Free Republic

The Michigan Legislature recently passed Senate Bill 571, which, among other things, would, “prohibit schools and local governments from sending any communication to residents that mentions an upcoming property tax millage election within 60 days of the vote.” Gov. Snyder has yet to sign the bill. Local governments, school districts, and some politicians have geared up a campaign to urge a veto of the legislation. Their complaints are often based on two misunderstandings. The first is that is a restriction on the free speech of public officials and employees. But public entities are funded by tax dollars and the government...

<p>A North Dakota man claiming to be Jesus Christ was arrested Wednesday in Washington, where he had traveled with a plan to kidnap one of the First Family's pet dogs, law enforcement officials said Friday.</p> <p>Scott Stockert was detained at a downtown Hampton Inn after U.S. Secret Service agents, acting on a warning from the Minnesota Field Office, found several unregistered weapons in his truck.</p>

Major GOP donors and fundraisers are wondering whether they're wasting their money on super-PACs. They say they're not ready to abandon the super-PACs, but they're starting to look for ways to make them more effective during a presidential cycle that has challenged conventions about how to spend political donations.

And the Lord said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me. Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are. And I will sever in that day the land of...

Given the media adoration and image-protection Bill Clinton has enjoyed over the years, everything that’s become public about his personal behavior is probably … well, the nice version. That’s right: The Bill Clinton whom the right loves to attack and the left jumps to faithfully defend — that’s the cleaned up version of Bill. In light of that fact, a milestone passed quietly earlier this month. A prominent Democrat stated publicly that former President Bill Clinton’s behavior toward women is “totally, totally, totally disgraceful and unacceptable.” What?!?! The stunned media just sort of had to go with it. They couldn’t...

Donald Trump is now the odds-on favorite to be the GOP’s 2016 standard-bearer, according to two top betting markets.The London-based Betfair gave Trump a 34 percent chance of winning the Republican nomination as of Wednesday morning, three percentage points ahead of Establishment-favorite Marco Rubio, with Ted Cruz laying claim to a distant third place at 22 percent. This is the first time Trump has ever enjoyed front-runner status on Betfair. Meanwhile, New Zealand’s PredictIt has Trump trading at 40 cents a share, Rubio at 29 cents, and Cruz at 23. Trump first gained the top spot on PredictIt last week,...

Washington (CNN) -- Ted Cruz is leading again for the Republican nomination on CNN's Political Prediction Market. The Texas senator is at 32% odds to win the nomination, at the top of the Republican pack. Donald Trump is second with his odds at 28% and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is in third place with his odds at 27%. CNN's Political Prediction Market, administered by a company called Pivit, is game that factors polls and other elements and invites users to predict where the election will go. The markets change as the public weighs in on the increasing or decreasing chance...

I am totally sick of this. It is very clear, the Republican establishment does not like the Republican base. Nikki Haley Confirms today she specifically targeted Donald Trump In SOTU Response and Jeb Bush and GOP “Leaders” approved – attacking the Republican front runner, unheard of outrage coming from these elitists who see the Republican base as the enemy and Nikki Haley, the South Carolina governor was HAND-PICKED by House Speaker Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and the Jeb Bush campaign to give the Republican response to President Obama’s State of the Union Address...

The star of one of the nation’s most popular reality television shows just made Sen. Ted Cruz a happy, happy, happy presidential candidate. Duck Commander Phil Robertson announced Wednesday that he has endorsed Cruz for the White House, Fox News has learned.

Even though NBC ended its business relationship with Donald Trump last year, the network's chief is calling the GOP presidential front-runner "one of the most important political figures of our time." "We had a couple businesses that we were doing with [Trump] - 'Apprentice' and the pageants - we got out of both of those businesses," NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt said Wednesday at the Television Critics Association press tour in California, according to Variety magazine. "That was June or July when most of us thought he would be sort of waltzing into the background of the political arena, and...

NEW ORLEANS -- Striding up the sidewalk of one of this city's most affluent neighborhoods on Monday evening, S. Scott Sewell seemed an unlikely figure to be attending a fund-raiser for Senator Ted Cruz. An oil industry executive, Mr. Sewell served in President George Bush's administration, lent a hand to George W. Bush's 2000 presidential recount, and was twice a chairman for Mitt Romney's Louisiana campaigns. But if such a creature of the Republican establishment appeared an odd fit to support a candidate whose political identity was shaped challenging his party's leadership, the candlelit, art-filled setting for Mr. Cruz's reception...

Iran state television released images of the 10 U.S. sailors that the Iranian military held in custody overnight Tuesday. ABC News first reported the photos, which appeared after the sailors were released by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps Wednesday morning. Photos at the link.

The Ayatollah Takes Obama’s Big Night of Lies Hostage Iran crashes the president's State of the Union address. January 13, 2016 Daniel Greenfield The hype for the last State of the Union address had been building for months. There was a countdown, special Muslim guest stars and a pre-show featuring a mediocre indie band and Joe Biden. And all Iran had to do to steal the show was take two Navy boats and ten sailors hostage. Then, when Obama puffed out his chest and declared, “No nation dares to attack us or our allies because they know that’s the path...

Today's Des Moines Register poll, the survey that has the best track record of predicting the Iowa caucus, has some intriguing clues as to what the results might be. Ted Cruz, battered by attacks on his eligibility to be president and opposition to ethanol subsidies, has lost ground from the last poll. But he still leads Donald Trump by 25 percent to 22 percent, with Marco Rubio at 12 percent and Ben Carson at 11 percent. Trump has promised to return frequently to Iowa and has stepped up his attacks on Cruz prior to the February 1 vote. But that...

Donald Trump said late Tuesday that he would compromise on his call for banning foreign Muslims from coming to the U.S. under the right circumstances. "I'm not saying there can't be some give and take," he said aboard his personal jet that evening, according to The Washington Examiner. "You look at the radical Islamic terrorism and you look at what's going on, we have to take a serious look," Trump continued. "There's tremendous hatred. "It doesn't mean I'm hard and fast 100 percent, but we have to get a lot of what I'm asking for, or we're not going to...

Republicans nationwide have downgraded their opinions of Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Jeb Bush three weeks before the first presidential caucuses and primaries begin, even as increasing numbers view Ted Cruz and Chris Christie in a positive light, according a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. The poll finds far less upheaval on the Democratic side, with Hillary Clinton receiving persistently high favorable marks among fellow Democrats and outpacing Bernie Sanders across all segments of the party. Her popularity advantage nationally contrasts with polls in Iowa and New Hampshire showing competitive contests for the nomination. Among the overall public, broad impressions...

He is friends with the Clintons. He politically supported Hillary in the past. He has given the Clinton Foundation hundreds of thousands of dollars. He has been more liberal than conservative than the naked eye can see. Most of the liberal news sites and outlets are reporting on a WaPo article stating Bill Clinton and Donald Trump had a chat at the end of last spring. Could Bill Clinton have called Trump to make this GOP run in order to derail any other GOP candidate and pull votes away from a legit conservative (should he decide an independent run if...

Lawrence Phillips' sad tale came to a tragic end on Wednesday. The troubled former NFL running back was found dead in prison, according to a press release from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Phillips was 40. The death is being investigated as a suspected suicide. According to the press release, Phillips was found unresponsive at 12:05 a.m. on Wednesday when the staff at Kern Valley State Prison was conducting security checks. He was transported to an outside hospital where he was pronounced dead at 1:27 a.m.

James Shaw, Jr. was going for a joyride on the Angeles Crest Highway when he said he got a "second chance at life." The Subaru Forester enthusiast was driving on the mountain highway when he admits he let his fun go a little too far. Miraculously, he ends up landing on a drainpipe sticking out of the slope.

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — With flowers and solemn speeches, Lithuanians on Wednesday marked the 25th anniversary of a deadly Soviet crackdown that failed to quash the Baltic country's quest for independence. Hundreds of people gathered in Vilnius in freezing temperatures to honor the 14 people killed when Soviet troops and tanks moved into a crowd of protesters outside a TV tower on Jan. 13, 1991. The attacks only emboldened Lithuanians to demand freedom, which they gained later that year. President Dalia Grybauskaite drew parallels between those events and Ukraine's conflict with Moscow, saying "we feel a bond of unity with...