Free Republic

Former Orlando mayoral candidate Randy Ross lambasted President Barack Obama’s attempt to blame guns for the Orlando terror attack instead of blaming radical Islam. “While victims were in the hospital, families were grieving, funeral arrangement were being made for the victims, our city mourning, [Obama] turned the conversation into one of gun control” said Ross, a gay speaker who was speaking at Donald Trump’s Aug. 11 rally in Kissimmee, Florida. According to the Advocate, Ross said Obama’s speech wrongly switched the emphasis from the threat of radical Islam to a plea for more gun control for law-abiding citizens.

The sum is staggering by any measure: Since she first joined leadership in 2002, Nancy Pelosi has raised more than a half-billion dollars for fellow Democrats, making her the most prolific fundraiser in Congress. And on her way to amassing this small fortune — $521.9 million to be exact, including $93.1 million this election cycle — she has unquestionably become one of the most powerful politicians in Washington. Ask her whether being a woman has anything to do with that success, and she’ll give you a look that conveys how irrelevant she thinks her gender should be. Pelosi thinks that...

I was excited when I first heard that Peter Thiel was going to be a speaker at the Republican National Convention.  While everyone naturally focuses on what Trump and Pence will have to say, Thiel, often labeled an “eccentric billionaire,” could help rebrand the Trump-era GOP. Like Trump, Thiel is flamboyant and loves shaking things up.  Andrew Styles of Heat Street: Thiel, who is also a Trump delegate to the convention, is an interesting choice. In some ways, Thiel’s support for Trump makes a lot of sense. Both are billionaires who like to disrupt the sh*t out of the status...

Back when John Boehner was Speaker, he was the unpopular establishment figure fighting against a passionate Republican base that adhered strictly to conservative orthodoxy. Today, in a surprising turn of events, Boehner—who supports Donald Trump—finds himself in a more enviable position. Boehner has nothing to lose. He has no Speakership from which to be ousted. Meanwhile, many of his old adversaries—you know, the Ted Cruz  97% wing of the House GOP—suddenly find themselves on the wrong side of a passionate base that prizes Trumpian strength over ideological purity. The tables, it seems, have turned. Which brings us to this...

A Muslim woman will sit in the speaker’s chair at sessions of the Baden-Württemberg state parliament from now on — a first for any German state. “We wrote history today,” Green Party politician Muhterem Aras said after being elected with a large majority as president (speaker) of the state legislature. The southwestern state had sent “a message of openness, tolerance, and successful integration,” by electing her, she went on, promising to ensure a lively but fair debating culture in the chamber. …

Paul Ryan just had a press conference having to do with some health issue for the country. However, he is about to take questions from the press.

Truncated title. Full title: Lyin’ Ryan – Four Months After Promising “Regular Order” Speaker Paul Ryan Announces No Prospect for Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Please allow me to be perfectly clear. I hold a ‘traditional conservative’ outlook. Fiscally conservative. I don’t care if what you do in your bedroom, nor does it bother me if you choose to marry a squirrel, wear a snickers bar costume to the grocery store, or make it your life’s mission to spend all day filling canoes with pancakes. So long as your personal life choices in the pursuit of your happiness do not impact,...

Dennis Hastert’s lawyers asked a federal judge Wednesday to spare the former U.S. House Speaker time behind bars in his hush-money case and sentence him to probation, saying the 74-year-old has already paid a steep price in shame and disgrace. A filing in federal court in Chicago — where the Illinois Republican is scheduled for sentencing on April 27 — says Hastert “apologizes for his misconduct that occurred decades ago” and is “overwhelmed by the guilt.” Notably, it contains no detail about that misconduct. Attorneys and the judge spoke recently about someone possibly testifying at sentencing who says Hastert sexually...

Utah Speaker of the House Greg Hughes just endorsed Donald Trump in front of a crowd of about 400 at a rally for the insurgent Republican presidential candidate. Hughes says he met Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr. recently who asked for his endorsement. Hughes spoke to a revved up crowd at the Infinity Event Center in downtown Salt Lake City as Trump fans waited for the billionaire to address the crowd.

House Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday the rise of Donald Trump can be explained by voters being fed-up that America is on the wrong track. Ryan blamed the progressive policies of President Barack Obama. "You have conservatives, like myself, ... who are very upset about the direction of the country," Ryan told "Squawk Box" on CNBC. "You have people in America panicked because they have economic anxiety." As House speaker, Ryan is not supporting any one candidate as the nomination contests continue. "There's nothing we can do about what's going on in the presidential election and what the outcome of...

Spending Bill Betrayal by Establishment Republicans Confirms Contempt for Base by David Codrea , December 18, 2015 Elephantmary The Dead Elephant Party appears intent on forcing the rest of us down its suicidal path. How did your “servants” vote? Kurt Russell in “Tombstone” asks the essential question each of us must answer: “Are you going to do something or just stand there and bleed?”

Paul Ryan is acting like every Democrat's wet dream. The massive budget he is shoving down America's throat is a wish list full of everything the Democrats could possibly want. o He's giving $1.6 billion to resettle illegal aliens rather than deport them. o He is fully funding Obama's illegal amnesty. o He is fully funding Obamacare. o He is fully funding Planned Parenthood and their baby cutting tactics. o He is allowing Obama to bring in hundreds of thousands of Muslim refugees. o He is fully funding the EPA's program to shut down coal-fired power plants. o He is...

More than a trillion taxpayer dollars are on the table as House Speaker Paul Ryan and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi negotiate a massive spending deal. But while those talks drag on between Pelosi, D-Calif., and Ryan, R-Wis., many House Republicans say they’re growing frustrated by the secrecy surrounding the process and the lack of details about the package. As the days tick down toward a looming budget deadline, the chairman of the Republican Study Committee—the largest conservative caucus in Congress—said in an interview with The Daily Signal that he still doesn’t know what’s exactly on the negotiating table or...

Shortly after he was sworn in as speaker of the House, Rep. Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., admitted to his colleagues: “The House is broken. We are not solving problems; we are adding to them. Neither the members nor the people are satisfied with how things are going.” Ryan continued, however, “I am not interested in laying blame” – or, for that matter, in accepting his share of it. If the House seems broken, it’s because of Congress’ consistent failure to exercise its legitimate powers. Our fundamental document, the Constitution, Article I, Section 1, begins: “All legislative Powers herein granted shall...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former House Speaker Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) says he used “Catholic guilt” to persuade Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) to run for speaker.

Newly-elected Speaker Paul Ryan said in an interview that aired Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation" that he's "redesigning" his leadership job. "I'm redesigning this job. I don't think it can work going forward like it's worked in the past. I can't pick up where John (Boehner) left off. It has to be done differently," Ryan said, referring to Rep. John Boehner's, R-Ohio, recently ended tenure as speaker. The House elected Ryan as speaker last Thursday and Boehner resigned from his leadership post and congressional seat. Ryan told host John Dickerson that he wasn't elected "dictator of the House" and...

Let us hope that the bell of freedom will once again ring throughout our land. Outgoing Speaker John Boehner gave a parting gift to his partner President Obama steaming on the floor of the House with the comment that he wanted to “Clean the barn.” What he did instead was add to the barn litter he is leaving behind. His Omnibus Budget Bill aptly entitled the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 that funds the government for the rest of President Obama’s term continues the surrender by Congress of the only leverage they have over a runaway executive: the power of...

Defeats Daniel Webster 200-43 to earn GOP nod I’m still trying to understand the issue a lot of you have with Paul Ryan, who articulates conservative economic ideas about as well as any member of Congress I’ve ever seen or heard. But I think it comes down to two things: You think he’s an “amnesty shill” and you think he “never met a bailout he didn’t like.” Does that about sum it up? Perhaps a third issue is that you didn’t like the budget compromise he negotiated with Patty Murray in 2013 when Democrats still ruled the Senate. And maybe...

Dave Brat and Curt Clawson have voted for Webster so far.

Paul Ryan has been abundantly clear: As speaker of the House, he won’t spend all of his time jetting across the country to keep the National Republican Congressional Committee flush. But far from being concerned, top GOP moneymen believe the Wisconsin Republican will be a major boon financially for the party. The national network he’s amassed as a vice presidential candidate and from coordinating the national party’s spending in presidential elections give him advantages that even the highly prolific John Boehner didn’t enjoy. “He has really strong numbers among the conservative community across the board, and across the country. He...