Free Republic

Ever since Harry Reid's Democratic majority blew up decades of precedent to significantly weaken the filibuster in order to grease the skids for President Obama's left-wing judicial and executive appointments, some conservatives have wondered if the GOP would answer in kind upon regaining the majority. On Wednesday's edition of the Hugh Hewitt Show, John Thune -- the third ranking member of Senate Republican leadership -- told Hugh and me that an option is under consideration that would further erode the minority's filibuster tool: Benson talks w/ Sen. Thune on action to change filibuster rules on appropriations bills Thune says Senate Republican leadership...

For those keeping score, over the last few months, Senate Democrats have used the filibuster -- which they railed against and eroded while in the majority -- to block a bill to pay our troops, to prevent any vote on President Obama's reckless Iran deal, to hold up funding for the VA, and to obstruct legislation helping victims of human trafficking because it didn't spend taxpayer dollars on abortions. (One can only hope the NRSC is keeping track of these votes for future attack ads).  Harry's crew is angling to add another notch in their obstructionist belt, with Reid vowing to filibuster a post-Paris bill designed to beef up...

Senate Democrats launched a third consecutive filibuster of the bipartisan defense appropriations bill yesterday, once again blocking consideration of legislation that would fund the United States military and pay members of our armed forces. Yes, it's okay to be thoroughly perplexed by this development. Remember, the ostensible reason that Democrats have engaged in this obstruction over recent months -- which also entailed filibustering the Veterans Affairs appropriations bill -- was to exploit the troops and veterans as leverage to force Republicans to agree to higher federal spending on unrelated matters. It was a cynical play, but thanks in part to President Obama's hyper-partisan veto, it...

“I think they’re all losers”, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid is quoted as answering when asked his opinion of the Republican candidates for president of the United States. Reid made his comments from behind the dark glasses he was wearing as a result of the reported major ass-whoopin he received from his own brother last New Year’s Eve. It would seem that Harry knows a thing or two about ‘losing’. The ‘not-soon-enough’ to be retired senator from Nevada lorded over a United States Senate that accomplished nothing under his tenure that could be described as being good or beneficial for...

RUSH: Dingy Harry is back at it. The last we heard from Dingy Harry he was explaining that some sort of elastic band on an exercise machine in his bathroom malfunctioned and left him blind in his right eye and otherwise severely injured. Prior to that, Dingy Harry was out there suggesting that Mitt Romney had not paid his taxes for ten years. He was on the floor of the Senate claiming a friend of his told him that. The media said (paraphrasing), "Who's your friend?" Dingy Harry said, "Doesn't matter." The media said, "Where's your evidence?" Dingy Harry said,...

What’s the point in telling the truth? Moreover, what’s the point in not lying? In many cases a lie will get you much further, much more attention, more money or power, so why bother telling the truth? Is the truth for suckers? Rolling Stone magazine published a lie about a fraternity at the University of Virginia and made a lot of money from it. “A Rape On Campus” was one of its most popular stories ever, getting more than 2.7 million page views. The advertisers who paid for those impressions aren’t getting their money back from the magazine. None of...

Amidst the worship and sugar highs this past Easter Sunday, some somber moments shed light on what the American public—especially in the heartland—is really concerned about. I’ve always said that I grew up in the belt buckle of the Bible Belt, attending school and church in the small hometown of Chattanooga, Oklahoma. It’s in this town that you will find hard working, God-fearing people who have faith in the future, lift others up, and pray for our leaders. In a town like this, pollsters would advise their candidate that this community’s top concern this week would be the news in...

Far too many people have become unacceptably cynical about the issue of integrity in politics, and it is having disastrous consequences. Only the scofflaws and reprobates benefit from such an unraveling of our ethical sensitivities. I'm sure you won't be surprised to find that I believe this phenomenon is occurring largely on the political left today, and no, I won't violate the very premise of my piece and lazily concede that both sides are equally culpable. It's inevitable that the side that believes in moral relativism and that the end justifies the means would lie far more often. Indeed, the...

“Deeply and deceptively interesting,” is how New York Times Magazine described Sen. Harry Reid in January of 2010. Deceptive indeed. Five years later, Reid’s cache of secrets in the Senate chamber puts Harry Potter’s wizardry to shame. Two chambers—House and Senate—comprise the U.S. legislature. Our bicameral structure helps keep raw political power in check. Yet without term limits, a bicameral legislature is not enough to restrain the ambition of politicians like 75-year-old Reid who have held public office for decades. Grab your candle and follow me as I guide you through the backmost rooms of the Senate chamber, where Reid...

What is it with this party? Senate Democrats have really personified the “you shall not pass” war cry for anything abortion-related as of late. First, they’re filibustering what was an extremely bipartisan bill to combat human trafficking until their staffs missed the non-controversial Hyde Amendment language, which was added as a rider (standard operating procedure for most spending bills) to the law. Democrats knew this language was going to be in the law because Republicans told them months in advance. Heck, Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s (D-MN) aide found the language, but failed to inform the senator before the bill went to the judiciary committee...

Senate Democrats are using the filibuster to try and embarrass the GOP into backing down on the House's version of a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, a version which would roll back the president's unconstitutional unilateralism on immigration reform. Congressional Republicans are trying to put on a show of unity, but the fissures are already evident. The demands from conservative activist leadership and the grassroots' legions for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to invoke "the Reid Rule" and smash what's left of the Senate filibuster using the same procedural maneuver that Harry Reid used to kill the...

As previously noted on the Tipsheet in the past month, Democrats have been at each others throats after suffering devastating losses at every level of government during the 2014-midterm elections in November. Less than 24-hours after the polls closed on Election Night, when Republicans retook the Senate and the biggest majority of state legislatures in American history, outgoing Majority Leader Harry Reid sent his chief-of-staff to the Washington Post to slam President Obama for the losses. Just days later, Howard Dean called  Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber "elitist" and "out-of-touch" with the American people. Last week New York Democrat Senator Chuck...

Serious question: Did Senate Democrats somehow miss or forget about the elections we had last week? Wow: Senate Democrats voted on Thursday to keep Senator Harry Reid of Nevada as their leader, but his victory came only after a nearly four-hour closed-door meeting in which 28 caucus members expressed their frustration with the party’s direction after an Election Day drubbing. The voting was done by secret ballot, but it was not unanimous, reflecting a divide within the party over the need to elevate new faces and younger leaders. Those concerns were reflected in part in the decision Thursday to create...

Election results? We don’t need no stinkin’ election results. If Barack Obama sounded defiant — as well as out of touch with reality — in his post-election press conference, the rest of Democratic leadership hardly sounds any more aware. Nancy Pelosi signaled full steam ahead for another term as leader of the House Democratic caucus, but Politico reports that some members wonder when Pelosi and her clique will take a hint from voters … but probably not enough of them to matter: No Democrat is gearing up to challenge Nancy Pelosi in public, but behind the scenes some Democrats are...

Shortly after Republicans officially clenched the majority in the Senate last night, chief-of-staff for outgoing Majority Leader Harry Reid sent direct shots across the left bow at the White House for major losses and revealed how Democrats got this point of incredible defeat. From The Washington Post:  At a March 4 Oval Office meeting, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and other Senate leaders pleaded with Obama to transfer millions in party funds and to also help raise money for an outside group. “We were never going to get on the same page,” said David Krone, Reid’s chief of...

What day is it?" "It's today," squeaked Piglet. "My favorite day," said Pooh. As a proud member of the "don't just do something, sit there" school of politics, I don't fret much about partisanship and gridlock. Partisanship and gridlock aren't bugs of our constitutional system, they're features. And while everyone likes to see their preferred policies sail through Congress, on the whole I think we've been well served by those features for two centuries. That said, in the spirit of compromise so lacking in Washington, I would like to offer a suggestion for how to fix the alleged dysfunction in...

Once upon a time, the liberal position was to reject the old discriminatory branding of people by the color of their skins rather than by the content of their characters. Not now. Political and career advantage is found in trumpeting -- or occasionally making up -- genealogies. Take the inexact category of Latino or Hispanic -- an often constructed identity that increasingly no one quite knows how to define. Almost anyone can be a Latino or Hispanic, from a fourth-generation American with one-quarter Mexican ancestry, to a first-generation Cuban, to a youth who recently arrived illegally from Central America, to...

When describing my ill thoughts to someone recently about Harry Reid, the person asked me: “Who is worse -- Barack Obama or Harry Reid?” My immediate answer was Harry Reid. I can understand someone taking a different position on that question. Let me explain why there is no one I have ever loathed more in American government than Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), who hereafter will be referred to as the nickname I gave him years ago – The Undertaker. If you have read history to understand the position that The Undertaker now holds – Majority Leader of the United States...

The strategists who base their political advice on public opinion polls have just had a surprise. A new poll reports that the American people are now more likely to trust Republicans to handle immigration and less likely to trust Democratic plans to offer illegals a path to citizenship (aka amnesty). Many people have believed this for some time. But it is now confirmed in a poll taken by the pro-amnesty Wall Street Journal, so it must be so. The new survey is decisive; 35 percent say the Republican Party would do a better job on immigration while only 27 percent...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: As is the usual case, half my brain tied behind my back to make things fair, to make things equal, buzzwords for the Millennials. If I focus on fairness and equality, they will stop being scared and will love me. Bill in Milwaukee. Glad you called, sir. You're next on Open Line Friday. Hi. CALLER: Hi, Rush. This is an honor. I've been a faithful listener since 1988. RUSH: Well, that's the beginning. You're a lifer. CALLER: Yes, I am. RUSH: I really appreciate that. Thank you. CALLER: Thank you. I was hoping you could explain the...