Free Republic

Pundit says: Romney will fail if he doesn't change course.

Many Americans, conservatives among them, have been voicing the opinion that social issues have no part in campaign debates, are criticizing Rick Santorum for placing them in the forefront of his campaign, and are branding him as unelectable as a result. I take issue with those points of view for two reasons: Firstly, social issues, when considered in their broadest sense, should play a major role in any campaign and none other than our Founders cautioned us to demand that they do. Secondly, it is not Rick Santorum who is declaring that social issues are the entire focus of his...

(YBH) – As the final Colorado vote counts were coming in late Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning, confirming that Rick Santorum scored a hat trick against his Republican competitors, it was becoming clear that a sea change is occurring within the GOP race. More than before, it’s now arguable that the inevitability of Mitt Romney’s candidacy is a fallacy. This opinion has been long espoused by Republican grassroots activists across the country. Now there are numbers to back it up. Santorum has now won four out of the eight contests. He has victories in four contests compared to three for Romney....

1. First off, what made you want to run for President in this election? Well, I was sincerely hoping that a better-known Democrat would enter the fray, a candidate of some national stature. My personal preference would have been former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, whose talents are largely being wasted in academia. We need him in Washington. I also believe that Rep. Dennis Kucinich would have been an articulate spokesman for the progressive values that so many Democrats hold near and dear, or possibly economist Jeffrey D. Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Jeffrey D. Sachs...

Pat Dollard posted this. It’s an official Barack Obama campaign ad for 2012. Having asked supporters to shove their donations to Obama’s reelection in their relatives faces last week, they’re now asking fans to convert those same people through persistent political harangues at family gatherings.

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We’ve just learned that the Missouri Health Insurance Pool has just voted on behalf of the state to accept $21 million dollars from the federal government to establish an health exchange here in Missouri. They are designating John Huff as the director. Didn’t Missourians vote overwhelmingly against Obamacare in 2008 with theirProp C vote? Just like President Obama does all the time, Nixon is taking the executive order route – completely bypassing the legislature. Original story here. In 2010, Missouri voters overwhelmingly approved Prop C, which negated key parts of ObamaCare. Ordinarily, only a legislature can appropriate funds, even if...

(CNSNews.com) – President Barack Obama on Monday issued a statement marking the start of Ramadan, the month devoted to prayer and fasting in the Muslim religion. “As Ramadan begins, Michelle and I would like to send our best wishes to Muslim communities in the United States and around the world,” the statement reads. “Ramadan is a festive time that is anticipated for months by Muslims everywhere.”

Presidential nominee Bachmann does not fall in to the GOP /media politically correct must do's; as Obama, and sometimes wishy washy Boehner and Geithner say raising the debt ceiling must happen or the world will crumble. Bachmann risks the unpopular trend and sticks to her guns;getting badgered by OReilly for going against Boehner and the GOP. Go Bachmann! WATCH THE VIDEO

Over the past few weeks, Republican candidates offering themselves as warriors in the crusade against Obama have sprung up as wildflowers in the field: each colorful, each beautiful in its own way. But these are not happy warriors. Each seems to send a sad message. It is the now-familiar tale of woe: our once-great republic reduced to a poverty-ridden husk of its former self, led to destruction by the Obama Administration. I suppose this recitation of the unworthiness of Obama is supposed to affirm a candidate’s “conservative” bona fides. IMHO, it is just a blinding glimpse of the obvious and...

Veterans Affairs It is imperative that America's military men and women receive the support they deserve for the sacrifices they have made. Our members of the Armed Forces have fought to preserve the freedoms we cherish and I believe Congress must be steadfast in honoring our commitment to them. Last year, I supported the largest increase in funding for veterans programs in theVA’s history: over $37 billion for veterans programs. This legislation also adds more than 1,000 new claims adjusters to help ease the backlog of over 400,000 VA benefits claims. Congress must work to alleviate VA bureaucratic procedures, improve...

The White House on Thursday is expected to unveil its proposal to enhance the nation's cybersecurity, laying out plans to require industry to better protect systems that run critical infrastructure like the electrical grid, financial systems and nuclear power plants. The Obama administration also is insisting that companies tell consumers when their personal information has been compromised. According to cybersecurity experts familiar with the plan, the administration's proposed legislation also would instruct federal agencies to more closely monitor their computer networks. Several House and Senate committees have been working on cybersecurity legislation for the past two years, while waiting for...

Which issue facing America today makes you the most angry? War in Afghanistan National security High taxes Government spending and the growing national debt Illegal immigration Unemployment Rising fuel prices Government intervention in our lives Changes to our health care system Other (post a comment)

WASHINGTON--There are multiple reports out today that President Barack Obama has signed a "secret order" authorizing covert U.S. support for Libyan rebel forces.According to Reuters: Obama signed the order, known as a presidential "finding," within the last two or three weeks, according to four U.S. government sources familiar with the matter. Such findings are a principal form of presidential directive used to authorize secret operations by the Central Intelligence Agency

I had the chance to sit in tonight on a blogger conference call with potential 2012 Presidential candidate Herman Cain. It shouldn’t surprise any long-time readers of The Shack when I say I’m a fan of Cain’s as a candidate and as a person. Though he has yet to announce his candidacy, he has formed an exploratory committee and has visited several of the early primary and caucus states to gauge interest in a run and to lay some groundwork if he decides to do so. I had hoped to connect to the call with Skype and record it, so...

These days there appears to be almost nothing that all, or nearly all, Americans can agree on. But this week, fully 90% of the public said that they were hearing mostly bad news about gas prices. That might seem like a no-brainer given the recent surge in gas prices. But reaching the 90% threshold is a rare occurrence in public opinion surveys. In part, this reflects the tendency of polling organizations to focus on current issues about which there are often considerable differences of opinion. Nonetheless, even on issues where one would expect to find near-total agreement, the public's...

I like Sarah Palin, but you already know that. And as I’ve often said, I have no idea if she wants to run for president. The resolution of that question is not terribly important to me. I am more interested in policy substance than in politics, especially when it comes to campaigns that are yet in the future, and I don’t sit around obsessing over whether someone I respect is going to run for this, that or the other thing. Who are you telling to study? But it seems that just about everyone else is obsessed with Palin’s presidential prospects,...

Interpol has issued an arrest warrant for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on sex charges. The Australian is suspected of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion in an investigation that stems from his encounters with two women during a visit to Sweden in August. Assange has denied the allegations and insisted his sexual relations with the women were consensual. A veteran computer hacker, Assange founded WikiLeaks in 2006. It has published almost 500,000 secret U.S. documents about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Court documents filed by the prosecutor show Assange is suspected

LUBBOCK, Texas -- One of the most conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court and one of the most liberal ones sparred Friday over capital punishment, the direct election of senators and various other constitutional questions during a rare public debate that highlighted their philosophical differences. Antonin Scalia, 74, the longest-serving current justice, appointed by Republican President Ronald Reagan, and Stephen Breyer, 72, appointed by Democrat Bill Clinton, shared the stage in front of a crowd of thousands during a West Texas event organized by Texas Tech University Law School. They particularly clashed on the question of capital punishment. Scalia...

A day after President Obama got what he called a "shellacking" in the midterm elections, he took full responsibility for the outcome that turned over the House to the Republicans. Pundits will spend the next few days poring over the numbers. But judging from the questions reporters asked at the news conference, the defeat is being cast as a clear message from voters that Obama is going in the wrong direction.(snip)For the last two years, the electorate has been subjected to lies about Obama's religion, his heritage and his agenda. These deliberate falsehoods were designed to scare the bejeezus out...