Free Republic

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) is planning to offer an amendment to slash as much funding to the Department of Justice as would have been used to defend the Defense of Marriage Act. "What I intend to do, and there are other solutions that are offered, and I believe that the Speaker is focused on this, as well ... is to offer an amendment on an appropriations bill that would cut the funding to the Department of Justice in an amount yet to be

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- It was just 10 hours after John Kriesel had learned he won Minnesota House Seat 57A; he stood in front of a barrage of cameras and reporters in room 125 of the State Capitol. "Well, compromise is what keeps me from having to sleep on the couch every night," the newly elected Republican from Cottage Grove said when asked about the state's budget. And that was the beginning of his political career. "Whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, he makes us a better body," House Minority leader Kurt Zellers of Maple Grove remarked.

Republican Rep. Joseph Cao -- in an act of either selfless concern or political expediency -- says he "must" warn President Obama that the Democratic candidate he's endorsed in the race has a history of ethical problems. The Louisiana congressman is smarting after Obama used his first general election ad to endorse Cao's opponent, Democrat Cedric Richmond. According to Cao's campaign, he had hoped Obama would endorse him considering all he did for Democrats -- like being the only Republican to cast a floor vote for the health care overhaul.

Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), the Dean of the House of Representatives for being the longest serving member of the body (he was first elected in 1955, succeeding his father, Rep. John Dingell, Sr.), made an amazing admission during a live telephone interview with Detroit WJR News/Talk 760 radio talk show host Paul W. Smith on Smith's show Monday morning, March 22, 2010. The night before, Dingell had been a featured speaker at the Democrat Congressional leadership victory press conference after Obamacare passed the House. In response to a question posed by Smith, Dingell said: Let me remind you this [Americans...

Rickkleinblogpic ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: The decision by Rep. Joseph Cao, R-La., to vote for the Democrats’ health care bill last night would put him directly in the Republican Party’s firing line, under the standard enunciated by RNC Chairman Michael Steele last week. On ABCNews.com’s “Top Line” last week, Steele said of Republicans who support President Obama on health care or the stimulus bill: “So candidates who live in moderate to slightly liberal districts have got to walk a little bit carefully here, because you do not want to put yourself in a position where you’re crossing that line...

A House committee held an important hearing Thursday morning on the issue of "libel tourism." That's the practice of bringing libel suits against American authors in other nations, particularly the United Kingdom, where First Amendment protections do not apply and where the burden of proof is placed on the defendant rather than on the plaintiff. Saudi Arabian businessman Khalid bin Mahfouz has brought several such lawsuits, winning a default judgment against American researcher Rachel Ehrenfeld for her book Funding Evil: How Terrorism Is Financed and How to Stop It, and forcing a Cambridge University Press to destroy copies of the...

I received a brochure with a young woman on the cover and the statement, “When victims of sexual assault had no place to turn … state Rep. Brent Hassert listened and took action.” This was to inform me that he voted for legislation requiring hospitals to provide information about emergency contraception for sexual assault victims, but that is not what I learned. Instead, I learned that Hassert is willing to exploit the victims of rape for political gain, and he apparently thinks that women are stupid enough to believe he’s an advocate for

I haven't enjoyed a chris mathews interview since Zell Miller. I must say that this is pretty good and mathews keeps the heat on. State Senator kirk watson (d) from Texas gets asked to list Obama's accomplishments. Like me, he is unable to do so. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGeu_4Ekx-o

There are RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) and then there are RINOs who call themselves Republicans for Environmental Protection. Founded in 1995, REP seeks to save the planet through decidedly un-Republican, big-government socialism. It also annually hands out its "Greenest Republican in Congress" award. This year's co-winner is Rep. Christopher Shays, RINO-4th District, who by sheer coincidence is on REP's "Honorary Board of Distinguished Republicans," along with co-winner Sen. Susan Collins, RINO-Maine. On REP's 0-100 scorecard, Rep. Shays scored 103 for promoting policies that are responsible for today's record energy prices and much more. Out of the other side of...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Bridgett Luther Thompson to head the state Department of Conservation Friday. Thompson, 50, was previously a regional development director for Hands on Bay Area, which matches its network of volunteers to local charities. Prior to that, she was national development director for Republicans for Environmental Protection. "Bridgett shares my dedication to protecting our environment and ensuring our natural resources are wisely conserved," Schwarzenegger said in a statement. Thompson, a member of both the Sierra Club and the Wilderness Society, has also served as program director for the Trust for Public Land in Charlotte,...

Prior to Tuesday's vote, Republicans for Environmental Protection announced its slate of endorsed candidates for U.S. Congress. “Each of these candidates is a conservation-minded Republican dedicated to responsible environmental stewardship,” said REP President Martha Marks. “While our party as a whole is not where it should be when it comes to environmental stewardship, electing this slate of Republican candidates would represent a giant stride toward changing that.” Thought it might be interesting to see how they did in the election. Did being green garner them any turn-out-the-vote support?Here’s how things shaped up. Incumbents are denoted with an asterisk. Info in [...

the Phase II report says: “The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), which is leading the exploitation effort of documents (DocEx) uncovered in Iraq, told Committee staff that 120 million plus pages of documents that were recovered in Iraq have received an initial review for intelligence information. As of January 2006, 34 million pages have been translated and summarized to some extent and are available to analysts in an Intelligence Community database.” pg 62/400 And while that might mislead people into thinking that the assessments made are full and complete, it isn’t until later in the report that a little caveat is...

Many of the quasi-conclusions are based largely on claims of innocence from Saddam Hussein, “a top official in Saddam’s government, Abid Hamid Mahmoud al-Kattab al-Tikriti,” Tariq Aziz and Faruq Hijazi. These are 4/7 of the primary players in any involvement or potential involvement between Saddam’s regime and al Qaeda. The other 3 primary players are Mohammed al-Douri (He is Saddam’s VP/muscle man/Thug-In-Charge who remains at large. He is also suspected of being the primary source for most of a large portion of the insurgency and most reports place him as directing operations from inside Syria). The last 2 primary players...

As soldiers and Marines by the hundreds of thousands return home from Iraq they are telling their stories. They are telling family and friends of what they saw and of who they fought. They are writing books that tell of their experiences. Amazon.com is full of them. They have fought and lived through a dramatic and on-going historical event. To them it is real-not politics and so they tell the truth. They describe an invasion and an occupation where Islamic extremists and Iraqi thugs are the enemy. They tell tales of a fight against terrorists; people who rammed cars filled...

How many times have we heard members of the media say, “We know now that there were no ties between Saddam and Al Qaeda”? Typically, people make this claim based on any combination of four sources: President Bush’s 9/17/03 statement, Sec. Powell’s 1/8/04 statement, the 9/11 Commission’s Final Report of 7/22/04 or the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s (SSCI) report on Pre-war Iraq intelligence reports: 7/7/04. Yet, in each of these cases, the very quotations that opponents of the war in Iraq point towards as definitive claims of “no ties” are only half quotes. When they refer to President Bush’s...

The documents seized in the FBI raid on the offices of Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) remain unread by Justice Department investigators, pending a federal Appeals Court ruling scheduled for August 27. [snip] But we already know a bit about the charges and some of the alleged partners of Congressman Jefferson. Two people have pleaded guilty to bribing him.

The documents seized in the FBI raid on the offices of Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) remain unread by Justice Department investigators, pending a federal Appeals Court ruling scheduled for August 27. Jefferson is anxious to overturn the ruling of federal Judge Hogan of the Washington, DC federal District Court, who allowed the raid. One can only surmise that the seized documents contain material even more embarrassing than the discovery of $90,000 in cash in Jefferson’s freezer. But we already know a bit about the charges and some of the alleged partners of Congressman Jefferson. Two people have pleaded guilty to...

WASHINGTON — Police labor officials, angry over a federal grand jury's refusal to indict Rep. Cynthia McKinney for assaulting a police officer, said Monday they want the House ethics committee to review her conduct. And they said the grand jury's decision last week sent the message that "it's okay to hit a police officer." "We hope that members of Congress will review her actions in light of their rules within their own ethics committee," Andrew Maybo, chairman of the U.S. Capitol Police Labor Committee, told reporters Monday at a news conference in Washington.

Rep. accused of trying to bribe NigerianBy STEPHEN MANNING, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 28 minutes ago GREENBELT, Md. - Rep. William Jefferson called the package he allegedly delivered at midnight to the suburban Maryland home of Nigeria's vice president "African art." Authorities say the "art" was meant to be cash — lots of it. Court documents filed in the bribery probe of the Louisiana Democrat allege that Jefferson told an FBI informant he took the "art," which authorities believe was code for $100,000 in $100 bills, to the Potomac home of Atiku Abubakar on July 31. The money was...

Aide says Jefferson cooked up schemeAssistant sentenced to 8 years in prison Saturday, May 27, 2006 By Bill Walsh Washington bureau ALEXANDRIA, VA. -- A former aide to U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, said Friday that it was the congressman's idea to solicit bribes to promote a telecommunications deal in West Africa that began as a legitimate business venture. "I've gone over it 10 million times in my head," Brett Pfeffer, 37, said at his sentencing in U.S. District Court. "I don't know why I didn't look him in the eye and say 'No.' " **SNIP** According to court...