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A bipartisan group of House negotiators said Thursday it has reached an “agreement in principle” on comprehensive immigration reform legislation. “We have an agreement in principle,” Rep. John Carter (R-Tex.) said as he and five other members of the group emerged from a two-hour meeting late Thursday afternoon.

VA-ALERT: **URGENT ACTION ITEM** VCDL-PAC swinging into action! Sent: Mon 5/13/2013 9:52 PM THE PROBLEM We have a serious problem at this weekend's Republican Convention in Richmond dealing with the Lieutenant Governor's race. Of the seven candidates, six answered the VCDL Candidate Survey very pro-gun. However, one candidate didn't bother to answer the survey at all. That is no surprise, considering Jeannemarie Davis's history on gun rights. VCDL-PAC STRONGLY OPPOSES the nomination of a PROVEN ANTI-GUN LEADER -- Jeannemarie Davis -- for Lt Governor and urges gun owners to help us defeat her. Jeannemarie Davis did not just vote badly...

The night before Thursday's marathon committee markup, members of the Senate's Gang of Eight and their staffs huddled in a room in the Capitol to decide what amendments to their immigration bill they would let live—and what must die. As a comprehensive immigration overhaul advances through the Senate, its chief architects will remain firmly in control of its fate. This week's drama at the Senate Judiciary Committee provided a valuable test run for the group, which must protect their bill from changes that undermine the principles they agreed on but accept enough suggestions from their colleagues to garner at least...

To: Ted Cruz Date: May 6, 2013 My dear friend, I feel like we’ve started off on the wrong foot. Although there have been many times this Congress that I’ve longed to feel your soft face pressed helplessly against my knuckles, a lifetime of service has taught me that, with effort, I can forgive almost any slight for the good of the country. Please consider this note an olive branch, and realize that any suggestions come from a place a friendship. (excerpt) --------------------------------------- From: Ted Cruz To: John McCain Date: May 7, 2013 Well, senator, I think it’s about time...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bipartisan authors of a sweeping immigration bill agreed to Republican-authored amendments to boost border security, as they tried Thursday to show they're open to changes to attract more GOP support for their landmark legislation. The bill's authors also stuck together to defeat a Republican amendment that would have barred anyone from seeking citizenship until the U.S.-Mexico border had been secured for six months. Supporters of the bill charged that the real effect of that provision would have been to delay citizenship indefinitely for the estimated 11 million people living here illegally.

The American Conservative Union has just released a statement in support of Sen. Marco Rubio’s bipartisan effort on immigration reform, suggesting that there was widespread conservative support for the bill. “It is an honor to bring together fellow conservatives who feel strongly that we need to act now to fix our broken immigration policies and our borders,” said ACU Chairman Al Cardenas in the statement. “I congratulate my friend Senator Marco Rubio for his leadership on this issue and believe that conservative support for his efforts is growing.” Cardenas clarified that the bill was “not perfect” but that Rubio was...

Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) faced his most vocal critics this weekend at the annual South Carolina Republican Party convention, though aides and state party leaders say this year’s criticism of the senator didn’t match the opposition he’s faced in previous years. As they’ve done several times in the past, a few hundred tea party-inspired activists attempted to seat a convention chairman who would help them remove Graham from the party, but their efforts failed when party leaders declined to recognize their motions and moved on with the day’s proceedings. Adding to the weekend drama, a recent Winthrop Poll found...

A week ago, he noted on his Facebook page that his poll numbers after voting no on Toomey/Manchin put him somewhere south of “pond scum.” Today, this. He won’t face the voters again for five and a half years, but he shares a home state with Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly. They can hurt him by campaigning against him in 2018 more than they can anyone else in the Senate. No wonder he’s looking for ways to flip: Republican Sen. Jeff Flake told CNN he is willing to reverse his opposition to expanding background checks for guns if the Senate...

<p>CHICAGO -- There are published reports Illinois GOP Chairman Pat Brady is planning to step down for personal reasons.</p> <p>The reports have Brady announcing his resignation on Tuesday.</p> <p>Republican State Rep. Jim Durkin told the Chicago Sun-Times Brady is "leaving on terms that he's imposed on himself." Durkin says Brady, who he calls a dear friend, wants to spend more time with his family.</p>

A battle within the Republican Party over same-sex marriage is unfolding on two fronts, in public, and behind the scenes. In the latter case, one of the most influential players is a billionaire hedge fund manager largely unknown to those who don’t work in finance or mix with political mega-donors. That man is Paul E. Singer, who over the years has used his wealth to spur Republicans to support gay marriage laws. Now, Singer is expanding his reach with the creation of an advocacy group which aims to spend millions influencing the legislative debate over same-sex marriage across the country.

Cesar Conda is Marco Rubio’s Chief of Staff. He recently made his Tweets private (protected) so the general public can’t read them. Cesar Conda has been pushing amnesty for illegals on Twitter and else as Marco Rubio’s PR agent. Conda, who is an immigration lawyer, went to work for George Soros before becoming Rubio’s Chief of Staff. Cesar Conda worked on the editorial advisory board of George Soros magazine, The International Economy Magazine. Cesar Conda had been spinning lies about the amnesty bill about how illegal wouldn’t get welfare, wait more than 10 years for citizenship, etc. Those lies have...

As a Senate committee prepares to begin voting this week on far-reaching immigration legislation, advocates are watching warily to see whether opposition, thus far subdued, builds into the same kind of fierce backlash that shut down Congress’ last attempt to remake the nation's immigration system. That time around, in 2007, angry calls overwhelmed the Senate switchboard and lawmakers endured raging town hall meetings and threats from incensed constituents. The legislation ultimately collapsed on the Senate floor. “I’ve been through this battle, and it's ugly,” said former Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., who supported the bill. “My phones were jammed for three...

<p>Immigration reform opponents on the right have a tricky problem: So many of their conservative superstars support comprehensive reform that it’s hard to make it out to be a liberal scheme to snooker the public — well, unless you airbrush some people out of the picture.</p>

Rhode Island is poised to join nine other states and the District of Columbia in allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry. Gov. Lincoln Chafee planned to sign gay marriage legislation into law Thursday evening, immediately following a final procedural vote in the state’s General Assembly. The outcome of the vote is not in doubt. Hundreds are expected to gather at the Statehouse to celebrate the new law, which has already passed the House and Senate once. The first weddings could take place Aug. 1, when the new law would take effect. …

You can tell the conservatives liberals fear most because they start being automatically referred to as "discredited." Ask Sen. Ted Cruz. But no one is called "discredited" by liberals more often than the inestimable economist John Lott, author of the groundbreaking book More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws. Lott's economic analysis of the effect of concealed-carry laws on violent crime is the most thoroughly vetted study in the history of economics, perhaps in the history of the world. Some nut Dutch professor produces dozens of gag studies purportedly finding that thinking about red meat makes people...

The effort to secure the borders and reform immigration law is about to enter a crucial month at the end of which the fate of the bill will almost certainly be known. The bill as it emerged from the Gang of 8 can probably not pass the Senate and certainly wouldn’t pass the House, nor should it. But the Gang of 8 draft was only, as Senator Marco Rubio has said repeatedly said, “a starting point.” A policy and political disaster awaits if a bill emerges from the Senate that cannot generate enough momentum to get even an amended version...

House Leadership Crashes Into Outside Hurdles On Bills GOP's Toughest Critics Are Inside The Party, Outside The Houseby Tamara KeithApril 28, 2013 5:12 AM This week, the House was set to vote on a bill modifying the president's health care law. It was a Republican bill, supported by the leadership, but it ran into trouble, and it was pulled from the floor before the scheduled vote.It's an example of the kind of obstacles Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, faces in getting legislation through the House. In a number of recent cases, his problem hasn't been the Democrats as much as members...

In the current debate over revamping the nation's immigration laws, there may be no elected official with more on the line than Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Rubio, a Republican and Cuban-American from Miami, was elected to the Senate with strong support from the Tea Party and other conservatives. Rubio's challenge is to convince conservative skeptics that by supporting an immigration overhaul, he hasn't betrayed them. Among other things, the Senate immigration bill tightens security on the borders and creates a pathway for immigrants who came to the country illegally to become citizens. Eight senators — four Democrats and four Republicans...

Representative Steve King (R-Iowa), a member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration & Border Security, said the immigration reform plan crafted by the “Gang of Eight” in the Senate and promoted strongly by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is nothing more than a “bold amnesty plan” that is “not very conservative” despite advertisements claiming otherwise. King, a conservative, was interviewed on CSPAN’s Washington Journal on Apr. 25 about immigration reform. During the interview, host Greta Wodele Brawner showed one of the television ads in support of the Gang of Eight plan that is being promoted by the Mark Zuckerberg-backed group...

In his weekly address, Pres. Obama threatened Americans with more sequester “pain” if they don’t convince Congress to pass his budget. First, Obama exploited the sequester’s effect on children, the elderly, and airline travelers … And, there’s more pain on the horizon, Obama warned: “These cuts are scheduled to keep falling across other parts of the government that provide vital services for the American people.” …

HIGHLANDS, N.J. — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Monday that President Barack Obama "has kept every promise he's made" about helping the state recover from Superstorm Sandy. Speaking on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program on the 6-month anniversary of the deadly storm, the Republican governor said presidential politics were the last thing on his mind as he toured storm-devastated areas with Obama last fall.

Republican Sens. Marco Rubio and Scott Brown joined John McCain in denouncing the congresswoman's Muslim witch hunt Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, a rising star in the party and a potential vice-presidential pick for Mitt Romney, said this morning that he disagreed with Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann’s baseless call to investigate Muslim Brotherhood infiltration in the U.S. government. Appearing on NPR’s Diane Rehm show, Rubio was asked by a caller if he would join Republican Sen. John McCain’s strong condemnation of the anti-Muslim witch hunt on the Senate floor yesterday. While Rubio said he doesn’t personally know Huma Abedin, a...

Former Rep. Todd Akin said he regrets the comments he made about “legitimate rape” which derailed his Missouri bid for U.S. Senate last year. In an interview with KDSK-TV on Thursday, the 65-year-old was asked whether he would take back the controversial comments. “Of course I would,” the former congressman replied. “I’ve relived them too many times. But that is not reality.” …

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., had a warm meeting with Obama for America Organizing for Action volunteers in Arizona, as the senator and the members of President Obama’s former campaign apparatus thanked each other for their alliance in support of Obama’s desired gun legislation. “The speakers commended Senator McCain for showing leadership on this issue, and made it clear that we’re still hopeful that, with his help and support, we will get a bipartisan law to protect our country and our local community,” OFA’s Erin Kelly wrote in a blog post today. “We were shocked and excited to see Senator McCain...

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Tuesday unveiled a report on last's year attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that blames then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for lapses in security. The 46-page report by the five committees of jurisdiction concludes that reductions in security levels prior to the attack that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were approved at the highest levels of the State Department, including by Clinton herself. The report also concludes that talking points from the intelligence community were altered to protect the State Department from criticism of inadequate security levels.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Deb Fischer is headed back to the White House tonight for dinner with President Barack Obama. “I’m a regular,” the Nebraska Republican quipped as she arrived at the weekly Senate GOP luncheon in the Capitol. Fischer was among a group of Republican senators who dined with Obama earlier this month. She also attended a reception there in March for Women’s History Month. The invite list for tonight’s dinner includes all 20 women in the Senate. It’s a record number of women in what has long been a male-dominated club. The group includes 16 Democrats and 4 Republicans....

I Have Seen Shameful Things By: Erick Erickson (Diary) | April 22nd, 2013 at 04:30 AM | 30 I am an immigration squish. There are jobs Americans won’t do at the existing price point. We have a real need in this country for unskilled workers who will pick domestic crops and do jobs Americans will not do for a low wage. I know a number of people who came here illegally who are harder workers than me, who love this country, and who just want a job. More specifically, I know a number of illegal immigrants — a few of...

Paul Ryan says the Gang of Eight’s immigration-reform plan is “productive” and “getting us closer to a solution.” Ryan will give a speech on Monday in Chicago on immigration. Representative Luis Gutierrez of Illinois, a Democrat, will appear with him.

Several Republican lawmakers are calling for the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings to be tried as an enemy combatant, rather than as an ordinary criminal. “It is clear the events we have seen over the past few days in Boston were an attempt to kill American citizens and terrorize a major American city,” read a Saturday statement from Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) and Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.). “The accused perpetrators of these acts were not common criminals attempting to profit from a criminal enterprise, but terrorists trying to injure, maim, and kill...

WASHINGTON — Sen. Rand Paul is calling for conservatives to embrace the cause of immigration reform, outlining a proposal that would grant some form of legal status to the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants after the federal government has certified that the border is secure. Paul’s proposal, outlined in a speech to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Washington on Tuesday, carefully avoided the term citizenship. Instead, the Kentucky senator said he sought a middle ground that would include a multi-year process of granting visas to undocumented workers that would hinge on the annual verification of the security of the...

Pit bulls might have a reputation among some as rough, gruff dogs from tough neighborhoods. But the breed’s advocates are fiercely loyal and quick to fight back against their bad rap sheet—as Rep. Rodney Moore, a Democrat from Mecklenburg County, found out this week. Moore, a small-business consultant who has owned pit bulls, introduced a bill Tuesday that would require anyone taking ownership of the much-maligned dogs to submit to a criminal background check. The proposal also targets Rottweilers, mastiffs, chows, Perro de Presa Canarios and any “wolf hybrids.” … The bill, which was co-sponsored by Rep. Larry Pittman, a...

After two weeks in the national spotlight, Sen. Pat Toomey was ready to move on. Toomey, seeming refreshed Thursday after the deflating defeat of his background-check plan the day before, greeted reporters with a smile as he rode an escalator up from the Capitol's subway platform. But the Pennsylvania Republican did not want to talk much about the fight that had put him at the center of the political and cultural maelstrom on gun laws. "The Senate has spoken on this," Toomey said. "It's not obvious to me what alternative path forward there is. I gave this my best shot."

Gov. Chris Christie on Friday unveiled a multi-faceted plan to curb gun violence in New Jersey that includes expanding government-funded mental health treatment, requiring parental sign-off before children can buy or rent violent video games, and mandating that ID presented by would-be gun-owners is government-issued. The Republican’s plan also includes a ban on the sale of Barrett .50-caliber semi-automatic sniper rifles, bail reforms that would make it harder for people suspected of violent gun crimes to be released, and provisions to make it easier for courts and health care professionals to involuntarily commit people they consider violent to a psychiatric...

Sen. Marco Rubio (R.-Fla.), one of eight senators who have crafted legislation that would put illegal aliens on a path to U.S. citizenship, explained in a Senate floor speech yesterday that one of the reasons he wants to do this is that he believes illegal aliens are currently driving on U.S. roads without drivers licenses and auto insurance and his bill would encourage them to get licenses and buy insurance. Rubio explained that under his bill, ilegal aliens who “have committed serious crimes” will be deported. However, the proposal will apparently not deem as a serious crime the habit of...

Rep. Michael Burgess slammed Obamacare as “bad news from top to bottom,” but he called for adding $4 billion to the program to take care of the 65,000 people with pre-existing conditions that are currently being denied coverage they were promised. In an interview with Newsmax TV, the Texas Republican said the extra money was needed after the pre-existing coverage program, a center piece of Obamacare, blew through its $5 billion budget in January and closed its doors to new members. …

..ethically "compromised(sexually(homo/hetero), Money, or Security)"? And is THAT why Obama, The "Media(MSM)" and the Dem "Party" has been getting away with what they have been getting away with. We know now that at least one US GOP-e Senator and one GOP-e US House member has Homosexuals(deviants, perverts)in thier own family. Makes ya wonder how mant ARE Homosexuals(deviants, perverts)(Lindsey Grahmnesty).

...is the ENTIRE US Feral(Federal) Government is getting ready to come "peeled" and the TRUTH will come out.

Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.), a member of both the House Homeland Security Committee and the House Intelligence Committee, wants retailers to tell police about people who buy innocuous items that could be used to make a bomb. "Anyone seeing anyone buying components, any type of BBs or ball bearings -- a large amount of nails, even -- report that to police," he said.

House Speaker John Boehner is being pressed by the conservative wing of the Republican Party not to allow a vote on major pieces of legislation -- from gun control to immigration -- without majority Republican support, after recent signals that he could be open to building a coalition with Democrats. Tea Party favorite and second-term Rep. Tim Huelskamp is among the most recent to express concern, saying Tuesday that Boehner “assured us” that he'd seek a majority Republican coalition before proceeding on controversial bills.

Sen. Marco Rubio, elected to Congress in 2010 on a wave of Tea Party support, earned praise Sunday from prominent members of the Republican establishment for leading the party toward support for immigration reform. David Brooks, the New York Times' resident conservative, called Rubio "heroic" on NBC's Meet the Press, while former George W. Bush aide Karl Rove praised Rubio's leadership on Fox News Channel's Fox News Sunday. While some inside-the-Beltway Republican stalwarts appear to approve of Rubio's gambit, others are more skeptical. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) has led opposition to Rubio and his "Gang of Eight," while conservative activists...

Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) told host Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday that supporters of new gun control legislation do not yet have the votes to pass it, despite defeating a Republican-led filibuster attempt last week. Durbin is the Senate Majority Whip, responsible for counting his party's votes on key legislative proposals. The specific bill facing the Senate is the Manchin-Toomey compromise on background checks, which would expand such requirements to gun shows, among other provisions. Currently, private sales between individuals at gun shows do not require background checks--just as private sales anywhere do not require them. The following is...

Not thinking anyone is surprised about This but CNN is reporting that: Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, became the second Republican senator not involved in negotiating a bipartisan background check measure to say she will support it, according to a statement Sunday. She described the bill as a responsible compromise between two senators - Sens. Pat Toomey, R-Pennsylvania, and Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia - who have strong ratings from the National Rifle Association. Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Illinois, has indicated his support for the deal.

These are turbulent times for gay rights in America. The 2012 presidential election saw referendums approving same-sex marriage in Maine, Maryland, and Washington (bringing the number of states in which gay couples can marry to nine, plus Washington DC). Polls show public support for gay marriage hitting all-time highs, and the Supreme Court is currently deciding whether to extend federal benefits to married gay couples and strike down bans on same-sex marriage in California and beyond. But the most significant shifts—small in scale, but seismic in implication—are occurring where one least expects them: on the right. Indeed, when controversial Republican...

Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, who is accused of providing an enormous stash of classified government documents to WikiLeaks for publication, deserves a Nobel Peace Prize more than President Barack Obama, according to former Texas Rep. Ron Paul. “While President Obama was starting and expanding unconstitutional wars overseas, Bradley Manning, whose actions have caused exactly zero deaths, was shining light on the truth behind these wars,” the former Republican presidential contender told U.S. News. “It’s clear which individual has done more to promote peace.” Manning was nominated for the award in 2011, 2012 and again earlier this year. Obama won the...

Sen. Rand Paul, the tea party favorite and possible 2016 presidential candidate, is raising money for a conservative gun rights group that’s targeting fellow Republicans, including House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. And when one congressman complained, the message from Paul’s camp was: too bad. The Kentucky Republican has lent his name to fundraising pitches for the National Association for Gun Rights, a group that says the National Rifle Association is too willing to compromise on gun rights. The group has blitzed the districts of Virginia Republicans Cantor and Rep. Scott Rigell with $50,000 worth of TV and radio ads accusing...

Upon taking office, senators-elect must swear or affirm that they will "support and defend the Constitution." The president of the Senate or a surrogate administers the oath to newly elected or re-elected senators. The oath is required by the Constitution; the wording is prescribed by law. "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." Any senator who fails to support and defend the second amendment which most definitely is part of the constitution is a TRAITOR!! Traitors beware!! DON'T TREAD ON...

Well, all the statistics in the world from the last Election didn't help. Time to move on for 2014. As of now, mass dissatisfaction with the GOP is about to hand control of the House back to the Democrats and Nancy Pelosi in 2014. The only way out of this mess is a concerted effort by the Tea Party to Primary out and replace those candidates that have not stood up for conservative values and principles. Over the next few weeks, I am going to try to go state by state and CD by CD looking at our current GOP...

Philip Checchia’s home in Barnegat, New Jersey, escaped undamaged from Hurricane Sandy in October, but the 67-year-old is bracing for a different kind of storm damage—higher property taxes. New Jersey home owners already pay the highest taxes in the country, with the revenues going to fund schools, police, firefighters, roads, and building projects. When the value of taxable property drops in one area, the burden often shifts to others to make up the difference. At the epicenter of the problem is Ocean County, where Checchia lives, and where miles of long, fragile barrier islands bore the brunt of the storm's...

Coburn voted with the rest of the RINOS! Check out the OUTRAGE on his Facebook page! WOW!

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, the Tea Party favorite and emerging 2016 GOP presidential star, on Wednesday showed he is looking to broaden his and the Republican Party's base far beyond white males to include African-American youths. In a speech to Howard University Wednesday morning, Paul reached out to blacks, arguing that the Democrats and President Obama has failed African Americans, but admitting that the GOP has a long way to go before blacks see Republicans as their guide to success. "Some have said that I'm either brave or crazy to be here today. I've never been one to watch the...