Free Republic

A Congressional candidate running for the nomination to unseat House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) ignited an Internet firestorm when he appeared to go on a tirade against conservatives and the National Rifle Association Saturday night.Mike Dickinson rejected support — on a Twitter account appearing to belong to him — from anyone who supports the NRA, is pro-life or participates in “Obama hating.”Immediately following the string of tweets, Dickinson received immediate backlash online, with individuals turning to Twitter to offer their thoughts.Despite the overwhelming reaction to the tweets, the self-described “liberal Democrat” did not appear to issue any apologies. In...

HOUSTON, TEXAS--According to new statistics from the Labor Department, 16,000 new people sought U.S. unemployment benefits. This brought the seasonally adjusted figure to 326,000. In addition, the national employment holds at 6.7 percent. Meanwhile in Texas, the job market is booming and companies are expanding at a rapid rate. Texas Governor Rick Perry said the state is home to a thriving job market due to business-friendly policies and a predictable regulatory climate. Perry told Breitbart Texas, "We've been below the national average of unemployment for over 80 months. We have 1,000 plus people moving into the state per day. So...

The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee says a proposal to allow illegal aliens to receive permanent legal residency by enlisting in the military won't be in the underlying text of a must-pass defense bill, dealing a serious blow to a push to enact the immigration measure. “I do not intend to include the ‘ENLIST’ Act in the proposed National Defense Authorization Act that I will submit to the Armed Services Committee next month. I have reached this conclusion without regard to my views on the underlying policy, but because I do not believe that the Chairman’s mark should...

House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA02) isn't even trying to hide his anti-conservative efforts any more. VIrginia conservatives are now publicaly calling him out for helping the moderate GOP-E group, Republican Mainstreet PAC, raise money to defeat the Tea Party. This Virginia Vision Action PAC opens up a big can of whoop a** on Cantor with a heaping helping of daming facts. Watch the video ad here.

The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee says a proposal to allow illegal aliens to receive permanent legal residency by enlisting in the military won't be in the underlying text of a must-pass defense bill, dealing a serious blow to a push to enact the immigration measure. “I do not intend to include the ‘ENLIST’ Act in the proposed National Defense Authorization Act that I will submit to the Armed Services Committee next month. I have reached this conclusion without regard to my views on the underlying policy, but because I do not believe that the Chairman’s mark should...

On Tuesday, Mike Dickinson, the Virginia Democrat seeking the House seat currently held by Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., compared the Tea Party to the terror group al-Qaeda on Twitter and claimed that Sarah Palin, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., are the U.S. equivalent of Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the 9/11 terror attacks. Ultimately, Dickinson called the Tea Party and Sarah Palin "pure unamerican (sic) trash." "The tea party is Americas version of Al-Qaeda. Ted Cruz/Sarah Palin/Rand Paul all on same level as Bin laden (sic)," he claimed. "Tea party and Al-Qaeda: both resort to...

John Boehner is often a difficult man to figure out. Sometimes he seems to want to lead the fight to restore the America’s greatness; but other times he seems hell bent on destroying what is left of America and the Republican Party. This ambiguity has placed a cloud over his reelection as Speaker. His biggest problem is he just doesn’t want to give up on his dearly held dream of granting amnesty to illegal aliens. He and his sidekicks, Paul Ryan, Eric Cantor and Kevin McCarthy have made an art form of ignoring their base in favor of people who...

President Obama has ordered his officials to step on the gas and clear as much of his regulatory agenda as possible during the twilight of his time in office. The clock is ticking, creating a sense of urgency in the administration to crank out his new rules without delay. Just a year into the president’s second term, experts and former administration officials say it is do-or-die time for scores of regulatory initiatives across the federal government that could shape his legacy. So Obama is spurring agencies on. “He has directed his entire administration to move as quickly as possible in...

Congressional Republicans will return to Capitol Hill next week with Obamacare in their crosshairs. They’ll take aim at a provision in the law that defines “full- time employees” as those working 30 hours or more. Under Obamacare’s employer mandate, companies with 50 or more “full-time” employees will be required to offer health insurance to their workers or pay a penalty if at least one of their employees purchases a plan through the healthcare marketplace with a federal subsidy. In an Op-Ed published in the National Review Online, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said the House will be focusing on changing...

The following Republicans voted Tuesday to raise the government's borrowing limit: John Boehner, R-Ohio. Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va. Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy,R-Calif. Chief Deputy Whip Pete Roskam, R-Ill. Ken Calvert, R-Calif. Dave Camp, R-Mich. Michael Grimm, R-N.Y. Richard Hanna, R-N.Y. Doc Hastings, R-Wash. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. Devin Nunes, R-Calif. Hal Rogers, R-Ky. Dave Reichert, R-Wash. Chris Collins, R-N.Y. Howard Coble, R-N.C. Charlie Dent, R-Pa. Mike Fitzpatrick, R-Pa. Pete King, R-N.Y. Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J. Buck McKeon, R-Calif. Patrick Meehan, R-Pa. Gary Miller, R-Calif. Ed Royce, R-Calif. John Runyan, R-N.J. John Shimkus, R-Ill. Chris Smith, R-N.J. David Valadao, R-Calif. Frank Wolf,...

Dave Brat is challenging Rep. Eric Cantor in a Republican primary — and giving the House majority leader a verbal thrashing on immigration. Dave Brat is challenging Rep. Eric Cantor in a Republican primary — and giving the House majority leader a verbal thrashing on immigration. “Cantor is following the agenda of the Business Roundtable and the Chamber of Commerce — pursuing policies that are good for big business, but come at the exclusion of the American people,” said Brat, an economics professor at Randolph-Macon College. Brat’s upstart bid against the second highest-ranking House Republican may seem quixotic. But it’s...

An immigrant-rights group on Tuesday escalated pressure on President Barack Obama to use his executive power to halt deportations — just days after he seemed to crack the door open on that option. The National Day Laborer Organizing Network filed a 41-page petition on Tuesday arguing that the administration has “extremely broad and virtually unreviewable discretion” on how to proceed with deportations. It urges Obama to shield undocumented immigrants who would “likely benefit from near-term congressional action on immigration” from deportation and grant them the ability to work in the United States. “Suspending the deportation of these individuals promotes the...

New momentum in Congress for a broad overhaul of border-control laws has prompted White House allies to demand that President Obama halt deportations of millions of illegal immigrants, many of whom would be allowed to remain in the country under a legislative deal. The advocates, including the AFL-CIO and pro-immigration groups, argue that Obama should use his executive authority to expand a 2012 decision that halted deportations of young people brought to the United States illegally by their parents. The administration’s aggressive approach to enforcement — which has resulted in nearly 2 million deportations during Obama’s tenure — makes little...

Limit immigration or watch conservative efforts become irrelevant. People come to America because it is a remarkable oasis of freedom, prosperity, and opportunity. Conservatives recognize that the principal reason for our unique abundance is our constitutional restraint on the power of government. As Thomas Jefferson said, “In questions of power, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.” Maintaining this system requires the public to support limited government. In a new report, Eagle Forum details how immigration is fundamentally changing the electorate to one that is much...

Days after House Republicans unveiled a roadmap for an overhaul of the nation's broken immigration system, one of its backers said legislation was unlikely to pass during this election year. Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) said distrust of President Obama ran so deep in the Republican caucus that he was skeptical the GOP-led House would pass any immigration measure. He said a plan that put security first could only pass if lawmakers believed the administration would enforce it - an unlikely prospect given Republicans' deep opposition to Obama.

Insurance companies working under the Obamacare umbrella have secretly added a surcharge to cover the cost of abortions, an apparent violation of federal law that forbids the practice, congressional leaders charge. Consumers signing up for insurance in an Obamacare exchange won't find a single sentence telling them that they will pay at least $1 a month to fund abortions.

House Republicans are preparing to unveil their own broad template for overhauling the nation’s immigration system this week, potentially offering a small opening for President Obama and congressional Democrats to pass bipartisan legislation before the end of the year. Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio and other Republican leaders are expected to release a one-page statement of immigration principles this week at their annual retreat in Cambridge, Md., according to aides with knowledge of the plan. The document is expected to call for border security and enforcement measures, as well as providing a path to legal status — but not...

Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has cleared the way for Eric Cantor (R-Va.) to succeed John Boehner as the next Speaker. Ryan this week said he's not interested in becoming Speaker, preferring to head the influential Ways and Means Committee in 2015. Boehner has repeatedly said he's not retiring at the end of this Congress, but that hasn't tamped down speculation that the Ohio Republican is considering retirement. The Hill recently surveyed dozens of Republicans in the House and the consensus was that the only lawmaker who could defeat Cantor is Ryan.

HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS — A Mexican national was executed Wednesday night in Texas for killing a Houston police officer, despite pleas and diplomatic pressure from the Mexican government and the U.S. State Department to halt the punishment. Edgar Tamayo, 46, received a lethal injection for the January 1994 fatal shooting of Officer Guy Gaddis, 24. Asked by a warden if he had a final statement, he mumbled "no" and shook his head. As the lethal dose of pentobarbital began taking effect, he took a few breaths and then made one slightly audible snore before all movement stopped. He was pronounced dead...

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...