Free Republic

There was considerable mockery after former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) spectacularly failed to name a single Rubio accomplishment when he endorsed Rubio a few weeks ago, but it eventually died down. Then, Nevada Congressman Rep. Cresent Hardy ran into the same problem this week. On this week’s Fox News Sunday, Chris Wallace (who previously laid waste to Rubio’s small list of accomplishments) asked Rubio why his surrogates can’t name a single accomplishment, and Rubio’s response was just stunning: WALLACE: Senator, why can’t officials who support you, who come out to endorse you, name a specific accomplishment of your time in...

To keep conservative rebels in check, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and his allies have been doling out punishments at an aggressive clip in the 114th Congress. From kicking unruly members off the Rules Committee and GOP whip team to stripping a lawmaker of his subcommittee gavel, leadership has been growing more comfortable with taking retaliatory measures to try to enforce party discipline. But several Tea Party targets haven’t gone quietly. They’ve been fighting back with help from Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan’s conservative House Freedom Caucus, which successfully pressured leaders this week to return a subcommittee gavel to one of their...