Free Republic

WASHINGTON — In a terse exchange with ICE Director John Morton on Tuesday, South Carolina Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy accused the department head of endangering the safety of Americans with the recent release of over 2,200 illegal immigrant detainees, including aggravated felons. The exchange, during a House Judiciary Committee hearing entitled “The Release of Criminal Detainees by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement: Policy or Politics,” got heated as Gowdy assailed the administration’s response to sequestration. “It does look like the decision to release the detainees was a political determination and not a monetary determination,” Gowdy said. “It appears to me...

In an effort to once again run defense for Barack Obama, NBC's Today co-host Matt Lauer on Wednesday pushed New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to agree that the President's sustained effort to pit economic classes against one another is just a matter of fairness: "Talk to me about that word 'envy.' Because I asked Governor Romney about this last week as well....why is it envy as opposed to unfairness?" As Lauer mentioned, he did ask Mitt Romney an almost identical question on the January 11 broadcast: "Do you suggest that anyone who questions the policies and practices of Wall Street...

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton phoned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday night and demanded that he release Palestinian tax revenue that Israel has frozen for more than a month after UNESCO accepted the Palestinians as a member. A senior U.S. official and an Israeli source familiar with details of the conversation say Clinton called Netanyahu after messages relayed to him in recent weeks on the tax money were not answered positively.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The International Monetary Fund on Thursday urged the United States to rein in its ballooning budget deficit without putting the "modest" economic recovery at risk. Amid jitters that high levels of unemployment may force a double dip recession, the IMF warned the slow US recovery would continue and that debt problems loomed. "The central challenge is to develop a credible fiscal strategy to ensure that public debt is put -- and is seen to be put -- on a sustainable path without putting the recovery in jeopardy," an IMF report said. The balance between spending to stimulate...

Bolstered by the backing of key watchdog groups, top GOP oversight official Rep. Darrell Issa is pressing House oversight committee Chairman Edolphus Towns to help investigate a mounting number of technology-related ethics problems for a White House that has prided itself on both transparency and its technological savvy. Issa’s latest move is a June 30 letter to Towns requesting the chairman join Issa in “launching a formal investigation” into numerous allegations the Obama White House has played fast and loose with its ethics rules and disclosure requirements under federal law.

House defense authorizers are pressing Defense Secretary Robert Gates to consider buying existing fighter jets instead of the next-generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to curtail a severe fighter jet shortfall in the Air Force National Guard. During a House Armed Services Committee markup of the 2010 defense authorization bill on Tuesday, lawmakers raised alarm that aircraft shortfalls could present significant challenges to the Air Force’s ability to protect domestic airspace. At press time, lawmakers had included an amendment sponsored by Reps. Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.) and Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) that would force Gates to consider buying F-15, F-16 and F-18 aircraft...

Republicans, seeking to keep pressure on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, will call for a formal investigation Thursday into her charge that the CIA lied to her about its interrogation tactics. But Pelosi (D-Calif.) might not be available to answer their challenge. She has postponed until Friday the press conference she regularly holds on Thursdays, noting she'll be delivering a college commencement. Her press conference last Thursday generated a storm when she accused the agency of "misleading" her in a 2002 briefing. She nodded and said "yes" when asked if she was accusing the agency of lying to her. Pelosi has...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – California has nearly $44 billion in infrastructure projects ready to start and capable of creating nearly 800,000 jobs, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told President-elect Barack Obama in a letter on Tuesday in which he urged a "substantial federal stimulus program." Obama officials and Democrats in Congress have been discussing economic stimulus legislation authorizing up to $775 billion over two years to help the U.S. economy recover from recession. Some governors have pressed for around $1 trillion in spending while many Republicans are talking about $500 billion. California, the most populous U.S. state, is suffering from a spike...

State Sen. Tom McClintock still wants the governor's job, he admitted Thursday, but there's already a well-known Republican in line for that seat. For now, McClintock hopes Californians will choose him for the No. 2 job and confirm his belief that the state is at a "crisis or turning point." As long as voters are paying attention to the state's spending problems and education and infrastructure woes, he thinks they'll see things his way and pick him as lieutenant governor. "I believe this election will determine whether the recall of 2003 was a passing fluke," he said during an editorial...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Bombs and gunfire killed about 60 people as another daytime curfew Saturday failed to halt violence that has claimed nearly 200 lives since the destruction of a Shiite shrine set off a wave of retribution against Sunnis and pushed Iraq toward civil war. In an unusual round of telephone diplomacy, President Bush spoke with seven leaders of Shiite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish political parties in a bid to defuse the sectarian crisis unleashed by the bombing of the Shiites' Askariya shrine in Samarra. Bush "encouraged them to continue to work together to thwart the efforts of the...

JERUSALEM - Israel shut down charities with ties to Hamas across the West Bank on Wednesday as it widened a five-day offensive against Palestinian militants despite their pledges to stop firing rockets at Israel. Moving to stop the violence from escalating, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas traveled to Cairo to try to enlist the aid of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, while Palestinian officials said he would meet later this month with President Bush in Washington. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the Bush administration had talked to both the Palestinians and Israel about "the responsibilities they have" in defusing the situation...

WASHINGTON - With John Roberts' confirmation as chief justice now assured, Republicans on Tuesday began pressuring the Senate's minority Democrats to promise what they called a fair confirmation hearing and vote for President Bush's next Supreme Court nominee. Bush could announce his choice to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor as early as Thursday, the same day the senators plan to overwhelmingly confirm Roberts as the Supreme Court's 17th chief justice. Almost three-fourths of the 100-member Senate will vote for Roberts, a 50-year-old conservative U.S. Appeals judge and former appellate lawyer, as the replacement for William H. Rehnquist, who died...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Claims by the nation's biggest public pension fund that it has found no investments in Sudan prompted complaints Monday from U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, that the California Public Employees Retirement System is dismissing concerns about supporting Sudanese genocide. Lee released a CalPERS letter which stated it has discovered no Sudanese investments among 1,869 companies in which it owns shares. But CalPERS also acknowledged in the letter that only 11 percent of those companies responded to its survey last year about such investments. Lee spokesman Nathan Britton said the congresswoman considers the pension fund's response inadequate. Lee...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, facing political fallout if he vetoes bills helping Californians import cheaper prescription drugs from Canada, pressed pharmaceutical industry leaders Thursday for an alternative plan to cut drug costs for California's poorest residents. Schwarzenegger called the heads of several pharmaceutical companies Thursday, aide said, and pushed them to back his cost-cutting alternatives, which have already been rejected by state lawmakers. His proposals would establish group discounts, give poor Californians electronic cards that pharmacists could "swipe" to find the cheapest prices and hire an outside vendor to negotiate other price discounts. Advocates for bills on the...

CAIRO, Egypt - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (news - web sites), trying to revive last month's postponed Arab summit, said Sunday the leaders should meet in May and that he doesn't care where they gather. Tunisia, the host of this year's March 29-30 meeting of the Cairo-based Arab League, called off the gathering 48 hours before it was to begin, citing disagreements among members on key agenda items such as a U.S. reform plan for the region and a 2-year-old Arab peace initiative for Israel. Mubarak received Syrian President Bashar Assad and Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir in Cairo on Sunday...

<p>Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday ramped up pressure for a legislative deal to reduce workers' compensation costs, asking farmers to help him qualify a business-backed alternative for the November ballot in case lawmakers fail to reach a compromise.</p> <p>"Right now, we are gathering signatures, so if you see signature gatherers at the malls all around this state, go up to those signature gatherers, sign in, put your signature down and get a clear message out there, that you want to get rid of the fraud and the abuse of workers' compensation," Schwarzenegger told hundreds gathered outside the Capitol to celebrate California Ag Day.</p>

AUBURN, N.H. - Democrat Wesley Clark (news - web sites) touted his executive experience as a military commander Saturday, saying it makes him better suited than Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites) to be president. "My experience is the experience of leadership, of setting goals and organizing teams, of bringing people together, motivating and inspiring and making tough decisions," Clark said. At one of the retired general's trademark pancake breakfasts, a woman asked Clark what she should tell friends who are trying to decide between him and the Massachusetts senator, now leading the polls in New Hampshire. Clark called...

Daschle Presses Bush for Domestic Focus Sat Jan 24, 6:03 PM ET By SIOBHAN McDONOUGH, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - While Democrats stand with President Bush in support of U.S. troops serving in Iraq, the United States must focus more on homeland issues, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle said Saturday. The economy, education, health care and Social Security led his priorities. The South Dakota senator, in the Democrats' weekly radio address, said that after listening to the president's State of the Union address Tuesday he was reminded of the many "good, hardworking people" in his home state. "They help their...

Army Infantry Unit Presses Toward Baghdad 22 minutes ago By ELLEN KNICKMEYER and CHRIS TOMLINSON, Associated Press WritersNEAR KARBALA, Iraq - The Army's 3rd Infantry Division dashed north Monday toward the Shiite holy city of Karbala, only 50 miles south of Baghdad, but was stalled by a sandstorm that blew out of the desert. AP Photo Latest news: · Key Developments Concerning Iraq AP - 6 minutes ago · Franks: Iraq Communications 'Less Robust' AP - 12 minutes ago · Officials See War Costing at Least $70B AP - 19 minutes ago Special Coverage   While Iraqi paramilitary units harassed...