayor said, in at least four instances, that emergency officials were snarled by traffic in responding to calls, including to one on Harvard Place involving an elderly woman who later died. The letter from EMS coordinator Paul Favia, to Mayor Mark Sokolich, said the call involving the elderly woman, who was in cardiac arrest, came in at 8:43 a.m....

A political retaliation scandal that erupted around Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday may be about to get worse. In September, according to a report from the Bergen Record, paramedics trying to reach an unconscious 91-year-old woman in Fort Lee, N.J., got stuck in a traffic jam that had apparently been created by Christie's associates as political punishment for the borough's mayor, a Democrat. Multiple lanes were forced to merge into one, gridlocking traffic for days. The woman later died at a hospital of cardiac arrest, according to a Sept. 10 letter that EMS coordinator Paul Favia sent...

The U.S. Attorney in New Jersey will probe the scandal surrounding the lane closures on the George Washington Bridge, a scandal that has engulfed Gov. Chris Christie, the New York Times is reporting. Christie, a possible Republican White House candidate, is holding a news conference at his office in the state capital of Trenton this morning. The controversy erupted with the public release of incriminating emails showing that a top Christie aide played a key role in closing some lanes to the bridge, in a ploy to punish the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey, who didn't endorse Christie...

In the best possible light, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie built a top staff of lying thugs who threatened lives and safety to serve his political ends. If not, Christie is a lying thug himself. Emails and text messages among his close aides made public Wednesday documented that in September they gleefully engineered George Washington Bridge lane closures to punish the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee for failing to endorse their boss’ reelection. Local officials say the gridlock they caused delayed ambulances in responding to four calls, including one involving an unconscious 91-year-old woman who later died.

The controversial lane closures at the George Washington Bridge last September delayed emergency responders from attending to at least four medical situations in Fort Lee — including helping a 91-year-old woman who lay unconscious and later died, according to a report by The Record. Democrats have long accused Republican Gov. Chris Christie of ordering the lane closures as political retribution for Fort Lee's Democratic mayor refusing to endorse his re-election bid last year. Today, newly unveiled e-mails show that one of Christie's top aides knew about the closures in advance. The governor himself has denied being involved and today issued...

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 6, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a move that boosts social conservatives in an election year, the Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) has announced that he is delaying the RNC's annual winter meeting so he and others can attend the March for Life. The Washington Times reports that approximately 20 of the 168 members of the RNC were planning to attend the March before Preibus' announcement. With Preibus' backing, the RNC is now renting buses to take attendees from downtown D.C. to the March, which takes place on Capitol Hill.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) seems determined to undo the political advantage the GOP has gained from the disastrous implementation of ObamaCare. According to the New York Times, Boehner “has signaled he may embrace a series of limited changes to the nation’s immigration laws in the coming months,” bringing up a series of bills to advance that agenda. Apparently Boehner is holding firm to the belief that the need for some kind of “reform” outweighs the risks of alienating his core constituency. According to the Boehner’s aides, the Speaker is considering a “step by step” process, though they did not...

Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio has signaled he may embrace a series of limited changes to the nation’s immigration laws in the coming months, giving advocates for change new hope that 2014 might be the year that a bitterly divided Congress reaches a political compromise to overhaul the sprawling system. Mr. Boehner has in recent weeks hired Rebecca Tallent, a longtime immigration adviser to Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican who has long backed broad immigration changes. Advocates for an overhaul say the hiring, as well as angry comments by Mr. Boehner critical of Tea Party opposition to the...

It may come next week or maybe six months from now, but House Republicans will decisively determine whether to kill immigration reform or make a real attempt at passing it. No one would be surprised if Speaker John Boehner chose the former option. But the longer Boehner takes to decide, the more ground he cedes to states dominated by single party politics and eager to craft immigration laws in the face of a crippled Congress. Congressional inaction has left millions of families increasingly living in two parallel universes. Republican-run states turn cops into border patrol agents and cut undocumented immigrants...

A year after losing the popular vote for the fifth time in the last six presidential elections, the Republican Party has crafted a series of rules tweaks designed to regain control of — and dramatically shorten — its presidential nominating process. The subcommittee charged with looking for fixes has approved five proposed changes for review by the Republican National Committee's rules committee at its January meeting. The full RNC would then need to pass the changes by a three-quarters supermajority. "I think this strikes a good balance," said John Ryder, the RNC's general counsel. February 2016 would be set aside...

In his press conference on December 20th, President Obama urged the House of Representatives to support the Senate’s immigration bill, which passed 68-32 in late June. Among the concerns cited by Americans who oppose reform are that immigrants will take their jobs, drive down wages, increase criminal activity, burden the welfare system, and reshape the cultural dynamic of the country. These concerns are mostly ill-founded. The legitimate concerns have real solutions, and a more open immigration policy will be a net benefit for all Americans... Highlights from Article: - A 2013 study by the American Action Forum states that "immigration...

If there was ever any doubt as to the voter power welded by African-Americans in upcoming elections, the latest tweet from the GOP should cast away all doubt. On Thursday the GOP tweeted, "Happy Kwanzaa" wishes to all those who celebrate the holiday. "Happy Kwanzaa! Wishing those celebrating a joyous time with loved ones and a time of meaningful reflection ahead of the New Year," the tweet read. Most who commented on the tweet saw this as another flat attempt to reach out to black voters as primary season has officially begun.  "I want to extend my best wishes to...

The Republican National Committee released a statement Friday, commemorating Kwanzaa. There's just one problem, the entire holiday is a fake and was invented out of thin air by a radical ex-con named Ron Karenga. Karenga invented Kwanzaa in 1966 and fashioned the phony holiday as a black alternative to Christmas. Karenga wanted a holiday that was less Eurocentric than Christmas which he considered the commercial exploitation of African Americans.

<p>It's time to see how well I did with my predictions for 2013 and to offer a set of 2014 forecasts.</p> <p>I got 10 predictions for this year right. President Obama's job approval rating did drop—from 53% at year's start to 40% this week. There was a new administration scandal, the most significant being the IRS targeting of conservative groups. And ObamaCare's implementation was indeed "ragged and ugly" and "a continuing political advantage to Republicans" as forecast.</p>

Yes, the Republican National Committee WASHINGTON – Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus and RNC Co-Chairman Sharon Day released the following statement commemorating Kwanzaa: “I want to extend my best wishes to all who are celebrating Kwanzaa,” said Chairman Priebus. “For families coming together to mark the occasion, I hope it is a joyous time of celebration with loved ones–and a time of meaningful reflection ahead of the New Year.” “From December 26 through January 1, many families will take time to celebrate African culture and history. Kwanzaa is a wonderful opportunity for all of us to honor the...

A decade ago, Karl Rove was President George W. Bush's right-hand man and one of the most powerful political figures in America. And even after his fortunes briefly dipped at the end of the Bush era, Rove roared to life again, tapping into and fueling the Tea Party movement through his massive super PAC, American Crossroads. But today, with a GOP civil war raging between establishment types and upstart conservatives in the mold of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R), Rove's once-strong influence has begun to wane. An embodiment of the Bush-era Republicans who have fallen out of favor of late,...

Well, John ("Cornhole") Cornyn has wasted no time going after Steve Stockman. We knew Steve was vulnerable and this was going to come, but, who would have thought the attacks would come this early in the campaign. This article re: The FEC looking into Stockman's Campaign Contributions was, of all places, on the FRONT PAGE of the Beaumont (TX) Enterprise newspaper today. This will be a very nasty Primary; tighten your seat belts folks. http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/default/article/FEC-questions-excessive-donations-to-Stockman-5092723.php

GRANDVILLE, MI -- Republican National Committeeman Dave Agema supports the “Duck Dynasty” family whose hit television show may be over now that one of the stars has been suspended for comments the A&E cable network deemed offensive to gays. In a Friday, Dec. 20, Facebook post visible to his social media friends, which include an MLive Media Group employee, Agema lauded this statement released by Phil Robertson’s family. “Good for them,” Agema wrote. “The LGBT Gestapo speech police will not succeed when families like them are Biblically solid. You are in our prayers. May A&E fall into the pit they...

Gov. Chris Christie today signed landmark legislation granting thousands of students who grew up in New Jersey but are in the country illegally the benefit of in-state tuition rates at all public colleges and universities. Christie's signature marks the end of a public tug-of-war over the measure, deemed the "Dream Act", which was pared down in its final days in order for Democrats to gain the governor's approval. Both sides hailed the compromise as a historic achievement. A spokesman for Christie, Colin Reed, said in a statement "the governor signed the legislation privately earlier today, and there will be a...