Free Republic

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Democratic Rep. Sander Levin of Michigan announced Saturday that he will not seek re-election to a 19th term in 2018. Levin, whose Democratic-leaning district is in suburban Detroit, said he will teach at the University of Michigan after 36 years in Washington. “I have tried to live up to the trust given to me by my constituents by following the values of my parents and family and by acting on what I believe after digging deeply into the facts and consulting broadly,” Levin, 86, said in a statement released after The Associated Press reported that he...

A secret server is behind the Capitol Police’s decision to ban a former IT aide to Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz from the House network. Now-indicted former congressional IT aide Imran Awan allegedly routed data from numerous House Democrats to a secret server. Police grew suspicious and requested a copy of the server early this year, but they were provided with an elaborate falsified image designed to hide the massive violations. The falsified image is what ultimately triggered their ban from the House network Feb. 2, according to a senior House official with direct knowledge of the investigation. The secret server was connected...

WASHINGTON — Representative Sander M. Levin, Democrat of Michigan and the longest-serving Jewish member now in the House, said Tuesday that he would support the Iran nuclear accord, lending a hefty voice of approval in a chamber deeply skeptical of the deal. “Israel’s security has and always will be of critical importance to me and our country,” Mr. Levin said in a lengthy statement explaining his decision. “I believe that Israel, the region and the world are far more secure if Iran does not move toward possession of a nuclear weapon. I believe the agreement is the best way to...

In a sometimes heated meeting with Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., several House Democrats expressed anger Wednesday over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s acceptance of a Republican invitation to address Congress next month. Some of the seven lawmakers—all of whom are Jewish and strong supporters of Israel—urged the prime minister to postpone the speech or hold it somewhere other than Congress, participants said. They told Ambassador Ron Dermer that Netanyahu was unwise to accept a GOP invitation that bypassed President Barack Obama, and to schedule the speech only two weeks before Netanyahu seeks another term in Israel’s elections. The meeting’s purpose...

Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) said late Friday that he worries that the Internal Revenue Service is so incompetent "that they can't stop their own illegal behavior." The Illinois Republican, in an interview with Fox News, said that the agency was continuing to engage in the illegal targeting of conservative political groups, even after President Obama vowed the practice would stop when abuses were revealed earlier this summer. "After the investigation had already begun, after the illegal behavior had already been exposed, they were asking pro-life groups how much of their time was being spent in prayer, how much of their...

Shonda Sheen of Yellow Springs, Ohio, was laid off in December 2009 and is about to run out of unemployment benefits. Because of state budget cuts, she also could soon lose the health care nurse who helps care for her mother who has dementia. At the last job she applied for, she was told 450 others had also applied for the same position.Sheen and Bob Stein, a 60-year-old former salesman who has been out of work since May 2010, are two of the 14 million Americans who are unemployed—and their story is not being told in the midst of the debate...

Given the choice between retaining power in the short term or doing what's right for America, which would you choose? Most Americans, I believe, would be willing to sacrifice a great deal for their country, and this willingness to sacrifice has always been the great pillar of American democracy. Unfortunately, there is no fondness for sacrifice in Washington these days, especially among the Democratic leadership and its supporters. The irresponsibility of the left is on display daily as one piece of self-serving legislation follows another. The latest example comes in the form of the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes...

Second Ways & Means boss ousted; Levin replaces liberal Stark By Jay Heflin - 03/04/10 09:57 AM ET Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced that Rep. Sander Levin will be the interim Ways and Means panel chairman. Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-N.C.) said Pelosi made the announcement at a meeting of the caucus this morning. Etheridge said Ways and Means members gave their unanimous backing to Levin, a Michigan Democat who has been chairman of the subcommittee on trade. "Pelosi announced it in the caucus and the Ways and Means Committee just unanimously approved it," Etheridge said. The startling announcement comes a...