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Before the debate tonight, this lowly conservative Republican wants to voice my appreciation to Donald Trump and Ted Cruz (and the rest, past and present) for contributing to the best primary season I think I ever witnessed. Both made me think in different ways, and I'll definitely think of both whenever I finally make up my mind who to caucus for. Without FR, I don't think it would be possible for me to break out of the "herp derp who's the GOP nominee pull lever" mindset. Big thank you to administrators and posters alike!

Chelsea Clinton is stepping onto the 2016 battlefield against Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a shift that some Democrats are interpreting as a sign of trouble for her mother’s presidential campaign. Making her first solo appearance on the stump, Chelsea Clinton late Tuesday ripped Sanders over his proposals on healthcare and college affordability, arguing the White House hopeful wants to "dismantle" ObamaCare and Medicare. Democrats have almost universally panned the attack, believing it to be ineffective and a misuse of her talents. They note that Chelsea Clinton has mostly been used to highlight Hillary Clinton's softer side as a mother and...

While members of the news media and Democrats paint Republicans as the party of angry old white men, the world around them is changing. This was apparent this past Tuesday night. The person sitting on President Barack Obama's left during his final State of the Union address and the Republican governor who gave the GOP rebuttal were not angry old white men. Instead, they were Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, leaders of the Republican Party. They underscored that the governing Republican Party is inclusive and inspirational. Ryan, 45, contrasted starkly with Vice President...

The Saudi Arabian government has rejected a $4 billion U.S. military offer to build state-of-the-art Lockheed Martin Littoral Combat warships, citing high costs and a long delivery time. The ruling royal family in Riyadh, which regularly spends heavily on U.S. defense products, has had to tighten its government budgets over the past year because of the plummeting price of oil, which is the country's main source of income. While the deal is not dead yet, Saudi officials are expected to ask for a cheaper price tag and a delivery time under the current seven years as quoted by primary manufacturer...

Energy: There's no shortage of points to pick apart in the president's final State of the Union, as we've done above. But one deserves close scrutiny: Obama's claim that he "reinvented our energy sector."

It's happening again. The "inevitability" of Hillary Clinton's presidential candidacy may not be so inevitable after all. Unlike eight years ago when Barack Obama beat her for the Democratic nomination and ultimately won the office Hillary and her supporters believed she was entitled to, this time her main opponent is not just Sen. Bernie Sanders, a socialist, it is Hillary Clinton herself. Serious media and congressional investigations into Richard Nixon's Watergate crimes did not begin until after his landslide win in 1972. In Hillary Clinton's case, damaging investigations are occurring in the middle of her campaign. Catherine Herridge, chief intelligence...

A new movie that touches upon the election prospects of one female candidate for president debuts this week. Will "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi" provoke thousands of angry viewers to march on Hillary Clinton's home with torchlights and pitchforks? Doubtful. The film is somewhat oblique. Hillary Clinton's name is not mentioned. The infamous Susan Rice clips blaming the attack on a video do not appear (though the film does mention, slightly mordantly, that "press reports" are citing a video). Yet even for those coming to the question for the first time, the film very clearly conveys filmmaker Michael...

The federal criminal investigation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's failure to secure state secrets was ratcheted up earlier this week, and at the same time, the existence of a parallel criminal investigation of another aspect of her behavior was made known. This is the second publicly revealed expansion of the FBI's investigations in two months. I have argued for two months that Clinton's legal woes are either grave or worse than grave. That argument has been based on the hard, now public evidence of her failure to safeguard national security secrets and the known manner in which the...

To Republicans who are livid, fearful, anxious and/or unhappy about the prospect of a Donald Trump nomination and a Donald Trump presidency, consider this. He claims his wealth allows him to self-fund, putting him in a position to downsize and de-corporatize crony government in a way unrivaled in political history. It takes about $1 billion to run -- and win -- the presidency, and fundraising normally occupies much of the candidates' time. To get that kind of money, the average candidate spends time courting and currying favor with "special interests." This means unions, environmentalists, corporate welfare-ists and others give money...

*More people in the United States than ever are breaking away from the political duopoly by refusing to self-identify as either Democrat or Republican -- and they now effectively comprise the true silent majority: Independents.* According to a Gallup poll released Monday, for 2015, just 29% of respondents call themselves Democrats, while 26% identify as Republicans -- but fully 42% say 'nay' to both parties and claim to be Independents, down only marginally from 43% last year. Indeed, Independents as a group reached 40% of the population for the first time in 2011, and have comprised at least that percentage...

On Tuesday, President Obama delivered his final State of the Union Address. Yes, go ahead and smile. Aside from a random press conference and his farewell address, and baring an unforeseen horrible event (fingers crossed), he won't be in our faces again. Thank God! That said, it's time we re-evaluate the concept of the State of the Union speech. Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution says the president "shall from time to time give to the Congress information on the state of the union..." Were it not for television, this would be a non-event. But since we can't rid...

Several vendors at the Pennsylvania Farm Show have been asked to stop selling merchandise adorned with the Confederate flag. The vendors were selling items such as t-shirts, belt buckles and hats with the flags at the show which runs through Jan. 16 at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center in Harrisburg. "All told, seven vendors that were selling items with the flag displayed were brought to our attention. Upon request, seven vendors removed the items of concern, and we certainly appreciate their cooperation and understanding," said Brandi Hunter-Davenport, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture via an...

Explanation: Cosmic dust clouds ripple across this infrared portrait of our Milky Way's satellite galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud. In fact, the remarkable composite image from the Herschel Space Observatory and the Spitzer Space Telescope show that dust clouds fill this neighboring dwarf galaxy, much like dust along the plane of the Milky Way itself. The dust temperatures tend to trace star forming activity. Spitzer data in blue hues indicate warm dust heated by young stars. Herschel's instruments contributed the image data shown in red and green, revealing dust emission from cooler and intermediate regions where star formation is just...

<p>One, Barack Obama is the Dr. Frankenstein of the supposed Trump monster.</p> <p>If a charismatic, Ivy League-educated, landmark president who entered office with unprecedented goodwill and both houses of Congress on his side could manage to wreck the Democratic Party while turning off 52 percent of the country, then many voters feel that a billionaire New York dealmaker could hardly do worse.</p>

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association wants to ban certain words from being chanted at high school games. It is part of an effort to promote better sportsmanship. Here are some of the words and phrases they do not want to hear: Sieve, Air Ball, Seasons Over, Over-Rated. The association says these chants are “taunting and disrespectful.” The association sent a letter to athletic directors last month with the new guidelines. It is getting attention now because a three-sport athlete was just suspended for five games for tweeting her criticism of the new rules. Her tweet did include...

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I just accepted a job in Bentonville AR, for a company supporting Walmart. I'm moving "blind", as I've never been to that area. I would welcome any useful comments or suggestions about moving to, and living in, the Bentonville area. In particular, any suggestions about good or bad neighborhoods as I start looking for a place to live. I'd prefer to rent a house rather than an apartment, but I have a large dog (70lb husky mix), and I realize that may make it more difficult to find a place. Thanks in advance!

Nasdaq Closes Down 3.4% Major averages sell off after Brent oil undercut $30 a barrel intraday Small-cap stocks officially entered a bear market amid a wide-ranging sell-off Wednesday, fueled by the lowest oil prices in a dozen years. Brent crude futures touched below $30... [snip] The Russell 2000, a key market gauge of smaller, publicly traded companies, dove 3.3% to end at 1010.19. That level is 22.1% below its 52-week peak of 1295.99, set on June 23. In stock parlance, a decline is officially labeled a bear market when the price correction exceeds 20% from a 52-week or all-time high....

With less than three weeks of open enrollment left, Covered California is working to highlight increased penalties for not having health insurance this year. Since its individual coverage requirement took effect in 2014, Obamacare has doled out increasingly expensive fines to people who do not purchase coverage through health exchanges or obtain insurance from an employer or a government program such as Medicare. This year brings the highest penalty yet, Peter Lee, Covered California's executive director, said during a news conference Wednesday. "This is real money going straight to the IRS, where the consumer gets nothing in return," Lee said.

A Michigan union fired back at workers who dropped off the membership rolls by urging its members to isolate them at work. Jeff Hagler, president at UAW Local 412 in Warren, Mich., sent out a newsletter to about 3,000 autoworkers who belong to the union in December. The letter includes a list of 43 mostly female workers who opted out of membership, as well as advice on how they should be treated in the workplace. "They have elected to quit paying union dues, but are still benefitting by continued representation by the union. Whether we feel this is fair or...