Free Republic

The conventional wisdom—repeated by President Trump—is that the right-wing House Freedom Caucus is singlehandedly blocking Republican attempts to repeal and replace Obamacare. In fact, Freedom Caucus members have been reaching out to the larger bloc of “no” votes—GOP moderates—to find a path forward. Moderates are rebuffing them. Here’s why. Moderates hang up on hard-liners As I discussed last week, the contours of a deal exist that could satisfy the concerns of both the House Freedom Caucus and GOP pragmatists. They involve replacing the AHCA’s flat tax credit with a means-tested one that focuses on offering assistance to the working poor,...

Within hours after President Barack Obama turned down Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's request to meet on the sidelines of a United Nations General Assembly gathering in New York, White House officials were working on damage control for Obama's re-election campaign. By late Tuesday, the White House made sure media outlets were fully informed the two leaders had spent “an hour-long phone call” discussing the Iranian nuclear threat. The call, framed as “part of their ongoing consultations,” nevertheless was unplanned and clearly was a response to the instant coverage of Obama's rejection of Israel's “greatest ally.” It did nothing to hide...

The Obama administration lived up to its legal obligations today by withholding the first payment of U.S. funds to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) since it voted to recognize “Palestine” as a member state. The State Department​ said a scheduled $60 million payment would not be in the mail to the world body and warned that the same treatment would be given to any other UN agency that pulls the same trick. But Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland also said the U.S. would maintain its membership in the organization and continue to participate despite the group’s decision to...

Rio Win 2016 Games as IOC Rebuff Obama By REUTERS October 2, 2009 COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Rio de Janeiro will stage the first Olympics in South America in 2016, the International Olympic Committee decided on Friday, delivering a stunning rebuff to U.S. President Barack Obama and favorites Chicago. IOC President Jacques Rogge announced the decision to give the Games to Rio after three rounds of voting which produced a landslide victory for the Brazilians in a final showdown with Madrid. Chicago, despite a speech to the IOC by President Obama, who had put his credibility on the line by flying...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - The White House said Friday that Saudi Arabia's leaders are making clear they see no reason to increase oil production until customers demand it. President Bush was in the oil-rich country to appeal to King Abdullah for greater production to help halt rising gas prices in the United States. But his national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, said Saudi officials stuck to their position that they already are meeting demand.

BOISE, Idaho - Eight Western states on Thursday rejected a company's plan to ship tons of radioactive waste from Italy for disposal in Utah, saying importing foreign loads would violate the group's rules. EnergySolutions Inc. is applying for a federal license to import 20,000 tons of waste from four Italian nuclear reactors, with a portion of it to be buried at its private disposal site in Clive, Utah. But members of the Northwest Interstate Compact on Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management said their rules would need to be changed to allow roughly five or six rail cars of waste a year...

WASHINGTON (AP) - From the buttoned-down confines of a Senate hearing room to a boisterous outdoor rally nearby, Democrats took on President Bush and his Social Security proposals with gusto on Tuesday and rebuffed pleas for bipartisanship from frustrated Republicans. "If he's going out to push for privatization, let's help him pack," Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said to cheers from a sun-splashed crowd on the lawn across the street from the Capitol. He was ridiculing Bush's heavily publicized 60-day tour to build support for his proposals. "Personal accounts unravels the Social Security safety net in a way that makes...