Free Republic

Phoenix — “Senator McCain, what do you make of Arizonans who think that for the last ten years you’ve been America’s senator, and not Arizona’s senator?” That, from a local reporter here in Phoenix, was one of the opening questions last week when John McCain held his first press conference since losing the presidential race on November 4. McCain’s purpose was to announce that he will run for reelection in 2010 and to say, in effect, “Remember me? I’m your senator.” The reporter’s question was to remind McCain that a number of people in this state aren’t entirely happy about...

The late Samuel T. Francis once lamented that Americans don’t have two ideologically distinct parties. Rather we have an evil party (the “liberals”) and a stupid party (the “conservatives”). Occasionally there is a synthesis of evil and stupidity. This is otherwise known as “bipartisanship”. To see the confluence of evil and stupidity at work, check out these remarks by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in an interview with the Detroit Free Press: Q: With more Democrats in the Senate and the House and a Democrat in the White House, how do you see congressional efforts playing out on such issues...

Sen. John McCain avoided reporters during the lame-duck session of Congress last week. But Tuesday, shortly after President-elect Obama had his own news conference about the economy, McCain broke his silence by speaking with reporters in Phoenix. This came after the two former contenders met last week, and Tuesday, McCain continued to make nice. When asked what advice he had for right-wing supporters who say the prospect of an Obama presidency terrifies them, he was categorical. "Respect this landmark election, respect the fact America faces great challenges, and Americans expect us to work together. That does not mean we won't...

President-elect Barack Obama and his former general election rival, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz), have come to an agreement on immigration, Senate Majority leader Harry Reid told the Detroit Free Press in a recent interview. Reid said the two standard-bearers have agreed to move forward on immigration legislation during Obama's White House tenure. "On immigration, there's been an agreement between Obama and McCain to move forward on that," Reidsaid when how Congress would handle immigration and healthcare with expanded Democratic majorities and Obama in the White House. Early on in their general election campaign, both McCain and Obama pledged to enact...

Via the Standard. This is what they’re going to do to pass the time in Congress between bailouts? Jerk around with a hot-button issue guaranteed to enrage all sides and exacerbate Democratic infighting while the economy’s melting down and the Iran nuclear clock ticks on? Why not toss social security onto the table too, just to really get the juices flowing?

Stanford law Professor Tino Cuéllar was named this week to lead President-elect Barack Obama's transition working group on immigration, putting him among the many scholars from the Bay Area who are helping shape the next administration.lawyers and immigration experts across the country praised him Friday for his intellect and his grasp of both regulatory minutiae and the big picture of American immigration policy. "He's brilliant beyond his years," said John Trasviña, president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, who met Cuéllar when he was a law student at Yale and encouraged him to go to work in...

A group of senior and up-and-coming Hispanic conservatives with close ties to leaders of the Republican Party will meet in the coming weeks to work out how to salvage the GOP’s electoral chances with a voting bloc that deserted them on Nov. 4. Like many Republican groups in the aftermath of a crushing election cycle, the Hispanic conservatives plan a political post-mortem to lay bare what the party did wrong and how to fix it.

Two brothers face felony charges stemming from an alleged sexual assault of a woman last week in Austin. A third brother also has been charged with an unrelated felony. Oscar Barrera Sanchez, 27, and Pablo Barrera Sanchez, 24, each face a single felony count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct for allegedly forcing sexual intercourse early Wednesday with a 23-year-old woman at their Austin apartment, Mower District Court records show. Oscar Sanchez allegedly first sexually assaulted the woman, and Pablo Sanchez sexually assaulted her immediately after him, according to a criminal complaint. Pablo Sanchez, also known as Lorenzo Andrew Leal, also...

Cutter also said the two will be joined at Obama's Chicago transition office by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a McCain confidant, and Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the Illinois Democrat whom Obama has chose to be his White House chief of staff.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A jury acquitted an undocumented immigrant of killing a mother and daughter. Police thought they had plenty of evidence to convict Jose Murillo Sosa. Now, the victims' family and prosecutors are trying to understand the verdict. Relatives are upset, and so are prosecutors who thought they had plenty of evidence to at least put Sosa away for the rest of his life. Tim Rountree said his 16-year-old niece Adrian Rountree loved to draw and color. "We were all stunned," he said. But Rountree will also have to remember Adrian and her mother by what some are saying...

Weeks before Barack Obama won the presidency, he met privately in Washington with his former Democratic rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, and Latino political leaders who had fervently backed her bid. The cards were laid upon the table, according to one of the participants. The Hispanic leaders said they expected at least two Latinos to be named to an Obama Cabinet — meeting the standard set by President-elect Bill Clinton in 1992 — but preferred three. Of course, they also wanted sub-Cabinet-level posts. In return, Obama needed assurances that Hispanics — who had overwhelmingly voted for Clinton...

PETERBOROUGH, N.H. -- As his campaign nears its end, John McCain convened a town hall meeting tonight in New Hampshire, the state that has sustained his presidential aspirations during the darkest times. McCain's first-place finish in New Hampshire in 2000 made him a serious contender against George W. Bush, though it failed to carry him through the rest of the primaries. Nearly eleven months ago, winning here put him on the path to securing his party's nomination. While only a couple of dozen people showed up eight years ago when he held one of his first town halls here, tonight...

<p>Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says she supports John McCain's position on immigration, including a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.</p> <p>It's the first time she's addressed the issue in depth, and her views are likely to shape her chances of leading the Republican Party should McCain fail to win the White House ne[x]t month.</p>

...Governor, let me ask you about immigration. How many undocumented immigrants are there in Alaska? I don't know, I don't know. That's a good question. As governor, how do you deal with them? Do you think they all should be deported? There is no way that in the US we would roundup every illegal immigrant -there are about 12 million of the illegal immigrants- not only economically is that just an impossibility but that's not a humane way anyway to deal with the issue that we face with illegal immigration. Do you then favor an amnesty for the 12 or...

A new Zogby poll of Hispanic voters says Barack Obama is clobbering John McCain, 70-21 percent. That's about half of the 40 percent George Bush won in 2004, and matches the recent low-point for Republicans in 1996, when Bob Dole collected just 21 percent of Hispanics' votes on the way to a drubbing at the hands of Bill Clinton.

John McCain’s presidential campaign has been on the attack against the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now for its voter registration tactics as well as its ties to rival Barack Obama. Today, Acorn fired back at McCain, accusing the Arizona senator of erratic and misleading behavior. “ACORN to McCain: Have You Lost That Loving Feeling?” reads a release by the organization this afternoon, noting that McCain was the keynote speaker at a Feb. 20, 2006 Miami rally cosponsored by Acorn to build support for a comprehensive immigration reform bill co-sponsored by McCain and Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. The...

In Phoenix, a news chopper captures a van chase ending in a crash and flip-over, with van passengers piling out and running.

A small group of Hispanic leaders in Arizona who are supporting Democrat Barack Obama say Republican John McCain won't enjoy the same strong support among Latinos in his home state as he has in past elections. Group member Mary Rose Wilcox said McCain's strength among Latinos has dwindled. That's primarily because he de-emphasized his support for a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants and now says border security is the first immigration priority. Wilcox, a Democrat and Maricopa County supervisor, said Hispanics view McCain's change in position as a betrayal.

Referencing my column yesterday on illegal immigration and the mortgage mess, Hans Bader at Open Market shares his experience. I’ve been getting a lot of e-mails with similar stories. Tip of the iceberg: When I and my wife, a legal alien, bought our house, the mortgage company told me that if my wife were an illegal alien, rather than legal, we would have qualified for certain loan programs with big banks. But because she was a legal alien waiting for her green-card (which she had recently applied for), we didn’t qualify. Mark Krikorian, an activist against illegal immigration, argues that...

In a letter today, Tancredo asked his Congressional colleagues to oppose any package that lacks such safeguards. A copy of the letter is below: # # # # Dear Colleague, In the midst of the turmoil in our financial markets, we should take pause to reflect on the lessons we have learned in the past few years. With the benefits of that wisdom, we can include the prudent provisions that will close loopholes in any potential “bailout” legislation. One such suggestion is to incorporate safeguards to verify the legal residency and identity of potential homebuyers to ensure that illegal aliens...

My syndicated column today tackles the bailout angle no one wants to talk about: Open borders and the home loan debacle. You’ve heard a lot about Fannie/Freddie and the minority lending shakedowns, but you haven’t heard most commentators/analysts on either the left or the right talk about the massive illegal alien mortgage racket — a topic I’ve reported on for the past five years. That’s because fault lies at the feet of the crime-enabling banking industry and the ethnic lobbyists and the illegal alien-enabling Bush administration. They screwed us. Now, they want us to fork over a trillion dollars. Screw...

YouTube video at link or here.

SCRANTON, Pa. -- During the Republican primaries, John McCain delicately balanced his record of pushing for immigration reform with satisfying his party's new appetite for harsher restrictions. Now in a general election against an opponent who broadly shares his views on the issue, McCain is showing greater ease asserting his distance from the anti-immigration right.

SCRANTON, Pa. -- An issue that has been largely missing from the English-language presidential debate recently -- immigration reform -- made a brief return here this morning when Republican John McCain addressed a largely Irish-American crowd. McCain said there were "50,000 Irish men and women in this country illegally who want to become citizens'' and that "we have to give them a path to citizenship."

Speaking to an Irish-American audience this morning, John McCain used his strongest language of the general election campaign to grab again the mantle of comprehensive immigration reform. In Scranton, Pa., he vowed to push through a plan that offers a path to citizenship to illegal immigrants who pay fines and fulfill other requirements. "This nation is stronger for the infusion of fresh blood and vitality," McCain said.

Yes, immigration is a complicated and combustible issue for political candidates — and the economic meltdown is everyone’s top priority. No, that is no excuse for ignoring immigration or lying about it to voters, as John McCain and Barack Obama have been doing.

But, talking about secure borders... -Sure. -You voted for the construction of the wall between Mexico and the United States. However, the Mexican Government has just confirmed that every year, at least half a million Mexicans come to the United States. How exactly are you planning to secure that border? Every single minute there is an immigrant coming into the United States illegally. -I didn't vote for, I am not sure what you are talking about, but we can secure... -...about 700 miles. -I say we can secure our borders with walls and/or fences in urban areas, and then virtual...

Here is a new John McCain Ad on "Immigration Reform." It is in Spanish and aimed at Hispanics to set the record straight no who actually tried to get Immigration Reform passed. Below is the translation: ANNCR: Obama and his Congressional allies say they are on the side of immigrants. But are they?The press reports that their efforts were ‘poison pills’ that made immigration reform fail.The result:No guest worker program. No path to citizenship.No secure borders.No reform.Is that being on our side?Obama and his Congressional allies ready to block immigration reform, but not ready to lead.JOHN MCCAIN: I’m John McCain...

PHOENIX (Reuters) - U.S. immigration agents have arrested 595 people at a Mississippi factory in what was the largest workplace enforcement raid in the United States to date, an immigration official said on Tuesday. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Barbara Gonzalez said federal agents arrested the workers in a raid at the Howard Industries Inc. factory in Laurel, Miss, on Monday, "This is the largest targeted workplace enforcement operation we have carried out in the United States to date," Gonzalez told Reuters by telephone. The swoop at the plant, which makes electrical equipment including transformers, was part of an ongoing...

LAUREL, Miss. - Federal immigration agents said they uncovered 350 suspected undocumented workers in a raid on a Mississippi electrical equipment plant Monday, hours after sealing all entrances amid reports their sweep had idled normal operations. Barbara Gonzalez, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman, confirmed the raid and said it targeted Howard Industries Inc. of Laurel. The company produces dozens of products ranging from electrical transformers to medical supplies, according to the company's Web site. "This is a targeted enforcement operation that is part of an ongoing ICE investigation that has revealed that illegal aliens are employed at Howard...

About 70 percent of voters believe that controlling the U.S. borders is more important than legalizing illegal immigrants, a new Rasmussen Reports national phone survey reveals. Only 21 percent think legalization is more important. Three out of four respondents said the government is not doing enough to secure the borders, while just 14 percent said the government’s efforts are sufficient. Backers of Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain in the presidential race have differing views on immigration, Rasmussen found. Among likely McCain voters, 86 percent believe gaining control of the borders is more important than legalizing undocumented workers; only...

Radio Row to Showcase the Largest Gathering Ever of Radio Hosts Broadcasting Together Live as a Unified Voice Demanding Immigration Enforcement, Secure Borders and No Amnesty. Federation for American Immigration Reform Congressional Task Force (FAIRCTF) announces September 10th and 11th as the dates for its annual Hold Their Feet to the Fire in Washington, D.C. Currently 20 radio hosts are confirmed to broadcast live from Radio Row with upwards of 50 to 75 others expected, thus doubling the size of the broadcast over previous years. In spring of 2007, 37 radio talk hosts attended Hold Their Feet to the Fire...

U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo sent an open letter to Sen. John McCain criticizing his recent meeting with Hispanic leaders where he reportedly pushed his amnesty agenda.

Darned curious. The last time McCain was confronted about this, he professed not to know of any controversial statements made by Hernandez while cheerily pledging to “look into it.” Does this mean he’s looked into it and decided to keep him on, albeit gagged? Or is he still getting around to “looking into it”? Sure sounds like someone knows they have a Hernandez problem.

The final vote was 80-16 with Senators Barack Obama and John McCain, both original sponsors of the bill, on the campaign trail and not available to cast a vote However, the $200 billion already spent by U.S. taxpayers on HIV/AIDS here and around the world has not resulted in any cures or a vaccine. On final passage, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky voted with Majority Leader Reid and the Democrats.In addition to spending $50 billion at a time of growing economic difficulties in the U.S., the bill lifts the ban on entry into the U.S. of AIDS-infected aliens,...

Republican presidential candidate John McCain defended his stance on comprehensive immigration reform Tuesday and said that, if elected to the White House in November, he will make the U.S. borders secure within a short period of time. Speaking on CBS’ “Early Show,” McCain said Americans want the confidence that its borders be secured first before supporting a humane and compassionate approach to temporary worker programs and comprehensive immigration reform. “We are moving forward right now with securing our borders,” McCain said. When asked if the daunting task could be accomplished within a two-year period, McCain assured, “It will be secure...

"But I do ask for your trust that when I say, I remain committed to fair, practical and comprehensive immigration reform, I mean it. I think I have earned that trust." —John McCain

Barack Obama takes the podium at the National Council of La Raza/The Race tonight. John McCain will Hispander, as Mickey Kaus puts it so well, tomorrow. It’ll be an open-borders lovefest for Obama, who was championed yesterday at The Race conference by L.A.’s zealous pro-illegal immigration mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa. You’ll recall that Obama is very, very proud to have marched “shoulder to shoulder� with shamnesty activists in the 2006 illegal alien May Day parade. ABI gives him a career grade of D- for his immigration voting record. As I predicted in my column this week, the open-borders radicalism of The...

There's a ridiculous myth that RINOs in DC have been spinning about illegal immigration and it goes something like this: Hispanics vote almost entirely based on the illegal immigration issue and if Republicans deliver an amnesty, Hispanics will be so grateful that the percentage of them voting Republican will go from roughly 30% up to 50+%. So, even if we allow 12-20 million mostly uneducated, mostly Hispanic illegal aliens from socialist countries to become Americans and that leads to another 30-40 million (or more) of their relatives becoming U.S. citizens through chain migration, it'll still be a net gain for...

First, my friends, a reminder of what was printed right here on January 23, 2008: After spearheading a disastrous, security-undermining illegal alien amnesty bill last year with Teddy Kennedy, “straight-talking” GOP Sen. John McCain claims he has seen the light. In TV appearances, he vows to put immigration enforcement first. On the campaign trail, he offers a perfunctory promise to strengthen border security and emphasizes the need to restore Americans’ trust in their government’s ability to defend the homeland. “I got the message,” he told voters in South Carolina. “We will secure the borders first.” But how can McCain cure...

For the third May in a row, the U.S. Senate is trying to force another amnesty on the country. In May 2006 and 2007, the Senate attempted to cram Teddy Kennedy’s and John McCain’s so-called “comprehensive” mass amnesty down the American people’s throats. Last September, the Senate tried again with amnesty for younger illegals. Known as the DREAM Act, it included in-state college tuition for illegal aliens. Now, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has attached the perennial AgJOBS amnesty to the must-pass Iraq War appropriations bill. This was part of the “comprehensive” amnesty bill. She is carrying water for those in...

The good news: Republican senators went on record against the Feinstein/Craig illegal alien farmworker amendment today in a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid. The bad news: There were only 10 of them willing to put their names on the letter: [Image of letter included on site.]Sen. Inhofe wants you to sign the No Amnesty letter. You can do so here. The text: Dear Majority Leader Reid: We write to express disappointment that the Senate Appropriations Committee chose to include in the War Supplemental more than 100 pages of immigration language that would grant legal status to more than one...

This is why we keep close watch on Congress.  In a bipartisan effort accomplished quickly and virtually under the table, Sens. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) -- in Senate Appropriations markup of the War Supplemental bill -- obtained approval of an amendment that would create an amnesty for illegal alien farm workers.  The measure, called the Emergency Agriculture Relief Act, was added to the War Supplemental bill in a 17-12 vote last Thursday. Known as the AgJob amendment, the Feinstein-Craig measure revived instantaneously the controversy that caused conservatives to lash out at the White House and Congress last summer. ...

The John McCain campaign celebrated Cinco de Mayo today by launching a Spanish-language version of its website–and announcing that McCain will speak at the annual conference of the National Council of La Raza (that’s “The Race”). The campaign justifies his appearance by framing it as a gesture of inclusiveness and outreach that is “part of his commitment to talking with all Americans.” Yes, they see it as an act of tolerance to legitimize the militantly open-borders, anti-immigration enforcement, ethnic nationalists who call themselves “The Race.”

NOTE: I checked all the stories I could find, including the LA TIMES, San Diego Union, and Mercury News. Only KFI radio news would dare mention the perp is Hispanic. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Man deliberately hit, killed by car in OC Associated Press - May 3, 2008 4:24 PM ET STANTON, Calif. (AP) - Orange County authorities say a man who complained about someone urinating outside a bar was deliberately run down and killed by a carload of people this morning. The 28-year-old Oxnard man was struck around 1:30 a.m. after leaving a bar in Stanton. Sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino says the...

Hillary Clinton regaled reporters for the umpteenth time with her fairy tale about a heroic landing through a hail of sniper fire 10 years ago.....This is pure, calculated fabrication. Lies, all of it. Fraudulence of this scope and severity makes Al Gore's claims that he invented the Internet look downright quaint. Throughout even the most polarizing of political eras, there is one thing both sides have always been able to agree upon: The Clintons lie with abandon......in the 1993 firing of the White House travel staff, investigators concluded Hillary's sworn testimony was "factually false." In 2000, The NY Times...

For years, William Zammer Jr. has relied on 100 seasonal foreign employees to turn down beds, boil lobsters and serve cocktails at the restaurants, golf course and inn he owns on Cape Cod and in nearby Plymouth. This summer, however, the foreign workers will not be returning, and Mr. Zammer, like other seasonal employers across the nation, is scrambling to find replacements. “It’s a major crisis,� he said. “We’re very short on work force. We’ll be looking at opening a little later, closing a little earlier, looking at how we do our menus.� Mr. Zammer is caught up in a...

McCain is bowing to the far right now, but he'll deliver comprehensive immigration reform as president. He may even deliver a future for his party.....his emergence as the nominee repudiated the harshest of his party's nativist voices. To win their confidence, he vows to address border security first. For how long? That depends on who puts McCain in the White House. If the right wing stays home and independent voters make McCain president, he can justify a push for reform. McCain won 68% of GOP Latinos in Arizona on Super Tuesday. If Latinos help put McCain in the White House,...

It's Texas or bust for Hillary Rodham Clinton, hubby Bill admitted..... "If she wins Texas and Ohio, I think she will be the nominee. If you don't, then I don't think she can," he told a crowd in Beaumont. Reuters/Zogby showed Obama with a hefty national lead over Clinton, 52 to 38%.....Harold Ickes, one of her top advisers, acknowledged Obama is now the front-runner. FEC filings show Clinton raised $20M last month, to Obama's $36M. She has raised $118M during the campaign. Obama's aides say he's raised an eye-popping $150M this campaign cycle. Roger Salazar, president of Clinton's new 527...

The morning after is never pretty. In the wake of defeat in the Iowa caucus, it was a sad and sorry Team Hillary that assembled for a conference call with the candidate. Campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle, in transit back to Washington, was absent. Top strategist Mark Penn was dazed and subdued, waiting for the candidate to come on the line. When she did, Hillary gave a brief greeting making clear that there would be no navel-gazing and that she was ready to look ahead, according to a participant in the call who was already on the ground in New...