Free Republic

With Democrats’ grasp on the Senate increasingly tenuous — and the House all but beyond reach — some top party donors and strategists are moving to do something in the midterm election as painful as it is coldblooded: Admit the House can’t be won and go all in to save the Senate. Their calculation is uncomplicated. With only so much money to go around in an election year that is tilting the GOP’s way, Democrats need to concentrate resources on preserving the chamber they have now. Losing the Senate, they know, could doom whatever hopes Barack Obama has of salvaging...

A Quinnipiac poll released last week is a stark reminder of just how out of touch President Obama and the mainstream media are when it comes to the concerns and priorities of everyday Americans. Anyone at all familiar with the issues Obama and his media intend to push in 2014, knows that it is going to be a year all about income inequality, the minimum wage, immigration, and guns. This, even though 99% of the public do not consider those issues a priority.

Get specific. That’s the message conservative intellectuals and strategists have for the Republican Party as it faces an assault from President Obama and Democrats on issues resonant with struggling voters such as the minimum wage and extending unemployment benefits. Obama’s income inequality push comes as the tide appears to be rising for the left on economic and social issues, something evident in everything from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s election to the legal selling of marijuana in Colorado. Some conservatives fear that the party has failed to make its case on how its policies can improve the lives...

Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), chairman of the Republican Senatorial Committee, is sure he has the best political strategy for winning the six seats the GOP needs to capture control of the Senate in November — attack Democrats for the Affordable Care Act. The Republican National Committee’s first major advertising buy of this midterm election season will come in the shape of attack ads in 12 states against incumbent Democrats who voted for ObamaCare. Conservative activists are following the same strategy. The New York Times reported last week that the billionaire Koch brothers have already helped to air $20 million in...

In a little POTUS Possum, President Obama said that he doesn’t see the second term as just playing defense; he intends to do some good, “even if nobody is paying attention”. In David Remnick’s juicy piece on POTUS at The New Yorker titled “Going the Distance: On and off the road with Barack Obama”, we get a close look at Barack Obama and his intentions for the coming year. Remnick puts it on the line, explaining that 2014 is the President’s final year of relevancy before 2016 captures all of the attention. "And, after a miserable year, Obama’s Presidency is...

Kim Little had not thought much about the tiny white spot on the side of her cheek until a physician’s assistant at her dermatologist’s office warned that it might be cancerous. He took a biopsy, returning 15 minutes later to confirm the diagnosis and schedule her for an outpatient procedure at the Arkansas Skin Cancer Center in Little Rock, 30 miles away. That was the prelude to a daylong medical odyssey several weeks later, through different private offices on the manicured campus at the Baptist Health Medical Center that involved a dermatologist, an anesthesiologist and an ophthalmologist who practices plastic...

A recent Gallup poll revealed that the number one problem facing America, according to those polled, is “the government.” Twenty-one percent listed this as the worst problem facing the nation. Rounding out the top five problems were the economy (18%), unemployment (16%), healthcare (16%), and government debt (8%). These poll results were dramatically out-of-sync with President Obama’s declaration that “income inequality” is this nation’s chief problem. Only 4% of the poll respondents agreed with his assessment. As one poll respondent explained, “my work hours have been cut and my health insurance canceled. My wife has been unemployed for three years....

President Obama understands the stakes in the midterm elections all too well. If Republicans take back the Senate in November that will give them a stranglehold on both Houses of Congress and ensure that the president will get nothing passed in his final two years in office. The White House is right that even in red states Democrats often prosper by playing the populist card on big business and abuse of the poor. Obama’s proposals for increasing the minimum wage and lengthening unemployment benefits may be economic snake oil, but they poll well everywhere.

<p>While 2013 was a year of Second Amendment advocates on defense, 2014 is lining up to be a year of gaining ground on gun rights.</p> <p>President Obama continues to issue his dictates. Michael R. Bloomberg is still throwing around millions of dollars. And Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is just keeping a finger in the dike on Capitol Hill until the midterms.But the American people are ready to get back to strengthening their rights to keep and bear arms.</p>

In his press conference on December 20th, President Obama urged the House of Representatives to support the Senate’s immigration bill, which passed 68-32 in late June. Among the concerns cited by Americans who oppose reform are that immigrants will take their jobs, drive down wages, increase criminal activity, burden the welfare system, and reshape the cultural dynamic of the country. These concerns are mostly ill-founded. The legitimate concerns have real solutions, and a more open immigration policy will be a net benefit for all Americans... Highlights from Article: - A 2013 study by the American Action Forum states that "immigration...

Gun control advocate Mark Kelly says his political action committee is looking ahead to 2014 races, and has the cash on hand to back its agenda. Kelly, the husband of former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, said on WAMU’s “Diane Rehm Show” Thursday that the PAC the couple founded, Americans for Responsible Solutions, has raised more than $11 million. The money will be going into congressional races to act as a counterweight against heavy hitters on the pro-gun side like the National Rifle Association, he said.

The Republican National Committee began running ads in 40 media markets Tuesday mostly targeting incumbent senators who supported President Barack Obama’s health care program. Billionaire former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, meanwhile, gave $2.5 million to help Democrats defend their majority in the Senate. The early action suggests Republicans see the president’s signature domestic achievement as their way to keep control of the House and perhaps win the Senate. With more than 300 days remaining before Election Day, both sides are looking to set the agenda before voters start paying attention. “Obamacare is going to be the issue in 2014,”...

Some of Texas’ biggest business trade groups are moving to counter tea party and anti-government forces that have dominated recent Republican primaries. The movement mirrors the schism happening nationally between hard right and establishment Republicans. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently pledged $50 million to back pro-business Republicans in U.S. Senate primaries and fight tea party insurgents. Michael Quinn Sullivan, president of the fiscal-hawk group Empower Texans said the Texas Future Business Alliance is nothing but a group of big-money interests wanting taxpayer dollars to flow into their pockets. “This is what we’ve come to expect coming out of the...

Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist recently issued an apology for backing the state's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in 2008. Crist said in a recent interview with the Orlando-based LGBT publication Watermark Online that he regrets backing Florida's constitutional Amendment 2, which was approved by nearly 62 percent of voters in 2008 and defines marriage as being exclusively for one man and one woman. "I'm sorry I did that. It was a mistake. I was wrong. Please forgive me," Crist told the publication. "I made a mistake. I'm not perfect … That's the journey I'm on … and I'm still...

For about 5 years now, various Americans from across the political spectrum have talked about taking back their country and restoring strict adherence to our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Patriots; There has been a lot of talk, not much action and even less success. In truth, there has been an even further erosion of our liberties as our government continues to expand its power and because less transparent and accountable to WE THE PEOPLE. With that perspective, it seems essential that WE THE PEOPLE commit to a 2014 New Years Resolution focused on turning back this erosion of our...

Obamacare has turned out to be an unmitigated disaster. America's unemployment rate hasn't moved in over a year. Democrats in both the White House and Congress tried to sell a war with Syria, but failed miserably at convincing Americans and instead ended up abdicating the decision-making process to Russian president, Vladimir Putin. The Benghazi scandal rocked the White House and was arrogantly downplayed by Hillary Clinton and regarded by Democrats as a phony scandal. Obama's approval rating has opened 2014 at 40% and everything is falling apart. With even CNN admitting that Obama and Democrats are losing to the GOP...

If reporters actually did forgo reporting on the president’s polling data for a year, the next time the public would hear about Obama’s approval numbers would be after the 2014 midterms. According to Wall Street Journal/NBC news polling, Obama’s job approval fell from 52 percent at the start of the year to 43 percent today.

A new IRS tax regime in 2014 will be devastating for the U.S. economy, and for millions of Americans working abroad, especially those in the middle class. New U.S. Tax Regime is "Devastating," Experts Say The New American 30 December 2013 Already facing “pariah” status worldwide due to onerous IRS requirements, millions of Americans living and working abroad are preparing to deal with a deluge of even bigger problems in 2014, when a byzantine new tax regime starts going into effect. Known as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA, the deeply controversial and incredibly complex scheme is...

The Minneapolis Star Tribune investigates independent political spending over the last few election cycles. The results are stark, but won’t surprise anyone who has been paying attention: A Star Tribune analysis of ­campaign finance records found that just three dozen individuals or entities have contributed more than $27 million to political action and independent expenditure committees over the past three election cycles. The analysis shows those donations heavily favored Democrats. Unless that trend is reversed, Republicans could find themselves at a disadvantage heading into the 2014 elections…. No kidding. One union — the powerful ­Education Minnesota teachers union — poured...

News from globeandmail.com U.S. energy boom firing on all cylinders for 2014 Tuesday, December 24, 2013 DAVID BERMAN dberman@globeandmail.comDavid Berman writes for Inside the Market (tgam.ca/inside-the-market), which offers up-to-the-minute analysis of stock trends and market-moving news throughout the trading day.It is amazing how fast U.S. energy production has gained traction in our imaginations. One minute, the country is talking up a need to move toward energy independence; the next, it is on the verge of becoming the world's largest oil producer, according to the International Energy Agency.James Hamilton at Econbrowser highlights the transition this way: Just eight months ago, the...