Free Republic

Richest U.S. Senator, John Kerry, Rails Against 'Corrupting' Money in Politics in Farewell Address January 30, 2013 By DANIEL HALPERJohn Kerry, the richest U.S. senator, railed against the "corrupting" power of money in politics in his farewell address today on the floor of the United States Senate: (click to the site to view the video) "There's another challenge that we must address and it is the corrupting force of the vast sums of money necessary to run for office," said Kerry. "The unending chase for money I believe threatens to steal our democracy itself. I've used the word 'corrupting' and...

Anti-Gun Senator Shoots Intruder State Senator R.C. Soles (D - NC) Long time Anti-Gun Advocate State Senator R.C. Soles, 74, shot one of two intruders at his home just outside Tabor City, N.C. about 5 p.m. Sunday, the prosecutor for the politician's home county said. The intruder, Kyle Blackburn, was taken to a South Carolina hospital, but the injuries were not reported to be life-threatening, according to Rex Gore, district attorney for Columbus, Bladen andBrunswick counties. The State Bureau of Investigation and Columbus County Sheriff's Department are investigating the shooting, Gore said. Soles, who was not arrested,declined to discuss the...

Just one day removed from the House, Barney Frank says he wants to get back to Washington. Frank, speaking today on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” said he told Gov. Deval Patrick he wants to be interim senator when Sen. John Kerry is named secretary of state. “A month ago, or a few weeks ago, I said I wasn’t interested,” Frank said. “It was kind of like you’re about to graduate, and they said: ‘You gotta go to summer school.’ But (the fiscal cliff) deal now means that February, March and April are going to be among the most important months in...

<p>The following letter, written by U.S. Marine Joshua Boston and headlined “No ma’am.,” was posted in the CNN iReport on Dec. 27 with the included note from the producer and photo. It has struck a nerve with many and is being circulated around social media venues like Twitter and Facebook.</p>

“I know the sense of helplessness that people feel. I know the urge to arm yourself because that’s what I did. I was trained in firearms. I walked to the hospital when my husband was sick. I carried a concealed weapon and I made the determination if somebody was going to try and take me out, I was going to take them with me,” said Feinstein. Hypocrisy Feinstein? Despite calling in the same year for an outright ban on all firearms, Senator Dianne Feinstein, who is set to introduce legislation that would gut the second amendment, said in 1995 that...

Jim Treacher's right. Publishing this bilge is really just the Time's way of calling him a cornball brother.Of the offense of Disagreeing With The Left While Black, Tim Scott stands guilty as charged: But this “first black” rhetoric tends to interpret African-American political successes — including that of President Obama — as part of a morality play that dramatizes “how far we have come.” It obscures the fact that modern black Republicans have been more tokens than signs of progress ...Even if the Republicans managed to distance themselves from the thinly veiled racism of the Tea Party adherents who have...

It's looking increasingly likely that Sen. John Kerry has the nomination for secretary of State pretty well locked up, and in the event that he steps down, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick will have to appoint an interim replacement to steward his Senate seat before the Bay State can hold a special election later this spring or summer. Ed wondered this morning if we mightn't be looking at another failed presidential candidate as Kerry's placeholder in the meantime, but according to Dukakis himself, that won’t be the case. Via CBS News: CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO   Former Gov. Michael...

<p>The Associated Press has learned that a registered sex offender working as an unpaid intern for Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey is facing deportation after being arrested by federal immigration authorities.</p>

Former Sen. Warren B. Rudman, who co-authored a ground-breaking budget balancing law, championed ethics and led a commission that predicted the danger of homeland terrorist attacks before 9/11, has died. He was 82.

Joseph E. Baldwin Jr., 23, of 26 Lathrop St., was sentenced to the Illinois State Penal Farm for 11 months and placed on three years probation Friday after he pleaded guilty to a charge of reckless homicide. Baldwin, a novelty salesman, pleaded guilty to the charge in July after the car he was driving crashed into a semi-trailer near Danville, Ill., killing his passenger, Robert M. Clark, 19, of Champaign, Ill. The court granted 60 days reduction in the jail sentence to compensate for time has has already spent in the Vermillion County Jail.

SEX SCANDAL TO HIT CAMPAIGN... STORY SAID TO INVOLVE POWERFUL SENATOR, SOURCES TELL DRUDGE. DAILY CALLER PLANS LATE NIGHT RELEASE...

The domestic violence in Shepard’s past is both shocking and repulsive in detail. On February 15, 1998, police were called to then-Mrs. Shepard’s house (the couple had been separated since June of the previous year) by a girlfriend. According to the police report (.pdf file), Mrs. Shepard said of her husband: Read on. Joseph entered my home. I told him to leave. He came up to me looking angry. I put my hands up to protect my breasts as they are sore (cancer). He has hit me before in the breast. He grabbed my wrist and arm and pushed me...

Like father, like son. Jason Thompson, the son of former Gov. Tommy Thompson, was caught on video Sunday suggesting at a Republican event that voters this fall could send President Barack Obama back "to Kenya." "We have the opportunity to send President Obama back to Chicago - or Kenya," Jason Thompson, an attorney at Michael Best and Friedrich, said during a fall brunch hosted by the Kenosha County Republican Party.

An Ohio senator wants to give $1 billion from a General Motors stock sale to salaried Delphi Automotive retirees who lost much of their pension coverage during the supplier’s bankruptcy proceedings, but the Delphi Salaried Retirees Association says it prefers another solution.

OMAHA, Neb.—State Sen. Brenda Council has apologized for misusing more than $60,000 in campaign donations at casinos and filing false reports to conceal it. Attorney General Jon Bruning says Council agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor charges of filing false campaign reports that omit the casino withdrawals and cash deposits. In a statement, Council says she "made an error in judgment," and that she takes "full responsibility." She says she's receiving professional treatment for a gambling addiction and will not "give up or quit fighting for the issues."

Regarding the DNC Convention.. How dare the Democrats honor a creep who plunged his car into a channel at Chappaquiddick then departed the scene out of concern only for himself, while his passenger Mary Jo Kopechne drown in his car. What kind of 'compassionate man' does this? What are they smoking at the DNC convention? Is Ted Kennedy's behavior that night simply erased from history along with Barack Obama's close ties to a man who attempted to bomb our Pentagon (Bill Ayers)?SENATOR KENNEDY WAITED 10 HOURS TO REPORT HIS ACCIDENT, without any regard to the well-being of the woman in...

NY Senator Says She Expects to be ArrestedState Sen. Shirley Huntley from Queens is facing New York City Councilman James Sanders Jr. in a tough Sept. 13 Democratic primary. By Michael Gormley | Saturday, Aug 25, 2012 | Updated 6:46 PM EDT A veteran New York state senator said Saturday that she expects to be arrested Monday in the state's continuing investigation into the use of pork-barrel grants by legislators. Sen. Shirley Huntley, a Queens Democrat, didn't indicate what the charge against her might be. Huntley founded a nonprofit social service and education group that Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is...

A week before his big speech at the Republican National Convention, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio made a dry run of sorts in an appearance Wednesday at Forum Club of the Palm Beaches luncheon. And his request to keep the press from videotaping Wednesday’s talk has one local newspaper accusing the senator of censorship. It’s an allegation that political analyst Jack Furnari called “hyperventilating.”

A senator for Mae Hong Son has told police he accidentally shot and killed his personal secretary with a submachine gun in a restaurant in Phrae province, a duty officer at Wang Chin police station said on Monday. Senator Boonsong Kowawisarat The shooting occurred at a restaurant in Wang Chin district of the northern province on Sunday night, Pol Lt Choosak Poonsawat said. Boonsong Kowawisarat, 55, and his personal assistant Chanakarn Detkard, 46, were travelling to Bangkok in the senator's car and stopped for dinner at a restaurant on a local road in moo 2 in tambon Mae Keng, Phrae....

Pirkowski By Erin MillerWest Hawaii Todayemiller@westhawaiitoday.com Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Eddie Pirkowski sees one overriding issue facing Hawaii this election.“It’s all about jobs, jobs, jobs,” he said. “We’ve had a large drop in the number of open positions. I’m all about building relationships between Hawaii companies and the rest of the companies across the country to bring jobs here.”Pirkowski, an engineer-turned-CEO, said he sees room for Hawaii to increase its presence in the technology industry.“I’d love to build a Silicon Valley here in Hawaii,” he said.Close behind jobs for Pirkowski is the issue of taxes.“I want to cut taxes,”...