Free Republic

California Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer followed presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton's lead on Wednesday and announced they would get rid of donations from a fundraiser who is wanted for sentencing on a 1991 grand theft charge. Two California Democratic House members, Mike Honda of San Jose and Doris Matsui of Sacramento, also said they were dumping campaign cash from Norman Hsu. The moves came after two days of scrutiny on Norman Hsu, who had donated $23,000 to Clinton. The New York senator plans to give the money to charity. Hsu gave $1,000 to Feinstein and $2,000 to...

Japan today said it regretted a US congressional resolution demanding that it formally apologise for the use of tens of thousands of Asian women as sex slaves during the second world war, and insisted it had already made amends to the victims. The US House of Representatives passed a nonbinding resolution calling on the Japanese government to "formally acknowledge, apologise and accept historical responsibility in a clear and unequivocal manner" for the sexual enslavement of as many as 200,000 "comfort women" in the 30s and 40s. The victims, mostly from Korea, China and the Philippines, were taken from their homes...

Sold-Out Event Raises More Than $620,000 for Civil Rights Work More than 1,000 people turned out on Saturday at the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) banquet in Arlington, Va., to hear addresses by several elected officials, including Keith Ellison, the first Muslim in Congress. The event raised more than $620,000 to support CAIR's civil rights and advocacy work on behalf of the American Muslim community. (Another dinner held by CAIR's Southern California chapter (CAIR-LA) over the weekend raised more than $430,000. Some 1,800 people attended that event.) Elected officials who spoke at the sold-out event included Representative- elect Ellison (D-MN),...

A California lawmaker is calling on President Bush to take a stand against what he calls "right-wing immigration extremists." In the Democrats' weekly radio address, Congressman Mike Honda says Bush should denounce House Republicans who support measures that would treat people who sneak across the border as felons who should be deported. Honda, a third-generation Japanese-American, says the U.S. can't afford to play partisan politics with immigration reform or border security. He adds that he was disappointed by the president's latest efforts on immigration, which he dismissed as a "public relations campaign."

A federal bill that shields high school students from military recruiters is gaining both local and national support.

WASHINGTON - The standard responses from members of Congress during the president's State of the Union address usually follow a graduated scale of support: from stone silence to polite applause to standing ovation and, finally, the occasional enthusiastic, ``hurrah!'' But as President Bush laid out his case --snip-- he managed to earn a rare response from Democrats that did not bode well for his plans. They hissed. Their reaction came when Bush asserted that Social Security is ``headed toward bankruptcy'' -- a point that most Democrats and some analysts dispute. ``When you start out by stating a premise that's factually...

TERRY GREGORY'S mooching spree, Ron Gonzales' golf getaways and just-released photographs of Rep. Mike Honda getting in on the action at Dynasty Restaurant may be leaving the good citizens of Silicon Valley slightly, uh, disenchanted with their local representatives. When your councilmembers can't resist the pricey perks that "come with" a public office, who can you trust? If it's any consolation, know that back in the day the local government's ethical laces were tied a bit tighter. Biter prodded former politicians who served during the days of Tom McEnery and Susan Hammer, and found a shocking trail of bashful goodness....