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White House spokeswoman Dana Perino defended President Bush on Thursday from attacks leveled by his party's presidential candidate, John McCain. In an interview with the Washington Times, McCain attacked Bush and fellow Republicans on a variety of policies the Arizona senator said he would have handled differently. “We just let things get completely out of hand,” McCain said. Asked about the comments during the daily press briefing, Perino said, “the president stands by his policies. The president believes that Republican Congresses got a lot more done than the current Democrat-led Congress. He supports John McCain, and he still believes that...

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration came out strongly against a bipartisan effort by Sens. Charles Grassley and Barack Obama to make the immigration bill easier on employers. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told senators in a letter late Tuesday that the amendment, which makes a new program to stop businesses from hiring illegal workers less burdensome, "would be a serious step backwards in our enforcement effort." The amendment sponsored by Grassley, R-Iowa, Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Obama, D-Ill. "eliminates needed tools and allows unscrupulous businesses to continue to freely hire illegal workers," Chertoff wrote in matching letters to Sens. Edward...

The U.S. should talk with Nepal's former rebels who Washington still considers terrorists despite their joining mainstream politics, former U.S. president Jimmy Carter said Saturday. Carter met Maoist leader Prachanda, who only goes by one name, and his deputy Baburam Bhattarai a day earlier when the former guerrillas urged him to help remove them from the U.S. government's terrorist list. "My opinion is the United States should establish some communication with the Maoists because it is obvious that the people of Nepal have accepted the Maoists as playing a role in the shaping of the future of this country," Carter...

George W. Bush is taking time to explain himself, open up to the public in new ways and court the U.S. Congress as he tries to breathe life into a presidency beset by sagging ratings and influence. With a job-approval rating under 40 percent, Bush, who went to his Crawford ranch for a quiet weekend, has a long way to go. Aides acknowledge it will take a while to rebuild his image, and much will depend on the outcome of the Iraq war. White House staffers, who have long limited the president's appearances to speeches and photo opportunities with little...

Everybody is surprised by the size of the recent demonstrations against legislation to do something about illegal immigration in this country. Why should we be surprised that rallies in Chicago and L.A. are drawing 500,000 people? There are at least 12 million illegal aliens in this country – 12 million illegal invaders, lawbreakers, people who broke into our country, defied the rules about legal entry, many of them taking up permanent residency and taking full advantage of free services designed for taxpaying citizens. Is it a surprise to Americans that there are at least 12 million illegal aliens? Is it...