Free Republic

Kuemper Catholic High School alum Scott Schaben of Ames says he plans to run for the U.S. Senate in the November 2014 election. … Schaben said he is a different variety of conservative. “I am not your far-right candidate,” Schaben said. For example, he supports gay marriage. He’s opposed to abortion, but says the party needs to be smart about managing the issue. “I would vote to make it illegal, but I wouldn’t expect it to pass,” Schaben said. Schaben’s own family would bring racial diversity to the GOP, he said, noting that his wife, Latoja, an assistant coach for...

For months now I have written extensively in numerous national publications about the treacherous legislation that is the “scamnesty” bill that will pass out of the U.S. Senate this week. When you have a “gang” writing legislation you get gangster government just like this. All of the people -- and by all I mean all -- claiming to be conservative who are either still advocating scamnesty or defending those that are fall into one of four categories: 1) Woefully uninformed to the point that they should no longer criticize anyone else for being a low information voter, and should perhaps...

This is a by-party breakdown of the vote.Measure Number: S. 744 (Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act )Measure Title: A bill to provide for comprehensive immigration reform and for other purposes. Bill passes 68-32. Democrats for (52): Baldwin (D-WI) Baucus (D-MT) Begich (D-AK) Bennet (D-CO) Blumenthal (D-CT) Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH) Cantwell (D-WA) Cardin (D-MD) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Coons (D-DE) Cowan (D-MA) Donnelly (D-IN) Durbin (D-IL) Feinstein (D-CA) Franken (D-MN) Gillibrand (D-NY) Hagan (D-NC) Harkin (D-IA) Heinrich (D-NM) Heitkamp (D-ND) Hirono (D-HI) Johnson (D-SD) Kaine (D-VA) Klobuchar (D-MN) Landrieu (D-LA) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) Manchin (D-WV) McCaskill...

Massachusetts voters are heading to the polls to pick a new U.S. senator. Democratic U.S. Rep. Edward Markey and Republican Gabriel Gomez scrambled to energize supporters and mobilize get-out-the-vote efforts in the hours leading up to Tuesday’s special election to succeed John Kerry in the U.S. Senate. Both candidates made a series of campaign stops Monday, culminating with election eve rallies while their campaigns cranked up their all-important ground games designed to get as many of their voters to the polls as possible on a day when statewide turnout was expected to be light. …

And dumb enough to support this immigration bill given the Senate's 54-43 rejection of the Cornyn plan for a border security 'trigger'? The CBO dynamically "scored" (with numbers supplied to it by Dems) the immigration bill (S. 744) and found that it - low & behold - will DECREASE federal deficits over the next 20 years. Hmmm. How are those CBO-scored ObamaCare numbers working out for ya? They were only $2 TRILLION DOLLARS off when predicting the cost of ObamaCare. But no way they could botch this....right? I wonder what the odds are of these 4 getting primaried, given that...

Two weeks ago I reported on the $250 million real estate boondoggle by the General Services Administration whereby the GSA is moving the Coast Guard out of an existing, below-market lease at the cost to taxpayers of $250 million dollars.  Today I’m reporting on another, MORE EXPENSIVE real estate boondoggle by the GSA, which leads me to believe that if Congress is really serious about making real cuts to federal expenses that they can start with some easy cuts on federal real estate and personnel costs at the GSA. That’s because according to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure,...

The issue of judicial nominations causes an outbreak of hypocrisy in both political parties, and President Obama isn't immune. In fact, he seems to have come down with a particularly bad case lately. On June 4, the president went to the Rose Garden to deliver a peevish and lecturing speech announcing three candidates for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Noting that it is the president's constitutional duty to nominate judges and the Senate's duty to provide advice and consent, a clearly frustrated Obama said, "Time and again, congressional Republicans cynically used Senate rules and procedures...

Ask Democrat Ed Markey or Republican Gabriel Gomez about guns or ObamaCare or each other's qualifications to be the next US senator from Massachusestts, and out come the canned talking points and put-downs that anyone following the Senate race quickly wearies of. But what if you toss them some questions from off the beaten path? I put some nonstandard queries to the two nominees, hoping their answers might be illuminating – or at least unexpected. Herewith excerpts from their replies. (The candidates' full responses are posted online: Click here for Markey's and here for Gomez's). 1. Are TV shows getting...

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) backed down from a previous promise his spokeswoman made to Breitbart News that he would consider voting in favor of amendments to the Senate's immigration bill that would close a loophole allowing illegal immigrants immediate access to state and local welfare.

...Who will run for Iowa's Open US Senate Seat on the GOP-e "side"?

A group organized as The Tea Party Leadership Fund is trying to draft former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin to run for the U.S. Senate in 2014. The fund claims that the former Fox News analyst would be favored to unseat incumbent Mark Begich (D-AK), whose polling numbers have suffered recently. But the organization has not even discussed its effort with Gov. Palin, and she has never expressed any real desire to be a U.S. Senator. The fund's Niger Innis says the interest of Tea Party members in a Palin run, however, is clear. "We...

Massachusetts Rep. Edward J. Markey won the Democratic nomination for Secretary of State John Kerry’s old Senate seat Tuesday, advancing to summer special election campaign against Republican Gabriel Gomez which the Democrat will be heavily favored to win. With 60 percent of precincts reporting, the Associated Press called the race for Markey, who led Rep. Stephen F. Lynch 57 percent to 43 percent. Three years after Massachusetts Democrats nominated Attorney General Martha Coakley, a flawed candidate who was upset by Republican Scott Brown in the race for late Sen. Ted Kennedy’s seat, Democratic leaders sought to clear the field early...

The landscape: David Brooks Is Unimpressed With Senator Ted Cruz - says it doesn't help that Sen. Cruz looks like Joe McCarthy. Ron Paul fans furious over Rand Paul's drone flip-flop Marco Rubio’s Radio Row on immigration

WASHINGTON — Sen. Deb Fischer is headed back to the White House tonight for dinner with President Barack Obama. “I’m a regular,” the Nebraska Republican quipped as she arrived at the weekly Senate GOP luncheon in the Capitol. Fischer was among a group of Republican senators who dined with Obama earlier this month. She also attended a reception there in March for Women’s History Month. The invite list for tonight’s dinner includes all 20 women in the Senate. It’s a record number of women in what has long been a male-dominated club. The group includes 16 Democrats and 4 Republicans....

Much of the drama has already dissipated; most of these amendments will fail.  The Toomey/Manchin bipartisan compromise appears to be dead in the water, with Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) and Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) pounding home the final legislative nails earlier today. USA Today has a useful primer on what to expect this afternoon and evening, including the items liberals will be watching most carefully:   - The Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act (Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and three co-sponsors): The compromise background check provision expands background checks to gun shows and Internet sales, but exempts family-to-family...

FOX NEWS: Jacob Conway, who is on the committee of Kentucky’s Jefferson County Democratic Party, revealed to Megyn Kelly moments ago that members of the liberal activist group Progress Kentucky bragged to him that they had made a secret recordings of a meeting held by Senator Mitch McConnell (R) without his consent. Earlier this week, tapes were released of McConnell and his aides discussing challengers in the upcoming election, particularly actress Ashley Judd. The FBI is now investigating the incident. According to Conway, Progress Kentucky’s Sean Riley and Curtis Morrison were in the hallway of McConnell’s campaign headquarters after an...

(CNN) – A key player in negotiations over potential gun control legislation said on Tuesday a planned GOP filibuster of the bill won’t occur if Democrats allow Republicans to bring amendments up for a vote. Sen. Tom Coburn, speaking on CNN’s “Erin Burnett Outfront,” said a filibuster that’s been promised by more than a dozen fellow Republicans would prevent Americans from seeing where their elected officials stand on the issue. “It’s not going to be filibustered,” Coburn said, adding that the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid needs to offer "an open amendment process" in order for Republicans to agree to...

Video -- Senate passed Budget Last Night - March 22, 2013:related threads:Senate approves Democratic budget plan that recommends $1 trillion in tax increases ... (AP)-------House Passes Ryan Budget, 221-207 Townhall.com ^ | March 21, 2013 | Guy Benson

WASHINGTON — Don't take Steve King lightly. That's the warning from Sen. Tom Harkin for his fellow Iowa Democrats itching for King to jump into a statewide race. “I've never underestimated Steve King,” Harkin told The World-Herald. “He is a smart guy. He is a tough campaigner.” Harkin is retiring after five terms in the U.S. Senate, and the race to succeed him in 2014 could help determine the body's balance of power. The race is viewed as a toss-up at this very early stage, before the candidates have been determined.

Here Are The Seven Senate Races To Watch In 2014 Eric Pianin, The Fiscal Times | Feb. 16, 2013, 2:00 PM Just as the memory of the last bruising battle for control of the Senate begins to fade, political handicappers are casting their gaze to the 2014 campaign when Republicans once again will try to overcome the Democratic majority. Just as the Republicans began the 2012 campaign cycle in strong shape to reclaim the Senate, the GOP has a clear edge heading into the next face off. While some of the most intriguing political speculation today centers on whether actress...