Free Republic

The GOP shortlist now looks much different than it did even a week ago. Former state Sen. Ted Daley, an accountant and West Point grad who served in the Gulf and Iraq wars, is widely considered the party’s most credible candidate at this point. He was elected to the Senate in 2010, but lost re-election in 2012. Calling him “squeaky clean,” the state GOP operative said that Daley’s military service casts him “in the Kline mold.” Kline served 25 years in the Marines. And while Daley’s “very conservative,” a GOP operative who works on House races added, “he’s not a...

A battle is brewing in Washington over the military's push to open all combat units to women. The Marine Corps is reportedly poised to ask that some positions remain available only to men, following a nine-month study that found units with all genders did not perform as well in combat. The issue is stirring a passionate debate in the military community, pitting the Marine Corps against its own service secretary and creating a bitter divide on the House Armed Services Committee. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, who is the service secretary for the Marine Corps, blasted the study of the Marine...

AMMAN, JORDAN – House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and a delegation of senior lawmakers met with His Majesty King Abdullah II on Sunday during a visit to Jordan where talks focused on Iranian-backed violence in the region and the growing terrorist threat. King Abdullah hosted the delegation for a luncheon at Beit al-Urdun Palace. Lawmakers also met with U.S. Ambassador Alice Wells, Nasser Judeh, Jordan’s Foreign Minister, as well as senior embassy officials. Discussions focused on two major trends in the region: the violence caused by Iran’s allies and proxies, and the spreading of the terrorist threat. There was also...

---SNIP-- In “real time” terms, Maher’s flip-a-district gimmick flopped as Kline coasted to his seventh term in the US House of Representatives. True, Maher wasn’t on the ballot in Kline’s race, but then neither was President Obama. Just the same, Kline doubled his victory margin over challenger Mike Obermueller in a rematch of the 2012 race—an 18 percent win compared to 8 percent last time.

Republican lawmakers are running away from town halls in August. In a New York Times piece about the frustrations of one citizen activist in Texas, some prominent Republicans who have not held an August town hall are listed. They include: Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL); Rep. Tim Griffin (R-AK); Rep. John Kline (R-MN); Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX); Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), the chair of the House Rules Committee; Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC); and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), who has "not announced any town halls but did participate in them in 2009."

House Republicans say new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidelines aimed at forcing students to eat fruits and vegetables are a failure because students across the country are simply tossing the healthy fare into the trash. "[T]here remains great concern with the amount of food waste generated at school cafeterias, much of it brought on by requiring students to take fruits and vegetables rather than simply offer them," Reps. John Kline (R-Minn.), Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) and Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) told USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack in a letter sent Thursday. "This is a waste of federal, state and local funds and...

The Obama administration has doubled down on its plea to defense contractors not to warn employees about possible layoffs due to looming budget cuts -- going so far as to offer to cover legal fees in compensation challenges. The move drew a stern rebuke Friday from South Dakota Republican Sen. John Thune. "For the second time, the Obama administration has now encouraged government contractors to ignore the WARN Act and hold off on warning employees about possible layoffs due to the looming sequestration cuts,” Thune, lead author of the Sequestration Transparency Act, said Friday. The offer to pay the legal...

On a conference call with bloggers this afternoon, Congressman John Kline (R-Minn.) pinned the blame on President Obama for an out-of-control National Labor Relations Board and urged his colleagues in Congress to pass the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act, which would address certain disastrous NLRB decisions.“President Obama — this is his board,” Kline said. “He is supporting this if he’s not willing to step in there and help put some reins on what I think is a runaway board.”In recent weeks, the NLRB has rushed to pass a rule that would shorten the unionization election process. Snap elections would allow...

The Minnesota delegation’s 2012 support is suddenly up for grabs, but whether the only Minnesotan left in the 2012 GOP presidential race can capture those endorsements is far from decided. Republican Reps. John Kline and Erik Paulsen, two of former Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s (R) most prominent Capitol Hill backers, haven’t sprinted to support their home-state colleague Rep. Michele Bachmann since Pawlenty abruptly ended his candidacy Sunday. Rep. Chip Cravaack (R), a conservative who would appear to be more aligned with Bachmann’s ideals than the former governor, hasn’t rushed to her side either. When Bachmann sought the House Republican Conference chairmanship,...

Pledges to rid Washington of pork barrel spending turned into a game of political football Thursday, with Minnesota Rep. John Kline championing the charge for a Republican Hail Mary. House Republicans swore not to make any special requests for their districts in 2011 spending bills a day after House Democrats said they would reject any earmarks directed to for-profit corporations. A tool for sending federal funds home, lawmakers have come to rely more and more on earmarks, hitting nearly 14,000 earmarks in 2005. Requests dipped a bit after that, but by last year they had ratcheted up to just under...

More than 2,500 Minnesota National Guard soldiers who are owed a total of $10 million in overtime pay for their deployment in Iraq three years ago are still being told that the check's in the mail. Now members of the Minnesota congressional delegation are pressing the Pentagon to make good on the long-overdue checks to the state's famed 34th ("Red Bull") Infantry Division, which served in Iraq longer than any other U.S. military unit. Confronting Defense Secretary Robert Gates in an Armed Services Committee hearing Wednesday, Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., thundered: "My question is when can these soldiers expect to...

Six months ago I shared my great confidence in the course President Obama was charting to achieve victory in Afghanistan. Following a bipartisan fact-finding mission to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey and Israel, I spoke of broad support among my congressional colleagues and the White House for the measures that would bring us closer to our shared goal of defending the American people and securing peace. Less than half a year later, however, my confidence in our nation's civilian leadership is fading. It appears political calculations are preventing us from moving toward our common goal. The latest justification for delaying necessary military...

Minnesota Rep. John Kline expects Congress to pull back on federal testing requirements during an upcoming rewrite of the No Child Left Behind education law. Kline will have a prominent voice in the debate as the senior Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee, a role he assumed this month. Speaking to reporters Monday, Kline said the law passed under then-President George W. Bush came with too many demands from Washington. He said states should have more say over the frequency of student testing.

Video: Sen. Coleman's home vandalized (see link below) When Laurie Coleman, wife of U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, hauled her trash to the alley at 7:30 Wednesday morning, a chilling sight greeted her. Sprayed in black on the wooden siding of the garage behind the couple's St. Paul home, in letters nearly a foot high: "U R A CRIMINAL RESIGN OR ELSE! PSALM 2" On the alley side, "SCUM" was scrawled across both garage stall doors and a wooden partition in between. The Colemans weren't alone. Vandals struck the garages and homes of five other Minnesota members of Congress late Tuesday...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. lawmaker apologized on Tuesday to U.S. Marines under investigation in the deaths of two dozen Iraqi civilians in Haditha in a statement his office said spared him from a libel lawsuit. Minnesota Republican Rep. John Kline, a retired Marine Corps colonel, issued a three-paragraph statement under a deal with lawyers for Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, one of the Marines under investigation. Wuterich's lawyers filed a libel lawsuit against another congressman, Democratic Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, on August 2 following his comments on the case.

WASHINGTON - Rep. John Kline demanded and got an apology Monday from his Democratic rival, Coleen Rowley, for a doctored picture on her campaign website depicting him as Colonel Klink, a bumbling Nazi prison camp commandant in an old TV comedy series.-snip-Rather, she said she focused instead on the message that Kline, a retired Marine Corps colonel, was "incompetent" like Klink, a Nazi colonel easily fooled by...

WASHINGTON - Coleen Rowley is considering a race for Congress in Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District, the former FBI whistle-blower told the Associated Press Monday. Rowley, 50, would run as a Democrat in the seat currently held by GOP Rep. John Kline. Kline's 2004 opponent, Teresa Daly, said she has not made a decision on whether to run again. Rowley, who retired from the FBI last year, said she's spoken to people to get their input, both inside and outside of politics, but has been put off by some suggestions that she get a "makeover." "I've butted heads with a few...

WASHINGTON, DC— Rep. John Kline (R-MN) issued the following statement regarding the President’s service to veterans: "Veterans know better than to trust a politician who votes to send our troops to war and then votes against funds to equip them with essential supplies like body armor. John Kerry's political attacks are misleading Americans about the President's strong and steady record of delivering on behalf of those who have laid their lives on the line to keep our nation safe. "While Kerry talks, President Bush takes action. VA funding has increased by over 40 percent since President Bush took office, enabling...

WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Rep. John Kline (R-MN) issued the following statement regarding John Kerry's impending visit to Minnesota: "John Kerry may bring his rhetoric to our state on Monday, but he cannot hide from his voting record. John Kerry is out of step on every issue important to Minnesotans. "After a career in the Marine Corps, I know the importance of supporting our troops in the field. Senator Kerry voted for the war in Iraq but voted against the $87 billion supplemental to provide our troops with armor, the equipment needed to win and proper funding. Sen. Kerry voted...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 — With six weeks to go, Republicans appear to hold a slight edge in this year's fight for control of the House, according to interviews with politicians and analysts around the country and examinations of local polls. Republicans have about 10 more seats safely in their hands than the Democrats do. So even if they won fewer than half of the approximately 40 races that are truly competitive, they could still keep control of the House. That unusually small number of competitive districts means that the Democrats have fewer opportunities to achieve the net gain of seven...