Free Republic

The congresswoman-elect expanded on what that "anti-socialist squad" may look like in her chat with City&State. Your mother was born in Cuba, and you’d be one of what looks like ten Cuban-Americans in Congress. Have you talked with any of them yet? And in office, do you expect to get involved with foreign policy? Senator Marco Rubio supported me, as did Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, a Cuban-American from Miami. I know Maria Elvira Salazar, who was just elected, also representing Miami, and I also met Carlos Giménez, who’s the mayor (of Miami-Dade County), now elected (to the House) also on Tuesday....

When the 116th Congress convenes on Thursday, many of the newly elected members are bringing an anti-Trump agenda and the goal of fundamentally transforming America even farther to the left than Barack Obama tried to accomplish in his eight years in office. Here are 11 Democrats who were elected in the 2018 midterm elections on promises to resist President Donald Trump’s efforts to keep his campaign promises, from replacing Obamacare to building a wall on the United States border with Mexico to extracting the country from harmful trade and climate change agreements.

The University of Michigan made headlines this week for initially canceling a screening of the blockbuster film American Sniper because some Muslim students said that it being shown would make them feel “unsafe.” The college has since reversed this decision, but it’s not the only time something like this has happened. Here are seven other things that a school or its students have declared hazards to campus safety: 1. Bill Maher When the University of Berkeley announced that Bill Maher would be its graduation speaker last October, more than 6,000 students signed a petition demanding that he be banned because...

You've got your diploma, but are you prepared for the war with Marxist academia? New high school graduates around the country have collected their diplomas and now turn their attention to preparing for college life. And thereÂ’s no shortage of advice available on everything from dorm room decor to picking classes to the dangers of binge drinking. As a long-time conservative and recent college graduate with a little sister now starting in the fall, I have thought long and hard about the facts and advice I wish someone had given me.No, they arenÂ’t avoid this restaurant, steer clear of x...

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin weighed in on the debt ceiling debate on social media just hours before a key House vote. (Twitter) *snip* In a post on her Facebook page from "proverbial politico flyover country," the former Alaska governor reprinted a letter she sent to newly elected members last fall, emphasizing the need to "rein in out-of-control government spending" and "check the growth of spending on our entitlement programs." "I respectfully ask these GOP Freshman to re-read this letter and remember us 'little people' who believed in them, donated to their campaigns, spent hours tirelessly volunteering for them, and...

GOP Freshmen Lawmakers Take on Obama Over Debt DeadlineBy Molly Henneberg Published July 14, 2011 | FoxNews.com Tea Party freshman Rep. Joe Walsh, R-I.L., has strong words for President Obama in a video posted on his website. “President Obama, quit lying. You know darn well that if Aug. 2, comes and goes there is plenty of money to pay off our debt and cover all Social Security obligations,” says Walsh in the video. The Treasury Department has estimated that the U.S. will go over its’ debt limit on Aug. 2, and Walsh is angry that President Obama has said that...

GOP veteran: Tea Party freshmen may rue $100B in cutsBy Erik Wasson - 02/11/11 04:59 PM ET The $100 billion in budget-cuts being forced by Tea Party freshmen may come back to haunt them, a veteran lawmaker and close ally of Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Friday. Asked if new members grasp what it means to cut $100 billion, Rep. Tom Latham (R-Iowa) said “they’ll be informed soon I am sure by a lot of constituents.” “There are going to be ramifications,” said Latham, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee sub-panel on transportation and housing. GOP leaders and appropriations on...

Not good enough: Tea Party freshmen sink GOP spending planBy Erik Wasson - 02/10/11 08:42 PM ET Chastened GOP leaders promised Thursday to find a full $100 billion in spending cuts after freshmen lawmakers torpedoed a proposal that they said betrayed the party’s “Pledge to America.” In a stinging rebuke to party leadership, Republicans on the Appropriations Committee abandoned plans to seek only $74 billion in cuts just hours before their continuing resolution was set to be unveiled. The abrupt reversal set off a mad scramble among Republican staffers to scrape together the extra cuts in time to unveil the...

Recess is over, and now the incoming Republican class of the 112th Congress must pivot from talking tough to making tough choices. Among their first decisions: How will they work with a Republican leadership team that is steeped in the ways of Washington? SNIP SNIP The newcomers also may be forced to pick among their political patrons. Many of the Republican freshmen won their seats with help from tea party activism and Washington-based independent groups, fueled with millions in corporate cash. Last year’s lame-duck Congress already exposed cracks in the coalition that proved potent for Republicans during the 2010 midterm...

If the assignment of House committee chairs provided a letdown to Tea Party activists, especially on Appropriations with Hal Rogers, the assignment of newly-open seats on critical committees looks more like a win. Twenty-two freshmen Representatives have won seats on Appropriations, Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Financial Services, and most of those won their elections with heavy Tea Party backing: Most of the 22 House Republican freshmen-to-be selected to sit on much-coveted, A-list committees won their races with Tea Party backing.The House Republican Steering Committee last week added the incoming members to the rosters of four powerful committees:...

When John Boehner is elected House speaker early in January, there will be more Republicans -- some 240-plus -- than in any House since the one elected in 1946, before Boehner and most other members were born. For a speaker, having a majority in the 240s or (as Nancy Pelosi has in the outgoing Congress) 250s is a sweet spot. If you have 235 or fewer, as GOP Speakers Newt Gingrich and Denny Hastert did, it's hard to hold everyone in line on partisan roll calls. Some members will have districts or convictions that require them to dissent. If you...

When the 112th Congress convenes in January, it will include at least 72 new members — one of the largest freshman classes in the nation’s history — at least 63 of whom will join the Republican majority. This year’s crop of GOP candidates was an impressive group, consisting of tea partiers, political novices, military veterans, and a record number of minority candidates, almost all of whom pledged in their campaigns to extend the Bush tax rates, repeal Obamacare, and rein in federal spending. It is a group that promises not only to challenge the Democratic agenda of the past two...

Call it being a team player. If you’re a Republican House candidate flush with cash and poised to win, you can score points with leadership if you donate to competitive races. That cred could lead to good committee assignments down the line. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) followed that model in 2006 and ended up with a prime spot in leadership. Now he’s advising candidates from South Carolina to Missouri to do the same, even suggesting which contenders are most in need of funds for new ads. In a great year for their party, some House Republican challengers are doing more...

Until recently, campus roommates were a non-negotiable item for incoming college freshmen. If a study-holic was matched with a party animal, too bad. But now, things are changing. When incoming freshmen receive their new roommate assignments, the first thing they do is look them up on Facebook. At the University of Florida, for example, the school decided to give in to the social media phenomenon by using a Facebook application called RoomBug so that students could check out prospective roommates’ habits i.e. their neatness and sleep schedules. More than 25 percent of this year’s incoming freshmen have used this service...

Books Bite the Dust Deborah Lambert, June 22, 2010 Given the lack of student interest in reading these days, it’s no surprise that the University of California at Berkeley decided to completely change the dynamics of the summer reading list. In fact, this year they didn’t even attempt to saddle incoming freshmen with a book. Instead they have assigned the non-reading task of “returning a cotton swab with cells from the insides of their cheeks.” The school will analyze the returned samples for “three genes that help regulate the ability to metabolize alcohol, lactose and folates,” said the New York...

The Freshmen 50 is an independent Political Action Committee (PAC). We are unaffiliated with any political party, group, or lobby. Our sole mission is to put 50 NEW FISCALLY AND LEGISLATIVELY RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS INTO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IN 2010. And we will remain true to our mission. Too many politicians too often represent the interests of the government over the interests of the people and remain unaccountable for their actions. There is now a clear and present danger to the future of American prosperity and governmental integrity by an ideology that advances the notion of ever-expanding central bureaucratic authority....

Hey, since Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize, High Schools and Colleges will now allow Freshmen to deliver the Valedictorian speeches at Commencement exercises to tell what they hope to accomplish before graduation. On a side note: I think that President Obama should be nominated for The Heisman Trophy this year; based on what he would do if he was playing.

Freshmen Dems torn by party, voters on health careBackbencher Democrats thrown into the front lines of the debate are caught in a crossfire BOB LEWIS and MIKE BAKER Associated Press Writers Wednesday, August 19, 2009 FORK UNION, Va. — By his ninth town hall meeting this week — in a sweltering Virginia middle school auditorium — freshman Rep. Tom Perriello is no longer fazed by angry crowds mobilized for and against health care reform. He and other backbencher Democrats thrown into the front lines of the debate are caught in a crossfire between their congressional leaders to the left and...

Sure, 91 House Republicans finally voted to pass a tweaked version of the financial bailout bill Friday. But for the GOP's big honchos, last Monday's defeat in the House of Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr.'s plan was still the most stinging humiliation they've suffered in years. To unlock the mystery of the earlier bill's stunning rejection, consider two numbers: 82 and 0. The first is the percentage of retiring Republican representatives who voted for the bill. The second is the percentage of Republican freshmen who did. Think about that for a moment. The GOP's retirees, the people who finally...

Democratic leaders have sent tens of millions of dollars to freshman lawmakers’ districts in hope of protecting the party’s newfound majority come November. A new study of December’s omnibus spending package shows that the party in power has resisted pressure to abandon earmarking, at least to the extent of handing lawmakers in tough districts plenty of pet projects they can boast about to voters. Democratic freshmen in the House were among the biggest recipients of earmarked funds, often surpassing much more senior colleagues by millions of dollars. Republicans have made the practice of earmarking a major campaign theme and are...