Free Republic

DOVER — One national columnist has speculated New Hampshire's own Judd Gregg, who recently retired after three terms in the U.S. Senate, is considering a run for the presidency in 2012. Jonah Goldberg, editor-at-large of National Review Online, cites the Republican as acting like he's not running "but hasn't ruled it out." As Gregg's term wraps up and the holidays approach, no one is available to take calls at his offices throughout the state and in Washington, D.C. The listed phone number for Gregg's home in Rye has been temporarily disconnected, according to a recording. Republican Strategist Mike Dennehy said...

The White House is scrambling to strike a last-minute deal with congressional Republicans to save its new nuclear arms treaty with Russia from a lingering death. Obama administration officials are trying to win the support of the GOP point man, Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, to schedule a ratification vote in the upcoming lame-duck session rather than next year, when Republicans will hold six more Senate seats. The treaty, which also awaits ratification in Russia, would lower each country's maximum number of long-range active nuclear warheads and set procedures for them to inspect each other's strategic nuclear bases. ...President Obama...

The likely speaker of the House in the new Congress, John Boehner, is about to find out what Barack Obama learned: It’s much more fun to rattle the beast’s cage than be locked inside it. Will Boehner’s House Republicans remain the party of “Hell, no” or “Let’s make a deal”? Signs point to the former. “This is not a time for compromise,” Boehner told Sean Hannity last week. The Republican congressman added, without apparent impish intent, “To the extent the president wants to work with us, in terms of our goals, we’d welcome his involvement.” That Obama and Boehner might...

He was a brilliant but flawed man. He spent most of his political career as a bomb-thrower in the lower House. He was despised by his party's establishment. After a debacle, he fell into disfavor with the public. He was discounted as a politician and stayed so for many years. Then came a crisis, which he had warned was coming and which the nation's leadership bungled grossly. He became his nation's leader not because he was loved, but because he was right and had the pluck to carry the fight.  He was Winston Churchill.  Churchill's time came. Could Newt Gingrich's...

Talk privately to just about any leading Republican about the 2012 presidential race, and you’ll often hear a sentence that starts with: “If his last name were ...” They’re talking about the former two-term governor of one of America’s largest states who is a reformer, a policy wonk and a savvy pol who left office on good terms — and whose last name happens to be Bush. Were he not the brother of a recently departed and unpopular president, there is little doubt that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush would be an obvious, and formidable, White House prospect for the...

According to a recent Rasmussen poll, Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) and President Barack Obama would be virtually tied if the 2012 presidential election were held today. The poll result is perhaps surprising, considering that during Ron Paul's 2008 presidential bid for the Republican nomination the major media cast him as a dark horse with no chance of winning. But that was before the financial meltdown in the fall of 2008, the Obama Presidency, and the Tea Party movement of the past year. Rasmussen surveyed 1,000 “likely voters” by phone over April 12 and 13 to gauge the current public attitude...

Conservative superstar Sarah Palin opened the door yesterday to joining forces with Mitt Romney for a 2012 White House run - a hot ticket that has some Republicans licking their chops at the prospect of unseating President Obama. “Sounds pretty good,” Palin declared at yesterday’s Tea Party Express rally on the Common when asked about pairing up with the former Bay State governor - giving the idea a big thumbs-up as she left the stage after her headline speech. Last night, as Palin stopped for cannoli at Mike’s Pastry in the North End, she said she was “serious” about the...

After his straw poll win at the SRLC, Mitt Romney appears poised to take his shot at buying a much more important vote. The Boston Herald reported the possible merger in an article titled, "Mitt Romney-Sarah Palin in 2012? You betcha!" According to the story, Republican strategists were "licking their chops" at the prospect of such a telegenic duo running against Barack Obama. Truly, the ticket would be intriguing to some GOP voters. “They both have a lot they can offer a campaign,” said Douglas Lorenz, a California-based GOP consultant. “Romney has the experience as a governor and experience as...

Sarah Palin Opens Door to Running With Mitt Romney Against Obama in 2012 Boston, MA -- Sarah Palin, the pro-life superstar who was John McCain's running mate in 2008, opened the door yesterday at a Tea Party event appearance to running with potential 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Palin has been keeping herself in the limelight since the last election by writing a book and appearing on television and numerous events. http://LifeNews.com/nat6252.html

The Boston Herald thinks they’ve found the unity ticket for the GOP in 2012. Apparently, Sarah Palin thinks it sounds “serious,” too. The only question would be the order (via Jules Crittenden): Conservative superstar Sarah Palin opened the door today to joining forces with Mitt Romney for a 2012 White House run – a hot ticket that has some Republicans licking their chops at the prospect of unseating President Obama. “Sounds pretty good,” Palin declared at today’s Tea Party Express rally on the Common when asked about pairing up with the former Bay State governor – giving the idea a...

Includes Video & Full Text of Speech “We have failed to listen to America. And we have failed to reflect the will of our constituents.” Moments before last night’s historic vote on Health Care Reform, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R. Ohio) stood on the floor of the United States House of Representatives and gave an impassioned speech which captured the feelings of many Americans. In a time when back room deals, bribery and jello-spined posturing (see Bart Stupak) pass for leadership House Minority Leader John Boehner stood on the floor of the U.S. House and took his fellow “Representatives”...

Every single day of this man's presidency is focused on destroying individual liberty and capitalism. There is no absolutely no authority for the federal government to control insurance premiums. This is right out of the Politburo's handbook. President Obama will propose on Monday giving the federal government new power to block excessive rate increases by health insurance companies, as he rolls out comprehensive legislation to revamp the nation?s health care system, White House officials said. Keep in mind that this is effectively seizing control of the health insurance industry. After all, if you control the rates, you control the companies'...

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified the US Congress, respectively, on 22 December and 28 December 2009 of two possible foreign military sales (FMS) to the United Arab Emirates of enhanced guided bomb units as well as of logistics support and training for 12 C-130J-30 transport aircraft. The two deals would amount to a total estimated value of $409 million (approx. €286.23 million). According to the DSCA, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has requested a possible sale of 400 GBU-24(V) 11/B Enhanced PAVEWAY III, 400 GBU-24(V) 12/B Enhanced PAVEWAY III, 400 GBU-49(V) 3/B Enhanced PAVEWAY II, 400 GBU-50(V) 1/B...

Do you approve of the job President Obama is doing? Yes 21% No 72% The jury is still out 7%

Before Sarah Palin became the embodiment of the conservative grassroots, another national candidate from a state beginning with "A" mastered 21st century Republican populism on his way to winning the 2008 Iowa caucuses. During the campaign, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, the funniest Republican since the heyday of Bob Dole, would go off on little-guy riffs like this: "If you're a person for whom 'summer' is a verb, if you went to Harvard or Yale, you probably think the economy is doing just dandy." After John McCain won the nomination, Huckabee did not fade away. Instead, he morphed into a...

WASHINGTON – Talk-show host Sean Hannity, a vocal opponent of Barack Obama's policies, said today he would not rule out a bid for the presidency in 2012. Egged on by radio colleague Bill Cunningham, Hannity said he would consider entering the front lines of the political fray if God directs him. "I've never made a decision in my life without – whatever destiny God has you've got to fulfill it," he said. "I'm not sure that's my destiny." Hannity would make a formidable candidate, with the likability of Reagan, good looks and strong convictions. He's also a polished communicator and...

It appears that years of debate about climate change and energy may now come down to a vote on an actual bill, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES). As I write this, the vote is scheduled for Friday. If it occurs, you will be asked to vote to implement carbon rationing in the United States.   Without regard to party or ideology, I believe that the evidence is clear that this law would be contrary to the public interest. Here is why, in a nutshell: 1.  It would be a terrible deal for American taxpayers. According to the...

Last week, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released their analysis of the Waxman-Markey climate change bill that had proponents of the bill claiming Americans could save the planet for just $175 per household. That was the figure CBO estimated cap and trade would cost households in 2020 alone.[1]Both the CBO's analysis and the subsequent legislation are troubled: The analysis grossly underestimates economic costs while the legislation will have virtually no impact on climate. Overall, there are a number of basic problems with CBO's analysis: Their allowance cost numbers do not add up; They ignore economic costs such as the decrease...

WASHINGTON – America’s third largest party urged the U.S. House Tuesday to defeat plans for a $1.9 trillion energy tax hike over eight years. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is attempting to rush H.R. 2454, the Waxman-Markey energy tax bill, to a vote this week. “With unemployment rising above and beyond what President Obama said it would be with the multi-hundred billion dollar stimulus bill, now is not the time to dismantle our economy with a multi-hundred billion dollar energy tax hike,” said William Redpath, Libertarian National Committee Chairman. “Libertarians urge House members to defeat this job-killing tax hike on Americans,”...

ABSTRACT: Democratic leaders in the House have scheduled a Friday vote on a climate change bill that would establish a complex cap-and-trade system to limit the nation's greenhouse gas emissions, a priority for President Obama. The House Rules Committee unveiled the latest version of the bill, which weighs in at 1,201 pages. It features new items such as $7.5 billion in "green bonds" for a new federal financing agency called the Clean Energy Deployment Administration, extra emission allowances for politically powerful rural electric cooperatives, greater flexibility for states that want to use free allowances for mass transit, and tweaks benefiting...