Free Republic

The mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, have certainly had their share of problems and controversies. Both are in conservatorship with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) after suffering devastating losses. This comes after Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac denying they have a government guarantee, but were bailed out by the Federal government after all. I never thought in a million years that Republicans, Democrats AND the Obama Administration would be on board with winding down the Democrat Darlings. But former Obama FHA Commissioner Dave Stevens summed it up nicely: “There is a bipartisan effort here that’s thoughtful and...

The DREAM Act is really remarkable and the fact that the American people have largely accepted it is even more remarkable. It essentially creates a standard that doesn't exist in any other portion of our laws. There are no laws that I know of that protect the children of AMERICAN CITIZENS who commit crimes in the way that this DREAM Act does. Innocent American children suffer every day as a consequence of their the actions of their parents. Think about this simple example. Lets say you are 3 years old and you are being cared for by your single dad....

WASHINGTON -- By most, if not all, measures, President Barack Obama has surpassed his predecessors in ramping up security along the nearly 2,000-mile southern border of the United States. There’s more money being spent, an increase in border agents and more fencing. The number of people being deported is up and the number of people apprehended trying to enter the United States is down. The flow of illegal immigrants from Mexico has slowed. Yet if Obama thought that tough action on the border would help persuade reluctant Republicans to support a rewrite of the nation’s immigration laws, he was wrong....

Border security" is a bogus holdup for immigration reform. Let us prevent this worthy legislation from becoming a giant rip-off benefitting the military-intelligence industry. Millions of people in this country have paid a deplorable price for surreptitious border passage. So-called "coyotes" have extracted up to $10,000 per person per trip; yet these victims have been subjected to mass murders, tortures, locked vans abandoned in deserts, kidnappings and rape. Why does anyone assume that coyotes act independently of the heavily armed cartels in their nearly sovereign territories?One proposed immigration strategy suggests we should punish the victims by imposing a bureaucratic maze...

(LANSING, MI) -- Senator Patrick Colbeck and Representative Nancy Jenkins were joined in a Lansing press conference by a group of experts in the medical and financial fields to discuss the implications to the State of expanding the Affordable Care Act (ACA - aka Obamacare) and a proposal to reform Medicaid that would expand access to coverage without expanding government (SB's 459/460).

Skip to 3:45 for the key bit, in which a guy who’s willing to go nuclear in a quixotic bid to defund ObamaCare warns his party not to be too obstinate in resisting immigration reform — or else. Mark Krikorian summarizes his logic this way: Mark Krikorian @MarkSKrikorian Give your toddler all the candy he wants, because otherwise he´ll just take it anyway: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/marco-rubio-immigration-executive-order-95487.html … (Snip)In fairness to him, Rubio’s not making this up. Amnesty shills on the left have warned, with increasing volume lately, that King Barack might decide to grant de facto amnesty to illegals via executive order

p>The chief Democratic spokesman for comprehensive reform is suddenly mellow about the Republican approach? Dude, I’m nervous. “I actually am optimistic that we will get this done,” Schumer said about a bill taking shape in the House during an interview on CNN. “I’ve had a lot of discussions with various members of both parties in the House. Things are moving in the right direction.”…“We would much prefer the comprehensive bill, but any way the House can get there is all right by us,” Schumer said. Actually, let me rephrase. Dude, I would be nervous if I thought the House Republican...

(CNSNews.com) - Fixing the nation's "broken" immigration system "would actually help our housing market," President Barack Obama told enthusiastic high school students in Phoenix, Arizona on Tuesday. "It's pretty simple," the president said. "When -- when more people buy homes and play by the rules, home values go up for everybody. And according to one recent study, the average homeowner has already seen the value of their home boosted by thousands of dollars just because of immigration.

Statement of Frank L. Davis, Jr., Co-Founder, Executive Vice President and National Director of Legislative Affairs, National Retail Sales Tax Alliance Testimony Before the House Committee on Ways and Means Hearing on Fundamental Tax Reform Mr. Chairman, Mr. Rangel and Members of the Committee; my fellow Americans. It is a privilege to be asked to testify this afternoon. My name is Frank Davis. I am a retired Naval Reserve Aviator, having spent 28 1/2 years in active and reserve service to my country. I consider myself still serving, albeit in a somewhat different capacity, but with the same goal in...

Even First Lady Michelle would caution against consuming an entire ten course meal in one mouthful and direct instead that each bite be chewed separately and thoroughly, swallowed cautiously and then digested. Comprehensive immigration reform has more than ten courses, yet we are in danger of swallowing an entire garbage pail full without even examining the contents. Comprehensive reform in generalAddressing all aspects of complicated matter in one swell foop, demanded quickly because "we can't wait," often turns out to have been a serious blunder. That happened with ObamaCare and could easily happen again should comprehensive immigration "reform" produce an even worse situation than now exists...

Republican House leaders say that the most daunting obstacle to an immigration compromise is Nancy Pelosi. They worry that the minority leader may sabotage anything short of a full Senate-like comprehensive bill. Mrs. Pelosi still hasn't telegraphed her final strategy, but senior members of her caucus continue to insist that "no Democrat will vote for anything without a path to citizenship" for the 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. If Mrs. Pelosi urges her fellow Democrats to oppose all GOP measures that don't contain legalization and other substantial portions of the Senate bill, it could stymie any progress on...

For months now I have written extensively in numerous national publications about the treacherous legislation that is the “scamnesty” bill that will pass out of the U.S. Senate this week. When you have a “gang” writing legislation you get gangster government just like this. All of the people -- and by all I mean all -- claiming to be conservative who are either still advocating scamnesty or defending those that are fall into one of four categories: 1) Woefully uninformed to the point that they should no longer criticize anyone else for being a low information voter, and should perhaps...

If you don’t think there’s anything to the whole Obama fraudulent birth certificate thing… Think again. If you don’t think he’s terrified of the truth coming out via the Sheriff Joe Cold Case Posse and Mike Zullo’s investigation… THINK AGAIN!!!!! This Dictator and his band of socialist leg humpers are DESPERATE for a solution and they are trying to rush through legislation to cover his eligibility and other personal issues related to it. Friends and Patriots…That piece of legislation is cleverly hidden in one of todays most watched issues. It’s called… IMMIGRATION REFORM!!! Socialists want to render Obama’s ILLEGAL activities,...

Wall-E-Like Farming Robots Could Replace Undocumented Workers and Save the US Billions Despite advancements in mechanization within US agriculture, some menial jobs are still best left to human workers. Problem is, federal crackdowns on undocumented laborers have decimated that workforce. The Harvester automaton could provide a cheap, readily available labor force without the threat of raids by the INS. The US agriculture industry is worth about $300 billion annually—half from livestock production, the other half from crops. However, some of the most basic jobs in this industry still have to be performed by people. Jobs like offloading potted plants from...

Each of the Washington DC area think tanks have an opinion piece on the border security legislation (aka, immigration reform). Mostly, they are positive on immigration reform. American Action Forum Center for American Progress Except for The Heritage Foundation. Read each one for a broad discussion of benefits and costs. But my question for Congress and the Administration is a simple one. How is immigration reform going to effect the future of the mortgage market and housing policy? Immigration reform intends to create VOTERS over the course of several years. It is really a VOTER REGISTRATION Bill, not a border...

Any effort to reduce sexual harassment in the military needs to recognize that some men have never learned to adequately control their sex drives. Unfortunately, the military may need many of these men for their military related skills. Winning wars requires using men, and women, who don't always play well with others. Thus, the military may need to find a way to reduce sex assaults while keeping those who have trouble controlling their zippers. The military has some experience in this area because of personnel who occasionally "forget" who they are supposed to fight and who they are not supposed...

By enacting just two basic -- albeit politically difficult measures -- neither of which are possible with the current president and Senate, our massive and emotionally charged illegal immigration problem would largely take care of itself within a few years. Not only that, but a laser focus on these two steps could codify the conservative/Republican position around principles we all agree on, and would leave the messier areas of our disagreements to a more appropriate time. The low hanging fruit -- the crux of this matter -- is truly far simpler than we are making it, while some other hypotheticals...

Late Friday, Steve King the Iowa Congressman, called Mark Levin's show and discussed the 1,190+ page Senate bill as rewritten to include Sen. Corker's amendment. As Jeff Sessions said earlier on Mark's show, it is so full of holes it won't hold water. In other words, it is carefully drafted so as avoid building the fence and to avoid deporting illegals and contains other despicable loopholes. In fact, King and Levin are afraid that it designed to stop nothing other than future attempts to stop the flow of illegal aliens.

They're actually lowballing it, I think, by assuming only 45 safe Democratic votes right now. You’ll lose a couple of Dems on this, but nine? Mark Pryor already did his good deed to impress Arkansas conservatives by voting no on expanded background checks. Joe Manchin doesn’t have to face West Virginians again until 2018. Besides, immigration reform already polls well in general terms and today’s flashy Corker/Hoeven amendment gives fencesitters a way to support the bill while claiming that they held out until there was “real” border security included. Let’s assume that there are really more like 49 Democrats prepared...

Raleigh, N.C. — North Carolinians with concealed handgun permits would be able to carry firearms in more places – including businesses that serve alcohol, funeral processions and playgrounds – under a bill that the Senate gave tentative approval to Wednesday. The legislation is a broad measure that backers say will broaden the application of Second Amendment rights and increase penalties for certain gun crimes. "We should not fear the armed citizens protecting themselves, protecting their families ... they don't commit crimes," said Sen. Thom Goolsby, R-New Hanover.The most striking provision in the bill does away with pistol purchase permits currently required to buy a...