Free Republic

Despite having failed to achieve immigration reform in the Senate, John McCain told the nation’s largest Hispanic advocacy group he would “fix our broken borders.” “Many Americans, with good cause, did not believe us when we said we would secure our borders, and so we failed in our efforts,” McCain said at the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) annual convention today. “We must prove to them that we can and will secure our borders first, while respecting the dignity and rights of citizens and legal residents of the United States.” McCain said it was important to “recognize the...

Senator John McCain will make a foreign policy speech.

...A new poll shows that 82% of Hispanics consider education as one of three most important issues facing this country. The survey also shows that, even while Hispanics trust Democrats over Republicans on education by more than a two-to-one margin, that ratio could change if Republicans heavily promote school choice while Democrats oppose it.... ...This survey found that although Hispanic voters generally consider public schools to be effective...Fifty-two percent of Hispanic voters have a favorable view of school choice, according to the poll, while only 7% had an unfavorable view. When asked about vouchers specifically, 32% expressed a favorable opinion...

WASHINGTON, US - US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama vowed on Monday not to seek permanent US military bases in Iraq and reiterated his pledge to pull out the bulk of US forces by mid-2010. But he insisted on keeping 'a residual force' in the violence-ravaged nation to fight remnants of Al-Qaeda for an unspecified amount of time, if he moved to the White House next January. Writing in The New York Times, Mr Obama, who has been under criticism for allegedly wavering on Iraq, said he would not hold the military or US resources 'hostage to a misguided desire...

With all the reporters covering the major presidential candidates, it amazes me no one ever seems to ask the right questions. For several days now, WND has been hounding Barack Obama's campaign about a statement he made July 2 in Colorado Springs – a statement that blew my mind, one that has had me scratching my head ever since. In talking about his plans to double the size of the Peace Corps and nearly quadruple the size of AmeriCorps and the size of the nation's military services, he made this rather shocking (and chilling) pledge: "We cannot continue to rely...

I think McCain will incrementally continue to close the lead for four reasons: The hope and change rock-start moments are waning, and replaced by a new Obama composite: 1) Obama flips in furious fashion; the only controversy is over when the mutations will stop, and how well he can convince his base that they are only cosmetic adjustments of limited duration necessary for election and the implementation of their shared European-like agenda. 2) Obama is proving messianic; all the lectures about fainting, the Brandenburg Gate, his new seal, open-air address in Denver, oceans receding, etc. are cementing a portrait of...

Poll Finds 72 Percent of Americans Say McCain Would be Good Commander-in-Chief Americans divide evenly between Barack Obama and John McCain's approaches to the war in Iraq, and rate McCain much more highly on his abilities as commander-in-chief — key reasons the unpopular war isn't working more to Obama's advantage. Despite broad, longstanding dissatisfaction with the war, just 50 percent of Americans prefer Obama's plan to withdraw most U.S. forces within 16 months of taking office. Essentially as many, 49 percent, side with McCain's position — setting no timetable and letting events dictate when troops are withdrawn.

Currently, it is only legal to drill for oil off certain parts of the California coast. Should the law be changed to expand drilling for oil in coastal waters or should the law stay as is? 59% Change To Expand 33% Stay As Is Have you always thought drilling should be expanded off the California coast? Or, did you only recently come to think drilling should be expanded, given the price of gasoline? 50% Always for Expanding 48% Recently Due To Prices 2% Not Sure If drilling is expanded in water off the coast of California, will the price of...

Investors this summer have been placing their bets on an Obama presidency, and for the most part that hasn't been good for the market. Without giving him a chance to explain himself in detail on the campaign trail or at the Democratic National Convention, they are voting with their shares by tossing financial, health insurance, manufacturing and high-dividend stocks into the ash can, and are growing skeptical about energy companies as well. It's not that major institutional investors don't like the man -- far from it. He has many backers among the financial elite, including multibillionaires George Soros and Ron...

WASHINGTON — Senator Obama's endorsement of a proposal by Senator Clinton to give health care tax credits to small businesses marks the first policy-related olive branch he has offered to his vanquished rival. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee unveiled the plan during a speech yesterday in San Diego to the National Council of La Raza, where he touted its potential to expand health care and jobs for Latino businesses and families. Under the $6 billion-a-year plan, small firms that provide health care for their employees would be eligible for refundable tax credits covering as much as 50% of the cost...

Sen. John McCain on Tuesday brushed off skepticism from economists and insisted he could balance the budget by 2013 by keeping taxes low and curbing spending. "We're going to restrain spending, we're going to have the economy grow again and increase revenues. The problem is that spending got completely out of control," McCain said on CNN's "American Morning." McCain is in favor of extending the Bush tax cuts, which are set to expire in 2010. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has projected that by extending the cuts, which McCain originally opposed, and including the additional cuts McCain has...

First there was the flag pin. Barack Obama refused to wear it. Then he refused to put hand to heart during the national anthem. He sat in a pew while his pastor trashed America. He explained to his rich pals in San Francisco that the hard working folks in Middle America "cling to guns or religion” because they are “bitter” over the tough economic times. Now Obama tells us that we shouldn’t worry about immigrants learning English; our focus should be on getting our children to learn Spanish. He added, "It’s embarrassing when Europeans come over here, they all speak...

If conservatives ever though there was little difference between John McCain and Barack Obama on Immigration -- think again! Yesterday, in a speech to La Raza, Barack Obama likened Immigration Enforcement efforts to "terror" . . . (see video) When communities are terrorized by ICE immigration raids, when nursing mothers are torn from their babies, when children come home from school to find their parents missing, when people are detained without access to legal counsel, when all that is happening, the system just isn’t working, and we need to change it.As this campaign wears on, Obama is systematically showing himself...

WASHINGTON — So how old is John McCain? Six-packs, automatic transmissions and the American Express card were all introduced after he was born, not to mention computers which McCain admits he doesn't use. McCain, himself, jokes that he's older than dirt. And while his age is being raised as a campaign issue, medical experts say voters shouldn't be concerned that, if elected, McCain would be the oldest man to assume the presidency, at 72. In politics and other fields, they explain, it's not unusual for talented people to do signature work late in life, when they can apply the cumulative...

(CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama discussed his vision for the world in a wide-ranging foreign policy discussion with CNN's Fareed Zakaria. The Democratic presidential hopeful answered some tough questions about how he would deal with the world's crises, what he would do if Osama bin Laden is caught and his plan for Iraq. Here are some highlights from the interview, which aired Sunday on "Fareed Zakaria -- GPS." ZAKARIA: Tell me, what is your first memory of a foreign policy event that shaped you, shaped your life? OBAMA: A first memory. Well, you know, it wasn't so much an event....

Barack Obama unveiled a $6 billion-a-year plan to provide tax credits for small businesses offering health insurance to employees, adopting an idea proposed by onetime rival Hillary Clinton and targeted at one of the most persistent challenges in achieving universal coverage. The tax credit offers an incentive for small businesses, which helped sink former President Bill Clinton's 1993 plan, which would have required all businesses to contribute toward health costs. Obama's proposed tax credit is an effort to bring this powerful constituency to the Democratic camp by offering carrots, not sticks, toward health coverage. Sen. Clinton concluded the same and...

  This bombshell was made by Atlas reader techdude in the comment section (oh and btw, techdude, send the screenshots): As a real forensic computer investigator (board certified, investigated thousands of cases, access to a full forensic computer lab, yadda yadda...) I decided to jump into the fray over the fake vs real discussion a week ago when a friend of mine challenged me to see what I could find (since according to him, the document was clearly a real one). He is what one would call a slightly rabid Obama supporter – he even has the tattoo to prove...

MAYBE THE quickest way to lower oil and gas prices would be this: Immediately enroll every Democratic member of Congress in an entry-level economics class. The lack of even a basic grasp of economic concepts has led Democrats to oppose sensible policies that would begin to lower oil and gas prices. Instead, they push hair-brained ideas that make no sense. As Harvard economics professor Martin Feldstein wrote in The Wall Street Journal on July 1, "Increasing the expected future supply of oil would also reduce today's price. That fall in the current price would induce an immediate rise in oil...

Obama Supporters on the Far Left Cry Foul By WILLIAM YARDLEY PORTLAND, Ore. — In the breathless weeks before the Oregon presidential primary in May, Martha Shade did what thousands of other people here did: she registered as a Democrat so she could vote for Senator Barack Obama. Now, however, after critics have accused Mr. Obama of shifting positions on issues like the war in Iraq, the Bush administration’s program of wiretapping without warrants, gun control and the death penalty — all in what some view as a shameless play to a general election audience — Ms. Shade said she...

Is Ralph Nadar Right About Obama Using White Guilt? by Delores WilliamsJune 26, 2008 06:28 PM EDT (Updated: June 26, 2008 06:37 PM EDT) For my new readers, let me disclose from the top that I am not an Obama fan. I refuse to pull the lever for him because I think he is unqualified, lacks judgment, and borders near the unethical and illegal too often. Having said that, is Ralph Nadar right when he says that Obama is using "white guilt" and trying to talk "white." I think I have a split decision on that. As far as...