Free Republic

. . . . . . “I thought about that issue a lot and [went] back and forth on it before I signed on to my principles and I just concluded that it’s not good for the country in the long term to have millions and millions of people who are forever prohibited from becoming citizens,” Rubio told reporters on his way to a Senate vote. “That hasn’t worked out well for Europe.” Responding to a question from TPM, Rubio said he did not think Bush’s surprise move would make it harder to convince conservatives to accept an eventual path...

NEW YORK — Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is moving swiftly behind the scenes to lock down some of Wall Street’s biggest donors ahead of the 2016 presidential race. In recent weeks, the rising GOP star and possible 2016 hopeful has quietly met with some of the most powerful GOP backers in the world of high finance. The roster includes Blackstone Group Chief Executive Officer Stephen Schwarzman, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. CEO Henry Kravis and senior executives at Goldman Sachs and Barclays Capital among others. Rubio has gotten backing from big Wall Street titans before, notably hedge fund manager and...

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Saturday panned a reported immigration reform proposal from President Obama, saying it would be “dead on arrival” in Congress. “If actually proposed, the President’s bill would be dead on arrival in Congress, leaving us with unsecured borders and a broken legal immigration system for years to come,” said Rubio in a statement. His response followed a report in USA Today on Saturday which said the Obama administration has prepared a draft plan that includes a provision to allow illegal immigrants to obtain green cards within eight years. The proposal would create a “Lawful Prospective Immigrant”...

Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio's pause to take a drink of water during his rebuttal to President Obama's State-of-the-Union speech was declared “a possible career ender” by CNN's Wolf Blitzer. “Voters may tolerate a lot from their prospective leaders,” Blitzer observed. “We've learned that diddling interns is okay. A bogus birth certificate may be worth a few snickers, but does not seem to undermine our confidence in a man's leadership capabilities. However, the jarring interruption of a high-profile speech by a moment of thirst would appear to be the type of thing that raises serious questions about fitness to serve.”...

On Wednesday's NBC Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams proclaimed that Florida Senator Marco Rubio taking a sip of water during his response to the State of the Union was "the televised moment from last night that just might live on forever." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump] Williams expounded: "Well, it's one of the cruelest aspects of politics in the television age. No matter how well-crafted the content, no matter how thoughtful a person you are, it's the television moments, the superficial, purely visual moments that are often remembered forever instead. And that will certainly...

This a darn good idea. I like that Rubio is hitting right back at the media.

Sen. Marco Rubio’s delivery of the GOP response to the State of the Union shows he’s a force the Democrats must reckon with, says former White House advisor Van Jones. The Florida Republican poses a “dangerous” political threat to Democrats because of his keen ability to emotionally connect with voters, Jones said.

The liberal hosts on MSNBC just couldn't get enough of watching U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio reach for a glass of water and take a sip during his rebuttal of President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, airing the snippet a staggering 155 times during the Wednesday broadcast schedule. Other cable news networks showed the footage far less often. CNN aired it 34 times, and Fox News Channel played it just 12 times -- all of which took place on “The O’Reilly Factor” and “Hannity” while the hosts discussed the media's obsession with the Florida Republican's “watergate” incident. MSNBC's total...

<p>A parched Marco Rubio's awkward reach for a drink of Poland Spring water during his Republican rebuttal to the president's State of the Union address Tuesday night became an instant online sensation. Predictably, the video clips, jokes and Twitter hashtags that have become so familiar in such situations took the social Internet by storm.</p>

Freepers! Marco Rubio is just great and what a sense of humor. This is exactly how to respond to liberal hubris and their synthetic, hibrow, intellect. You need this water bottle if only to get Marco notice from now on. He is going to be Yuge and you need to support him.

The Texas libertarian is widely seen as a longshot candidate for the GOP's 2012 presidential nomination. So why is he preparing for another White House campaign?....

When Texas Gov. Rick Perry floated the idea of secession if the federal government continues to pursue an aggressive tax-and-spend policy, the mainstream media, as well as the political establishment, cringed. MSNBC’s Chris Matthews called talk of secession “whack-job stuff,” calling Mr. Perry a “bozo” and telling the Texas governor, “You don’t have a choice buddy.” Mr. Matthews’ colleague, Rachael Maddow, said Mr. Perry was “flirting to the point of adultery” by talking about secession, while commentator Thomas Frank reinforced the disconnect between the media and many Americans. “What you’re seeing … what is one of the surprising things about...

We have recently heard many shocking stories of brutal killings and ruthless violence related to drug cartels warring with Mexican and US officials. It is approaching the fever pitch of a full blown crisis. Unfortunately, the administration is not likely to waste this opportunity to further expand government. Hopefully, we can take a deep breath and look at history for the optimal way to deal with this dangerous situation, which is not unprecedented. Alcohol prohibition in the 1920’s brought similar violence, gangs, lawlessness, corruption and brutality. The reason for the violence was not that making and selling alcohol was inherently...

Romney has been active on the fundraising circuit for both his PAC and as a headliner for GOP candidates. Photo: John Shinkle Mitt Romney’s political action committee has raised $571,000 this year, according to a report filed this week with the Federal Election Commission. The stated mission of the committee, Free and Strong America PAC, is to support “officeholders and candidates who are dedicated to promoting public policies that will strengthen America.” But the group also helps keep Romney – a former Massachusetts governor believed to be positioning himself for a run at the 2012 Republican presidential nomination – in...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kADXWXgxKJk New projections from Ron Paul as his prominence in the mainstream media continues to increase.

Remember Ron Paul? Congressman Ron Paul? The long-term libertarian-like representative from Texas who's even older than McCain? The guy with a leased blimp who sought the Republican presidential nomination last year and came within something like 1,000 delegates of upsetting the Arizonan. Paul lasted a lot longer than Romney, who had to write off some $40 million of his own dough. And Paul's hundreds of thousands of dedicated supporters way-outraised that preacher Huckabee who's now all over Fox News, which, btw, is the network that barred Paul from its New Hampshire GOP debate because he had no chance. Although, to...

<p>MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) - Campaigning in New Hampshire today, Republican Ron Paul says he would lift sanctions on Iran and order the U.S. Navy to pull back from its shores.</p> <p>Paul says if the U.S. relieved pressure on Iran, people would breathe a sign of relief, interest rates probably would not go up and oil prices probably would drop.</p>

YouTube video via Drudge- Ron Paul quote this morning on Fox and Friends- "When fascism comes it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross. "

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul's supporters raised over $6 million Sunday to boost the 10-term Texas congressman's campaign for the White House. Called a "Money Bomb," the goal was to raise as much money as possible on the Internet in one day. The campaign's previous fundraiser brought in $4.2 million. At midnight EST, donations were over $6 million, according to the campaign Web site. Those donations are processed credit card receipts, said Paul campaign spokesman Jesse Benton. Benton said the median donation is about $50 in the fundraiser, which was the idea of Paul supporters who...

The freewheeling tactics of his supporters have made the GOP candidate an Internet sensation and an unlikely phenomenon. The late-fall night fairly crackled with energy -- from a persistent Santa Ana wind, the high-tension power lines overhead and, especially, from the crowd packed inside the living room of a ranch house at the west end of the San Gabriel Valley. Eighty people sat elbow to elbow on tight rows of folding chairs, chattering with enthusiasm and ideas. They would produce wall calendars and a concert. They would reenact the Boston Tea Party on the Santa Monica Pier. They would write...

Slandering our soldiers recieved 100 posts. Schiavo recieved over 600. I guess Durbin, a United States Senator, will again get away with slander and aiding and abetting our enemies.

ALBANY, N.Y., Jan. 22 - Until now, former U.N. weapon's inspector Scott Ritter has declined to speak about allegations he was arrested in an Internet sex sting 19 months ago. However, NewsChannel 13 reached Ritter by phone Wednesday and for the first time he discussed the arrest and the sealed court documents. ...snip... "The case was dismissed. Therefore it never happened," Ritter said Wednesday. "I stood in a court of law, before a judge and an assistant district attorney, and they dismissed it," he added. But the court of public opinion has a different view. The story of Ritter's arrest...

Tony Blair and George Bush today face mounting opposition to the war on Iraq from both sides of the Atlantic. In Britain, a survey of Labour MPs showed almost zero backing for military attacks on Saddam Hussein's regime. And in the States, former president Bill Clinton led a growing chorus of demands to postpone action until Osama bin Laden, the terrorist godfather thought to be behind the 11 September atrocities, is caught. In another blow, the head of the intelligence committee in Congress, Bob Graham, also called for war to be postponed until Afghanistan was dealt with. Mr Blair, who...