Free Republic

Influence peddling on behalf a Medicare Fraud doctor, in return for donations.

Suspected Israeli nationalists set fire to a Christian seminary in Jerusalem and vandalized an elementary school in Nablus on Thursday, officials said. The attacks, which came a day after a similar group burned a mosque near Bethlehem, have been characterized as hate crimes by Israeli officials and "terrorism" by Palestinians. According to local media reports, the assailants poured flammable liquid into a bathroom window of the Greek Orthodox seminary and ignited it. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said "anti-Christian" slogans were scribbled in Hebrew on the seminary's walls — including “Jesus is a son of a whore” and “the redemption of...

DENVER — If bakeries can be compelled to make wedding cakes for same-sex marriages, can they also be forced to create anti-gay cakes? That’s the question before the Colorado Civil Rights Division after a customer filed a complaint against Azucar Bakery in Denver for refusing to write anti-gay messages on a Bible-shaped cake.

It's time to ban the burka in the US now. Which one of the new congress people will stand up and sponsor a bill. Will all good men be quiet now?

<p>The internet troll army’s selling of the Kremlin’s parallel universe to the Russian people and to a skeptical Western audience is a matter of life and death for the Putin regime. If the Russian people do not buy their story, Putin loses the high “ratings” on which his regime rests. If he cannot convince his Western audience, Europe and the United States will take actions that spoil his Novorossiya ventures and threaten his regime. Trolling is a high stakes business that Putin takes seriously and the West must not underestimate.</p>

Most Freepers think a government shutdown would benefit the country yet all surveys are phrased as "Who would you BLAME for a government shutdown?" I say we need surveys using the word credit instead of blame.

While the title says it all, I thought a goodbye was in order. While I've been a FReeper for well over a decade, I must declare that it is time to part ways. While I have the greatest respect for a great many of you, the days where I can in good conscience remain silent about the issues that set me apart from the rest of FReeperdom have past. For clarity, or perhaps catharsis, I'm not entirely certain which, I'll lay them out on the table an call the ZOT™ down upon myself. The racism: I just can't handle it...

I can't believe an old man like John Boehner is in charge of the Republicans at a time like this. "When I hear John Boehner speak, I can't believe a man like that is in charge of the opposition party at a time like this," Savage said to his listeners. We're fighting for everything that's sacred to us as Americans, and this is the leader we have right now? This weak, sad sack of an old man who has one foot in retirement and the other one someplace else? Meanwhile we have Obama, a vigorous young man, running interference, decimating...

I don't know about you, but I've been saying since 2012 that we MUST form a viable 3rd party, and NOW! This is ridiculous! There is not a day that passes that another republican doesn't announce the GOP plans to work with Obama on this or that issue. I am sick of this. I cannot vote libertarian, either, so we must come up with a party that resonates with conservative values, with those who want a return to our Constitution, to close our borders to illegals, to reduce the size of our government, and take back our hard-earned money. Every...

A cargo ship connected to Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell was recently stopped and searched before departing from Colombia. During the search, Colombian Coast Guard agents seized roughly 90 pounds of cocaine. The drugs were found on the Ping May, which is a vessel operated by the Foremost Maritime Corporation, a company owned by Mitch McConnell’s in-laws, the Chao family. This connection is not only relevant because of the family connection, but also because the Chao family has often made large donations to McConnell’s campaigns. In fact, the Chao family has been funding McConnell since the late 1980s. Years later, in...

Congressman Tom McClintock (R-CA) argued that illegal immigration has had a “huge impact” on the politics and economics of California and “wears at the very foundation of our country” on Friday’s “Laura Ingraham Show.” McClintock agreed “completely” that massive illegal immigration was good for Democrats, adding “if you look at California’s demographics, we have had a net domestic outmigration of nearly three and a half million…the entire loss of that three and a half million, plus what population gains this state has had has been entirely babies and foreign immigration, much of that illegal, and that has had a huge...

Representative Trey Gowdy defended efforts by the House GOP to pass an improved version of immigration reform. The South Carolina Republican, who has criticized the comprehensive immmigration bill passed by the Senate, argued that Republican opposition to immigration legislation amounts to a defense of the status quo that is neither responsible nor politically tenable for Republicans: “If I were in California in a swing district . . . I would at least want to say, ‘The party I represent has the following positions.’ And I don’t think that in every case, arguing that the current law is sufficient is the...

1. Vance McAllister 2.?

Yesterday voters in the blue State of Oregon rescinded a state law giving illegal aliens access to driver cards by voting down Ballot Measure 88. The citizens veto referendum, which was placed on the ballot by an issue committee called Protect Oregon Drivers Licenses (PODL), gave voters an opportunity to decide whether the 2013 law (SB 833) should be implemented. Voters said “No” by a 68-32 margin. The measure’s demise is a major defeat for illegal-alien advocates. Earlier, they failed to get the state legislature and the courts to re-write the referendum title in a manner favorable to keeping the...

It takes about 10 minutes to walk from the Capitol to the federal courthouse just down the hill, but House Republicans haven’t managed to make that trip in the four months since they announced they’d be suing the president. House Speaker John Boehner came out swinging hard last June when he announced that his chamber would take President Barack Obama to court. The suit, charging that the president grossly exceeded his constitutional authority by failing to implement portions of the Obamacare law, was billed as an election-season rallying point for aggrieved Republicans. But days before the midterms the House’s legal...

After watching the only debate between Fourth District Congressman Steve King and Democrat challenger Jim Mowrer, it is easy to see why King opted out of appearing with Mowrer at other venues, and even considered cancelling this one. King’s little-known opponent consistently attacked King during the hour-long event. (SNIP) He correctly pointed out that Mowrer’s son would be covered under Hawk-I, an insurance plan for children established by the Iowa Legislature when Steve King was a state senator. “By all measures that I can uncover, Mr. Mowrer’s children would be qualified for Hawk-I, so that exists, along with the high...

When it comes to liberal causes, U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski usually is a stranger. The Southwest Sider is a Blue Dog Democrat in a party in which moderate conservatives like him have almost disappeared. Last year he was one of just seven House Democrats — and the only one from Illinois — to vote against re-electing Nancy Pelosi as House Democratic leader. He's joined with Republicans in a variety of causes and not too long ago was clearly pleased when his name was floated as a potential U.S. ambassador to the Vatican. (SNIP) Though Mr. Lipiinski kind of shrugs it...

Rep. Steve King, (R-Kiron) and Jim Mowrer, (D-Boone) Thursday, October 23 Storm Lake, Iowa

A popular military enlistment program for immigrants with specialized skills is now stuck in bureaucratic limbo — after the Pentagon announced last month it would begin allowing some young immigrants without legal status into the program. Army officials confirmed Thursday that the program, called Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest, has been suspended while the service tries to finalize screening procedures for the immigrants who want to enlist. (SNIP) And a new requirement instituted in 2012 mandates that all MAVNI applicants go through a high-level security check, called a single-scope background investigation. But DACA recipients would not be able...

Attorney General Martha Coakley is locked in a dead heat for governor with Republican Charlie Baker because she’s struggling to win over the two demographic groups she needs most. Partisan Democrats and women voters formed the backbone of the recent Democratic victories in Massachusetts. But three weeks before Election Day, Coakley is still struggling to close the sale with the state’s Democratic base. Democrats have established a winning formula in recent contests: Roll up big margins with women voters, turn out the party faithful and capture just enough independent voters to allow Democrats’ built-in numerical advantage to overwhelm Republicans. This...