Free Republic

WASHINGTON — President Obama told congressional lawmakers Thursday that he would push for an overhaul of the nation's immigration system by early next year. But during the White House meeting, a new political obstacle came into view: how to regulate the influx of foreign workers. The issue was raised by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a principal architect of past attempts to rewrite immigration laws. McCain challenged Obama and other Democrats to stand up to labor unions that are pushing a plan business groups fear could be overly restrictive in admitting future immigrant workers. "I would expect the president of the...

Just hours before President Obama hosts lawmakers for a discussion on immigration at the White House, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel conceded that Obama and his allies on Capitol Hill do not have the votes to pass a comprehensive reform bill. "If the votes were there, you wouldn't need to have the meeting. You could go to a roll call," Emanuel told reporters during an hour-long breakfast. About 20 senators and House members are due to arrive at the White House at 2 p.m. for the discussion in the State Dining Room. Aides to the president said the meeting was...

A national campaign fueled by a conservative Web site took in more than $100,000 in the past week for Gov. Sarah Palin's legal defense fund. The Alaska Fund Trust, was set up to help Palin with legal fees she has run up defending herself against ethics complaints. A formal "webathon" fundraiser wrapped up Sunday night but Conservatives4Palin says it will continue publicizing the effort with a goal of raising $500,000. Palin in March said her legal debts had climbed past $500,000. Palin supporters describe the complaints as frivolous attacks. The governor's office says 14 complaints have been dismissed so far...

Thursday, June 18, 2009 Why I Love the Guv By Seth Adam Smith Owing to the fact that we are in the midst of a webathon to benefit Governor Palin, I thought it would be fitting to take some time to reflect upon the woman---and the cause---that we are supporting. While it is important to battle the inaccurate reporting (and flat out lies) leveled against the Governor, it is equally important to promote and publish positive articles and stories about her. What I've included in this article are just a few of the reasons why I "love the Guv": •All-American-Woman...

Ok, I fixed the one spelling error, NOW she is ready to roll!! GO SARAH PALIN 2012

So, Republicans, you're looking for people who can serve as faces of a party on the upswing. What qualities would we want to see in such people? Maybe these: * They've served in public office and have actually governed effectively. * Rather than just talking about fiscal responsibility, they've made it happen under their watch. * When possible, they've made sure the private sector would take the lead in crucial initiatives. * They've taken on corrupt, entrenched interests to make government more responsive to the people it serves, even when those interests were fellow Republicans. * They pull no punches...

They have enough problems already, but a poll released Monday is sure to give anti-immigration extremists and Republican leaders plenty more to fret about.

Although President Obama has spent much of his time in office moving away from the policies of his predecessor, on immigration enforcement, he has embraced several Bush administration initiatives, and the changes he has promised to make are couched in nuance. In recent days, for example, the administration has announced it will expand a $1.1 billion program begun under President George W. Bush to check the immigration status of virtually all people booked into local jails over the next four years. Obama will continue a "zero-tolerance" program that charges and jails any illegal immigrant caught crossing parts of the U.S.-Mexico...

PHOENIX (AP) - Sen. John McCain says the United States needs to do more to crack down on gun smuggling into Mexico, but that such assistance in Mexico's war against drug cartels doesn't require restrictions on the gun rights of law-abiding Americans. McCain told several thousand people at the National Rifle Association's convention in Phoenix on Friday that limiting guns sales in the United States won't prevent the cartels from buying weapons from other countries. . . . . . McCain says the U.S. government has overstated the prevalence of guns being smuggled from the United States into Mexico for...

Many Arizona conservatives would like nothing more than to see Sen. John McCain knocked off in a Republican primary. But few of them think Chris Simcox, the controversial founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps who recently announced he would challenge McCain, is a serious threat to do it. Despite Simcox’s high-profile leadership on illegal immigration on the state’s southern border — a potent issue in the state’s Republican primary — party insiders say the 48-year-old former grade school teacher carries a heavy load of personal baggage and faces ample skepticism from rank-and-file Republican voters. “I’m very unhappy with Sen....

FRIENDS, THE SENATE NEEDS YOUR IMMEDIATE RESPONSE! Your Senators need phone calls today before the rancid thinking of yesterday's immigration hearing infects their views on what makes political sense this year. Did you think Senators might be too smart this year -- or too moral or at least too embarrassed -- to push for more foreign workers while millions of Americans are losing their jobs? Such modest faith in U.S. Senators was dashed yesterday by the Senate Judiciary Committee in a first hearing of its immigration panel. Senators made it clear that they are hopeful that the American people will...

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The next question is on immigration reform and whether the president will reach out to Sen. John McCain, an advocate of immigration reform. President Obama says he would “love to partner” with McCain and others on what is going to be “a critical issue.”

Meet "Juan" McCain. You already know him as John McCain, however you can expect McCain to get much more in touch with his inner illegal alien. McCain will finally get a serious primary challenge for his Senate seat from Chris Simcox, a founder of the Minutemen organization. How better to draw attention to ineffectual RINOs like McCain, than to take one out, and deservedly so. McCain's has been pandering to illegal aliens for the sake of votes. Because the fact of the matter is that no country in the world sanctions illegal immigration. (Except now, apparently, the United States.) I...

Washington, D.C. – In advance to the Homeland Security field hearing on border security in Phoenix on Monday, April 20, 2009, U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) made the following statement: “The unfortunate reality is our Southwest border remains unsafe due to the drug cartels, and now more than ever, we must focus first and foremost on securing our borders,” said Senator John McCain. “The current plan being developed by the Administration and organized labor calls for immigration reform that does not adequately address either securing the border or a legal temporary worker program and is a plan I cannot support,”...

Mexican drug cartels have displaced the mafia as the "number one organized crime threat" in the United States, Sen. Joe Lieberman said Monday as his Senate committee heard testimony in Phoenix on border violence. Lieberman, an independent Democrat from Connecticut, and Sen. John McCain, a Republican on Lieberman's panel, told FOX News that the United States needs to step up the fight against the drug cartels. The two senators were in Arizona, McCain's home state, to hear from local officials on their advice for dealing with the drug-fueled violence many fear is spilling across the border.

As part of a trip across the state this week, Arizona Sen. John McCain spent Thursday in Tucson. Here are highlights from an interview with the Star: Nationwide "tea parties": "I think there's a significant grass-roots element in America that's fed up with the taxation level and the complexities of the tax code as well," said McCain. "All of this dissatisfaction is obviously inflamed by the terrible economic times we're in." . . . . . "We must have a temporary- worker program, but we also have to secure our borders first," he said. "The level of the violence has...

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Thursday morning the New York Times ran a front-page story announcing that the Obama administration would begin working on comprehensive immigration reform this year. By Thursday afternoon hundreds of Houston business leaders received e-mails urging them to join the effort — by bringing their checkbooks to a May 4 fundraiser here for Sen. John McCain. The pitch ought to work. The Houston business establishment, led by the Greater Houston Partnership, is firmly on record for comprehensive immigration reform. The Houston economy is heavily dependent on immigrant labor, legal and illegal.

SAN JOSE—In yet another sign of his pivoting toward the general election, Senator John McCain said at a roundtable with business leaders here today that comprehensive immigration reform should be a top priority for the next president. . . . . . He found a friendly audience, however, here today at a business roundtable held at a Silicon Valley technology firm that included Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, Meg Whitman, the former chief executive officer of eBay who was a leading supporter of Mitt Romney’s but has since begun raising money for Mr. McCain, and a host of executives from...