Free Republic

John Boehner, the conservative nemesis turned lobbyist ousted from the speakership in 2015 for pushing Obama administration priorities, has reportedly emerged as a “quiet mentor” to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).Boehner — “an establishment Republican who was speaker a decade ago chronologically, but an eon ago in the GOP’s radical evolution — has become a surprising tutor” to Johnson, Axios reported Monday. The report comes days after Boehner headlined a fundraiser in his native Ohio on May 30 for Johnson’s PAC. In reporting on the upcoming fundraiser, Punchbowl News noted, “If you’ve listened to Speaker Mike Johnson recently, there is some...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) continued his efforts to expand the GOP’s reach ahead of 2016 on Friday, appearing for an interview on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.”Maher, an outspoken anti-theist and liberal, said that he admires Paul for being “the one Republican who is willing to go to places Republicans don’t usually speak.” Throughout the interview, Paul and Maher were largely in agreement on issues such as the War on Drugs, reinstating voting rights for nonviolent felons, how the U.S. should go about defeating the Islamic State and even, to some extent, climate change. (VIDEO-AT-LINK)“I am available to the...

There is just no way to describe this without a smirk and a chuckle. When you read how some of New York’s Russian immigrants (who know Soviet-style Communism all-too-well) are aligning with Republicans—because they view Democrats’ policies to be too similar to the failed policies of their homeland—there is just something richly ironic there. However, when you read how their never-met-a-Marxist-she-didn’t-love Democrat legislator reacts to be having her party compared to Soviet Russia, now that is just over-the-top funny: Businessman Arkadiy Fridman said that the newly formed Citizens Magazine Business Club, a confederation of more than 50 Russian-owned businesses here...

SEATTLE – Sen. Maria Cantwell says tabloid television talk show host Jerry Springer would make a fine senator for Ohio. "I think people will be surprised by his intellect," the Washington state Democrat told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. "There's much more to him than his TV show. He's an incredibly smart person." Springer, 59 and once mayor of Cincinnati, filed papers on Monday to run for the U.S. Senate. He will not decide whether to actually run for the Democratic nomination until later this month, said Mike Ford, his political adviser.Cantwell, Washington state's junior senator, was an unpaid volunteer for Springer's...