Free Republic

THE ETHICS SCANDALS SWIRLING ABOUT Capitol Hill make it all but certain that the 2006 elections will be unusually focused on character. That's a good thing, of course, except that it obscures a different development, one that stands to be equally influential in determining the personality of our national legislature--the rise of the heirloom congressional seat.In the 109th Congress, there are 30 members of the House and Senate whose parents also served in Congress, four sets of siblings, and four wives who succeeded their husbands. There's also a gaggle of congressional offspring back home, quietly positioning themselves for their parents'...

I'll post this tonight to get a thread started on this. August 3 is our primary - and in most parts of the state, this is THE election to determine our reps. --------------------------------------------- Congressional Primary Races DISTRICT 7 - Both Parties This is the open seat for Nick Smith's spot. There are 6 Republicans running and 3 democrats. The Republicans running are RINO Joe Schwarz(most anti-gun candidate for governor in EITHER party in 02, also pro-abort and supported higher taxes), Gene DeRossett, Paul DeWeese, Brad Smith, Clark Bisbee, and Tim Walberg. The Dems running are Douglas Wilson, Sharon Reinier, and...

Poll: Smith makes strides in Michigan's 7th District congressional race DEE-ANN DURBIN Associated Press WASHINGTON - Brad Smith has gained ground in the Republican primary for Michigan's 7th District congressional seat and is even with former state Sen. John "Joe" Schwarz as the Aug. 3 primary approaches, according to a poll released Friday. Smith and Schwarz each had the support of 22 percent of 400 likely GOP voters in the poll by EPIC/MRA of Lansing. Seventeen percent were undecided. The poll questioned voters Monday through Wednesday and had a margin of error of 5 percentage points. State Rep. Clark Bisbee...

Jan. 28, 2004--Earlier today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a non-profit legal watchdog group, sent a letter to President Bush asking that he call upon the White House Counsel to investigate Vice President Cheney's confirmation of leaked classified information in an interview with the Rocky Mountain News on January 9, 2004. Federal law prohibits leaking classified information. Confirming information that has already been leaked is also prohibited. In his Jan. 9th interview, Mr. Cheney referred his interviewer to a story that appeared in The Weekly Standard's November 24, 2003 issue. The story, written by Stephen F. Hayes, discussed...

Right to Life wants to stop Schwarz Abortion rights candidate vies for 7th District By Stacey Range Lansing State Journal Six Republicans are hustling to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Nick Smith, but an early endorsement by the ever-powerful Right to Life of Michigan could stop several anti-abortion candidates in their tracks. The reason: Right to Life wants to block the nomination of former state Sen. Joe Schwarz of Battle Creek, the only abortion rights GOP candidate. "We want to make sure the nomination goes to someone who supports us," said Larry Galmish, director of the Right to Life political action...

MI: Widner drops 7th District congressional race Al Widner, who many Democrats hoped had a good shot at Nick Smith's 7th District congressional seat in south central Michigan, has withdrawn as a candidate, citing difficulties in fundraising. The former school superintendent had been regarded as certain to be the Democratic nominee. According to his press release: "Widner said that the demands of running a full-fledged campaign were overwhelming, and he quickly discovered he had to dedicate most waking hours to fundraising." Widner had told supporters that the 7th District had the highest Democratic vote of any Republican-held congressional seat. (Not...

Mr. Smith Leaves Washington THAT SOMETHING UGLY happened to Rep. Nick Smith (R-Mich.) on the long night of the House Medicare vote last month seems beyond dispute. With his party lacking the votes to muscle the prescription drug bill through, Mr. Smith was subjected to intense -- and quite possibly criminal -- pressure to induce him to abandon his opposition. As Mr. Smith related it the next day, "members and groups" offered financial and political support for his son, Brad, who is running for his father's seat, if only he would vote for the bill. "The first offer was to...

Washington is once again buzzing with charges of bribery. Rep. Nick Smith, (R-Mich.), asserted recently that unnamed individuals offered $100,000 for his son's congressional campaign if the elderly Smith would vote for the Medicare bill backed by President Bush. Smith is retiring, and his son is seeking his seat. Smith now says he was offered "substantial and aggressive campaign support" for his son and not money per se. Nonetheless, some congressional Democrats have called for an investigation of Smith's charges by the House ethics committee. If that investigation starts, where will it end? Big government itself is based on bribery....

Did top Republicans, desperate to adopt a Medicare drug benefit, actually solicit a congressman's support by attempting bribery and blackmail? The Justice Department says it is reviewing this matter, even as the media have moved on. This is serious business, worthy of the close attention of prosecutors, journalists, and citizens alike. The House of Representatives' Medicare deliberations were unprecedented. At 3:00 A.M. on Saturday, November 22, House members were given 15 minutes to vote on the new, 20-year, $2 trillion drug entitlement. Two votes shy of passing the bill, GOP leaders abused House rules and kept the vote open for...

GOP Is Now The "Fraternal Twin" Of Socialist Democrats By Chuck Baldwin Food For Thought From The Chuck Wagon December 16, 2003 The Republican Party's full-court press to enact the biggest expansion of Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" welfare state by passing the recent Medicare reform bill proves that the GOP is the "fraternal twin" (Howard Phillips) of socialist Democrats. In fact, G. W. Bush and his fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill make Bill Clinton look like an economic conservative! Furthermore, Robert Novak was quoted in The Washington Post as saying the arm-twisting of recalcitrant conservatives within the GOP by party...

Rep. Denies Money Was Offered for Votes 1 hour, 4 minutes ago <> WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Nick Smith has backtracked from comments that Republican House members used bribes to try to get votes for a Medicare bill. Smith said some Republican House members threatened to oppose his son's election campaign unless the Republican from Michigan voted for the bill — but did not offer his son any money. The Justice Department said Thursday it would review complaints from political watchdog groups that the leaders tried to bribe Smith, who voted against the bill. Brad Smith is running for the...

Hammering fellow RepublicansRobert Novak November 27, 2003 WASHINGTON -- During 14 years in the Michigan Legislature and 11 years in Congress, Rep. Nick Smith had never experienced anything like it. House Speaker Dennis Hastert and HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson, in the wee hours last Saturday morning, pressed him to vote for the Medicare bill. But Smith refused. Then things got personal. Smith, self term-limited, is leaving Congress. His lawyer son Brad is one of five Republicans seeking to replace him from a GOP district in Michigan's southern tier. On the House floor, Nick Smith was told business interests would...

Before a recent predawn vote on Medicare, fellow Republican lawmakers pleaded with Rep. Nick Smith to change his vote and support the bill. Was it just another case of political arm twisting - or an illegal bribe? The truth may never be known. The exchanges that morning on the floor of the House, when a handful of votes could dictate the fate of the Medicare bill, have put the retiring Michigan congressman in the middle of an avalanche of charges and calls for an investigation. Smith stood firm and voted against the bill, which passed by five votes on Nov....

<p>The Justice Department said Thursday it would review complaints from political watchdog groups that Republican House leaders tried to bribe Rep. Nick Smith, R-Mich., to vote for a Medicare bill.</p> <p>Smith voted against the bill despite what he described as threats against his son, Brad Smith, who is running for the House seat his father is vacating next year.</p>

<p>The Justice Department said Thursday it would review complaints from political watchdog groups that Republican House leaders tried to bribe Rep. Nick Smith, R-Mich., to vote for a Medicare bill.</p> <p>Smith voted against the bill despite what he described as threats against his son, Brad Smith, who is running for the House seat his father is vacating next year.</p>

The U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday it would review a request to investigate claims by a Republican congressman that bribes were offered to win congressional passage last month of the sweeping Medicare prescription drug bill. The congressman, retiring Rep. Nick Smith of Michigan, has declined to say who made the offers he said involved "extensive financial" support for his son's campaign to replace him in the U.S. Congress. Smith stuck to his guns and voted no. The Campaign Legal Center, a public interest group headed by a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, Trevor Potter, requested a Justice...

Arm-Twisting and Vote-Switching on RX Drug Entitlement by David Freddoso Posted Nov 26, 2003 The final vote on the bill to create the largest new entitlement in decades was 220-215, but it was even closer than that for most of Saturday morning. Rep. Mike Pence (R.-Ind.), who spearheaded the conservative opposition to the prescription drug entitlement (H.R. 1) in the House, called his own efforts a "successful failure." Pointing out that the conservative opposition to the bill grew by six votes since June, he compared the stand by 25 principled House conservatives against the bill to the battle of the...

<p>A lively six-candidate Republican primary shapes up for the seat of U.S. Rep. Nick Smith, R-Addison, who does not plan to seek a seventh term next year and is considering a 2006 challenge of Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat.</p> <p>There are some sharp ideological contrasts but no clear front-runner in the field that includes two term-limited state representatives and two candidates who last year unsuccessfully sought other offices.</p>