Free Republic

Former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu became the latest boldfaced name to endorse Romney, an announcement that came on the front page of the Sunday Union Leader. Sununu will join Romney on Monday when he files his paperwork with the secretary of state's office to become an official candidate in the New Hampshire primary. The former White House chief of staff, among the most prominent Republicans in the state, said in an interview that he'll "help in any way that they want," but that Romney is already well-positioned to win the state. SNIP Another former governor — Jon Huntsman of...

What makes Republican candidates for President agree to a debate moderated by CNN’s notoriously liberal host Anderson Cooper? Beside rank stupidity, it is hard to think of a reason. Imagine a debate among the Democratic presidential candidates in which Sean Hannity, Michael Barone and Laura Ingraham asked the questions; it will never happen because the Democrats don’t feel the need to pander to the conservative media the way Republicans are willing to pander to the establishment press. And here is what Republicans get when they do pander. A debate moderated by the same Anderson Cooper whose vulgar jocularity with David...

Republican Leaders Warn Bernanke Against QE3 Zeke Miller Sep. 20, 2011, 7:13 PM | Top Republican lawmakers in both chambers of Congress warned Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke against pursuing another round of quantitative easing after tomorrow's meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. Questioning the efficacy of the first two rounds of monetary easing, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ) said they are concerned another round of QE could "exacerbate current problems or further harm the U.S. economy." Here's...

Dear Chairman Bernanke, It is our understanding that the Board Members of the Federal Reserve will meet later this week to consider additional monetary stimulus proposals. We write to express our reservations about any such measures. Respectfully, we submit that the board should resist further extraordinary intervention in the U.S. economy, particularly without a clear articulation of the goals of such a policy, direction for success, ample data proving a case for economic action and quantifiable benefits to the American people. It is not clear that the recent round of quantitative easing undertaken by the Federal Reserve has facilitated economic...

To understand the workings of American politics, you have to understand this fundamental law: Conservatives think liberals are stupid. Liberals think conservatives are evil. — Charles Krauthammer Even liberals who've accomplished a lot in their lives and have high IQs often say things on a regular basis that are stunningly, profoundly stupid and at odds with the way the world works. Modern liberalism has become so bereft of common sense and instinctually suicidal that America can only survive over the long haul by thwarting the liberal agenda. In fact, liberalism has become such a toxic and poisonous philosophy that most...

* Perry threatens Fed chairman, Bachmann also criticizes * Remarks reflect intense political pressure on Fed * White House says threatening Bernanke "not a good idea" (Adds fresh quotes from Bachmann, Obama, economist) WASHINGTON, Aug 16 (Reuters) - The White House denounced Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry on Tuesday for his threatening remarks toward the head of the U.S. Federal Reserve that represented some of the most inflammatory rhetoric of the 2012 election campaign. Campaigning in Iowa on Monday, the Texas governor said he would consider it "treasonous" if Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke "prints more money between now and the...

A former member of George W. Bush’s senior staff said that the tea party activist who confronted Barack Obama in Iowa was using an inappropriate tactic to try to embarrass the president. At the town-hall meeting on Monday, founder and chairman of the Iowa Tea Party Ryan Rhodes interrupted and confronted Obama about a disputed report that during a closed-door meeting with House Democrats, Vice President Joe Biden called tea party activists “terrorists” for holding the debt-ceiling negotiations "hostage."

Mitch McConnell is right now talking about making a historic capitulation. So fearful of being blamed for a default, McConnell is proposing a compromise that lets Barack Obama raise the debt ceiling without making any spending cuts at all. Consider sending McConnell a weasel as testament to his treachery. His address is 601 W. Broadway, Room 630, Louisville, KY 40202 and the phone number is (502) 582-6304. McConnell’s idea is to make the debt ceiling automatic unless Congress, by a 2/3 vote blocks the increase. Oh yes, he put a salve on it by dressing it up in tough talk...

The media accounts of the tax reform deal being cooked up by President Obama and House Speaker Boehner aren’t all that clear. But it is looking like a big tax increase: – The White House is insisting that as part of any deal the current tax rates on the middle class—the child tax credit, etc.—would be made permanent, while the lower rates on capital gains, dividends and the higher income brackets would expire after 2012. Taken by itself this would be a tax increase pure and simple and violate the GOP’s campaign pledge. But here’s what we’re told is Mr....

(CBS/AP)  Details of the $38 billion worth of spending cuts factoring in last Friday's 11th-hour budget that averted a government shutdown have been released, but the cuts, while historic, were significantly eased by pruning money left over from previous years, using accounting sleight of hand and going after programs President Barack Obama had targeted anyway. [Snip] Many of the cuts appear to have been cuts in name only, because they came from programs that had unspent funds. For example, $1.7 billion left over from the 2010 census; $3.5 billion in unused children's health insurance funds; $2.2 billion in subsidies for...

If you believe the spin from the White House and the offices of congressional leaders, there were only winners in the struggle to reach a budget agreement last night and avert a government shutdown. Both House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called the agreement "historic" and President Obama praised "their leadership" while a team of his top aides did the same for him. [Snip] Depending on whose numbers you accept, the budget agreement calls for either $87.5 billion in cuts or $38.5 billion. Either way, it's a drop in the budget bucket. The federal budget for 2011...

(CNSNews.com) - The federal debt increased $54.1 billion in the eight days preceding the deal made by President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) and House Speaker John Boehner (R.-Ohio) to cut $38.5 billion in federal spending for the remainder of fiscal year 2011, which runs through September. The debt was $14.2101 trillion on March 30, according to the Bureau of the Public Debt, and $14.2642 on April 7.

Speaker Boehner: Honor Your Pledge or Resign, NOW! It is almost impossible to believe that a mere month into the new Congress, old guard Republicans led by House Speaker John Boehner are stampeding to violate key campaign pledges. We have seen the “resolute” House Republican leadership quail over the prospect of actually making a paltry $100 billion in promised spending cuts. We have seen tough talking Darrell Issa backing off desperately needed investigations of blatant Obama administration corruption and abuse of power. We have witnessed the spectacle of Speaker Boehner mindlessly complimenting Obama on his treasonous handling of Egypt, undermining...

Reporting from Washington — House Speaker John A. Boehner said Sunday he thinks the Obama administration handled "a very difficult situation" in Egypt about as well as possible, undercutting potential Republican presidential candidates who have charged that President Obama botched the U.S. response to a popular revolt against a key ally. Boehner, the nation's top Republican elected official, told NBC's "Meet the Press" that he thought there was a need for an assessment to determine why the U.S. intelligence community "didn't have a better feel for" the grass-roots movements that felled authoritarian regimes in Tunisia and Egypt in recent weeks....

Obama's New StartRepublicans no longer have the wind at their backs. Riding the lamest of ducks, President Obama just won the Triple Crown. He fulfilled (1) his most important economic priority, passage of Stimulus II, a.k.a. the tax-cut deal (the perfect pre-reelection fiscal sugar high — the piper gets paid in 2013 and beyond); (2) his most important social-policy objective, repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell”; and (3) his most cherished (achievable) foreign-policy goal, ratification of the New START treaty with Russia. Politically, these are all synergistic. The bipartisan nature of the tax deal instantly repositioned Obama back to the...

Nothing changes so much as it stays the same. The Democrats continue to be relentless in their determination to destroy this country, and Republicans, despite just coming off an historic electoral victory nationwide, still don’t get it. Republican_Safety_Plan ..... always covering their butts, always a safety net, always a bridge to back track on...(cya)...Picture FITS FOLKS! It would be impossible to imagine under normal circumstances that Democrats in Congress, having gone through what they have for the past two years, do not yet have their facts straight. But nothing changes so much as it stays the same – they still...

This annoys the hell out of me, because I'm not some rabid Palinista. Crap like this from Barbara Bush leaves one no alternative but to respond to it. What, does she have another son, or a grand kid lined up for the job of President? Reagan handed your husband his, despite some misgivings, and he blew it, Barbara. And as much as I supported her husband and her son while they were in office, they've hardly gotten us to a great place. Guess what? If not for 9/11, GW may well have been a one-term-er, just like his father. He...

One of the interesting things of this election cycle has been to see what sore losers RINOS and country club Republicans are becoming. Since the Tea Party Movement has been throwing establishment GOPers out right and left (or maybe that's let and left) some of them have responded with petulance instead of accepting the will of the voters. In fact we've been seeing quite a few little tantrums thrown by the RINO set as voters have been turning against them. Recall that "Benedict" Arlen Specter had to jump parties because Republican Pat Toomey was encroaching on the privilege that Specter...

(CBS) The leading Republican in the House, and a vocal proponent of allowing an extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for all Americans, including the wealthiest 3% of earners, objected to charges by President Obama that Republicans are holding tax breaks for the bottom 97% of earners hostage unless the wealthiest also get an extension. In a pre-taped interview to appear on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday, Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner said that, if approving a bill to extend breaks for middle class income Americans were "the only option," he would support it. The Congressional Budget Office has...

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele refused to embrace Arizona's controversial immigration law Tuesday during an interview with Univision, the country's largest Spanish-language television network. "The actions of one state's governor is not a reflection of an entire country, nor is it a reflection of an entire political party," he said, referring to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer and her support for S.B. 1070. "The governor and the people of Arizona made a decision that they thought was in their best interest, and that's the beauty of a republic, that's who we are." Steele has faced criticism as RNC chairman because...