Free Republic

The slow pace of confirming Trump administration nominees shows no signs of abating at the Pentagon as mid-October rolls around and 70 percent of its top posts remain unfilled. Just 17 of the 57 Pentagon positions that require Senate confirmation have been filled by President Trump's appointees. That figure has barely budged in two months, leaving the military without a spectrum of leaders who can put the administration's stamp on policy. "I think we should be very concerned and informal reports I get from the Pentagon suggest that this is a problem, that this is not just like business as...

Have the Republicans encamped around our president and supported him? The answer is an emphatic no. Not only have Republicans not rallied around Republican President Donald Trump, but the abysmal cabal of feckless, craven infidels continue to do their collective best to undermine President Trump at every turn. They are worse than the vilest Democrats. We expect liberal progressive Democrats to behave as they do, and we expect Republicans to represent the best interest of America and her citizens – instead they embody the worst character traits of Democrats.

Many Donald Trump supporters think he is a slam dunk to beat Hillary Clinton in the general election. The candidate himself certainly takes this view. But Trump's analysis of current public polls is preposterous. In the RealClearPolitics.com average of recent polls, Trump trails Clinton by 6 points, 47 to 41 percent. Ted Cruz, in contrast, leads Clinton 46 to 45 percent. Ex-candidate Marco Rubio and splinter candidate John Kasich have been running even better. All at least equal the 46 percent that is the lowest percentage won by either party's nominee this century. Against each of them Clinton falls short...

Former House Speaker John Boehner Wednesday endorsed current House Speaker Paul Ryan to be the Republican presidential nominee. At the Republican convention, “anybody can be nominated,” Boehner said at a conference in Boca Raton, Fla. “If we don’t have a nominee who can win on the first ballot, I’m for none of the above,” Boehner said. "They all had a chance to win. None of them won. So I’m for none of the above. I’m for Paul Ryan to be our nominee.” Over the last few months, Boehner has privately said that he thought Ryan would be a good candidate...

NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland — Perhaps in fear that he didn’t have enough backers willing to show up on their own, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s campaign organized to bus supporters to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) to cheer during his appearance on stage and vote for him in the straw poll. The New York Times’ Jonathan Martin writes that Bush brought people in from Washington, D.C.: “Mr. Bush’s supporters organized caravans of his Washington backers to attend his speech, and they cheered whenever anyone else booed,” Martin wrote. Those same bused in cheerers also will likely be expected by Bush’s...

"...Take note: Instead of working to get out the vote, educate voters, and advance Republican and conservative principles in key states, and fire up the base, the establishment has already thrown in the towel. They are trying to shape a narrative about why their candidates lost instead of making sure their candidates win. Their narrative is that tea partiers are… what were those words you used, David? Oh yes. Tea partiers are naïve, sophomoric, and stupid, and this trifecta of character flaws will cause us to behave like petulant children."

A lot of people are asking for this list so I am going to publish it courtesy of CNS News. Please be advised that I am also putting up some links to what I feel is a better list. It has the same names but if you really want to get to the bottom of the story you will find patterns that were obviously politically based. For instance, we have all likely heard about the money for the dam in Kentucky but what did Nebraska get out of this? Nebraska has 2 senators and 3 representatives who are ALL...

Regulation: From lost jobs to fewer hours to premium hikes that would make a loan shark drool, Barack Obama's home state is a case study in why the first rule in health care reform, as in medicine, should be to do no harm. The president and his cohorts in the media have long accused Republicans of being out of touch with ordinary people. Remember the concocted story about President Bush the elder being so out of touch he was unfamiliar with supermarket bar-code scanners? But it's President Obama who's out of touch with ordinary people and the damage his Affordable...

Earlier today, the United States Senate voted to fund Obamacare. There were 25 Republicans who betrayed their principles and voted for cloture, giving Democrats the power to implement this terrible law. This is a disappointing loss, but the bill now goes back to the House where Republicans must hold their ground and refuse to fund Obamacare. Here are the 25 Senate Republicans who voted to allow Harry Reid (D-NV) and the Democrats to fund Obamacare today: Alexander, Lamar (R-TN) Ayotte, Kelly (R-NH) Barrasso, John (R-WY) Blunt, Roy (R-MO) Boozman, John (R-AR) Burr, Richard (R-NC) Chambliss, Saxby (R-GA) Chiesa, Jeff (R-NJ)...

Republican leaders in Washington, including Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), and Senators McCain (R-AZ), Graham (R-SC), and Corker (R-TN), are supporting President Obama's call for an American attack on Syria, but Tea Party groups around the country are united in their opposition to such military action. Tea Party activists appear to be virtually unanimous in their support for the position taken by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), who said on Tuesday the United States "should not serve as Al-Qaeda's Air Force."

U.S. President Barack Obama won the backing of two top Republicans in Congress in his call for limited U.S strikes on Syria to punish President Bashar al-Assad for his suspected use of chemical weapons against civilians.

The biggest donors in the Republican Party are financing a new group to recruit seasoned candidates and protect Senate incumbents from challenges by far-right conservatives and Tea Party enthusiasts who Republican leaders worry could complicate the party’s efforts to win control of the Senate. The group, the Conservative Victory Project, is intended to counter other organizations that have helped defeat establishment Republican candidates over the last two election cycles. It is the most robust attempt yet by Republicans to impose a new sense of discipline on the party, particularly in primary races. “There is a broad concern about having blown...

Prominent Republicans are launching a new super PAC they hope will help begin repairing the political damage left by years of anti-illegal-immigrant rhetoric that has dominated GOP primaries and alienated crucial Hispanic voters. The organization, to be called Republicans for Immigration Reform, aims to undermine what organizers call the “extremists” who have pushed party nominees to stake out far-right positions such as opposing a pathway to legalization for millions of illegal workers, students and children. -snip- Spies said the new PAC will most likely favor whatever immigration plans are backed by House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and Sen. Marco...

The Republican-led House Rules Committee late Monday approved a rule for a massive Hurricane Sandy relief package that shuts out most GOP proposals to pare back the size of the bill. The main bill provides $17 billion in relief, and an amendment made in order would add another $33.7 billion, for a total of $50.7 billion. Late last week, Republicans offered amendments that would trim the bill significantly, but few of those were made "in order" by the Rules Committee on Monday. For example, Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) proposed amendments that would have slashed $22 billion from the total package,...

Former CIA officer predicted Obama administration’s calamity, deception in LibyaBy: Christopher Collins October 28, 2012 **SNIP** Clizbe pointed out, ”Obama and his clique love covert operations. They've demonstrated that in the Global War on Terror (or “overseas contingency operations building bridges to Islamic extremists”). Instead of actually pursuing the war in Afghanistan with the tools in place—soldiers and Marines—they prefer Predator strikes in the hinterlands of Pakistan. The number of these covert action killings has soared from 2009 to 2011—with estimates of 5 dead in 2009 under Bush growing to several hundred dead in 2010 under Obama.” Clizbe stated, “No...

All, What is the real status of the military vote? I see ballots destroyed in a crash, I hear nothing from Boehner, I hear a few rumblings from Graham and McCain, but the biggest stink raised was from Josh Mandell in Ohio. Does anyone know any facts or the real latest of military voting (I guess I mean overseas)? Why is Boehner silent? Makes me believe he'd be fine with 0bummer winning.

Friday afternoon, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said that he tends to agree with Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio’s stance on immigration policy. In response to President Barack Obama’s changed position on the issue — and decision to selectively enforce illegal immigration law — Rubio said it’s a “short-term answer to a long-term problem.” “I believe the status of young people who come here through no fault of their own is an important matter to be considered and should be solved on a long-term basis, so they know what their future would be in this country,” Romney said in...

Have you ever heard of the "L" Prize? The Department of Energy's (DOE) "L" Prize challenged the lighting industry to develop high performance, energy-saving replacements for conventional light bulbs that will save American consumers and businesses money. Initiated in 2008 during the George W. Bush administration, DOE's first "L" Prize category was the 60-watt bulb because it is one of the most widely used types of light bulbs by consumers. The "L" Prize was meant to hasten manufacturers' production of more efficient light bulbs in order to ease the transition away from inefficient incandescent light bulbs to more efficient Compact...

There are three "keystone deductions" in the IRS code that matter more than all others to Americans who itemize deductions. They are keystone deductions because they help the middle and upper middle class and they promote extraordinarily important social policies which have long been at the center of the traditional values held by most Americans. The first is the deduction for contributions to qualified charities, such as hospitals, high schools and colleges, charities serving everyone from children to the homless to the old and infirm, and of course churches of every denomination. The second keystone deduction allows homeowners with mortgages...

Republicans have agreed to $150 bln-$200 bln in increased tax revenues in budget talks: Senator Kyl