Free Republic

President Barack Obama urged Congress on Wednesday to avoid another contentious budget showdown and warned that the economy would take a hit if the government shuts down again. Obama blamed Republicans for the shutdown two years ago and made clear he would so again if it comes to that. “You’ll recall two years ago Republicans shut down the government because they didn’t like Obamacare. Today, some are suggesting the government should be shut down because they don’t like Planned Parenthood,” Obama said. “That’s not good sense, and it’s not good business.” A partial shutdown will occur Oct. 1 unless lawmakers...

Here we go… The latest polling shows Donald Trump receives 25% of the black vote – something that has not happened for any Republican candidate in decades.Trump is the clear leader in the Republican party presidential race.Of course, the establishment hates this. There are reports that GOP elites are planning to take Donald Trump down after Labor Day.And, then there’s this…Mitch McConnell’s campaign strategist is concerned Donald Trump’s “tone” could spread in the party.The New York Times reported: Some party leaders worry that the favorable response Mr. Trump has received from the Republican electorate is luring other candidates to adopt...

It's looking bad for John Boehner, who may be forced out of the speakership due to his cooperation with the Obama agenda. But what about Mitch McConnell? He has been at least as complicit as Boehner. McConnell has given Obama: 1) 100% of his budget requests. 2) Fully funding Obamacare without any restraints 3) Fully funding Obama's illegal amnesty without any restraints 4) Raised the debt ceilings repeatedly without any restraints 5) Effectively given away the Senate's treaty deciding powers. 6) Refused to set up select committees to investigate the abuse of powers of this administration To be Senate Majority...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is dismissing a House Republican Hail-Mary attempt to kill the Iran nuclear deal by postponing a vote on a disapproval resolution. House conservatives want to delay the vote and argue that the 60-day congressional review period has not yet elapsed because the administration has yet to submit paperwork detailing “side deals” between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). ADVERTISEMENT Tea-Party firebrand Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) joined the House GOP effort Wednesday by panning an upcoming Senate vote on the disapproval resolution as a “show vote” and putting pressure on McConnell to delay...

Senate Republicans have hit a new low. Not only are they doing nothing to stop Obama’s lawlessness on Iran in forging a treaty without Senate ratification, they are allowing him to break the very law that broke the treaty clause of the Constitution. You can’t make this stuff up! First, the good news. When Mark Levin and Conservative Review were the lone voices against Corker-Cardin in April, everyone thought we were being purists. Most conservative pundits and elected Republicans thought this was the best opportunity to get congressional input. Every major news outlet was reporting this bill as a means...

Mark Levin eviscerated Mitch McConnell tonight, telling him that he’ll have blood on his hands for the rest of his life over this Iran Deal, and so would the Republican Party because of his unconstitutional leadership. Levin said McConnell is worse than Obama because at least we know who Obama is, as McConnell pretends to be someone he clearly is not. ... Levin’s opening segment on the horrible Iran Deal that essentially passed today because of Republicans like McConnell who sold out

The GOP’s populist base can help win big battles for the party’s business donors in 2017, if it just shuts up for the next few months, GOP leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)52% suggested in a low-drama interview with Politico. McConnell offered nothing to the party’s populist base, except finger-wagging. The pro-life push to transfer funding away from abortion-giant Planned Parenthood “is an exercise in futility… that’s not going to happen until you have a president who has a similar view,” McConnell didn’t offer any opposition to President Barack Obama’s effort to amnesty millions of illegal immigrants, or his promise to...

..WITH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE’ Friday on the Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom,” Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)52% insisted that although President Barack Obama will see the successful implementation of his controversial agreement with Iran on the nuclear deal, those that oppose the deal won the battle of public opinion. McConnell insisted this would be used as a campaign issue, but was expressed his skepticism that there could be anything else done to block the deal because of a procedural obstacle Senate Democrats initiated. “We know, Bill, that there is a bipartisan majority who oppose the deal,” McConnell said....

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Friday he will back a plan to fund the government into December with no conditions, rejecting in his strongest terms yet calls from within his party to defund Planned Parenthood as part of a larger budget bill. “It’s an exercise in futility," the Kentucky Republican told POLITICO in an interview. "I’m anxious to defund Planned Parenthood" but "the honest answer of that is that’s not going to happen until you have a president who has a similar view." "It’s better to be honest with the American people and say, ‘That won’t get it done,’”...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is moving to separate abortion politics from a spending fight that threatens to shut down the government at month's end.... The move comes as McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner are beginning to take a series of steps to avoid a possible shutdown at month's end. Conservatives are demanding that the must-pass spending bill should prohibit federal funding from flowing to Planned Parenthood in light of controversial, heavily edited videos secretly taped this summer where officials discussed the sale of aborted fetal parts. But McConnell and Boehner, recognizing that Senate Democrats would block any effort...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says that defunding Planned Parenthood will have to wait for a new commander in chief in 2017. “The president’s made it very clear he’s not going to sign any bill that includes defunding of Planned Parenthood, so that’s another issue that awaits a new president, hopefully with a different point of view about Planned Parenthood,” McConnell said Monday on the Kentucky station WYMT’s “Issues and Answers.” Defunding Planned Parenthood has become a leading cause among some Republicans in the wake of controversial undercover videos showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing the price of fetal tissue...

A Shutdown Threat, Trump’s Fed Hiring Spree and More From Presidential Candidates For most 2016 presidential candidates, the critical day of the campaign is still several months away, with the first votes being cast in Iowa on Feb.1. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, however, appears to have a much closer date circled on his calendar, a date that federal employees are also keeping an eye on: Sept. 30, the last day Congress can pass a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown. Cruz is using his campaign soapbox to threaten to derail the funding process if Planned Parenthood receives federal appropriations....

The owner of a fast food restaurant in Austin, Texas shocked his 50 employees by paying their full salaries during a five-month period when the business shut down. Jeff Glover, who has operated the Chick-fil-A for 15 years, wanted to remodel the building to accommodate more customers, but didn’t want to hurt his workers. So he continued paying them for the full five months. The restaurant, which reopened this week at West Braker Lane and U.S. 183, is now the largest Chick-fil-A in Austin–and surely the chicken retailer with the biggest heart.

Pro-life activists will have a powerful influence on whether the government shuts down this fall. A string of undercover videos showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of organs taken from aborted babies has the nation’s largest abortion provider on defense. Social conservatives are united in their desire to strip the organization of taxpayer funding but disagree on how best to accomplish that goal given the possibility that a legislative push for defunding could prompt another government shutdown. Whatever they decide, the onset of the 2016 presidential election guarantees they’ll find champions in the Senate. One of the most influential...

There’s nothing like unilateral disarmament right before a big budget fight. Breathe easy, abortion warriors: If it’s a choice between yanking taxpayer money from an outfit that sells babies for parts and protecting a 2016 talking point that the new GOP majority is too mature for silly things like shutdowns, the latter wins every time. The only suspense now is what form the next exciting episode of Republican failure theater will take. Traditionally what would happen is that McConnell would attach the PP defunding bill to a budgetary continuing resolution, that resolution would then be filibustered by Senate Democrats...

Yesterday, Senate Democrats defeated an effort to revoke taxpayer funding for the Planned Parenthood abortion business by filibustering the bill and preventing a vote on it. Republicans were unable to secure the 60 voted needed to invoke cloture and stop debate on the bill, allowing an up or down vote.The Senate voted 53-46 on the cloture motion — failing to get the 60 votes needed to stop the Democratic filibuster against the de-funding measure.Now, some Republicans are saying the House and Senate should look at the possibility of shutting down the federal government in order to de-fund Planned Parenthood. But...

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew told Congress on Wednesday that he will extend for another three months the authority he is using to take emergency measures to keep from breaching the nation’s borrowing limit. In a letter to congressional leaders, Lew said he will extend the current debt-suspension period, which was set to expire Friday, through Oct. 30. He said he believes the emergency measures he is using may be sufficient to keep the government operating for a brief period after Oct. 30. Since March 16, Lew has been employing a variety of bookkeeping maneuvers such as removing investments from government...

div class="clear"> Who exactly is running things over at the top secret headquarters of the Black Lives Matter movement, assuming that such even exists? There seems to be some confusion on the messaging. You may recall that when Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors seized the stage from Martin O’Malley at Netroots Nation after the candidate was foolish enough to say that all human lives matter, she prefaced her comments as follows: “It’s not like we like shutting (expletive deleted) down, but we have to,” So they don’t like shutting **** down unless there’s no other choice. Fair enough, I...

An expert says a failed systems upgrade forced the New York Stock Exchange to halt trading on Wednesday. Two weeks ago, the New York Stock Exchange told trading firms and other subscribers that it would be discontinuing some of its legacy systems. Apparently, the fix disconnected the entire NYSE. The NYSE has not yet confirmed why trading on the exchange had been halted on Wednesday morning. It has said that it was the result of technical issues and did not offer any further elaboration. But Eric Scott Hunsader, an expert in Wall Street trading systems who heads market data firm...

Congress is slowly paddling toward a government shutdown. The fight over government spending that has dominated much of the decade, calmed for two years because of a bipartisan deal, is roaring back to life. Democrats are adamant that Republicans back off their plans to increase defense spending without doing the same for nondefense programs. They argue the GOP is using a budget gimmick to funnel more money to the Pentagon without raising spending limits on healthcare and social welfare programs. To try to force the party’s hand, Senate Democrats say they will block every annual spending bill unless Republicans agree...