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In a rare show of bipartisan cooperation, Senate Republicans on Thursday night joined their Democratic colleagues to pass legislation boosting border security funding by $600 million, including money for 1,500 new border personnel, a pair of unmanned drones and operating bases. The Senate passed the Democrat-sponsored bill by unanimous consent and forwarded it to the House, which passed a similar $700 million proposal last week and could take up the Senate measure when members return for a special session next week. The Senate bill would not add to the deficit - a concern of many Republicans - but would be...

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Sen. John McCain hasn't always talked tough on immigration. That haunted his presidential ambitions, and now his political survival hinges on whether he can show that his conversion is genuine. It hasn't been easy. Boycotts, vigils and a legal fight over the state's attempted crackdown on illegal immigrants have kept voters attuned to each nuance in his run for re-election. "Since 2007, I've said we have to secure the border first. I said it in 2008 and 2009 and 2010," McCain told 120 people at a town hall meeting in suburban Phoenix. Leaning against the back wall...

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) spent more than $10M on his primary battle against ex-Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R), according to his 2ndQ campaign finance report, leaving him with a much narrower financial advantage in the GOP primary than he once enjoyed. McCain has spent a total of $15.7M this cycle, according to FEC reports, and he has just $1.78M left to spend before the Aug. 24 GOP primary. Hayworth had $922K in the bank, his reports showed. "Senator McCain takes every campaign seriously, and this race is no exception. Senator McCain is proud of the statewide support he's received from Arizonans,...

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Friday said he thinks that Congress can get immigration reform done by March 2011, if not by the end of this year. While speaking at a fundraising event for the Irish Lobby for Immigration reform in New York while on recess, Schumer praised his former negotiating partner Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), noting that Graham took his cues from Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). "While Lindsey Graham is a great partner and he loves our bill," Schumer said, he really said his mentor was McCain, according to IrishCentral.com. (snip) In 2007, McCain attempted to push through a...

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell will host his first fundraiser for Arizona Sen. John McCain, facing a tough primary battle against former congressman J.D. Hayworth, at a McLean home later this month, advisers to the governor say. The June 14 fundraiser will be at the home of Bobbie Kilberg, president and chief executive of the Northern Virginia Technology Council. Kilberg, an adviser to McDonnell, is a member of McDonnell's new government reform commission. Other hosts include businessman Fred Malek, the commission chairman who has been under fire in recent weeks because of questions that have been raised about his past, former...

Please help. I plan to keep this thread alive until McCain loses the primary. Let's NAIL THAT RINO! Please help scout for headlines to bring here. I will ping people here once a week with choice headlines and links. [Since it's the OPPOSITE of high volume, several have already signed on.] If you would like to be on this once-a-week ping list, please let me know. Any helpful links will be appreciated. "The most recent online scores from the American Conservative Union are from 2008. In that year, John McCain scored 63 and had a lifetime average of 81.43. ......

TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - Senator John McCain tells KGUN 9 News he sympathizes with the illegal immigrant students who put their residents in the United States on the line to show their support for the DREAM Act. The bill would grant students who are under the age of 16 and illegally in the country a path to citizenship if they meet certain requirements. The three undocumented students face deportation after a sit in demonstration inside McCain's Tucson office. The senator later met with the students to hear their side of the story. "Their situation is one that they're in jeopardy. They...

This weekend, dozens of Southern Californians plan to march in Washington for immigration reform, joining thousands of activists from around the country. Today, a different group of Southern Californians – members of the L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce – heard from a U.S. senator who took a lot of political heat for his efforts at immigration reform. The question arose at lunch during the Chamber’s annual lobbying trip to Washington. What did Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona think the U.S. should do about the “flood of immigrants” “running over” California? McCain cosponsored the last major immigration reform bill with...

Enclosed are some excerpts from Senator John McCain's letter that he E-Mailed to his followers today. I'm pleased to see someone on Capital Hill who is standing up to Obama and the Democrats and their outrageous wasteful spending..... "My Friend, I have spent much of my career fighting against wasteful spending in Washington. I'm not afraid to speak out when I see taxpayer dollars wasted. And in all my years in public office, I have never seen spending as out of control as it is under the current Democratic leadership. Our national debt has reached an all-time high of $12.4...