Free Republic

U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, R-OH, blamed labor unions and partisan politics for a U.S. House vote this week rejecting an amendment that could have kept the Delta Queen riverboat from having to phase out its overnight cruise packages. The historic riverboat has been operating with a special Congressional exemption from the federal Safety at Sea Act since 1968, an exemption that has been renewed eight times. The safety act bans the use of wooden vessels for overnight cruises. Backers of the exemption claim the Delta Queen deserves special treatment because of its historical significance and recently upgraded fire-safety systems. With...

. . . Useful Idiot. In 1999, the Clinton Administration settled a “black farmer” lawsuit against the government by agreeing to a demonstrably corrupt settlement that has since cost taxpayers well over $1 billion for claims that were virtually all phony. (Harvest of Lies, a book detailing this fiasco, is available from Representative Government Press, see page 23.) That was not sufficient for Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH), who has held a series of shamelessly slanted hearings over the past two years to promote the idea that the government should pay out another $4 billion for over 70,000 mostly phony new...

CINCINNATI - Republican Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) campaigned on Tuesday for a conservative congressman who publicly disagreed with the potential 2008 presidential candidate on how to deal with illegal immigration. Six-term Rep. Steve Chabot (news, bio, voting record) made it clear that while he welcomed McCain's appearance at a breakfast fundraiser, the two are on opposite sides on how to deal with the nation's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants. "This happens to be an area where the senator and I don't agree," Chabot said after McCain attended the fundraiser for the Ohio congressman's re-election campaign. Chabot said...