Free Republic

Marco Rubio is preparing to go all in to support sweeping immigration legislation, offering himself up as the public face of a bill that will split the Republican Party — but that his allies hope will propel him to the front of the GOP presidential sweepstakes. After offering lukewarm support until now, Rubio is preparing to fully embrace a measure that is the most significant of his political career so far. The gambit could pay off in spades by crowning a leading presidential contender in 2016, or it could permanently damage the Republican’s brand with conservatives. Rubio is planning a...

Sen. Mark Kirk says the real driving force behind the gun deal that was hatched by bipartisan work was booze and boat retreats. The Illinois Republican said to reporters that visits to the Black Tie, a yacht owned by Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin, played a large role in the Democratic-Republican come-together over background checks and other legislation related to gun control, Roll Call reported. “You guys really ought to go out to National Harbor and see the Black Tie, which has been much of the reason for much of the bipartisan cooperation around here,” he said, as quoted in Roll...

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Tuesday voiced support for the work of a secretive bipartisan immigration coalition in the House, but he said Republican lawmakers must be educated on the issue before legislation can advance. A group of eight lawmakers — four Republicans and four Democrats — has been meeting privately for years to craft a comprehensive immigration overhaul, and they told Boehner and other Republican leaders last week that they were close to a deal. He also refused, as he has before, to weigh in on the contentious question of a path to citizenship for the illegal immigrants now...

President Obama and Republican senators had a “good exchange of ideas” Wednesday evening during their roughly two-hour-long dinner at the posh Jefferson Hotel, just blocks from the White House, according to a senior administration official. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., gave the meeting a thumbs up as he exited the hotel, saying it was “just fine,” “great” and “wonderful.” McCain told reporters gathered across the street that it was a “very enjoyable evening,” but declined to discuss specifics.

For all the pissing and moaning over the fiscal cliff, there was never much of a "cliff" in the first place. Worse yet, every delay made matters increasing irresponsible in terms of addressing the deficit. The final result, as passed by the Senate, watered down budget cuts from $600 billion to a mere $12 billion. Moreover, the extension of the tax cuts will add almost $4 trillion to the deficit over 10 years according to CBO analysis of the American Taxpayer Relief Act. Nonetheless, that was not enough for liberal democrats who thought they did not get enough out of...

Alert! The entire GOP elite seems to be trying to sell out en masse on immigration. Not only Boehner, but Cantor. And Hannity  (who works for pro-amnesty world citizen Rupert Murdoch). Even Krauthammer. …Maybe these people are convinced the larger GOP project can be saved simply by caving on just this one issue...[Snip]. But by then there will be another wave of new, instinctively Democratic illegal immigrants (lured by the Boehner Amnesty) for Dems to appeal to. [Snip] The larger point is that “Comprehensive Immigration Reform”–which is supposed to be a simultaneous combination of an amnesty plus enforcement measures–is a terrible idea. It’s...

Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) introduced three amendments to the recently passed Energy & Water appropriations bill that would have eliminated a slew of business subsidies at the Department of Energy. Unfortunately, House Republicans once again teamed up with their Democratic colleagues to keep the corporate welfare spigot flowing.

Mitt Romney trotted out a pair of big-name GOP endorsements Thursday to urge Republicans to close ranks around him — but his main rivals refuse to abandon their own White House dreams. Romney received the blessing of powerful Republicans past — former President George H.W. Bush — and present - popular Florida Senator Marco Rubio — in a 24-hour span, further signaling that the GOP establishment wants the grueling primary process to end. Romney even met with opponent Newt Gingrich over the weekend in New Orleans to ask for his support, but no deal was brokered, advisors to both men...

Look! Up in the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? It’s … a drone, and it’s watching you. That’s what privacy advocates fear from a bill Congress passed this week to make it easier for the government to fly unmanned spy planes in U.S. airspace. The FAA Reauthorization Act, which President Obama is expected to sign, also orders the Federal Aviation Administration to develop regulations for the testing and licensing of commercial drones by 2015.

House speaker John Boehner is set to sign an offer from Obama to accelerate negotiations. Republicans in the House of Representatives have capitulated in the showdown over the payroll tax, handing Barack Obama an important victory going into election year. Under pressure from other senior Republicans for blocking a bill that would extend tax cuts to millions of Americans, the House speaker, John Boehner, is backing away from his insistence that any deal must cover a full year. A deal agreed by Republicans and Democrats in the Senate on Saturday covers two months, to allow further negotiations in January. It...

Country music gets its due at the Obama White House next week. The Obamas will play host to a string of country stars — legendary and contemporary — Monday at their seventh “In Performance at the White House” program. Among those performing Monday night: Lauren Alaina, The Band Perry, Dierks Bentley, Alison Krauss, Kris Kristofferson, Lyle Lovett, Mickey, Darius Rucker and James Taylor.

Republican leaders have started laying the groundwork to persuade GOP lawmakers to support a compromise on a tax increase, an issue that has deadlocked a congressional "super committee" pressed to come up with a deficit-reduction plan by next week. GOP leaders on Tuesday presented to their rank-and-file members a scenario under which Republicans would agree to $250 billion in new tax revenue over the next 10 years, largely by limiting itemized deductions for upper-income households.

A remarkable thing has happened on the way to the supercommittee deadline: Republicans are beating the “we-want-more-revenue” drum. No, congressional Republicans haven’t taken up the mantle of tax increases, but as the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction lurches toward its Nov. 23 deadline to cut $1.2 trillion from the nation’s deficit, GOP lawmakers are talking a lot about how to raise revenue and still stick to their no-tax-increase pledge.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The endgame at hand, House Republicans struggled Thursday to pass legislation to prevent a looming government default while slicing nearly $1 trillion from federal spending. Senate Democrats pledged to scuttle the bill — if it got to them — in hopes of forcing a final compromise. As afternoon debate headed toward evening, GOP leaders ordered an unexplained halt on the measure and Speaker John Boehner summoned a string of recalcitrant rank-and-file Republicans to his office. Asked what he and Boehner had talked about, Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said, "I think that's rather obvious. .. There's negotiations going...

WASHINGTON — Heading into a crucial negotiating session on a budget deal on Thursday, President Obama has raised his sights and wants to strike a far-reaching agreement on cutting the federal deficit as Speaker John A. Boehner has signaled new willingness to bargain on revenues. (snip) The president’s renewed efforts follow what knowledgeable officials said was an overture from Mr. Boehner, who met secretly with Mr. Obama last weekend, to consider as much as $1 trillion in unspecified new revenues as part of an overhaul of tax laws in exchange for an agreement that made substantial spending cuts, including in...

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones) - U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl (R., Ariz.) said that Republicans are open to between $150 billion to $200 billion in increased federal revenues as part of an agreement to cut federal deficits in a bid to smooth the passage of a debt ceiling increase. But Kyl said these figures didn't include closing any of the business tax deductions that Democrats have been pushing for, saying instead the total was reached by increasing fees charged to entities regulated by the federal government or sales of federal-owned property. "I have characterized those as things like fee increases, revenue from...

'A deep-rooted hatred of the British': How Israelis 'armed junta' in Falklands conflict Israel secretly provided arms and supplies to Argentina during the Falklands conflict, according to revelations in a new book. Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin had such a deep-rooted hatred of the British that the Jewish state covertly became the biggest supplier of military equipment to the Argentine military junta. Gas masks, radar alert systems, air-to-air missiles and fuel tanks for fighter bombers were sent from Tel Aviv to arm General Galtieri’s forces. The most audacious deal involved supplying 23 French-built fighter aircraft – Mirage IIICs – which...

Potentially standing in the way of a vote on extending the tax increases is the Republican Party party convention this weekend. There is little point for Democrats who control the legislature to schedule a vote on a tax measure with activists on their way to the convention demanding that Republican lawmakers live up to their anti-tax rhetoric analysts said. "The more probable outcome is that they'll wait until after the convention," said Jon Coupal,

It doesn't look like Barack Obama will need to get his original birth certificate to state officials to be on the presidential ballot in Arizona next year. On a 5-3 vote Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee defeated SB 1526 which would let Arizona impose its own requirements on what someone needs to prove before being on the ballot in the state. Three Republicans voted with the two Democrats on the panel to kill the plan offered by Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu City. Virtually identical legislation was introduced in the House in the form of HB 2544. But that measure...

Texas Governor Rick Perry has given Mexico's president 48 hours to contact him with information on the ongoing efforts to find the body of an American man reportedly shot dead on a border lake. Mr Perry said he hoped the body of David Hartley will be recovered by the time Felipe Calderón contacts him. 'If not, we're not looking hard enough,' he declared on Wednesday. Mr Hartley's wife Tiffany claims her husband was shot by Mexican pirates on Falcon Lake last week as they returned over the U.S. border on jet skis.