Free Republic

Welcome to the Modern Progressive Art of Debate--A Political Storm in an Outhouse One of the most regrettable—and perhaps wholly inevitable elements of today’s life in the West is the wretched mission of liberals to eradicate any trace of intellectual disagreement with their convictions. In every conceivable arena, any non-conformist theories against progressive shibboleths—such as the current war over global warming—receive the most disrespectful and wholesale trashing. The emotional tenor is sheer disgust and fury, while those in intellectual opposition are held in the same esteem as a brain-dead fetal piglet. This politicized environment utterly discards courtesy or politeness in...

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, billionaire Michael Bloomberg and Citigroup exec Carlos Gutierrez gave immigration reform firepower last year when they lent their money or names to the cause. But roughly two months before Election Day, the three groups the business titans helped launch are all but silent on the campaign trail. None of the three has purchased airtime for ads on immigration reform this fall. Their virtual absence comes as Senate Republican candidates in battleground states are launching attack ads against Democrats accusing them of supporting “amnesty,” leaving pro-immigration reform candidates even more vulnerable and immigration reform even less likely...

(VIDEO's at Site:) When he ran for president, Presidential candidate Sen. Obama promised to roll back President George W. Bush’s use of executive power: I taught constitutional law for ten years. I take the constitution very seriously. The biggest problem that we’re facing right now has to do with George Bush trying to bring more and more power into the executive branch and not go through Congress at all, and that’s what I intend to reverse when I’m president of the United States of America. (Sen. Obama at a Townhall in Lancaster, PA, March 31, 2008) Obama ran for president...

It is no surprise that young people are enamored of communism. Their teachers have been indoctrinating them for years into the utopia of “social justice,” “environmental justice,” the “evil” middle class, and the spectacular equality for all as envisioned by Marx, Engels, and Lenin. Communism is “cool” in the land where wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt is a hypocritical political statement made while enjoying capitalist amenities. But we expect them to mature eventually and give up the absurdity that communism has not succeeded because the wrong people were in charge.

Growing up, I was – as I assume you were – inundated with lists of “the benefits of citizenship.” The list was long and capped, naturally, by the fact the United States was the best, strongest, freest nation on the planet. Being an American was a source of pride. But is it still? Do the benefits of citizenship still outweigh the alternative? As progressives cheer the dissolution of our southern border and, by extension, our sovereignty, it’s worth looking at the benefits of non-citizenship illegal aliens now enjoy and comparing them to the responsibilities of citizenship. Most people don’t like...

"The heartlessness and nativist pandering that have broken America's immigration system must give way to providing proper food, clothing, shelter and medical care to the Central American children streaming into the country," so pronounced the editors of the New York Daily News. Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. echoed the theme in his "Bordering on Heartless" column, noting that Glenn Beck has "come under fierce attack" for his proposal to bring food, water, teddy bears and soccer balls to the children stuck at the border. "It's one more sign," Dionne writes, "of how the crisis at the border has brought...

It took 5 1/2 years, but we’ve finally found a law President Obama is willing to enforce as written. It’s the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, which passed unanimously in both houses of Congress when they were controlled by Democrats and signed by a Republican president, and was meant to protect victims of child sex trafficking. But the intent behind the law isn’t what the president is following; it’s the letter. Seems he’s put his magical pen and phone away for the time being. The New York Times describes it this way, “Originally pushed by a...

The cab driver taking me to the Washington Nationals baseball game on July 4 is from Bangladesh. I ask him how he got here. He said his father "won the immigration lottery" some years back, was admitted under U.S. immigration law and eventually became a citizen, as did his son. He is proud to be an American and said after he dropped me off he was going to a traditional Fourth of July party to celebrate America's independence. Those are the kinds of immigrants America should welcome. My driver -- I will call him "Yusef" (not his real name) says...

Gentlemen,” Herbert Hoover told visiting dignitaries in June of 1930, “you have come six weeks too late.” The Depression, he declared, was over. Sadly, for him and for the country, he wasn’t correct. Still, sometimes you do arrive too late and miss all the action. Take the group of immigration reform activists who crashed Rep. Eric Cantor’s “victory” party in June. “What do we want? Immigration reform! When do we want it? Now!” they chanted. Two problems: Cantor had, like Elvis, already left the building. And because of the primary results, the former House Majority Leader will be leaving Congress...

Top Senate Democrats are sick of waiting for the House to take up comprehensive immigration reform. If Republicans don’t act in July, President Obama will, they warn. After all, he still has a pen and phone, right? Via The Hill: "We're at the end of the line," Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said Thursday during a press briefing in the Capitol. "We're not bluffing by setting a legislative deadline for them to act. "Their first job is to govern," Menendez added, "and in the absence of governing, then you see executive actions." Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) piled on. Noting that...

One might think the websites of various federal agencies tasked with protecting America’s borders would be information resources about how the Obama Administration is handling the now crisis-level situation at the border. Curiously, however, the “newsroom” sections of websites for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Department of Health and Human Services post no information about the Administration’s current policies or plans for dealing with the “surge” of illegal immigrants flooding across our border with Mexico. The reason for this deafening silence is clear to anyone following the Administration’s confusing and frequently contradictory...

Not since a 42-to-1 underdog named Buster Douglas knocked out undefeated heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in 1990 has there been an upset like economics professor Dave Brat defeating House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the Republican primary in Virginia. You couldn't write a script like this for a movie and have it be believable. Congressman Eric Cantor, with all kinds of name recognition, and outspending his opponent by 5 million dollars to $100,000, lost 55 percent to 45 percent against somebody that virtually nobody ever heard of before. Polls, incidentally, had predicted that Cantor would defeat Brat 62 percent to...

Dude, I think we should take this deal. House Republicans must act on immigration. If they falsely believe Obama won't enforce it, then let's have the law take effect in 2017.— Senator Harry Reid (@SenatorReid) May 22, 2014 If Republicans don't trust President Obama to enforce a new immigration law, let's give them a chance to implement it under President Cruz.— Senator Harry Reid (@SenatorReid) May 22, 2014 If that sounds familiar, it’s because Chuck Schumer floated the same idea back in February, minus the trollishly sarcastic reference to President Cruz. It’s a clever way of calling Boehner’s bluff...

...From Democratic Party A new report by the nonpartisan research group Latino Decisions proves that the Obama administration's deportation policies are souring young Latino voters on the Democratic Party. According to the report, the high number of deportations approved by the Obama administration is causing young Latinos to view the Democrats as less welcoming and could potentially turn Latino voters against the Democratic Party. The Obama administration has deported nearly two-million undocumented immigrants, surpassing the rate of deportations under President George W. Bush. Some immigrants who have been deported in recent years have children in the United States, meaning many...

PARIS -- As a chronic immigrant, I'm loath to support immigration policies that might make life difficult for anyone seeking to legitimately integrate into and contribute to an adoptive nation. Nonetheless, as the Obama administration attempts to reform U.S. immigration policies, there needs to be some standard of selection for immigrants. That standard should be nothing more or less than meritocracy. The common argument against meritocracy is the well-worn image of the hard-working illegal immigrant who lives in a dive and toils away in the underground economy to send money to his family back home -- who he hopes will...

Conservatives in the House are making a concerted effort to derail any plans by the GOP leadership to pass immigration reform by the end of the year after Speaker John Boehner mocked them last week for not having the gumption to get it done. -SNIP- It is difficult to plan a specific course of action when the leadership keeps tossing out vague ways to give amnesty to illegal aliens," Brooks told Politico. "When we see a specific plan from the House leadership, then those of us who favor American citizens first will have a better idea of where the leadership...

I wish I knew what was in the water that the Republican leadership is drinking so we can administer a counteragent. Democrats are floundering as more and more people start realizing the true cost of ObamaCare, not to mention the out of control spending of Washington. Across the county, progressive liberal programs are being attacked and rolled back, such as Common Core. Despite the mainstream media constantly shielding Obama and actively participating in his lies, a majority of Americans believe that he lies on important issues. With all these things lining up in the Republicans' favor, you would think they...

Solving the illegal immigration problem should not be hard. No one knows how many foreign nationals are residing illegally in the United States -- estimates range from 11 million to 20 million. But everyone understands that it is an untenable situation that must be addressed. The two extreme positions of the Left and Right probably have little public support -- on the one hand, blanket amnesties and open borders, and on the other, deportation of all foreign nationals who reside here without legal authorization. Polls show that most Americans want something in between. Close the border. Allow entry only to...

In June 2013, a bipartisan group of senators (including presidential hopeful Marco Rubio) passed a comprehensive immigration reform bill that President Obama promised to sign. Since then, Republicans have worked hard to distance themselves from that bill — Rubio stopped talking about it altogether, and Speaker of the House John Boehner says he won't bring it to the House floor. Now many Latinos are so disillusioned that they don't want to vote at all, making Boehner and the gang's gamble all too worth it. The New York Times noted Sunday that "immigrant-rights advocates report mounting disillusionment with both parties among...

Full Title:Passing Comprehensive Immigration Reform is More Important Than Democrats' Success at the Polls in November, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Passing comprehensive immigration reform is more important than Democrats' success at the polls in November, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday. A number of Republicans and other conservative voices have accused Pelosi and the Democrats of using the immigration reform issue as a political crutch, suggesting the Democrats would rather keep the issue alive for campaign purposes than actually pass a bill. But Pelosi on Thursday rejected that notion outright, and she didn't mince words. "I believe,...