Free Republic

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says that if he runs for president, he’ll pay for it himself, defending candidates who use personal riches to bankroll campaigns. Bloomberg’s comments to reporters in Texas on Friday follow a jab from another top 2020 contender. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren recently decried the Democratic presidential nomination becoming “one more plaything that billionaires can buy.”

Desperate to bring the Tyranny of the Majority to our representative democracy, on the first day Democrats assumed control of the House of Representatives, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) submitted a bill to kill the electoral college.

Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said in an interview with the New York Times that the Constitution considers her to be President Donald Trump's equal. Pelosi is set to regain the speaker's gavel after spending eight years as House minority leader. Pelosi was the first female speaker of the House from 2007 to 2011, and she maneuvered to get the party's votes necessary to secure the speakership again after Democrats won back the chamber in the November midterms. In a piece with a headline declaring her an "icon of female power," Pelosi was asked by the reporter "if...

While speaking Tuesday at Rice University’s Baker Center with author Jon Meacham and former White House chief of staff, James Baker, former President Barack Obama discussed identity politics and its history regarding race in the United States. Obama said that America, particularly American elites, have had a history of “great smugness” when it comes to wealth and status, Partial transcript as follows: OBAMA: We did not adapt quickly enough to the fact that there were people being left behind. And that frustrations were going to flare up and that all of these changes that were happening were happening really quick,...

Former President Obama took more veiled shots at his predecessor Monday night, suggesting that the reason the U.S. is not taking more direct action against climate change is because of “hate, anger, racism — mommy issues.” Obama appeared at the Obama Foundation Summit in Chicago, where author Dave Eggers interviewed him about ways to mobilize Americans toward creating social change.

Comedian and left-wing activist Chelsea Handler stripped nude to promote voting in Tuesday’s midterm elections in a new video she posted on social media. “You have to vote like your life depends on it! Vote!” Chelsea Handler said in an Instagram story where she appeared naked. This post comes as many Hollywood stars are getting involved in the midterm elections in favor of Democrats. Handler has been engaging in the important act of examining her “white privilege” President Donald Trump’s America.

There was a scare in Hollywood on Monday when a suspicious package addressed to Bill Maher was reported to authorities — and the powerhouse management firm that reps the comic had to evacuate its offices. Sources told Page Six that Brillstein Entertainment — which reps Maher, as well as Brad Pitt, Rob Lowe and Courteney Cox — had been warned by authorities that Maher’s name was on a list of potential targets by alleged mail bomber Cesar Sayoc, as was Brillstein’s Wilshire Blvd. address.

Barbra Streisand: ‘Doesn’t matter’ if I offend Trump supporters with my music By Chris Mills Rodrigo - 10/31/18 09:24 AM EDT American singer Barbra Streisand said "it doesn’t matter" if her new music offends supporters of President Trump in an interview with New York Times released Tuesday. Streisand discussed her new, politically driven album "Walls," which does not hold back in its criticism. "I would lie awake at night with Trump’s outrages running through my head, and I had to do another album for Columbia Records, so I thought, why not make an album about what’s on my mind?" she...

Is former President Barack Obama about to unleash one long subtweet against his successor in the form of a Netflix show? Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama have acquired the rights to adapt Michael Lewis' book The Fifth Risk as part of their overall deal with Netflix, Deadline reported Wednesday. Lewis' book describes the disorder within the Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, and Department of Commerce that took place during the transition between the Obama administration to the Trump administration.

Chelsea Clinton: I'd consider running for office if someone 'steps down or retires' By Aris Folley - 10/25/18 12:24 PM EDT Chelsea Clinton said in a recent interview that she hasn’t ruled out running for office in the future, saying if “someone were to step down or retire” she may be open to the idea. "I think if someone were to step down or retire and I thought I could do a good job and it matched my talents, I’d have to think if it’s the right choice for me," Clinton, the daughter of former President Clinton and former Secretary...

Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters (Calif.) said in a new interview that she "ain’t scared" after being targeted by two packages containing pipe bombs. "We have to keep to doing what we're doing in order to make this country right; that’s what I intend to do, and as the young people say, 'I ain't scared,'" Waters told Blavity. The California Democrat also called on President Trump to "take responsibility for the kind of violence that we are seeing for the first time in different ways," in the wake of multiple explosive devices sent to prominent Democrats.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday there is nothing she would trade for President Donald Trump’s border wall, setting a hard negotiating stance in advance of an expected December showdown over the issue. “It happens to be like a manhood issue for the president, building a wall, and I’m not interested in that,” the California Democrat said during a discussion at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics.

Just as negotiators reached agreement on an extraordinary hearing for Brett Kavanaugh and his accuser, a second allegation of sexual misconduct by the Supreme Court nominee put the White House and Senate Republicans on the defensive and fueled calls from Democrats to postpone further action on his confirmation. A dayslong back and forth over the timing and terms of a hearing with Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, the woman accusing him of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers, appeared to end Sunday with the announcement that they would appear separately Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The hearing promised...

Giving Christine Blasey Ford the opportunity to testify about her unsubstantiated accusations of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is, somehow, silencing her, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) declared Wednesday night. Refusing to launch an FBI investigation into Ford’s claims is also “silencing her,” Sen. Gillibrand said in a tweet: “Denying Dr. Ford an FBI investigation is silencing her. Forcing her into a sham hearing is silencing her. And pushing through Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation is silencing her.”

Commenting on Christine Blasey Ford's allegation that Brett Kavanaugh assaulted her at a beer party some 36 years ago and that the FBI must investigate the matter now before she will testify about the supposed incident, Juanita Broaddrick tweeted that if the FBI goes back that far then it must also "investigate my RAPE allegations against Bill Clinton, too." "If you want the FBI to go back that far @HillaryClinton @MSNBC to investigate Ford's allegations .... let's investigate my RAPE allegations against Bill Clinton, too. Seems only fair," Broaddrick tweeted on Sept. 18.

Warning that these are "extraordinary" and "dangerous" times, former President Barack Obama on Friday unleashed his most direct and forceful attack on President Donald Trump and said internal resistance in the administration is not the right way to stop him. During a speech at the University of Illinois, Obama slammed "crazy stuff" coming out of the Trump White House and blasted the president for trying to politicize the Justice Department.

Former President Obama on Friday lamented the state of politics today, calling out his successor, Donald Trump, by name as he started his push to ramp up Democratic energy for midterms. Mr. Obama made his return to the political arena by giving a speech at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign after receiving the Paul H. Douglas Award for Ethics in Government. He praised America’s accomplishments but said there is a darker side to progress when politicians peddle resentment and mistrust to preserve the status quo. “It did not start with Donald Trump. He is a symptom, not the cause,”...

Fmr. Vice President Al Gore has a message for President Trump: “Resign!” “I don’t mean to be flippant about this,” Gore told FOX 11 Los Angeles’ Elex Michaelson, host of “Good Day L.A.” and “The Issue Is,” in an exclusive interview. “I think everyone knows to discount what this current Administration is doing and saying. They’ve made the EPA the CPA! The Coal Production Agency! Instead of protecting the environment,” Gore said. Gore met with then-Pres. Elect Trump during the president transition, but said Mr. Trump hasn’t implemented his suggestions. “I don’t think he’s prepared to listen to advice about...

Dan Rather warned Wednesday night that if you think Tuesday was a shock with the Cohen guilty plea and Manafort's conviction, then "stay tuned." The former news anchor said other things Mueller is working on will "make yesterday pale by comparison." "Always keeping in mind that Mueller knows so much more than he has shown," Rather said in an interview with CNN's Don Lemon. "If you think [Cohen guilty plea, Manafort conviction] was a shock to our democratic system, just stay tuned. Because the other things Mueller is working on, and sooner or later we'll find out what they are,...

Alyssa Milano ‏Verified account @Alyssa_Milano You know what sucks? Because of our unwillingness to pass policy that protects our election integrity, I immediately think the Green Party votes tonight are Russian meddling. Why else would anyone cast a protest vote in Ohio when there’s so much at stake? #OH12