Free Republic

The Threat of Cheap Denham: Don’t be fooled by press accounts that downplay the significance of Rep. Jeff Denham’s attempt to add something called the ENLIST Act to the defense authorization (NDAA) bill. It’s a significant push for a substantial immigration amnesty, and it has a good chance of succeeding. Opponents of an “Amnesty First” approach to immigration should be worried. Here’s why: – On the surface, it looks like Denham’s amendment would give amnesty only to an almost comically appealing group of illegal immigrants: “DREAMers” who were brought to this country when they were young and who also serve...

Democrats are holding out hope that their discharge petition on a comprehensive immigration overhaul bill can still work — or at least be used as election-year ammo. House Democrats held a conference call Tuesday to announce their intention to distribute a memo in the districts of 30 House Republicans who have signaled support for an immigration overhaul previously. Democrats are calling on these Republicans, and others, to “put their pen where their mouth is,” as Colorado Democrat Jared Polis put it, and sign the discharge petition for HR 15, the companion bill to the Senate-passed immigration bill. The discharge petition...

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee and arguably the leading intellectual force against amnesty in Congress, is coming out hard against a proposal backed by Majority Leader Eric Cantor to grant amnesty to illegal alien DREAMers who enlist in the military. “We are now in a period of very large troop reductions. The last thing this nation should be doing is to provide those few slots to persons who illegally entered the United States or who overstayed their visas while denying young Americans the ability to serve their country,” Sessions said in a written...

"One private poll I was shown (now however more than a week old), had the Nebraska Senate race between former state treasurer Shane Osborn and Midland University president Ben Sasse even, with the other candidates far behind. Osborn, having previously been elected statewide, began the race with a huge name ID advantage. The fact that Sasse has caught him suggests Sasse has the momentum and is now the favorite (and I gather that subsequent polling shows him pulling ahead). Osborn's campaign has, as a result, unleashed a wave of negative phone calls (of dubious veracity) about Sasse. These could slow...

The possibility that opponents of Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) will coalesce around a single challenger in the June Republican U.S. Senate primary in South Carolina took an interesting turn on Monday when an influential Tea Party leader in the state endorsed attorney Bill Connor, who has lagged in both the polls and fundraising. In his endorsement Monday, Joe Dugan, founder of the Myrtle Beach Tea Party and executive producer of the South Carolina Tea Party Coalition Convention, said "I have known Bill [Connor] for more than five years and believe he will never sacrifice principle over politics because those principles...

A new Citizens United Political Victory Fund poll shows that Republican Arizona voters have had it with Sen. John McCain, even though the senator has signaled his intentions to run for a sixth term in 2016. According to the poll, 64.2 percent of likely GOP primary voters said that they are ready for someone new to take the job and only 29.3 percent signaled a willingness to re-elect McCain. The poll also shows that McCain loses to other potential Arizona Repubican candidates in a primary. McCain loses to Gov. Jan Brewer 47.7 percent to 29 percent and to Rep. Matt...

House Speaker Thom Tillis is planning to skip a major U.S. Senate debate ahead of the Republican primary May 6. WRAL is hosting a televised candidate debate April 23, one of only three scheduled in the high-profile race to challenge Democrat Kay Hagan. It will feature other leading contenders, Greg Brannon, Mark Harris and Heather Grant. A Tillis campaign spokesman confirmed the candidate would not attend. “We were unable to make the WRAL debate work due to scheduling conflicts, but we are looking forward to participating in two other debates that we have committed to,” said Jordan Shaw. The campaign...

CARY -- Greg Brannon’s Monday started with two pelvic surgeries at WakeMed and ended at a tea party event in Moore County for his U.S Senate campaign. In between, the 53-year-old obstetrician saw 46 patients at his Cary office. Brannon has no political experience. He recently lost a civil lawsuit. And he’s facing seven other candidates, including state House Speaker Thom Tillis, whose supporters have deep pockets, in the Republican primary. But he thinks he has the managerial experience and legal knowledge needed to win the primary and ultimately unseat incumbent Democrat Kay Hagan. He’s run his OB/GYN practice for...

ARE HISPANICS NATURAL DEMOCRATS OR REPUBLICANS? OR SHOULD WE ASK, ARE HISPANICS MORE LIBERAL OR CONSERVATIVE? I report, you decide.. Broadly speaking, the Hispanic society, regardless of nationality; have strong family values, deeply held religious beliefs, a rigorous work ethic,strong community commitment,fun loving,traditionalist by culture,socially charitable,strong gender identities.. In the most generous interpretation, which political identity better fits the natural characteristics of the Hispanic community? I believe if you ask the average Hispanic, legal or illegally in our country, the following questions, the answers would be astonishingly different than the average American would attribute to the media's interpretation of...

The top Democrat who is leading the effort to help the party elect more members to Congress said he cares more about amnesty than the midterm elections. Appearing on CNN's State of the Union with Candy Crowley on Sunday, Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY), the head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said the midterm elections are taking a backseat to the amnesty legislation Democrats and establishment Republicans desperately want. "We'd rather pass an immigration bill than worry about the election. We have got 190 Democrats ready to vote on a comprehensive immigration bill today," Israel said while also accusing Republicans...

It increasingly looks as if the Republicans will regain control of Congress this fall, with the GOP narrowly winning back a majority in the Senate and the House GOP either retaining or slightly building on its majority. But will the two top Republican leaders – House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell -- be around to enjoy the spoils of victory? Both Boehner of Ohio and McConnell of Kentucky are crafty and highly resilient veterans who would be difficult for their opponents to bring down even under the best of circumstances. Yet McConnell is facing arguably one...

In an interesting interview [link at URL] to the New York Review of Books, George Soros shared his ideas on many topics including Europe, Russia and the Ukranian crisis. He also presented his new book [link at URL] The tragedy of the European Union: Disintegration or Revival? Whether one agrees or disagrees with Soro's interpretations and arguments, it is hard to deny that the interview is extremely insightful and gives a lot of food for thought. I offer a discussion of the part of the interview devoted to Ukraine. George Soros emphasized the necessity of a large-scale technical and financial...

The top Democrat who is leading the effort to help the party elect more members to Congress said he cares more about amnesty than the midterm elections. Appearing on CNN's State of the Union with Candy Crowley on Sunday, Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY), the head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said the midterm elections are taking a backseat to the amnesty legislation Democrats and establishment Republicans desperately want. "We'd rather pass an immigration bill than worry about the election. We have got 190 Democrats ready to vote on a comprehensive immigration bill today," Israel said while also accusing Republicans...

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear had ten days to veto the General Assembly’s agreement to defund ObamaCare in Kentucky and start a huge fight for today and tomorrow, but he didn’t do it. Now, he must accept reality and start taking down the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange. At the top of page Page 124 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act it states “No federal funds for continued operations … In establishing an Exchange under this section, the state shall ensure that such Exchange is self-sustaining beginning on January 1, 2015, including allowing the Exchange to charge assessments or user...

Though he’s trailing the Senate minority leader by more than 30 points, Matt Bevin's influx of cash could force McConnell to spend vital funds to defend himself Matt Bevin, the Tea Party candidate challenging Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell in Kentucky, announced Monday that he raised $1.12 million from 30,000 donors in the first quarter of 2014. “As Kentuckians learn the truth about Sen. McConnell’s record of repeatedly caving to President Obama and his long history of votes for bailouts, amnesty, and funding for Obamacare, they have rallied to our campaign,” Bevin, a businessman and first time candidate, said in...

Yep. That’s what he told The Cumberland County Republican Women’s Club on Saturday. Okay, Mr. Big Boy Pants™, then why are YOU running? I disagree with his assertion there. I think there are BIG differences between Tillis and the rest of the field. He’s the only candidate in the field who appears to be using his day job to shake down people for campaign contributions. (It’s illegal to accept campaign contributions to your legislative campaign fund from people with business before the state while the legislature is in session. It’s NOT illegal to accept them for your US Senate race...

Olympia Snowe made her case for a return to governing from the “sensible center,” and she did it with conviction. But while the audience was both loud and supportive at a women’s summit in Charlotte, no one – and that includes the former Republican U.S. senator from Maine — thought it would be easy. Snowe was considered moderate in her approach and her politics when she decided not to run for a fourth term in the Senate in 2012. How bad had it gotten? Republicans and Democrats honored her at separate celebrations, a departure from the past. “It’s not even...

I believe Senators should represent the people who elected them. They should put your needs first as opposed to the needs of government bureaucrats, lobbyists or Washington, D.C. special interests. Unfortunately, South Carolinians have gotten the short end of that stick when it comes to Senator Lindsey Graham. Last year the Center for Public Integrity reported that Graham ranked second in the entire U.S. Congress when it came to receiving political contributions bundled by lobbyists. And last month we learned how willing Graham is to trade political favors for campaign cash when he introduced an online gaming ban for Republican...

Monica Wehby is a pediatric brain surgeon running for the Republican Senate nomination in Oregon. She has never sought elected office before. But she is off to a well-financed and highly touted start. The reason: She has the support of GOP political operatives in Washington as the Republican with the best chance of unseating Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley. Jason Conger is an Oregon legislator who is also seeking to win the Republican primary on May 20. He has won two state elections, ousting an entrenched Democrat in his first race. Mr. Conger doesn't have the backing of Republican strategists in...

As the old saying goes, the only poll that matters is the one where votes are cast. So it makes sense to pay close attention to special elections leading up to November, even for local offices the national; media ignore. Eagle-eyed John Fund, writing in the National Review, calls our attention to two special elections that should be causing nightmares for Democrats. Arlington, Va., is a classic wealthy ObamaTown, filled with government workers and limousine liberals. Mitt Romney won only 29 percent of the vote in 2012.  But last Tuesday, Democrats lost their first election for the five-member Arlington County...