Free Republic

Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.), a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, says he came to Washington to cut spending, not add to the deficits and debt that will crush future generations. He spoke on Thursday, one day after House leaders, working with the White House, produced a $1.1 trillion spending bill. And Brat warned of worse to come. ...

Political correctness kills. That’s the lesson that keeps coming to the fore from the San Bernardino terror massacre on 2 December. Philip Haney, a former senior analyst at the Department of Homeland Security, has now come forward to say that in 2012, he was running an effort at the National Targeting Center that would “very plausibly” have flagged Syed Farook – and probably, by association, his bride Tashfeen Malik – because of Farook’s connection with a mosque in San Bernardino, California. (H/t: Daily Caller) But after six months (in 2012), decision-makers in DHS and the State Department shut the effort...

"Unless Republicans go along with Democrats, "the government shuts down at midnight this Friday," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said on Tuesday. "If we fail to meet that deadline, it will be another evidence of a Republican failure in leadership." Reid said if Republicans fail to pass an omnibus appropriations bill by midnight on Dec. 11 -- a date they picked -- it will be because they continue to attach their "ideological agenda" to the must-pass omnibus. "No legislation will pass with these poison pill riders. We passed a bipartisan budget agreement, we did it through good-faith negotiations. It was...

Another shutdown showdown? Just in case you were under the impression Obama is merely wasting time at the UN Climate Conference in Paris, no, he’s looking to waste a fair amount of U.S. taxpayer money too - with $3 billion set to directly from the U.S. Treasury to the UN Green Climate Fund. Now you might remember that whole thing about how Congress controls the purse strings, which somehow never seems to stop Obama from spending as much as he wants however he wants regardless of congressional disapproval. This time, Republicans swear, things are going to be different: Looking for...

HANCOCK — The Sideling Hill Welcome Center is now more than just the most scenic set of fair-weather restrooms in Western Maryland after Lt. Gov. Boyd K. Rutherford and a host of elected officials on Friday reopened the facility, which has been closed for the last six years. Perched on the east side of Sideling Hill near Hancock, where a massive cut in the mountain rock allows Interstate 68 to pass through, the center was closed in 2009, in a move by former Gov. Martin O'Malley that did not sit well with many area residents. "It was done for political...

The government runs out of money on December 11th and the most pro-abortion president in history has vowed not to sign any bills that make funding the government contingent upon defunding Planned Parenthood. Surely this is the moment for a Republican Speaker to crap away any leverage he might have by vowing to prevent a shutdown at all costs, right?Not this time. “This is the legislative branch and the power of the purse rests within the legislative branch and we fully expect that we’re going to exercise that power,” Ryan told reporters Tuesday morning.That statement marks a break with...

Six Texas Republican representatives joined with the eleven Democrats in the state’s congressional delegation to vote in favor of the bill to raise the debt ceiling. Nineteen Texas Republicans voted nay in attempting to block the measure. On a national level, 79 Republicans joined with all 187 Democrat members of the House to pass the measure back to the Senate. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX)64% voted in favor of the bill with the Democrats, according to GovTrack.us. He announced this week that he seeks to replace Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)58% as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Ryan is...

Jeremy BenderOctober 19, 2015 ISIS hackers are attempting to penetrate the US energy grid to carry out cyberattacks and take down parts of the country's energy supply, CNN Money reports. The hackers, however, have so far proved to be inept. Law-enforcement officials shared the information about attempted cyberattacks at a conference on October 14 with American energy firms about potential national-security issues. "Strong intent. Thankfully, low capability," John Riggi, a section chief in the FBI's cyber division, told CNN about ISIS' hacking attempts. "But the concern is that they'll buy that capability." That concern is warranted, the FBI told CNN....

Palm Beacher #Donald Trump tweeted this morning: "It is outrageous and disgusting that families of U.S. MILITARY personnel killed in action will not be given money for burials. SAD!"  ... See full story on Donald Trump Says He'll Pay for Military Burials Halted Because of Shutdown | New Times Broward-Palm Beach No candidate respects and cares for our soldiers and veterans more than Donald Trump. While politicians were blaming each other about this glitch in benefits, Donald Trump stepped in to ensure our #fallen soldiers are honored properly.

In his Weekly Address today, resident Barack Obama warned that there will be another government shutdown threat two weeks before Christmas and said he “will not sign” a short-term spending bill. The continuing resolution that Congress passed this week runs until Dec. 11. If resident Obama does “not sign” the spending bill Congress sends him to fund the government after that date, Obama will shut down the government. The government will not be funded until Obama signs an appropriations bill passed by Congress. Fortunately, there were enough votes in both parties to pass a last-minute bill to keep the government...

Congress had grappled with shutdown drama. On October 1, the government would have run out of money. Last time, the government was shut down, it was a sloppy attempt to gut Obamacare. It was done with the full knowledge that a) Obama would never eviscerate his signature domestic achievement (ever) and b) the Republicans never had the votes to be successful. Even with public opinion siding with the GOP over the various mandates within the health care law, Obama won. The government was reopened–and Obamacare remains the law of the land.With the current squabble over Planned Parenthood, the numbers...

Congressional Republicans' threatened federal government shutdown is already costing U.S. taxpayers money and it has not even happened yet, budget experts said on Tuesday. Whether or not the party's conservative Tea Party faction forces a shutdown this week, there are real costs to discussing and preparing for the possibility of one, they said. Making shutdown plans during the workday diverts federal workers from other tasks that then have to be put off, which costs time and money, said Yvonne Jones, a director at the Government Accountability Office, a non-partisan congressional watchdog. Jones wrote a report on the 2013 shutdown's costs....

Radio talk show host Mark Levin said Saturday that conservatives are “sick and tired” of the Republican leadership in Congress “funding the Obama agenda.” ... The resident “may have a pen and he may have an Obamaphone, but we have a Constitution. Now use it!” Levin exclaimed. “If that means the government shuts down for three weeks, then by God, the government is shut down… By the way, the government never shuts down. It just doesn’t stop.” ... I think we’ve already tipped hard left,” Levin said in response to a question by Perkins. “We’re holding on to our republic,...

The Republican Party’s conservative wing, pumped up by House Speaker John Boehner’s stepping down, is warning the 2016 presidential candidates that defying its wishes will come at their peril. Religious activists forcefully conveyed this message Saturday: embrace our uncompromising stance against abortion rights and gay marriage, among other priorities, even if doing so risks a federal government shutdown. An emboldened conservative movement signals fresh trouble for White House candidates viewed by the party’s frustrated base as insufficiently committed to their cause. Chief among them is former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. “Conservatives are on fire at the moment,” said Gary Bauer,...

Stocking Congress with progressive Republicans, who talk a conservative game but act in concert with progressive Democrats, is an excellent, ancient, tried-and-true strategy It’s the Autumnal Equinox, the first day of fall. It just keeps coming around. So does the Kabuki Theater in congress over the debt ceiling, which will ultimately be raised. The show that accompanies the process will be characterized by the usual irrational plot, appalling acting, extremely competent Democrat propaganda and not much benefit for the nation. Republicans know very well that the Democrat propaganda machine has already revved up and is snorting and pawing at the...

If I’m reading the calendar correctly we have about four congressional working days until the government shuts down, assuming we don’t get some sort of deal on a continuing resolution. So what happens next? For one thing a whole bunch of federal workers will be placed on unpaid leave and sent home unless they are in “critical” positions which can’t be left vacant. This clearly calls for quick action by our elected representatives and you may rest assured that they’re all over this thing. A bipartisan proposal is in place to make sure that as soon as the curtains...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats blocked the fiscal 2016 defense spending bill in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, amid a fierce fight with Republicans over tax and spending policy days before a potential Oct. 1 government shutdown. The vote was 54-42, largely along party lines with Republicans voting yes and Democrats no. It meant the appropriations measure failed to achieve the 60-vote majority needed to advance to final passage in the 100-member Senate. Congressional Democrats and Republicans are fighting over a range of tax and spending issues as the end of the fiscal year approaches. In the case of the Department...

Congress’ Republican leaders face stark tests as they fight to keep the government open past month’s end, amid fears a shutdown could imperil their party’s White House ambitions. For House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, any wrong move could throw his very future into question, opening him to a threatened showdown vote on the floor of the House over whether he can remain in his job. If that happens, there is no certain outcome. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., must contend with the ambitions of several GOP presidential candidates. One of them, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, has made it...

A morale booster for the big upcoming puah via CNS. The House passed a bill today that would freeze funding for PP, but that’s really just a consolation prize. Democrats will filibuster that if McConnell brings it to the floor in the Senate and then they’ll filibuster the spending bill if McConnell attaches an amendment defunding PP to that. If only there was some way to get around that darned filibuster, both on this matter and the Iran deal.Perhaps there is. Dozens of House Republican lawmakers are making a late stab at pressuring Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)...

Sen. Kelly Ayotte (N.H.) is pressing fellow Republican Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) to reveal his “strategy for success” as he risks a government shutdown in an attempt to end federal funding of Planned Parenthood. In a letter to Cruz on Thursday, Ayotte demanded to know why the firebrand Texas senator — and presidential candidate — is so strongly pushing legislation that the party can't pass. “It is abundantly clear that we lack the votes in the Senate to redirect these funds,” Ayotte, one of four female Republicans in the Senate, wrote in the letter. She goes out of her way...